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The Sewer That Is The GOP: With All The White Supremacists, Conspiracy Nutters, And Other Malicious Whacko Subgroups, How Does It Get Fixed?

Jumbo

By Jumbo
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Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and top aide arrested, accused of using fictitious person to secretly profit from "fraudulent venture"

 

Tennessee's disgraced former House Speaker Glen Casada and his top aide were arrested Tuesday on federal charges including bribery, kickbacks and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

 

Their indictments follow the abrupt resignation in March of Republican Rep. Robin Smith, who pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges involving Casada and his chief of staff, Cade Cothren. Afterward, speculation swirled about what additional charges might come in the corruption probe.

 

FBI agents arrested Casada and Cothren at their homes Tuesday morning. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison. Both pleaded not guilty Tuesday and received pretrial release with travel restricted to the middle district of Tennessee unless otherwise approved.

 

The 20-count charging document alleges Casada and Cothren exploited their positions of power by working with another unnamed lawmaker to funnel money to themselves using a political consulting firm - known as Phoenix Solutions, LLC - to conceal their involvement.

 

Cothren registered the firm in New Mexico because the state allows anonymous registration of LLCs, and rebuffed requests for in-person meetings with Casada's fellow lawmakers, saying the company representatives were out of state.

 

The trio deceived other Tennessee lawmakers in a conspiracy "to enrich themselves by obtaining bribes and kickbacks from Cothren, in exchange for securing the approval of Phoenix Solutions as a mailer program vendor," a Justice Department news release said.

 

FBI agents searched the homes and offices of several state lawmakers in January 2021, including those of Casada and Smith, and the home of Cothren.

 

The charging documents revealed Tuesday say Cothren launched Phoenix Solutions with Smith's and Casada's "knowledge and support" to offer mail and consulting services to lawmakers. All three claimed the firm was run by a "Matthew Phoenix," the documents allege.

 

"In fact, Cothren operated Phoenix Solutions, and Casada, Cothren, and the other conspirator allegedly knew that 'Matthew Phoenix' was a fictitious person and secretly profited from the fraudulent venture," the Justice Department said in a news release.

 

The documents allege Smith emailed Cothren at one point saying he "may have to assume the role of Matthew again." He replied saying, "Matthew, reporting for duty!" and included a GIF of "a salute from Harrison Ford's character Han Solo in the movie Star Wars," officials said.

 

Federal investigators said a separate text exchange showed Casada texted Cothren in late 2019 saying "I think this is starting off well I'm pleased!" Cothren later cautioned that "we just have to make sure no one knows it's me involved," they said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

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mcsluggo

mcsluggo

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On 8/23/2022 at 8:30 AM, Bang said:

GOP senator who "leaves the party" but will continue to vote along with their insanity has not left the party and is in fact completely full of ****.

 

So, I think God would be alright with us stoning republican candidates and lawmakers to death.

Don't you?

 

~Bang

 

I couldn't disagree more.   I really really REALLY miss the days when you had gun-loving anti-abortion democrats (that were also pro-union and workers-rights) and we also had gay pro-environment pro-development aid republicans (that were also pro-business).   

 

the current world of litmus tests, where you are 100% the same as me or you are a  RINO/DINO is part of what gets us into the current mess.    

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NoCalMike

NoCalMike

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I think the GOP is now just randomly going through college course program guides, picking individual elective classes and claiming that is what a student's degree is in.  I guess it must play well with their base since they aren't the majority of college degree holders and likely have no frame of reference as to what going to college is like so they are easier to manipulate with the kind of nonsense that Boebert and her party is spouting.  That's not meant as an insult, more just another example of how when people are ignorant about something, they are more easily are susceptible to nonsense filling the void.

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tshile

tshile

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1 hour ago, NoCalMike said:

in.  I guess it must play well with their base since they aren't the majority of college degree holders and likely have no frame of reference as to what going to college is like


I realized a few years ago that this is a core part of our problem - the inability to understand (or even just be open minded about) something that you have no direct experience with. 
 

and it’s not just conservatives - I see it all the time with them and liberals and moderates. it’s a problem that affects everyone and I think it takes a conscious effort to recognize and be better than that as an individual. It takes work, it takes listening, it takes a willingness to throw your desire to defend your opinion aside. We’re not really good at any of those things. 
 

I find the people I’m likely to respect the most are the ones that show they get this, and will at least hear you out and make sure they understand what you’re saying and what your opinion is before coming up with a response. 
 

The flip side are the people that treat every conversation as an opportunity to lecture others. 
 

 

 

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Califan007 The Constipated

Califan007 The Constipated

Posted
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2 hours ago, NoCalMike said:

I think the GOP is now just randomly going through college course program guides, picking individual elective classes and claiming that is what a student's degree is in.  I guess it must play well with their base since they aren't the majority of college degree holders and likely have no frame of reference as to what going to college is like so they are easier to manipulate with the kind of nonsense that Boebert and her party is spouting.  That's not meant as an insult, more just another example of how when people are ignorant about something, they are more easily are susceptible to nonsense filling the void.

 

A guy on Twitter was responding to a student loan relief post and said words to the effect of "Now truck drivers and plumbers have to pay for someone's liberal arts degree." Got a bunch of likes. Also got a lot of responses from people trying to explain why that narrative is inaccurate.

 

I responded by asking him "Why did you decide to write 'liberal arts' degree?"

 

He ended up responding to me by saying "If you actually care about this, I feel the same way towards paying for someone to get a medical degree."

 

I said "That still doesn't answer the question of why you chose to say 'liberal arts' degree...because if that's how you feel you didn't have to say any specific degree. But you did."

 

Crickets after that...probably because he could tell I already knew why he singled out having to "pay" for someone's liberal arts degree. It's "liberal arts degree," "Gender Studies degree," "Lesbian Dance Theory degree"...like you said, they just researched all the possible degrees and/or classes offered and picked the ones that they felt would trigger their base the most. Hell, liberal arts degree even has the word "liberal" in it lol...how perfect is that?

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TheGreatBuzz

TheGreatBuzz

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1 hour ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

A guy on Twitter was responding to a student loan relief post and said words to the effect of "Now truck drivers and plumbers have to pay for someone's liberal arts degree." Got a bunch of likes. Also got a lot of responses from people trying to explain why that narrative is inaccurate.

 

I responded by asking him "Why did you decide to write 'liberal arts' degree?"

 

He ended up responding to me by saying "If you actually care about this, I feel the same way towards paying for someone to get a medical degree."

 

I said "That still doesn't answer the question of why you chose to say 'liberal arts' degree...because if that's how you feel you didn't have to say any specific degree. But you did."

 

Crickets after that...probably because he could tell I already knew why he singled out having to "pay" for someone's liberal arts degree. It's "liberal arts degree," "Gender Studies degree," "Lesbian Dance Theory degree"...like you said, they just researched all the possible degrees and/or classes offered and picked the ones that they felt would trigger their base the most. Hell, liberal arts degree even has the word "liberal" in it lol...how perfect is that?

 

I've used the "Liberal Art Degree" example multiple times and don't see the issue with it.  I generally use it to describe a degree you spent more on than it was worth or that you will get back out of it.

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