Tag Archives: political pandering

Josh Hawley (r): take one for the team

10 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by in Josh Hawley, social media, US Senate

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Today, from Josh Hawley (r):

Josh Hawley@HawleyMO
If @NBA is going to put social cause statements on uniforms, why not “Support our Troops” or “Back the Blue”? Or given how much $$ @nba makes in #China, how about “Free Hong Kong”! Today I wrote to Adam Silver to ask for answers
[….]
8:28 AM · Jul 10, 2020

Senator Hawley’s (r) shameful pandering knows no Russian bounty.

Some of the responses:

You have appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show several times in the past year. Are you going to boycott him until he apologizes for questioning the patriotism of a Senator who lost two legs in combat? Or, are you only interested in the NBA?

There’s that, too.

People in Missouri are dying and you are wasting time attacking the NBA, which doesn’t even have a team in the entire state. Do something serious for a change.

Josh buddy, if you supported our troops you would be investigating and pressuring for answers on the Russian bounties. I’m amazed you found time to write this with all your Bible study

You remain horribly bad at your job. On the list of things Missourians care about right now, I can tel you not a single onf of them is, “What are NBA players wearing on their uniforms?” Also, hi:

You suck at your job

MO doesn’t have an NBA team so I’m not sure why you’re virtue signaling instead of working hard for ALL Missourians. Stop licking Trump’s boots for once, thank you

And one more thing…How does this serve your constituents? We have no NBA teams here. Why are you spending your salary hours on this?

In a time of uncertainty Missourians can always count on Josh doing the wrong thing.

Wow. People dying in overstuffed ICUs and you’re shitposting the NBA. If there’s a hell below…..

Missouri doesn’t even have a team…

Shortages of testing supplies. Shortages of PPE. Highest record of new cases since the pandemic began in Missouri this week. Rising hospitalizations. And schools are set to open in month. Definitely what is on the minds of moms and dads in your home state is the NBA.

Can you investigate russian bounties on US troops instead of writing letters to the NBA? But only if you’re really going to investigate it… smh nevermind.

Yes. This is the most pressing issue of our time

That might have been sarcastic.

This is my Senator. I have called his office daily since finding out Russia has placed bounties on US soldiers like my son. I’ve never had a return call, email, or letter. Hawley doesn’t care about our troops but does care about NBA uniforms. @HawleyMO #MOLeg

Don’t you have a real job to do somewhere?

It’s just a step on the ladder.

Same Josh who said that he wouldn’t use the Missouri AG job as a stepping stone to higher profile job.

Stone, ladder, almost the same.

I’ve got more ideas! “Protect Our Troops from Bounties” (too wordy?) “Fully Fund Our Schools,” “Protect Everyone’s Right to Vote,” or even, “Trust Science!”

With all the things wrong in Missouri I would think you could find a better use of your time. But….it’s you.

Based on your words and actions, you are not a good person.

Mr. Hawley,
Your letter (really a complaint) once again shows how insanely hypocritical and petty you are what with all of the real problems & dire situation America is now engulfed.
You are so out of touch with your responsibilities!

Josh Hawley: the benchwarmer of senators.

Since when do junior Senators get to dictate what’s on a jersey? How about you splash the name of some of your lobbyists and corporate hacks on the back of your three dollar suit?

Your state hasn’t had an NBA team in three and a half decades.

We had a team once?

With any luck they write back “Mind your own business “

Or something like that.

I think this backfired on you. Hold on, let me check. Yep, it backfired.

On, and on, and on, and on…

“The most dangerous place to stand in Washington D.C. is any place between Senator Josh Hawley and a live microphone” – Charles P. Pierce

Josh Hawley (r) [2016 file photo].

Ann Wagner: New GOP corporatist star

27 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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The St. Louis Beacon recently noted that Rep. Ann Wagner (R-2) was pulling in campaign donations in a way that is truly “notable for a House first-termer,” and “significantly above the norm among Missouri members of Congress in either party.” Consequently, it stands to reason that Wagner is going to have to prove her worth the folks who have invested in her.

It’s for this reason that it’s worth giving special attention to her response to President Obama’s speech in Warrensburg on Wednesday in which she seized the initiative to go on the warpath for the Keystone XL pipeline, declaring that:

Right now, President Obama can approve the Keystone XL pipeline and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs while ushering in a new era of energy independence.

Of course, unbiased analysis casts doubt on such rosy job numbers (see also here). As for energy independence, a recent report notes that the pipeline will likely result in higher gas prices in the U.S. Last I heard, increasing energy prices wasn’t that good for the economy. It goes without saying that Wagner, a standard-issue GOP climate change denier, isn’t concerned with the economic costs that would result from the negative environmental impact of the pipeline.

Repeating false rhetorical sound-bites, though, is what being Republican is all about, and it shouldn’t really excite much surprise that Ann Wagner’s got that skill down solid. It is interesting, though, that she chose Keystone XL as her pivot-point rather than what seems to be the rather uniform GOP talking points du jour as exemplified by her Missouri colleagues, who en masse seem want to pretend that the President is just talking pretty talk while they’ve somehow been concentrating on the economy inbetween the endless hearings attempting to find or create an administration scandal.

Wagner’s fundraising sources suggest that she may have been doing a little multitasking. Our Ann seems to have figured out that she can go after the president, and at the same time put in a plug for one of those projects favored by the Big Oil interests and energy PAC folks who have funded a big chunk of her sizable war-chest.

Wagner has been promoted as a GOP anti-Akin although her views about many issues that made Todd Akin, well,  Todd Akin are not too different. The real difference between Akin and Wagner may be their willingness to dance to the big money tune. There’s a reason that Ann Wagner can pull in the bucks, and an unwashed Tea Party favorite like Ed Martin can’t. I’m betting that a big part of her appeal hinges on her highly connected history within the Missouri and national Republican party – that is to say, the corporatist wing of the party, which we sometimes refer to as the Republican establishment. She may be able to polish up the fringewing base when necessary, but she quite clearly knows who’s polishing what as far as her political career goes. As a result, Wagner won’t miss a chance to signal that she’s going to do her best for the 1 percent who pay her campaign bills. Missouri now has a another GOPer camping out in what has been up until now exclusively Roy Blunt territory.