President Biden and US politics catchall

Where goats go to escape
User avatar
Enzedder
Posts: 3579
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:55 pm
Location: Hamilton NZ

C69 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2024 3:06 pm May as well close the betting down on Trump being the next Potus.
America does not deserve choice of Biden or Trump.
I totally disagree. Like the UK deserved Boris, the US deserves Biden/Trump.
I drink and I forget things.
User avatar
fishfoodie
Posts: 8223
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm

inactionman wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2024 5:22 pm
geordie_6 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2024 5:16 pm
inactionman wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2024 2:30 pm The classified documents case has apparently been thrown out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz5rpdrxevro

Seems to be quite a legalesy justification:



Not that it has any bearing whatsoever, I'm sure, but Judge Aileen Cannon was appointed in Florida by Donald Trump.
Be surprised if the DoJ doesn't appeal the decision before the end of the day.
Yep, most US news that I've seen have all said that an appeal is pretty much guaranteed, and most queried the logic - even if not the disingenuity - of the judge.

At least it'll delay everything until after the election, which is nice. Purely coincidental.
It's also being pointed out that the biggest whore in America, Clarence "will suck anyone off for the price of a Snickers" Thomas, included in his immunity decision, a completely unrelated message to the other junior whore in Florida that Special Prosecutors might be considered illegitimate if not signed sealed & approved by the Senate.

For some reason neither of these whores is disturbed by this decision overturning a century plus of precedent, up to & including Special Presecutor Robert Hur who went after President Biden for his retention of documents ...

Biden needs to just use the immunity decison & black bag all these cunts & put them in the back of a C-130, fly off over the Atlantic, drop the ramp & push the fuckers out; because hey, what's the point of immunity if you can't use it ?
User avatar
Margin__Walker
Posts: 2744
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:47 am

Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.

User avatar
Niegs
Posts: 3392
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:20 pm

Will vote for him though he doesn't give a fuck about them in the most extreme of cases, even. America's rabid two-party team-rooted politics in a nutshell.

Image
User avatar
Kiwias
Posts: 6853
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2020 1:44 am

Niegs wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:45 am Will vote for him though he doesn't give a fuck about them in the most extreme of cases, even. America's rabid two-party team-rooted politics in a nutshell.

Image
I should not be surprised.
epwc
Posts: 1230
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:32 am

Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:23 am Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.
Just what the world needs, another rabid loon
inactionman
Posts: 3065
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:37 am

Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:23 am Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.

That islamist Church of England/Church of Scotland.

It's always interesting to try to reverse-engineer what a US politician is getting at, assuming there's ulterior motive to most of what they say, but I'm really struggling here.
epwc
Posts: 1230
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:32 am

Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:23 am Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.
Finally, someone that takes DAC seriously
User avatar
Margin__Walker
Posts: 2744
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:47 am

I mean. More than anything, it's just a shit joke.

A career in stand up probably not on the cards.

He looks like the kind of guy whose backbone left him a long time ago. He's seen a route to the big prize and is going to ride it as long as he can. Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds

What a time to be alive.
inactionman
Posts: 3065
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:37 am

Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:18 am I mean. More than anything, it's just a shit joke.

A career in stand up probably not on the cards.

He looks like the kind of guy whose backbone left him a long time ago. He's seen a route to the big prize and is going to ride it as long as he can. Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds

What a time to be alive.
I'm never sure whether the likes of MTG, Boebart etc are truly stupid or whether they're bright (and highly cynical) people who just know how to work an audience. Certainly Trump is a sharp operator.

In that sense, there's likely a bunch of people chasing their coattails who may have thought they just need to say stupid shit and spray crap and bile and act totally in their own self-interest (George Santos is a case in point) in order to succeed.
Oxbow
Posts: 1230
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:45 pm

Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:18 am Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds
That's put me right off me elevenses :sick:
User avatar
Margin__Walker
Posts: 2744
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:47 am

inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:28 am
Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:18 am I mean. More than anything, it's just a shit joke.

A career in stand up probably not on the cards.

He looks like the kind of guy whose backbone left him a long time ago. He's seen a route to the big prize and is going to ride it as long as he can. Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds

What a time to be alive.
I'm never sure whether the likes of MTG, Boebart etc are truly stupid or whether they're bright (and highly cynical) people who just know how to work an audience. Certainly Trump is a sharp operator.

In that sense, there's likely a bunch of people chasing their coattails who may have thought they just need to say stupid shit and spray crap and bile and act totally in their own self-interest (George Santos is a case in point) in order to succeed.
I'd err on the cynical side, but it's a dangerous game as things get more and more polarised and the rhetoric gets more extreme.

You'll also have actual fanatics in the mix there in some roles in any new administration.
User avatar
Margin__Walker
Posts: 2744
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:47 am

Oxbow wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:30 am
Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:18 am Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds
That's put me right off me elevenses :sick:
Happy to help!
Sinkers
Posts: 475
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 6:04 am

inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:28 am
Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:18 am I mean. More than anything, it's just a shit joke.

A career in stand up probably not on the cards.

He looks like the kind of guy whose backbone left him a long time ago. He's seen a route to the big prize and is going to ride it as long as he can. Farage and Truss out there too lapping up the sloppy seconds

What a time to be alive.
I'm never sure whether the likes of MTG, Boebart etc are truly stupid or whether they're bright (and highly cynical) people who just know how to work an audience. Certainly Trump is a sharp operator.

In that sense, there's likely a bunch of people chasing their coattails who may have thought they just need to say stupid shit and spray crap and bile and act totally in their own self-interest (George Santos is a case in point) in order to succeed.
Sewer rat smart. And morally bankrupt. Powerful combination.
sockwithaticket
Posts: 8665
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:48 am

inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:11 am
Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:23 am Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.

That islamist Church of England/Church of Scotland.

It's always interesting to try to reverse-engineer what a US politician is getting at, assuming there's ulterior motive to most of what they say, but I'm really struggling here.
We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Slick
Posts: 11921
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:58 pm

sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am
inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:11 am
Margin__Walker wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:23 am Labour party that haemorrhaged Muslim votes. Clearly Islamists. This kid's another live one.

That islamist Church of England/Church of Scotland.

It's always interesting to try to reverse-engineer what a US politician is getting at, assuming there's ulterior motive to most of what they say, but I'm really struggling here.
We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
All the money you made will never buy back your soul
robmatic
Posts: 2097
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:46 am

sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am
The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.
There is also some basic racism at play here when they say that Khan and other British Muslims are Islamist, i.e., that their political loyalties are elsewhere by virtue of their religion or ethnicity.
User avatar
tabascoboy
Posts: 6475
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:22 am
Location: 曇りの街

Didn't Vance himself once refer to Trump as "America's Hitler"?
inactionman
Posts: 3065
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:37 am

tabascoboy wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:15 am Didn't Vance himself once refer to Trump as "America's Hitler"?
He's an opportunist.

I'd imagine the dems have got the tapes (no, not those tapes) already lined up
User avatar
tabascoboy
Posts: 6475
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:22 am
Location: 曇りの街

inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:16 am
tabascoboy wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:15 am Didn't Vance himself once refer to Trump as "America's Hitler"?
He's an opportunist.

I'd imagine the dems have got the tapes (no, not those tapes) already lined up
Here it is, from 2016

Image
User avatar
Uncle fester
Posts: 4196
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:42 pm

Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am
sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am
inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:11 am

That islamist Church of England/Church of Scotland.

It's always interesting to try to reverse-engineer what a US politician is getting at, assuming there's ulterior motive to most of what they say, but I'm really struggling here.
We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
So the alternative is to let them have their way unopposed?
Slick
Posts: 11921
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:58 pm

Uncle fester wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:00 pm
Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am
sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am

We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
So the alternative is to let them have their way unopposed?
Is this a serious post?
All the money you made will never buy back your soul
sockwithaticket
Posts: 8665
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:48 am

Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am
sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am
inactionman wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 9:11 am

That islamist Church of England/Church of Scotland.

It's always interesting to try to reverse-engineer what a US politician is getting at, assuming there's ulterior motive to most of what they say, but I'm really struggling here.
We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
To be honest I'm one of those on the left who thinks the American right represents a genuine threat to democracy over there* and the left response is inspired by the not unfounded fear that they're living through 1930s Germany and many understandably take a pretty staunch position on wanting to combat that. Those terms you highlight may well get tossed around a bit liberally, but with stuff like Project 25 and oh so many utterances down the years now from Trump and his supporters that attack and undermine democratic institutions, threaten worryingly authoritarian treatment for anyone that opposes them, demonisation of and refusal to engage with any but the friendliest of media, it's tough to view them as anything but a fascist threat.

There are genuine neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements that have attached themselves to the Trumpist Republican party and that's no accident. The FBI has long registered such groups as the US's primary domestic threat and they've been fully emboldened over the last several years, much more visible than they were before Trump initially ran for president. There was a march of people in Swastika tshirts through Nashville just this weekend. A lot of the current Republican party at best pander to those sorts of elements if not are actively part of them.

I think you're a bit charitable towards MTG. Like a few others, she gave tours of the Capitol to those who would end up being insurrectionists in 2020 just days beforehand. She's at the very least indulged in enabling and encouraging the erosion of trust in the judiciary and in elections, of pushing conspiracy theories and using inflammatory rhetoric in a way that makes her complicit with the far right elements. Maybe she's just power hungry and ignorant, seeing this all as her meal ticket, but at a certain point that becomes indistinguishable from active support.


*And I watch the spread of rhetoric and methodology employed over there with great nervousness.
User avatar
TB63
Posts: 4014
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:11 pm
Location: Tinopolis

Day after shooting...No bandage...
IMG_20240716_140618.jpg
IMG_20240716_140618.jpg (190.66 KiB) Viewed 578 times
RNC Convention, quick, stick a serviette on it for sympathy..
IMG_20240716_140622.jpg
IMG_20240716_140622.jpg (75.1 KiB) Viewed 578 times
inactionman
Posts: 3065
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:37 am

He'll never have a better opportunity to channel his inner Terry Butcher

Image
User avatar
SaintK
Posts: 6626
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:49 am
Location: Over there somewhere

The blonde slug going down a storm at the Republican Convention. Presume he's being paid to speak so won't give a toss!!
robmatic
Posts: 2097
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:46 am

sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:14 pm
Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am
sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:28 am

We can't forget that the dark money of the American political right is increasingly spreading it's tendrils to the UK and there's more and more an attempt to build a trans-Atlantic right beyond the mutual adoption of neo-liberalism. It behooves the spenders and their ideology to undermine and discredit parties in all countries who would resist their attempts to realise their worldview. Whether it's abortion rights, net zero targets, workers rights, clamping down on parasite capitalism (water companies!) and so on even this fairly non-radical version of the Labour party is at the very least perceived to be a threat rather than an ally in the way that the loony version of the Tory party was.

The whole Khan has turned London into Islamistan thing was basic sow dischord and division in the west stuff, but it's a mere hop, skip and a jump from identifying him as a Labour politician to then tarring all of Labour with being Islamists.

You might also be able to broadly tie it in with strong man dictator stuff - 'look even the UK has been taken over, Trump is the only hope to protect the US' - and the evangelical christo-fascists who actively want the end times to come so that the second coming occurs. The idea that bastions of Western civilisation are falling certainly fuels that narrative. Such people are wierdly reminiscent of the millenarianists that was so prominent during the Reformation, a period of great, bloody sectarian violence. America's political divisions are showing every sign of being as deep-seated and irreconcilable as sectarian divisions have been through histroy.
Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
To be honest I'm one of those on the left who thinks the American right represents a genuine threat to democracy over there* and the left response is inspired by the not unfounded fear that they're living through 1930s Germany and many understandably take a pretty staunch position on wanting to combat that. Those terms you highlight may well get tossed around a bit liberally, but with stuff like Project 25 and oh so many utterances down the years now from Trump and his supporters that attack and undermine democratic institutions, threaten worryingly authoritarian treatment for anyone that opposes them, demonisation of and refusal to engage with any but the friendliest of media, it's tough to view them as anything but a fascist threat.

There are genuine neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements that have attached themselves to the Trumpist Republican party and that's no accident. The FBI has long registered such groups as the US's primary domestic threat and they've been fully emboldened over the last several years, much more visible than they were before Trump initially ran for president. There was a march of people in Swastika tshirts through Nashville just this weekend. A lot of the current Republican party at best pander to those sorts of elements if not are actively part of them.

I think you're a bit charitable towards MTG. Like a few others, she gave tours of the Capitol to those who would end up being insurrectionists in 2020 just days beforehand. She's at the very least indulged in enabling and encouraging the erosion of trust in the judiciary and in elections, of pushing conspiracy theories and using inflammatory rhetoric in a way that makes her complicit with the far right elements. Maybe she's just power hungry and ignorant, seeing this all as her meal ticket, but at a certain point that becomes indistinguishable from active support.


*And I watch the spread of rhetoric and methodology employed over there with great nervousness.
I think one problem is that nobody in the Democrat party in the US who talks about fascism and the threat to democracy actually behaves like it is true. I wouldn't expect them to tool up with weapons for a civil war or anything, but they could at least do something about Republicans packing the judiciary or perhaps not nominate a frail old man as their presidential candidate when the risks are so great.
sockwithaticket
Posts: 8665
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:48 am

robmatic wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 1:23 pm
sockwithaticket wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:14 pm
Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am

Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
To be honest I'm one of those on the left who thinks the American right represents a genuine threat to democracy over there* and the left response is inspired by the not unfounded fear that they're living through 1930s Germany and many understandably take a pretty staunch position on wanting to combat that. Those terms you highlight may well get tossed around a bit liberally, but with stuff like Project 25 and oh so many utterances down the years now from Trump and his supporters that attack and undermine democratic institutions, threaten worryingly authoritarian treatment for anyone that opposes them, demonisation of and refusal to engage with any but the friendliest of media, it's tough to view them as anything but a fascist threat.

There are genuine neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements that have attached themselves to the Trumpist Republican party and that's no accident. The FBI has long registered such groups as the US's primary domestic threat and they've been fully emboldened over the last several years, much more visible than they were before Trump initially ran for president. There was a march of people in Swastika tshirts through Nashville just this weekend. A lot of the current Republican party at best pander to those sorts of elements if not are actively part of them.

I think you're a bit charitable towards MTG. Like a few others, she gave tours of the Capitol to those who would end up being insurrectionists in 2020 just days beforehand. She's at the very least indulged in enabling and encouraging the erosion of trust in the judiciary and in elections, of pushing conspiracy theories and using inflammatory rhetoric in a way that makes her complicit with the far right elements. Maybe she's just power hungry and ignorant, seeing this all as her meal ticket, but at a certain point that becomes indistinguishable from active support.


*And I watch the spread of rhetoric and methodology employed over there with great nervousness.
I think one problem is that nobody in the Democrat party in the US who talks about fascism and the threat to democracy actually behaves like it is true. I wouldn't expect them to tool up with weapons for a civil war or anything, but they could at least do something about Republicans packing the judiciary or perhaps not nominate a frail old man as their presidential candidate when the risks are so great.
I suppose the question is what do you do if you're the party that still fundamentally believes in the national institutions and following regulations that weren't designed to withstand the level of cynicism that's arisen? I wouldn't pretend to be an expert on the appointments process, but I'd imagine it's a lot more difficult to remove these partisan judges than it is to install them. That's before considering the look of the thing and whether it might light the touch paper with the right (many of whom seem to be itching for a civil war).

There's also the complicating factor that the Dems don't have enough of a numerical advantage in either house to pass anything radical that might enable them to change a lot of things.

They have absolutely been negligent in not preparing someone to take over from Biden for '24 as soon as the '20 election was won. Perhaps they miscalculated that Trump would be out of the picture by now what with all his legal issues and so it wouldn't really matter or they bought in too much to the value of incumbancy with voters.
User avatar
Uncle fester
Posts: 4196
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:42 pm

Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:04 pm
Uncle fester wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:00 pm
Slick wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:09 am

Good post, without resorting to some of the hyperbole that’s fueling a lot of this nonsense whilst thinking it’s fighting it.

I’ve had a bit of reflection over the last couple of days on this. My immediate reaction to Republicans coming out and saying “the left are causing this” was just to laugh. But actually a lot of the language used across the media and by commentators (and on here) is just fuelling the fire.

That’s of course not to say that the right are clean, in reality they are worse, probably quite a bit so. But words like facist, Nazi, Hitler etc are thrown about and it just ends up diluting the actual message. Just this morning I read in the Guardian that MTG was “far right”, and that’s another phrase that has lost its real, deplorable meaning. She’s an utter cunt, but she’s not far right in the historical sense that was meant to demonise and scare us all, rightly.
So the alternative is to let them have their way unopposed?
Is this a serious post?
Was actually going to ask the same of yours but decided to snip that part. You look at the escalation in rhetoric and the "heat" in their politics since the Gingrich era and I'm struggling to see how the side who are not crazy swivel eyed loons are somehow to blame here.

And the term far right does fit because as the Overton window shifts, the loons let the mask progressively slip further and further.
User avatar
Hal Jordan
Posts: 4154
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:48 pm
Location: Sector 2814

I think the problem with the Democrats is that in the upper echelons where the tone and policy is set there is a feeling that this won't affect them personally, which, as history has shown, is largely true. The ruling classes have tended to be able to male their problems go away with both soft and hard power, be it palming off illegitimate children, exiling or hiding (or lobotomising) "troubled" relatives, or paying money to make whatever the social embarassment is go away or stay hidden. Sure, someone will get caught out and take the fall, but that's not going to me, is it?

And eventually, when some rabid cunt gets into power, well, they'll be able to control him, and their money will make sure they're not affected. They might even be fellow travellers on some issues.

And then a few years later they're up against the wall, wondering why they weren't safe, after all, they always toed the line and kept out of trouble.
User avatar
Uncle fester
Posts: 4196
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:42 pm

The Dems by and large have played the "they go low and we go high" strategy and it hasn't done them much good.

There's a lot of problems with the democratic party but responding in kind to lunatic Republicans isn't one of them.
User avatar
fishfoodie
Posts: 8223
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm

robmatic wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 1:23 pm I think one problem is that nobody in the Democrat party in the US who talks about fascism and the threat to democracy actually behaves like it is true. I wouldn't expect them to tool up with weapons for a civil war or anything, but they could at least do something about Republicans packing the judiciary or perhaps not nominate a frail old man as their presidential candidate when the risks are so great.
The DNC is a mess, & like the Labour Party in the UK often loses because it can't get even 50% of its members to pull in the same direction when it matters. They also respect institutions, so don't as a rule gerrymander boundaries the way the GOP does, or indulge in whole scale voter suppression, so while whole swathes of the US South should have black Democratic representation, instead it has Republicans who've drawn the Electoral maps !

Occasionally the DNC does get someone who is happy to get down in gutter with the GOP & fight fire with fire; the Daleys in Chicago, & the elder Kennedy are good examples .... it might be something to do with their Irish heritage :wink: Shame Joe isn't cut from the same cloth, it's just what they need right now
User avatar
JM2K6
Posts: 9804
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:43 am

By any meaningful measure, MTG is far right. She started off as a peddler of QAnon conspiracy theories, accused the democrats of being paedophiles, called Sandy Hook a false flag and 9/11 a hoax, blamed a Jewish cabal for causing wildfires ("Jewish space laser" was her), called for the execution of democrat officials (particularly Nancy Pelosi, for not funding The Wall), demanded that the USA have a Christian government, was too extreme for the explicitly far right Freedom Caucus she got kicked out of, posted edited photos of her posing with guns next to her political rivals, encouraged the insurrection while at the same time blaming antifa and BLM, regularly peddles antisemitic and anti Islamic conspiracy theories, is virulently anti immigration and frequently demonises immigrants, particularly non-white immigrants, pals around with notorious members of the far right and actual fascists, and gives speeches at conventions for the far right run by white nationalists, for which she was heavily criticised by noted left wingers Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, and Mitch McConnell.

If you don't think she's far right and don't agree with her being labeled as such, you either are blissfully ignorant of her or your personal Overton window has shifted a dangerous amount.
User avatar
fishfoodie
Posts: 8223
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm

JM2K6 wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:13 pm By any meaningful measure, MTG is far right. She started off as a peddler of QAnon conspiracy theories, accused the democrats of being paedophiles, called Sandy Hook a false flag and 9/11 a hoax, blamed a Jewish cabal for causing wildfires ("Jewish space laser" was her), called for the execution of democrat officials (particularly Nancy Pelosi, for not funding The Wall), demanded that the USA have a Christian government, was too extreme for the explicitly far right Freedom Caucus she got kicked out of, posted edited photos of her posing with guns next to her political rivals, encouraged the insurrection while at the same time blaming antifa and BLM, regularly peddles antisemitic and anti Islamic conspiracy theories, is virulently anti immigration and frequently demonises immigrants, particularly non-white immigrants, pals around with notorious members of the far right and actual fascists, and gives speeches at conventions for the far right run by white nationalists, for which she was heavily criticised by noted left wingers Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, and Mitch McConnell.

If you don't think she's far right and don't agree with her being labeled as such, you either are blissfully ignorant of her or your personal Overton window has shifted a dangerous amount.
:thumbup:

The old addage about judgeing people by their friends is always true.

There's nothing wrong with calling people fascists when they describe rioters chanting, "the Jews will not replace us", as "Good People", or when they are endorsed by KKK leaders, & "Like" posts by the same.

If it goosesteps like a Nazi, & talks like a Nazi; it's a fucking Nazi !!!
User avatar
Niegs
Posts: 3392
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:20 pm

Best account of the shooting thusfar. :grin:

Gumboot
Posts: 8028
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:17 am

Niegs wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 1:48 am Best account of the shooting thusfar. :grin:

:lol:
User avatar
Kiwias
Posts: 6853
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2020 1:44 am

Niegs

Love it.
I heard "Malarkey" then "Kamala, let's go, but I don't know who it was
epwc
Posts: 1230
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:32 am

Brilliant
User avatar
Uncle fester
Posts: 4196
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:42 pm

JM2K6 wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:13 pm By any meaningful measure, MTG is far right. She started off as a peddler of QAnon conspiracy theories, accused the democrats of being paedophiles, called Sandy Hook a false flag and 9/11 a hoax, blamed a Jewish cabal for causing wildfires ("Jewish space laser" was her), called for the execution of democrat officials (particularly Nancy Pelosi, for not funding The Wall), demanded that the USA have a Christian government, was too extreme for the explicitly far right Freedom Caucus she got kicked out of, posted edited photos of her posing with guns next to her political rivals, encouraged the insurrection while at the same time blaming antifa and BLM, regularly peddles antisemitic and anti Islamic conspiracy theories, is virulently anti immigration and frequently demonises immigrants, particularly non-white immigrants, pals around with notorious members of the far right and actual fascists, and gives speeches at conventions for the far right run by white nationalists, for which she was heavily criticised by noted left wingers Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, and Mitch McConnell.

If you don't think she's far right and don't agree with her being labeled as such, you either are blissfully ignorant of her or your personal Overton window has shifted a dangerous amount.
But apart from all that, what exactly makes you think she's far right?
User avatar
JM2K6
Posts: 9804
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:43 am

Uncle fester wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 8:50 am
JM2K6 wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:13 pm By any meaningful measure, MTG is far right. She started off as a peddler of QAnon conspiracy theories, accused the democrats of being paedophiles, called Sandy Hook a false flag and 9/11 a hoax, blamed a Jewish cabal for causing wildfires ("Jewish space laser" was her), called for the execution of democrat officials (particularly Nancy Pelosi, for not funding The Wall), demanded that the USA have a Christian government, was too extreme for the explicitly far right Freedom Caucus she got kicked out of, posted edited photos of her posing with guns next to her political rivals, encouraged the insurrection while at the same time blaming antifa and BLM, regularly peddles antisemitic and anti Islamic conspiracy theories, is virulently anti immigration and frequently demonises immigrants, particularly non-white immigrants, pals around with notorious members of the far right and actual fascists, and gives speeches at conventions for the far right run by white nationalists, for which she was heavily criticised by noted left wingers Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, and Mitch McConnell.

If you don't think she's far right and don't agree with her being labeled as such, you either are blissfully ignorant of her or your personal Overton window has shifted a dangerous amount.
But apart from all that, what exactly makes you think she's far right?
I forgot the bit about being a CrossFit fanatic in the year of our Lord 2024
Post Reply