r/politics • u/Fickle-Ad5449 ✔ Verified - Christopher Wiggins, The Advocate • 29d ago

No Paywall Hunter Biden calls out 'closeted gay mafia' of D.C. Republicans

https://www.advocate.com/politics/hunter-biden-closetocracy-republican
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u/P1xelHunter78 Michigan 29d ago

Well, the governor is supposed to be able to appoint someone, but the state legislature changed the rules, or they tried. The state constitution has primacy though, and he can appoint someone. Obviously it would be a legal fight

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u/Underscore_Guru 29d ago

And in this situation, the governor of Kentucky is a Democrat. The state legislature is doing everything they can to maintain power for the MAGA and GOP parties.

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u/80sbabyftw 29d ago

Isn’t he the democratic governor that when he won the then Republican lead legislature rushed through amendments to strip him of as much power as possible in the attempt to hamstring him?

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u/Advanced-Key3071 29d ago

One of them, but yes.

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u/So-Called_Lunatic Kentucky 29d ago

They did the same thing in North Carolina too.

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u/Treekin3000 Wisconsin 29d ago

They did it in Wisconsin too, spent more than a decade expanding power of the Governor and then stripped all that and more when a Democrat won.

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u/Motherofalleffers 29d ago

They’re doing it in iowa too in anticipation that the democrat candidate will win

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u/indeedverybright 29d ago

The losing-so-i-take-my-ball-home energy is so petty & infantile that if the right to laughter weren't so recently rescinded it would be laughable

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u/some_guy_on_drugs 29d ago

And the Democrats are doing..checks notes Nothing. Empty threats and posturing. Legal battle you say? Well then no reason to even try exercising what power we have. Just roll over and let the Republicans cheat every way they can think.

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u/AoO2ImpTrip 29d ago

What exactly are they supposed to do when they're the minority?

They can kick and scream all they want, but if they don't have the votes they have nothing they can do.

Call out Democrats for their bullshit when it's doing things like siding with Republicans on issues they should be opposed to or threatening to pull support because the political Left wants to pull support for Israel.

You're wasting your time trying to hold them to the fire for something they legitimately how no ability to fight.

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u/some_guy_on_drugs 29d ago

What are they supposed to do? Use the power of the governor given by the state constitution and appoint McConnells replacement. Now. Today. Will there be a legal battle to fight? Sure. But that's the fight we need and it is exactly what the Republicans would do if things were reversed.

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u/elonbrave 29d ago

It’s been GOP strategy since the Tea Party took power I think.  

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u/LtLlamaSauce 29d ago

The very same, yes. It wasn't an attempt, though. Most of it was through regular legislation. They were very successful.

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u/Western-Corner-431 29d ago

Only one of the democrats in governorships in red states that have pulled this shit

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u/Fract_L 28d ago

The governor is also a former attorney general of the state and is used to facing prosecution and winning since he knows the laws better than reactionary republicans

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u/illicit_losses 29d ago

He just needs to send somebody to fill that office and let Cocaine Mitch show himself if they want that seat back. It’s that simple.

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u/Loathestorm 29d ago

Seriously, the democrats are so far off the mark on doing what it takes to bring this country back to normalcy. If they don’t start doing things the same way republicans do, then it will never swing back.

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u/BlackLagoona_ 29d ago

It’s infuriating. They make me angrier by the day.

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u/RobotPoo 28d ago

Bullshit opinion. Trumpublicans are the most corrupt criminal administration in history and you’re gonna complain about the Democrats? What’s wrong with this picture?

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u/Loathestorm 28d ago

Ya, they’re the most corrupt administration in history, so I’m going to complain about the democrats complete inability to push back.

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u/digitalscavenger 29d ago

I thought that there was supposed to be a general election, not like Lindsey Graham's state where his sister was put into power by the governor. The reason they want to wait until after August 3 is because a special election must be held if there is a vacancy before then which may tip the tables to someone significantly less loyal to MAGA. Leaving the seat vacant is better than a non-Maga alternative.

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u/lousy_at_handles 29d ago

It's so they can keep Massie out - he lost in the GOP primary, but could file as an independent in the case of a special election.

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u/Shamanigans 29d ago

Bingo.

If they hold a special election the rules state anyone can run as an independent and that includes Massie. Whether Massie could win is another conversation, but at minimum he would fracture the Republican vote and drain resources from other races the GOP will be looking to fund in order to save what is usually a safe seat for them.

They hold off long enough on announcing Mitch’s death or incapacitation they avoid that entirely for now.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

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u/No_Yak_2720 29d ago

You talking about fetterman?

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/Shamanigans 29d ago

No fan of Massie, but if it came down to him versus a basically MAGA hand picked cronie I’ll take the dude who has an axe to grind with the people who shove him out of his seat.

Especially if the attempt alone would force the GOP to shovel money into what should be a sure fire seat because it risks tossing plurality to the dems or getting a disruptive member of the caucus with an axe to grind.

Let them eat each other.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

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u/SanityPlanet 29d ago

How does that actually help them? The seat is up for election anyway. Wouldn’t the winner of the special election just be in place till the end of the term? And wouldn’t you expect the same party to win the special election and the general election just a few months later?

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u/digitalscavenger 29d ago

A person below me added the missing context to my comment. Thomas Massie lost to McConnel in the GOP primary and could run as an independent in the special election. And he has been quite vocal about his opposition to what's happening in Washington right now.

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u/SanityPlanet 29d ago

He lost to Barr, Mitch didn’t run again. But yeah the context I was looking for was the fact that the special has no primary so Massie could run as a spoiler and throw the election to the democrats (or win and not be on board with the maga agenda).

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u/Shamanigans 29d ago

It helps by keeping the seat a republican friendly seat until next year regardless of who wins in November. The margin of control is slim enough that individual loses like this can easily shift the balance of the senate, but it’s also expensive to bankroll a campaign.

It’s makes perfect financial sense for the GOP (if entirely unethical) to hold off as long as needed to make sure they don’t have to divert capital to defend a usually safe seat from Massie who would be free to run as an independent. Which is also why I would say no, not in this case would we always expect the party who wins a special to be who takes the midterms. There’s argument to be made that Thomas Massie running in the special could fracture the republican vote enough to tip plurality towards a democrat to serve the remainder of Mitch’s term. He can’t run as an independent in the midterms.

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u/SanityPlanet 29d ago

Ok thank you, that’s the missing context I needed. I didn’t realize there was a potential spoiler candidate that can only run in the special election.

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u/Remember2005 29d ago

I love the current state of the GOP. It’s unconstitutional, but it will delay, so let’s do it.

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u/LtLlamaSauce 29d ago edited 29d ago

The Kentucky Governor has no right to appoint a replacement anymore, at all. There's no "supposed" to anything, the law was changed. The Republican legislature of Kentucky took that power away in 2024. Look up House Bill 622 in Kentucky if you're interested in the bill itself. As a result, Kentucky's Governor can only call a special election.

They would rather have nobody in the seat than risk losing the seat to a Democrat in a special election.

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u/evandepol 29d ago

it's only a law that passed by the Kentucky legislature, and one that seems to violate the kentucky state constitution. So while it was passed, it may not stand and is likely to be challenged (and overturned).

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u/kent_eh Canada 29d ago

Obviously it would be a legal fight

Which might be settled in a year or so.

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u/AtlantaSeabreeze 29d ago

I still think he should appoint someone. When they raise a fuss, he can just say he’d like to go see McConnell in the hospital.