How are people like this getting elected?

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
7,673
136
Arizona the New Flori-duh?

Arizona GOP taps creationist chemtrail truther to lead Senate education committee

An Arizona lawmaker who believes the earth is only 6,000 years old and that the U.S. government regularly sprays its citizens with mind-controlling chemtrails has been selected to lead an Arizona legislative committee overseeing education.

Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-Snowflake), was selected by fellow Republican and Senate president Andy Biggs to chair of the Arizona Senate Education Committee, according to 12News. The committee acts as a gatekeeper for education-related laws, including Common Core and spending.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/ari...l-truther-to-lead-senate-education-committee/

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Sylvia Allen reminded me of GRACE!
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,518
6,951
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That's almost as funny as Bush 43 sending John Bolton to the UN.

Separation of church and state be damned.....Amen.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,709
1,450
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Sheila Jackson Lee

And? It's one thing to be confused as to whether there is a unified Vietnam, one thing to worry about possible harassment of her district's voters by the Tea Party.

But something else to carry flat-worlder views about what should be taught to school-kids. So I'm interested in your reason for the name-drop.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,108
1,260
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LOL What a fucking loon. How someone like this has any position in politics is beyond me. Nuts.
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
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Curious to see how Doc/Conner/tugboat guy or Chinatown boy rationalize this. :hmm:
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,709
1,450
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Why does this surprise you? It is Arizona, after all.

Like a lot of red states, like Texas, it's still a mixed bag. Who was shot by Jerod Loughner? Who currently runs the University of California?

Stereotypes are just too easy. For me, I have personal reasons to deride Texas, now that I've discovered the troubles of my family's past generations going back to 1850. Did you ever hear of the "Polish Greys?"

Just go into a room of Democrats and say something bad about LBJ. You're going to ruin your evening.

Texas had -- in the recent past -- been center of a controversy surrounding history textbooks. You had locals saying they didn't want history textbooks that taught certain things. I strenuously object to that type of nonsense, but schools are local government institutions, with local constituencies -- like evangelicals.

It just goes on, and on and on . . .
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,518
6,951
136
We've had a few Democrats in our state stand on their religious beliefs and in effect martyred themselves for the cause of injecting religious beliefs into law.

Of course, given that there are only a few of them that do/did this speaks to how short their stay is in office once they declare their intentions to champion the causes of Christianity over those concerns of the bulk of their constituents.

Committing political suicide is not the way to help your constituents acquire a piece of the American pie.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,709
1,450
126
We've had a few Democrats in our state stand on their religious beliefs and in effect martyred themselves for the cause of injecting religious beliefs into law.

Of course, given that there are only a few of them that do/did this speaks to how short their stay is in office once they declare their intentions to champion the causes of Christianity over those concerns of the bulk of their constituents.

Committing political suicide is not the way to help your constituents acquire a piece of the American pie.

People have personal perceptions, and perceptions based on their reading or media.

I had always been put off by somebody knocking on my door some Saturday morning to push "the Watchtower" at me. It's important to understand where the word "evangelical" comes from. I think Mormons do these things -- that's how I acquired the Book of Mormon for my library.

So the American public school system owes something to an Irish Catholic Bishop in New York named Ryan. Evangelicals were teaching their own Christian views in the public schools, attended by the Bishop's flock. He got his immigrant congregations to organize a political movement, and they passed laws in Albany leaving the public schools bereft of religious instruction.

I think the Founders were pretty clear about this, and you can find their thoughts in the Federalist papers, their autobiographies and other sources. They had discussed how or if a secular government could integrate a religious group they called "Musselmen." And that issue was settled -- Mr. Trump. Settled, completely.
 

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,999
1,396
126
How are people like this getting elected?

Same question for John Wiley "Black Hole" Price of Dallas County, Texas.

City council members of Detroit, Michigan.

Williams "Cold Hard Cash" Jefferson of New Orleans, Louisiana.

And don't forget that Clerk refused to do her job (marriage licences for gay couples) in the news recently.

And so on and on. The voters elected those fools over and over again.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,709
1,450
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How are people like this getting elected?

Same question for John Wiley "Black Hole" Price of Dallas County, Texas.

City council members of Detroit, Michigan.

Williams "Cold Hard Cash" Jefferson of New Orleans, Louisiana.

And don't forget that Clerk refused to do her job (marriage licences for gay couples) in the news recently.

And so on and on. The voters elected those fools over and over again.

Some years ago, not that many, I walked into a Starbucks and struck up a conversation with a young couple waiting in line to order. And of course, "going out" on some errand is much of my social life, so I become -- animated. Always something slightly provocative about politics or news.

So it was around election time.

The young couple told me "We're not interested in any of that stuff. We don't vote. don't watch the news."

Indifference, ignorance . . . add some other causes.

Also, I remember from my high-school biology teacher. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." So armed with only a little knowledge, an activist is maybe like a billiard ball going the wrong way? Just thinking . . .

Also, "all politics is local." But a lot of people don't immerse themselves in local politics. If they do, it's neither good nor bad that it's dished up and set before them in a local political club. The party has an agenda; the party has candidates or a selection of candidates. And if you participate, you have some influence.
 

sportage

Lifer
Feb 1, 2008
11,493
3,159
136
The choices are getting terrible.
So the intelligent voter stays at home, and all the loons show up to vote.
It's becoming the trend. Is now the trend.
That's why guys like Jeb Bush are in total shock they are doing so bad.
And people like Donald Trump will no doubt win the republican nomination, then the presidency.
I guess it's just a growing pain we as a country must to go through.
Like Nero, Rome, and fiddling around.
I guess they'll get their way and burn it to the ground, then out of the ashes we'll have to start all over from scratch. Somehow....

What is disturbing, and you see it in the eyes and hear it in their voice, are the few remaining mentally stable republicans becoming quite unhinged over this prospect of Goofy and Dopey running the country.
And more so, even with Obama when he speaks Obama has this WTF... IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING tone in his voice.

The tea party brought these nut jobs into the public arena, but then the trend seemed to be fading. That is until Donald Trump came along.
And add in a little same sex marriage, and a dose of Kim Davis, a few ilegals jumping the fence, and a Muslim or two, and here we are.... again. The loons gaining popularity, with the old theme TAKE AMERICA BACK.

What is also really sad, is that people like Hillary and Sanders will have to stoop to this child-like level just to compete with people like Trump, and to get any attention of their own.
You can already see that happening, frankly.
And the media pretends like all this madness is worthy of logical interpretation.
.
.
 
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kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
27,209
36,169
136
religilous voters


Sorry, had to. I still have friends and family who vote GOP (although their numbers are dwindling with each election cycle) and am happy to say none of them embrace the holy roller fail this Western Grace clone seems to be proud of. While this kind of dogma over real life position is definitely more pronounced on the GOP side, I know plenty within the group that cannot stand people like this moron (which I think it the proper term for young earth creationists).

It's pathetic that people like this can assume positions of power and authority, I agree, but that's Arizona for you. Old people out west, whatcha gonna do? See Joe Arpaio. To them this kind of thing is less about who is qualified for the office and more about who will help maintain the world view they need to insulate from those pesky facts, and that damn science. This aligns with a lot of GOP "thinking," but I think we all know it's unsustainable.

When her generation kicks the bucket the GOP is really screwed, and they know it.
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
27,209
36,169
136
That's almost as funny as Bush 43 sending John Bolton to the UN.

Bolton and Jim Inhofe were the ones that sprang up immediately for me. Really speaks to how much contempt GOP leadership holds some portions of government, which I think is a clear sign their input is on the issue is something to be ignored.

It's like taking an Amish guy away from behind the horse and just dropping him into a manager position at a performance car garage.

Makes no fucking sense, and the idiots that do it have the nerve to talk down to others about the associated issue on top of it. Then wonder why we laugh. ;)
 

smitbret

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2006
3,389
23
81
Arizona the New Flori-duh?

Arizona GOP taps creationist chemtrail truther to lead Senate education committee



http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/ari...l-truther-to-lead-senate-education-committee/

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Sylvia Allen reminded me of GRACE!

Nuttier than a fruitcake but I would take that over the kind of people that typically walk the halls of congress. The voters in her district must like her more than the opposition and that's what matters.

I ask myself the same question about most politicians that get elected. Her agenda is no more offensive that a typical liberal's.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,709
1,450
126
Bolton and Jim Inhofe were the ones that sprang up immediately for me. Really speaks to how much contempt GOP leadership holds some portions of government, which I think is a clear sign their input is on the issue is something to be ignored.

It's like taking an Amish guy away from behind the horse and just dropping him into a manager position at a performance car garage.

Makes no fucking sense, and the idiots that do it have the nerve to talk down to others about the associated issue on top of it. Then wonder why we laugh. ;)

I had a theory about this, and how the parties appoint people. Somebody like Elliot Richardson (R) or recently Chuck Hagel (R) got appointments in Dem administrations. But to my memory, this seldom happens from the other side, and I'll get to that in a minute.

The typical person who likes to see these nutcases in office is probably overwhelmed with media and communication today. So instead of absorbing more of it, being forced to make personal judgments as to relative truth, logic and common-sense, they simply limit themselves to the megaphone blasting more comforting tones. But that was the idea behind representative government in the first place.

Now they have more choices on their plate at election time, for instance, in California with its "direct democracy" aspect of referendums. People are so uninformed about these aspects of the ballot that they either make haphazard choices or they leave all the boxes unchecked. This means that the industrial interests for or against some measure can spew all the propaganda they want, and the loudest voices determine the outcome. With the crap-shoot from some voters and others who abstain, the powerful interests behind the referenda have a bigger chance of getting their way with campaign ads.

Partisan loyalty for appointee positions matters much to the GOP, and too much, in my opinion. They reward people for campaign work with plum jobs, and if they were good campaigners but dummies, they get plum jobs in agencies the party cares less for.

And with the information overload, these voters already have a disadvantage for any substantive knowledge of what happens inside the Beltway black-box. So simplistic ideas rule the day.

With less information available, the personality contest in elections was more important. It still is with some of those voters, but they expect to hear the most comforting pablum, which can also be drivel.

Of course, they'll tell you that common-sense is in the eye of the beholder, or that all opinions are equal, but theirs are the best. (Think about that one.)

So there is untapped potential nationally from the 100 million eligible and registered who don't vote in elections. But that, too, could be a crap shoot, although one side figures they'll have better success with bigger turnouts, and the other side figures better with less.

I think that was the angle promoted by the Breitbart-ACORN fiasco. It left the impression that the voters ACORN was seeking to register -- and ACORN itself -- were information-deficit.
 

buckshot24

Diamond Member
Nov 3, 2009
9,916
85
91
So you're not a nut if you believe random genetic copying errors w/ selection actually built the highly ordered biological machines we find in cells? Nevermind that there isn't a shred of observable evidence that mutation and selection could do such miraculous things, you're a nut if you don't believe it?
 

stormkroe

Golden Member
May 28, 2011
1,550
97
91
The "R-Snowflake" thing almost made me spit out my diet dr. Pepper. So accurate...