DL Open Thread: Friday, May 7, 2021

It’s Official: The Big Lie And Voter Suppression Are The Only Life Rafts Keeping The Rethuglican Party From Drowning.  Either the Party dies, or democracy dies.  Rep. Elise Stefanik adopts The Big Lie To Oust Liz Cheney from leadership.  Here’s why Cheney is out:

“For sure the votes are there,” Mr. Jordan said on Fox News. “You can’t have a Republican conference chair taking a position that 90 percent of the party disagrees with, and you can’t have a Republican Party chair consistently speaking out against the individual who 74 million Americans voted for.”

It’s not a position, it’s a fact.  BTW, Stefanik’s embrace of The Big Lie is not mollifying some R conservatives, who don’t see her as doctrinaire enough.

More Voter Suppression News, Justified By The Big Lie. Texas. Ohio. Florida.  DeSantis signs the bill on Fox News, lawsuits immediately follow.  Let’s see, who is on that Supreme Court again? They could well decide whether democracy lives or dies.

Rethugs Celebrate Relief Package They Voted Against.  D’s: Weaponize this.  All this talk about gerrymandering?  You can pick up more than enough seats on this issue alone.  If you do it.

South Carolina To Drop Unemployment Benefits. Why? ‘We can’t find workers who will accept our shitty wages’:

The state will cease its participation in all federal unemployment programs, including an extra $300 per week and benefits for gig workers, on June 30. Congress first boosted benefits in response to the coronavirus pandemic last year.

“We are currently facing a labor shortage created in large part by the supplemental unemployment payments that the federal government provides,”  McMaster said in a tweet. “Since the Biden Admin and Congress appear to have no comprehension of the damage being done the State of South Carolina must take action.”

Trump Goes After Rethug Family Dynasties–To Replace Them With His Own.  Hey, political family dynasties suck. Yes, even the Kennedys.  Especially the Trumps.  What ever are the R pillars saying at the country clubs?

Report: EPA Fails To Protect Communities From Toxic Air Pollutants.  Would it shock you to learn that the communities most impacted are minority communities, like St. John The Baptist Parish in Louisiana and Port Neches, Texas? Didn’t think so.

Wyoming Threatens To Sue States That Don’t Buy Its Coal.  I didn’t know that Wyoming is our largest coal-producing state, but it is:

Wyoming is America’s largest coal-producing state, digging up nearly 40% of the coal produced nationally each year. The state is heavily dependent upon revenues from mining to run basic services and as it produces 14 times more energy than it consumes, selling coal to other states is a vital source of income.

How Lee Atwater Developed The Dark Arts That Rethugs Still Employ.  He perfected them in high school.  A worthless prick if ever there was one, his deathbed apologies notwithstanding.

Looks Like Mandatory Police Body Cameras Are Coming To Delaware.  Especially since cop/legislator Franklin Cooke has signed onto this bill, sponsored by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker:

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=68664

Here’s something I didn’t know:

“It’s actually not the cameras that costs most of the money. It’s the storage of the data that those cameras take in,” (Delaware AG) Jennings said. “And so this enables all police officers, agencies in the state, to utilize one data storage program, which is efficient.”

What do you want to talk about?