They only mention it offhandedly in the linked article, but the threats from Sen. Brian Boquist over this are insane: I don't know much about this situation or how it got to this point, but I...
“This is what I told the superintendent,” Boquist said, referring to OSP Superintendent Travis Hampton. “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”
...
In an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive Wednesday afternoon, Boquist stuck with his earlier statement and rejected a reporter’s characterization of his threat to troopers as “thinly veiled.”
“Nothing thinly veiled,” Boquist wrote. “I have been in political coup attempts. I have been held hostage overseas. I have been jailed politically overseas … Not going to be arrested as a political prisoner in Oregon period.”
I don't know much about this situation or how it got to this point, but I can't see how it's acceptable at all to make blatant threats that you'll murder any state police who get sent to find you and make you do your job.
It seems to be the current state of the Republican Party here in the US. I've only been politically aware since about 2008, so I can't say how recent this is. I've read from others that this loss...
It seems to be the current state of the Republican Party here in the US. I've only been politically aware since about 2008, so I can't say how recent this is. I've read from others that this loss of ethics and accountability began anywhere from the 70's to 90's, but the rise of the Tea Party following Obama seems to have really kicked it up a notch from what I can tell.
There's some whack as fuck shit going on behind the scenes I don't think we, the public, have a full understanding of yet. The NRA seems to have a history of being heavily involved with Russian money and people of power, and the GOP being heavily supported by the NRA, that's a possible conduit of Republicans being funded by Russian interests.
I know ever since the Trump–Russia thing entered the public eye, everybody on the internet seems to think of themselves an expert on this stuff, but I'm an actual Subject Matter Expert on Russia (and some other things) and a lot of this stuff eludes me. There's missing pieces to this puzzle. My best estimation is that Putin is salty about the fall of the USSR, and has been swinging his dick around behind the scenes in a multi-decade effort to cause a similar collapse here in America as payback. For some reason this seems to primarily involve the GOP, but division and heightened internal tensions seem to be the goal. What I can't figure out is how this all started, when, and to what degree the GOP has been aware and willing. They might have began as being unwitting, but here in 2019 the GOP doesn't seem at all concerned about what's coming to light and as well are perfectly content to eschew all laws or common decency to protect their own party.
There's enough pieces available in the public eye to paint a very general picture of what's going on, and has been for some time, but there isn't enough to complete it. The notion of the GOP collaborating with a hostile foreign power to subvert democracy and the rule of law is a fucking doozy, that raises a million and one questions before it all makes sense.
There's a rise of isolationism and nationalism making itself visible in the Party as of late. Was it always there, beneath the surface? For decades? A lot of these people come from areas where it's not necessarily uncommon to see Confederate flags, even if their state was part of the Union. Perhaps after the Civil War, Reconstruction was such a failure that the Confederacy as an ideal never died and has survived into the present day. It's possible that the abhorrent actions that fly in the face of reason are all in effort to install a neo-Confederacy at the national level, and that's why the GOP is willing commit treason—in a casual sense, if not the legal one—and erode the very foundations of our government, because perhaps they're still looking at things from a Union v. Confederacy perspective, and the norms and institutions we've been taking for granted are seen as the enemy.
If Putin offered his support towards this subversion of the US Government and the rise of a new Confederacy, that could explain a lot of how the modern GOP is acting. But that's an assertion without enough evidence to say for certain, there's information we don't have. But there's certainly fucking something going on behind closed doors that's encouraging this increasingly bizarre abandon of law & order. I hope it really isn't a slow coup by the leftovers of the Confederates, that would be a nightmare. But the past few years have felt like a nightmare, and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better. Even if a Democrat is sworn in January 2021, there's some kind of rot going on in the GOP that extends beyond the President and it's going to still be there after he's gone. It seems like there's an ideological war for the soul of America going on that one side doesn't even know is happening. This whole thing is maddening.
I guess it depends what you mean by "the leftovers of the Confederates." There was an influx of Southern Conservatives into the Republicans around the time of the Civil Rights act, and now they...
I guess it depends what you mean by "the leftovers of the Confederates." There was an influx of Southern Conservatives into the Republicans around the time of the Civil Rights act, and now they have metastasized and became the face of the party, so whatever principles about the economy and freedoms the party has stood for are now secondary to "make a kingdom on the backs of our electorate, feed their entitlements with our propaganda, and anyone who says boo is an existential threat to our way of life." Which is a problem when the Democrat Moderate position continues to be, "Now how can we meet them halfway?"
Also it sounds like a bunch of idiots are getting tricked out of their money by a fundraiser to support these senators who aren't willing to do their job. So this won't actually hurt this missing...
Also it sounds like a bunch of idiots are getting tricked out of their money by a fundraiser to support these senators who aren't willing to do their job. So this won't actually hurt this missing Republicans, just the idiots who think this childish behavior is acceptable.
So now militias have pledged willingness to resort to violence to protect these lawmakers if need be. I would be surprised if it actually came to that, but holy shit what are these people even doing.
Interesting that Dems pulled the same shit in the past. I don’t understand how expectations are so wildly different for the political class. Most people who don’t show up for work without good...
Interesting that Dems pulled the same shit in the past. I don’t understand how expectations are so wildly different for the political class. Most people who don’t show up for work without good reason get fired and replaced immediately. They should all be recalled and replaced with reps who can function as adults.
First thing I thought of was that scene in House of Cards, where Frank Underwood compels the Sargent at Arms to arrest the missing (also Republican!) federal senators. Never thought I'd see this...
First thing I thought of was that scene in House of Cards, where Frank Underwood compels the Sargent at Arms to arrest the missing (also Republican!) federal senators. Never thought I'd see this happen in real life, jesus christ.
They only mention it offhandedly in the linked article, but the threats from Sen. Brian Boquist over this are insane:
I don't know much about this situation or how it got to this point, but I can't see how it's acceptable at all to make blatant threats that you'll murder any state police who get sent to find you and make you do your job.
It seems to be the current state of the Republican Party here in the US. I've only been politically aware since about 2008, so I can't say how recent this is. I've read from others that this loss of ethics and accountability began anywhere from the 70's to 90's, but the rise of the Tea Party following Obama seems to have really kicked it up a notch from what I can tell.
There's some whack as fuck shit going on behind the scenes I don't think we, the public, have a full understanding of yet. The NRA seems to have a history of being heavily involved with Russian money and people of power, and the GOP being heavily supported by the NRA, that's a possible conduit of Republicans being funded by Russian interests.
I know ever since the Trump–Russia thing entered the public eye, everybody on the internet seems to think of themselves an expert on this stuff, but I'm an actual Subject Matter Expert on Russia (and some other things) and a lot of this stuff eludes me. There's missing pieces to this puzzle. My best estimation is that Putin is salty about the fall of the USSR, and has been swinging his dick around behind the scenes in a multi-decade effort to cause a similar collapse here in America as payback. For some reason this seems to primarily involve the GOP, but division and heightened internal tensions seem to be the goal. What I can't figure out is how this all started, when, and to what degree the GOP has been aware and willing. They might have began as being unwitting, but here in 2019 the GOP doesn't seem at all concerned about what's coming to light and as well are perfectly content to eschew all laws or common decency to protect their own party.
There's enough pieces available in the public eye to paint a very general picture of what's going on, and has been for some time, but there isn't enough to complete it. The notion of the GOP collaborating with a hostile foreign power to subvert democracy and the rule of law is a fucking doozy, that raises a million and one questions before it all makes sense.
There's a rise of isolationism and nationalism making itself visible in the Party as of late. Was it always there, beneath the surface? For decades? A lot of these people come from areas where it's not necessarily uncommon to see Confederate flags, even if their state was part of the Union. Perhaps after the Civil War, Reconstruction was such a failure that the Confederacy as an ideal never died and has survived into the present day. It's possible that the abhorrent actions that fly in the face of reason are all in effort to install a neo-Confederacy at the national level, and that's why the GOP is willing commit treason—in a casual sense, if not the legal one—and erode the very foundations of our government, because perhaps they're still looking at things from a Union v. Confederacy perspective, and the norms and institutions we've been taking for granted are seen as the enemy.
If Putin offered his support towards this subversion of the US Government and the rise of a new Confederacy, that could explain a lot of how the modern GOP is acting. But that's an assertion without enough evidence to say for certain, there's information we don't have. But there's certainly fucking something going on behind closed doors that's encouraging this increasingly bizarre abandon of law & order. I hope it really isn't a slow coup by the leftovers of the Confederates, that would be a nightmare. But the past few years have felt like a nightmare, and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better. Even if a Democrat is sworn in January 2021, there's some kind of rot going on in the GOP that extends beyond the President and it's going to still be there after he's gone. It seems like there's an ideological war for the soul of America going on that one side doesn't even know is happening. This whole thing is maddening.
/ramble, /braindump
I guess it depends what you mean by "the leftovers of the Confederates." There was an influx of Southern Conservatives into the Republicans around the time of the Civil Rights act, and now they have metastasized and became the face of the party, so whatever principles about the economy and freedoms the party has stood for are now secondary to "make a kingdom on the backs of our electorate, feed their entitlements with our propaganda, and anyone who says boo is an existential threat to our way of life." Which is a problem when the Democrat Moderate position continues to be, "Now how can we meet them halfway?"
i mean, making threats does tend to work a bit better when you team up with far-right paramilitaries for protection.
actually, regular legislative assembly members apparently only make $24,216/year + per diem (which is $144/day), so... that's a decent chunk per day!
Also it sounds like a bunch of idiots are getting tricked out of their money by a fundraiser to support these senators who aren't willing to do their job. So this won't actually hurt this missing Republicans, just the idiots who think this childish behavior is acceptable.
So now militias have pledged willingness to resort to violence to protect these lawmakers if need be.
I would be surprised if it actually came to that, but holy shit what are these people even doing.
The State House is actually shutting due to the militia threat.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/22/threats-militia-provoke-shutdown-oregon-capitol-day-after-gop-lawmakers-fled/?fbclid=IwAR2n4i3HG7Y6N4jxHnulxazhaTm2r6V6twm62hG4b2knZXZkdMkk3EnR8yY
I doubt the lawmakers would have taken up the offer either way, but good thing they;'re at least taking it seriously.
Interesting that Dems pulled the same shit in the past. I don’t understand how expectations are so wildly different for the political class. Most people who don’t show up for work without good reason get fired and replaced immediately. They should all be recalled and replaced with reps who can function as adults.
First thing I thought of was that scene in House of Cards, where Frank Underwood compels the Sargent at Arms to arrest the missing (also Republican!) federal senators. Never thought I'd see this happen in real life, jesus christ.
This article goes into more detail about what the proposed bill does and why those senators oppose it:
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/06/cap-and-trade-what-could-oregons-carbon-policy-cost-you.html