US Politics, August 2023: "Dear Kamala, I wrote you, but you still ain't callin'..."

... continuing from July: DeSantis, he writes letters...

In case anyone gets nostalgic for July's thread:

U.S. Politics, July 2023: The SCOTUS Shelves Its Instruments of Torture for Some R&R

Nostalgia is a fall/winter emotion. In July and August I wallow in exhaustion and langour. But you do you.

I for one yearn for the days of arguing about 14 and 88.

August usually just delivers tiny political scandals and gossip, but maybe this month we'll finally get some more of the really serious indictments brought against Trump. Or maybe some geriatric politician will die or Rand Paul will get tackled by another neighbor. So many unrealized possibilities.

Mitch McConnell might go to his final reward.

Strongly suggests indictment(s) could be imminent. https://t.co/EXasTphQcp

— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCNN) August 1, 2023

this is the federal election case.

I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M. Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!
1.15k ReTruths 2.96k Likes Aug 01, 2023, 3:41 PM

lol at "Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago?"

Trump OTM

Lol this thread title

Texas is the reason...

These breaks are obligatory under local law in Austin. But recently, amid a record-breaking heatwave, the Texas governor signed a bill that will rescind existing mandatory rest and water breaks for construction workers starting in September.

A Republican who introduced the bill justified it on the basis that “progressive municipal officials and agencies have made Texas small businesses jump through contradictory and confusing hoops.”

https://img.freepik.com/free-photo/uncertain-boss-young-man-face_1194-7951.jpg

"It's 103 degrees and I have workers outside all day. The law says I have to let them take water breaks but that's contradictory to my gut feeling, which is to let 'em work until they pass out to maximize my profits. What's a poor guy like me supposed to do?"

The fuckwithery in Texas never ends. The state has moved into Houston's school district, dismissed the superintendent and school school board, bringing in their own stooges who've just decided to downsize the libraries of around 45 'underperforming' schools and repurpose the spaces for expanded in-school detention areas.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/hisd/2023/07/31/458255/turner-miles-houston-isd-libraries-discipline-centers-relocate-librarians/

If Texas has state-specific restrictions on books in schools, that suggests that it will need a building just to hold school books. Maybe call it a "repository" for school books.

What could possibly go wrong?

Detention has a great track record for improving academic performance.

Texas keeping our judeo-christian heritage alive: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-food-not-bombs-texas-18270531.php

A volunteer with Food Not Bombs who was ticketed by Houston police for feeding the unhoused outside the downtown public library was found not guilty in a criminal court on Sunday.

Phillip Picone was handing out food to unhoused people with fellow Food Not Bombs volunteers at the corner of McKinney and Smith Streets in downtown Houston on March 6 when trouble began. Food Not Bombs had served meals to unhoused people at that same corner four nights a week for the past twenty years, even as the Houston police had started handing out tickets for allegedly violating a city ordinance against giving unhoused people food in the downtown area, per FOX 26.

a city ordinance against giving unhoused people food in the downtown area

Has DeSantis heard about this? he doesn't want to be outcrueled

https://wtop.com/government/2023/08/senate-office-buildings-locked-down-over-reports-of-gunman/

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order and began searching Senate office buildings near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon amid reports of an active shooter.

And we'll see how this plays out.

The United States Congress, a famously pro-gun institution, weirdly opposed to people pointing guns at it. Huh.

sounds like a possible false alarm

A migrant was killed today by one of Abbott's border buoys

https://abc13.com/texas-border-news-deaths-buoys-on-body-found-buoy/13589844/

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/02/broke-state-gop-parties-across-the-country-00109387

good stuff

It's surprising that so many state Republican parties have gone woke

I for one yearn for the days of arguing about 14 and 88.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 1 August 2023 19:21

Christ, I don't think anyone was defending it, just questioning whether it was intentional.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux)

Questioning whether a dogwhistle was intentional is effectively defending. (Maybe some alternate term would be more apt but it’s not coming to me rn.) This is the point of these dogwhistles, to poison the well with this sort of tangential speculation about obvious racist memes. I get some folks might be oblivious to how prevalent this code is on much of the internet but it didn’t need to go on and on. Once it was noted this is indeed a common racist rallying cry, that should have ended it.

Clearly at this point it needs to go to another thread but let’s be clear that semantics aside this shit is indefensible.

you know what's a personal low point for you viborg? projecting your own fantasy posts onto map

― rob, Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Do I really need to dig up specific quotes to shut these knee-jerk clowns up and show this isn’t just “fantasy”? Yeah map said some really dumb shit in the past, that’s the hill rob wants to die on? Lmao who the hell is rob anyway? Map has a posse smh.

Questioning whether a dogwhistle was intentional is effectively defending.

Mmmmkay.

Anyway, we got more indictments, so.

Viborg I flagged you for beating a very dead horse

“I heard you wrote a book!”

“No, I *was* booked.”

No more 'heads are gonna roll'
Always a charmer, isn't he

DeSantis made the remarks at a barbecue campaign event in Rye, N.H., hosted by former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

“We’re going to have all of these deep state people, you know, [/b]we are going to start slitting throats on day one,”[/b] DeSantis said.

Why don't dorks like DeSantis and Trump just start naming Deep State names, if they love the country so fucking much? Why leave the Deep State to Deep State things up even more?

Y’know, one thing DeSantis does capture effortlessly is the hopeless stunted adolescent aspirational violence of the American incel

He really just embodies that specific type.

desantis is going to debate newsom? that is going to be fucking brutal

Yeah but come on, Newsom isn't going to do the homework and is going to make own goals.

Eric otn

Newsom has already done all of the homework and is going to eat DeSantis alive

Two creeps one stage

US political "debates" are little more than regurgitation of pre-chewed talking points and attempts to insert carefully memorized zings. Nearly all that gets said has been lifted directly out of stump speeches that the participants have delivered dozens of times. Nobody eats anyone alive, regardless of how much homework they did.

Newsom has already gone on Fox, debated Hannity, and held his own quite well.

Newsom is about as loathsome as a Dem politician can get, the vibes in the debate room will be “hell”

Good morning!

Y’know, one thing DeSantis does capture effortlessly is the hopeless stunted adolescent aspirational violence of the American incel

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb5f3de3-f8e2-4fba-9b90-bb70d9ad94e1_4753x3169.jpeg
"Please, lord, let every one of the Republican candidates pass gently in the night so that I may finally lead. Heck, take me with them so that I may finally serve."

In Penceland, even the chairs bow their heads in prayer

Our media in response to a basically good jobs report, my god… pic.twitter.com/n1XYGi4Kqw

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) August 4, 2023

why would Biden do this?

Reps. Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville, the two TN statehouse members who were expelled by the GOP for being black, are back in office after comfortably winning their special elections

Times are tough for CEOs and people who live on investments, there are more jobs than bodies to fill them, and now these bodies are making unreasonable demands out of their talk holes like "sick leave" or "a living wage".

Unemployment is at a 50-year low. Ocean surface temperature is at an 80-year high. Sea ice at a 50-year low. Last month had, apparently, the warmest day in recorded history. Restaurants are beginning to serve lab-grown chicken.

I feel fine

Ye know ye said so.

leonard bernstein

Ha!

I might have some Post Malone.

if you click through to those articles the hiring slowdown is presented as good news for biden (because inflation), rather than as a problem.

That presentation has obvious problems. A hiring slowdown may signal a future cooling of inflation to economic experts, but they do not make up a significant voting bloc. Most voters do not gauge inflation by looking at official economic data. They gauge it viscerally. Gas prices and housing costs are a large chunk of that visceral response, while a hiring slowdown only means they will feel they have fewer options to job hop to better pay and that the economy is becoming more precarious for them.

I have a graduate degree and I have never worked a job that paid more than 50k. I am an idiot, yes, and blessed to be doing work that gives me great spiritual succor, but the economy is insane and there are a lot of people like me who have no idea how the fuck they’re going to find a better job. There are quite literally very few decent jobs for someone like me. Total doom has overtaken me in this regard— I either throw out the work of the last 15+ years of my life, or I stay nearly broke and scrambling all the time. None of what any of these economists say has ever meant a fucking thing to me— it’s just one long disaster.

The rarely mentioned irony in all the discussion about how voter perception of the economy affects presidential elections is how remote the office of president is from any control over the economy as a whole. Even when he proposes good actions like student debt forgiveness the vast political apparatus of capitalism finds a way to block it.

That presentation has obvious problems. A hiring slowdown may signal a future cooling of inflation to economic experts, but they do not make up a significant voting bloc. Most voters do not gauge inflation by looking at official economic data. They gauge it viscerally. Gas prices and housing costs are a large chunk of that visceral response, while a hiring slowdown only means they will feel they have fewer options to job hop to better pay and that the economy is becoming more precarious for them.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Friday, August 4, 2023 3:41 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

no i get it. my point is the "look at all these people saying this is bad news for biden" commentary presumably implied by that tweet should actually be "look at all these people saying bad news for humans is good news for biden", which is the conventional wisdom right now as the job market cools.

Nodding along to tone deaf 'economic expert political commentary' seem vmic for the NYT.

The US doesn't have an ambassador in Niger, where a coup is underway, because Rand Paul "put holds on State Department appointees until the White House releases intelligence he believes could show Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese lab." https://t.co/mhqpxRCeBk

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2023

" . . . and that the moon landing was faked."

"I demand evidence that may or may not exist, and if you don't provide it I will gum up the works. And if you do provide it, and I am not satisfied, I will gum up the works. And if you do provide it, and it confirms my theory, I was say I told you so, thumb my nose, and fine China $1 million dollars. And then I will gum up the works some more, because that is my entire philosophy. What are you going to do about it, tackle me?"

also do you have any gum

Paul's gambit wouldn't work if Senate Dems weren't addicted to upholding "norms" that Republicans do not.

See also: Tuberville holding shit up.

coup failing up

The criminal indictment of Trump unsealed on Tuesday depicts in vivid detail [Jeffrey] Clark’s alleged role in the conspiracy prosecutors accuse Trump of orchestrating. The indictment identifies Clark only as “Co-Conspirator 4,” but includes details that match existing reporting about Clark’s post-election role. It portrays him as a linchpin of plans to bypass the acting attorney general and use the imprimatur of the Justice Department to spread “knowingly false claims of election fraud” and deceitfully substitute legitimate electors with sham alternates supporting Trump.

But, as the April leadership summit shows, Clark has won admiration within the pro-Trump wing of the GOP, rather than being shunned for plotting to use Justice Department authority to strong-arm states into disregarding the will of voters.

Last year, he landed a top job at a think tank laying the groundwork for a possible second Trump term. A once-obscure government bureaucrat, Clark now appears as a pundit on conservative television and podcasts. In July, he was spotted at a party celebrating the publication of an authorized biography of former Fox host Tucker Carlson at Washington’s swanky Metropolitan Club. He recently posted a picture of himself at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, enthusing about the weather in South Florida.

With Trump the runaway favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, Clark, 56, is poised to gain sweeping authority if the former president should clinch another term — potentially even in the role of attorney general, which eluded him just before Jan. 6, 2021.

Clark would be “100 percent shortlist” for the nation’s top law enforcement position or else White House Counsel if Trump returned to the Oval Office, said Stephen K. Bannon, the Trump ally and onetime White House strategist, who has hosted Clark on his far-right “War Room” show. The hype that surrounds the former mid-level Justice Department official shows how Republicans are lionizing figures key to Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

...Clark directed questions to a spokesperson for the think tank where he works, the Center for Renewing America. The spokesperson, Rachel Cauley, said, “The regime hates those who don’t blindly obey, it insists on criminalizing and destroying those who disagree, and when that doesn’t work, it uses its scribes at The Washington Post to further abuse and intimidate us into submission.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/03/jeffrey-clark-trump-coconspirator-doj-indictment/

Yeah, like I posted a while ago, it's kind of a mystery why Clark, of all people, walks free.

there's still a possibility he could be indicted. i should have included this above:

"Clark has not been indicted by the special counsel, Jack Smith, who brought Tuesday’s indictment. But Smith has said his investigation is ongoing. A district attorney in Georgia is also probing Clark’s actions. And a D.C. Bar disciplinary office is pursuing ethics charges against him that could ultimately strip him of his law license. The charges, filed by the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel last summer, allege that Clark engaged in dishonest conduct and attempted to interfere with “the administration of justice."

He kind of reminds me of someone like Stewart Rhodes, an actually dangerous, disruptive person leading a movement full of morons. So far a lot of the Trump focus has been on the usual morons, Trump included. But Clark is one of those guys in Trump's orbit that perpetually seems to be at the ready to do some actual damage.

I don't think any of these co-conspirators will be indicted until maybe after the Trump trial. My understanding is that this is very much a part of Smith's strategy.

I assume they are keeping their powder dry if they want to pressure anybody to flip. There is of course a chance a few of these knuckleheads have cooperated already, which could explain the lack of indictments, but we'll likely never know.

but we'll likely never know.

hard disagree, none of these dingdongs can keep a secret

or maybe some can, but not everyone can so the stories come out eventually

Stephen Miller looks like a motherfucker with more dark secrets than Kelsey Grammer.

he looks like dark secrets liquified and poured into a mold

is this too much to put on a Biden t-shirt:

"Since World War II, the United States economy has performed better on average under the administration of Democratic presidents than Republican presidents. The reasons for this are debated, and the observation applies to economic variables including job creation, GDP growth, stock market returns, personal income growth and corporate profits. The unemployment rate has fallen on average under Democratic presidents, while it has risen on average under Republican presidents. Budget deficits relative to the size of the economy were lower on average for Democratic presidents. Ten of the eleven U.S. recessions between 1953 and 2020 began under Republican presidents.

From 1948 through 2023, the party holding the presidency has changed hands ten times. Every time a Republican took over from a Democrat, GDP growth fell. Every time a Democrat took over from a Republican, GDP growth rose."

god why won't clintonism just die

no one cares if lisa simpson balanced the budget or whatever they still want to kill everyone who voted for her

I don't see much Clintonism in that passage other than something something "stock market returns"

to me it just reads: Repubs will make your life harder. and they are dumb. and stupid. and don't know how to do anything. like make money.

^^That's yer t-shirt!

it is catchier.

democrats winning all their west wing good boy points is doing nothing to stop fascism or planetary collapse or even win basic welfare provisions for their base and I thought people were over this wonk stuff by now but I guess I just tend to avoid spaces like this thread nowadays and I shouldn't have clicked on it anyway

i'm not saying that i care about making money i just happen to live in a country that ONLY cares about making money and nobody seems to care that the party always talking about getting everyone rich never makes anyone rich! its weird. its mass hypnosis. joe biden is doing TERRIBLY in polls. people hate him and think his economy is the worst ever even though it so obviously isn't. i just don't get it. i guess i'll never get it. people just really like carnival barkers in the u.s.?

but yeah i don't usually click on these either. they just end up frustrating me. people - real people right in front of me! - STILL tell me that nobody wants to work in this country. with the lowest unemployment rate in 4000 years! its nuts. and it makes me a little dizzy to be honest.

frankly your country hates workers as much as it hates the unemployed so either way I'd be fucked and probably dead of a gunshot wound or untreated medical condition if I lived there so good luck to anyone who is managing to survive but based on what I hear from american friends it seems like things are pretty bad even if some graphs are looking nice right now

seems like things are pretty bad even if some graphs are looking nice right now

and your country is doing so much better?

no

well then

let's settle this the old fashioned way

with a graph off

lololol

The oceans are boiling and I might die if my bare skin touches pavement so I’m not really impressed by low unemployment right now

https://i.imgur.com/ZQtLHQL.png

now we're talking

Lol

people hate him and think his economy is the worst ever even though it so obviously isn't.

Attitudes toward 'the economy' are largely expressions of partisanship since everyone in the bottom 70% is living perpetually on the edge of the abyss and waiting for the next bubble to pop. Voted for the guy in office? Great economy! Didn't vote for the guy in office? Bad economy!

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/07/PP_19.07.25_Economy_featured.png

The economy is shit and anyone who says otherwise is insulated from reality afaic.

The economy is shit to the end users. That’s a feature, not a bug, and it’s not going to change anytime soon no matter who is in office. That said, I want Democrats in office, for a million other reasons, but primarily because Republicans actively want things to keep getting worse. They get this incredible double whammy out of it- they can keep enriching themselves, their cronies, their donor class and the corporations that keep paying them to keep things going in this direction. But at the same time, the worse things get economically for their voters, the easier they are to manipulate, indoctrinate, and keep fired up and voting red red RED.

What are the real economic indicators that have actual meaning for the end users in our economy? Jobs for sure- but that gets this whole weird reverse psychology effect going on- oh, a strong jobs report is actually BAD for the economy! The stock market? The stock market isn’t even a real thing anymore, we might as well cede that whole part of our economy to the machines and microtransaction algorithms making it impossible for normal people to actually make money. They don’t care whether the economy is good or bad- they can squeeze money out either way. Although those of us with 401ks etc. do want to see the stock market doing well. Gas prices? So easily manipulated by the moneyed interests who see opportunities to put a thumb on the scale and help swing elections toward those who would loosen regulations and promote all that sweet, sweet corporation-friendly legislation. I just feel like it doesn’t matter what the economic indicators say- good or bad- it’s all bad for us actual people, and that’s all part of the long term plan.

damn, u sure know the game left. now win.

Aaaah left i rescind that and apologize, pls forgive

highlights from a thread about exactly this i just saw

Since it's Sunday and I'm bored, I figured I would finally, definitively answer the question of "why do people think the economic is bad (and is that the case?)". This is because it is easy to answer, and the answer is funny and will make many people mad. https://t.co/T7CkRUzNBp

— Quantian (@quantian1) August 7, 2023

Now, let's extend that chart above to include COVID. Same model as above. Oops! Now it's wildly wrong. Consumers should think the economy is really good (105-ish), *if they cared about the same things they did from 1979-2019*, which they don't. Economists HATE inconsistency! pic.twitter.com/GmWUXFqcaL

— Quantian (@quantian1) August 7, 2023

So, the clear-cut, data-backed, but-for reason why Biden is unpopular is because Jerome Powell is making people's mortgage rates go up, and they're not happy about it. This may surprise you, but it really shouldn't: Americans LOVE borrowing money, and HATE being told they can't.

— Quantian (@quantian1) August 7, 2023

well there ya go. voila.

that last part goes hard on the crazed greedhead aspect of american borrowing but truth is its just super expensive for everything and that can make people hate on any president.

we needed to find a used car last year and apparently every used car on the east coast was $5,000 higher than it should have been and i was all like fuck you brandon. i definitely wanted to blame somebody.

Again, some nerd busting out charts to dunk on people who are struggling doesn’t really cut it. Fuck that.

I think it takes time for price changes to spread and hopefully they spread to smaller purchases first and are felt and appreciated there first and eventually to cars, rent, housing, etc. Because here there are basically 2 sides to every question, and that is unfortunate.

The thread title is interesting.

i was/still kinda am hoping that the COVID response of unprecedented unemployment benefits plus tax-free grants to small businesses would energize/mobilize people to demand more of a social safety net. so many people i know who got COVID unemployment benefits were getting more money than they had working at low-paying service industry jobs. ... some of them got the equivalent of sabbaticals (in terms of not having to work for almost a year). So now everyone has to go back to work, but many of them got pay bumps ... but then everything is more expensive, so it's like the way things were before, which kinda sucks?

Reportedly, real wages are going up, while inflation is going down, so hopefully things will even out a little. But who knows.

"even out" to what though?

Sarahell otm. It gave a brief glimpse as to how a government could semi-successfully take care of a population that was displaced economically by things outside their control. But then half the people fucked by it inexplicably wanted the status quo back.

I still hear hold messages that explain the wait times are due to COVID-19 and it makes me go full Tim Robinson "you sure? You sure that's why?"

feel like "the economy" is so big and diversified and distributed unevenly that it's kind of absurd to expect there to be unified sentiment about a "good economy" or "bad economy." to the extent that there used to be more alignment in sentiment among the public, it was only because there was more alignment across the political and media landscapes.

This article schooled me on a couple things:

To be sure, few if any prominent economists expect rates to stay at higher levels like those that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s. Those who expect rates to stay elevated think the Fed’s main policy rate could hover around 4 percent, while those who expect them to be lower see something more in the range of 2 to 3 percent, said Joseph Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

That is because some of the factors that have pushed rates down in recent years persist — and could intensify.

“Several of the explanations for the decline in long-term interest rates before the pandemic are still with us,” explained Lukasz Rachel, an economist at University College London, citing things like an aging population and low birthrates.

When fewer people need houses and products, there is less demand for money to borrow to construct buildings and factories, and interest rates naturally fall.

Such factors are enough for Mr. Williams, the New York Fed president, to expect neutral rates to stick close to their prepandemic level. He also pointed to the shift toward internet services: Streaming a movie on Netflix does not require as much continuing investment as keeping video stores open and stocked.

“We are moving more and more to an economy that doesn’t need factories and lots of capital investment to produce a lot of output,” Mr. Williams said, later adding that “I think the neutral rate is probably just as low as it was.”

That has some big implications for monetary policy. When inflation of around 3 percent is stripped out, the Fed’s policy rate sits at about 2.25 to 2.5 percent in what economists call “real” terms. That is well above the setting of 1 percent or less that Mr. Williams sees as necessary to start weighing on the economy.

Also think the point of the tweet thread wasn't to dunk of people who are struggling but pointing out that the same people what wanted to use the flawed but consistent metrics for economy a mere three years ago to tout how Trump saved the economy are now saying those same metrics are nonsense when someone else is in office.

Like yeah, they paint an incomplete picture, but they always did

Since I couldn’t view the whole thread because “x” lol I couldn’t really get a sense of what it was actually saying, I am just angry and bitter atm my apologies

No need to apologize tabes <3

I get table's discomfort with the use of charts in general, tho, bc there is a tendency to treat them as "see? the economy is great! just sit back and let the people in charge work their magic." when, as you point out, it's always an incomplete picture. even in "good" economies, there are always a lot of people struggling, because that's how capitalism works. personally, I don't blame Biden for not abolishing capitalism, but I think it can be hard to make a case for improvements to economic conditions when they aren't felt equally.

A lot of otm-itude here.

It’s complicated because the pandemic impacted the housing and automobile markets in ways that are hard to reverse. So even though we have largely dragged the economy out of the pandemic recession, supply chains are still in chaos, and supply and demand are stuck in self-perpetuating cycles where there’s no easy way back to where we were pre-pandemic. It’s like economic long COVID- the pandemic fundamentally changed some things about how everything operates. Not that it helps anyone to know that. Employment and wages may be going up, but the bottom line is that people still can’t afford anything. It would take significant and carefully orchestrated action to correct course quickly- but with all the obstruction, finger pointing, culture wars, and desire for things to crash and burn coming from the right, there is no way to get the political alignment needed to enact the sort of plan we would need to improve the real-life economic conditions that people are experiencing.

Yellow Trucks got 700 million in pandemic relief in the summer of 2020 from the government and they just declared bankrupcy. 30,000 jobs gone. Stuff like that is going to keep happening.

"As of the end of March, Yellow’s outstanding debt was $1.5 billion, including about $730 million that it owes to the federal government. Yellow has paid approximately $66 million in interest on the loan, but it has repaid just $230 of the principal owed on the loan, which comes due next year."

"I still hear hold messages that explain the wait times are due to COVID-19 and it makes me go full Tim Robinson "you sure? You sure that's why?"

I still hear messages from california social services stating that all offices are closed due to covid 19, which is flatly false, the offices are open. but they seem to have almost purposefully left that message on their phone systems.

PLANDEMIC

DeSantis fires campaign manager

She tested positive for Woke

she was demoted to chief strategist

i'd rather be a chief strategist than a campaign manager, that's for sure. campaign manager has to be there in the restaurant after weirdo ron tried to connect with the employees and had to fake a phone call to get out of the situation. chief strategist gets to sit in the ac and say stuff like "we need to hit em where it counts!"

wasn't Bannon Trump's prat boy?

Lol z_tbd

once bannon became trump's chief strategist, he became his pret a manger boy, which was a lot to take care of every morning when everyone kept changing their orders

Campaign Manager: are we sure our candidate isn’t a pod person
Chief Strategist: get me a map of Tennessee and also a danish, get yourself one too

the chief strategy will deliver the ideas about how to talk to the people asking how long the staff has known ron is a pod person

i have no experience with campaigns and have only seen a bit of veep, but as i understand it, ron desantis' campaign is 100% exactly like veep

The Chief Strategist gets to be a monk-like philosopher and a decisive person of action and also doesn’t have to sweat as much

DeSantorum

TBH, "Chief Strategist" sounds like the kind of job you put someone in who you can't outright fire (potential lawsuit, contractual obligation), but don't want them actually in the way or doing anything.

DeSantis creeps me out even more than Santorum, who is a guy who brought home a dead fetus to sleep with his family

https://i.imgur.com/5LpmYrd.gif

President Keyes is, unfortunately, correct. Rick is finished but Ron has plans.

“How do you do, fellow Homo sapiens?”

I mean what the fuck is this

There is something very wrong with this man pic.twitter.com/pOpInPBj5q

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) August 8, 2023

maybe he'll do well with the weirdos in Florida but I can't see this guy winning a national election

What the fuuuuuck

frogbs, yes but that is what a lot of us thought about a certain orange personage

Just sayin

https://media.giphy.com/media/tc3Z37UeRGWUBYROMV/giphy.gif

ron desantis carried a small mirror into a desert and tore his clothes and stared into his own eyes for like 3 days straight once. when he came back he wouldn't talk

xpost or rather

https://media.giphy.com/media/tc3Z37UeRGWUBYROMV/giphy.gif

he's already polling a full two points behind Biden when Trump is doing far better, so he's cooked

frogbs, yes but that is what a lot of us thought about a certain orange personage

Just sayin

― Bonobo Vox (Ye Mad Puffin)

you know, not every comparison to 2016 helps. Even then many of us saw Trump's talents. This guy took advantage of a craven Florida Democratic Party, COVID, and Florida's explosive growth to eke out a landslide reelection. That's all -- and I'm a Floridian.

He may get a boost among Republicans if Trump actually gets convicted, but I don't think he's got anywhere near enough appeal to win a general.

That is, unless the efforts to staff local election boards with MAGAists bear fruit.

yeah, like....Dems overperformed in 2018 and 2022's midterms, and Trump lost as predicted in 2020, yet any time someone offers a prognostication of any optimism it's all "tut tut remember 2016".

thing is it's the Independents that matter, not Republicans. although if he loses Republican support, he's cooked.

some Independents are dimwits who are easy to fool with "I don't like Republicans, but it does seem the Dems are using the Justice System to persecute Trump", but a significant, non-zero number of them who will be turned off by the indictments.

Independents are what lost Trump the election in 2020 and COVID was essentially what killed him, if that gives a barometer of what they might react to.

I'm still of the mind that COVID deaths impacted the GOP voting bloc in ways that we're still trying to process, esp w/r/t to polling assumptions.

Sadly Covid did not essentially kill him (but it put up a good effort)

COVID was essentially what killed him

If only.

lol touche. was so disappointed

dude saw Satan and decided that if his afterlife is fucked, he wanted to ruin everybody else's lives

I'm still of the mind that COVID deaths impacted the GOP voting bloc in ways that we're still trying to process, esp w/r/t to polling assumptions.

― citation needed (Steve Shasta)

very much agree w/this

Yeah, we literally don't know how many onetime Republican voters just...don't exist anymore.

By the time of the 2024 election around 24 million people who were around in 2016 will have died.

if you die in the voting booth but you completed your ballot does it go through

and do they decontaminate the booth

Why does DeSantis keep making King Hippo face in public

he wants to Punchout Glass Joe

unfortunately for him, he's the easiest foe to defeat

Hi yeah gang (especially Alfred and Neanderthal), I am not necessarily speaking of 2016 specifically - just generally trying to stay humble about predictions.

Politics can find a lot of different ways to frustrate our predictions, and to violate us in unexpected and uncomfortable ways.

I mean what the fuck is this

🐦[There is something very wrong with this man pic.twitter.com/pOpInPBj5q🕸
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) August 8, 2023🕸]🐦

maybe he'll do well with the weirdos in Florida but I can't see this guy winning a national election

the media really tries to play up the 'enthusiasm gap' for Biden, but when I vote for him, I'll also be voting for his administration, his cabinet, his joint chiefs, etc. His team - and I don't have to hold my nose to make that vote

frogbs, yes but that is what a lot of us thought about a certain orange personage

Just sayin

― Bonobo Vox (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, August 8, 2023 10:13 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think a lot of people still recognized him (at least in his 2015-2016 form) as a good wrestling heel who at least had some form of backwards charisma. he shit all over everyone and everything but not in a way that made him seem like a total lunatic, like he comes off as now. he was - dare I say - actually kind of funny. DeSantis has none of this. if Trump is the guy making his classmates laugh by giving the nerdy kid a wedgie, DeSantis is the guy trying to get the same laughs by smashing his face into a locker and giving him a concussion.

the media really tries to play up the 'enthusiasm gap' for Biden, but when I vote for him, I'll also be voting for his administration, his cabinet, his joint chiefs, etc. His team - and I don't have to hold my nose to make that vote

― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, August 8, 2023 11:58 AM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

they did this in 2020 too which totally misses the point, very few people are excited to vote for Biden but they're actually really really excited to vote against one of the most repellent and annoying men on the planet

but not in a way that made him seem like a total lunatic

I dunno, I'm gonna have to gently disagree with this. He pretty clearly came across like a lunatic at times back in 2016 too.

He did. But Dr. Lecter was funny too.

I never found him funny and I never wanted him to win the nomination, but everybody else kept saying Ted Cruz was scarier

The only time I ever found Trump funny was after Jeb! hopelessly tried for a media breakthrough moment by contorting a Trump line about Barbara Bush. He said something like "My mom is the sweetest, kindest, toughest person in the world."

"Well, maybe she should run for president instead," Trump threw back with perfect timing.

I would have responded with a still from Manchurian Candidate

The only time I've found Trump to be funny was when he asked the 8-year old kid if he still believed in Santa Claus, "because at that age it's marginal, right?" But I don't think he was trying to be funny, just asking what he felt to be a serious question.

Trump is accidentally funny as a byproduct of his cruelty and narcissism. It's as natural to him as breathing so it's not just Democrats who get it but his own side's creeps, freaks and ghouls - like when he publicly tortured racist leprechaun Jeff Sessions for a couple of months.

Yeah Trump bites all the hands that feed him. I read in Politico about a profane tirade on a phone call to Sheldon Adelson accusing Adelson of not giving him enough money. I like to think that's what killed the old ghoul.

I've seen enough: in a major victory for the pro-choice side, Ohio Issue 1 (a measure to raise the threshold to pass a state constitutional amendment to 60%) fails.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 8, 2023

That is great news.

[slowed down wilhelm scream] eaaah

yes, great news!

Yes!

what will their next cheat be? fascinating. *tents fingers*

suck it fascists

Ohio voters reject Issue 1 in special election

Just before 9:45 p.m., Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) acknowledged Issue 1’s defeat — while looking toward the abortion rights vote in November.

“The people of Ohio have spoken. It is now time to turn our attention to November,” Stephens said in a statement. “As a 100% pro-life conservative, we must defeat Issue 1 on November 7 to stop abortion from being a part of our state’s constitution.”

In a statement, Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, reflected on the hasty process that brought Issue 1 to voters’ ballots less than 90 days before the election.

“For the entirety of this year, politicians supporting Issue 1 ignored the will of the people in the legislative process, flip-flopped on their ruling not to hold August special elections, costing tax-payers millions of dollars, and spread misinformation and lies from start to finish,” Burga said. “In the end, voters would not be fooled by this unprecedented, corrupt attempt to silence our voice.”

My electricity bill has gone down since the beginning of the year. Should I attribute this to green energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and Yellen's cap on Russian oil? Do pocketbook issues and perceptions always win?

Good morning!

Where’s the Ron DeSantis pivot to tap-dancing?

Like, actual tap dancing, Gene Kelly style, with a straw boater and cane

Seriously, think about how fucking funny this would be

"My new campaign consultants gave me these slick red shoes, and now I just can't stop dancing ..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-vaXoD3TrU

See, now THAT is the kind of deepfake video AI was made for.

https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*6wsPtukqsn6UmMPwpUIZdQ.jpeg

desantis' head usually does a little tap dance routine when he talks

Just a friendly reminder that if you fuck up enough to raise the ire of the FBI by threatening to kill the president, do not greet them with guns.

JUST IN: FBI special agents shot and killed a Utah man accused of threatening President Biden and other officials https://t.co/g8Dygy5ft1

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 9, 2023

i will still go on record and say I don't like how often cops/FBI/other agencies kill civilians during routine visits/apprehensions, and I have a feeling when the details emerge this will yet be another one where it needlessly escalated, but I can't square that with the feeling that I'm also glad this guy is dead.

"The complaint includes numerous social media posts believed to have been made by Robertson threatening to kill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as several officials involved in prosecuting former President Donald Trump." Apparently the threats were "credible" (and Biden is going to Utah).

bad look for the GOP they really can't afford to lose any more voters

Shot a man in Utah

just to watch him die

"The complaint includes numerous social media posts believed to have been made by Robertson threatening to kill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris”

Wait a minute—-this is how Robbie Robertson died?

his corpse should get the death penalty

Man tried to one-up the Proud Boy who stormed that FBI Field Office.

just to watch him die

now watch the magats lie

this is v gross but i’m betting not untrue

and to be clear i’m not claiming it was justified— that shit is horrible.

In a post on Monday Robertson said, “Hey FBI, you still monitoring my social media? Checking so I can be sure to have a loaded gun handy in case you drop by again.”

I'm sure in his head this sounded badass

Busy day! pic.twitter.com/DMTm5lTPiL

— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 10, 2023

Saw it reported that the Utah guy shot by the FBI was reported by Truth Social.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcXXhknpO5c

(reported in, that is.)

HAHA

narced by one of their own

https://i.imgur.com/GvlJs5L.jpg

"Et tu truthē?"

Good morning!

Imagine dying for Donnie Fuckin' Two-scoops...

"Et tu truthē?"

― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, August 11, 2023 10:00 AM bookmarkflaglink

lmao

these people

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-says-s-open-drone-strikes-mexican-drug-cartels-rcna99305

I feel like the press and the Democrats aren’t giving enough attention to the right’s (including supposedly peacenik Trump’s) old/new idea of invading Mexico to solve all our problems. I do expect to see Taibbi/Greenwald explaining why invading Mexico is totally different from invading Iraq.

“We’re authorizing deadly force. They try to break into our country? They will end up stone-cold dead,” he said to a rousing round of applause.

In a recent interview, DeSantis discussed how he would distinguish between migrants who are smuggling drugs and those who aren’t.

“Same way a police officer would know,” he said. “Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time, they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them. So those guys have to make judgments.”

luckily he's not going to be president, but making dumb proclamations about how to most effectively murder people is becoming a litmus test for one political party

good morning!

Greenwald and Taibbi tend to ignore things like Republicans candidates wanting to invade Mexico and focus on important things like little-known Obama staffers liking pro-Ukraine tweets or whatever.

“Same way a police officer would know,” he said.

Uh, police officers don't have a sterling reputation in this regard.

part of the reason GWB was able to "get away with" Iraq/Afghanistan is because the average American knows so few Middle Easterners and so it was easy to dehumanize them and paint them as backwards bomb-carrying lunatics. but Mexican-Americans make up nearly 1/8 of this country, in fact a huge part of American culture is just Mexican culture. I don't think the GOP will ever lose Texas in my lifetime but if they declare war on Mexico they just might.

You know, these people in Iraq at the time, they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them. So those guys have to make judgments.

fuckin hate this shit so much. what he's talking about is a big fucking problem and part of the reason you don't do this in the first place. I went to school with someone who was deployed; good kid, I used to play Magic: the Gathering with him a bunch. anyway apparently there was some situation where a kid started walking towards them with a backpack, they tried to get him to stop but he didnt speak English, and he wound up having to shoot and kill him, because apparently that is what they are trained to do in this situation. in the backpack was just water and snacks, he needlessly murdered a child, and this wound up fucking him up for life, to the point where he attempted suicide 3 times because he cannot stop thinking about it. I visited him a couple times and his entire demeanor right now is just blank. it's so messed up. fuck anyone who thinks this is a good system.

Fuck

yes, same here. suicides, and also friends who were very changed and disturbed afterward. i imagine many if not most people do. that story posted a while back about desantis' time as a jag at guantanamo is all you need to know what a foolish prick desantis is

police officers don't have a sterling reputation in this regard

Nor do military "operators" as frogbs notes.

In my experience it's really easy to not kill people; just... don't.

“Same way a police officer would know,” he said. “Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time, they all looked the same. You didn’t know who had a bomb strapped to them. So those guys have to make judgments.”

...Same way you have to make judgements whether they had WMDs or not...

...Same way you had to waterboard in GitMo them until they repeated the lies you fed them...

sadlol

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Friday elevated the prosecutor investigating President Biden’s son Hunter to special counsel status, signaling that the inquiry had entered a new stage and setting up the possibility that the 2024 presidential election would be shadowed by myriad investigations.

Mr. Garland, who made the announcement at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, named David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who has handled the case for years, as the special counsel. The move comes seven months after Mr. Garland appointed Robert K. Hur to be a special counsel investigating whether President Biden has mishandled classified documents.

Mr. Garland said he decided to elevate Mr. Weiss after the prosecutor informed him on Tuesday the investigation had “reached the stage” where the powers of a special counsel were necessary to continue. Mr. Weiss would have the authority to investigate all related matters in his inquiry and could bring charges in any jurisdiction, Mr. Garland added, meaning that Mr. Weiss would not be subject to day-to-day supervision by any official at the department.

the tax stuff is whatever, but the 'buying a handgun while being addicted' is just nuts

yes, same here. suicides, and also friends who were very changed and disturbed afterward. i imagine many if not most people do. that story posted a while back about desantis' time as a jag at guantanamo is all you need to know what a foolish prick desantis is

― z_tbd, Friday, August 11, 2023 11:48 AM (fifty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah like 1/3 of my friends enlisted along with some family members. I don't think a single one of them came back 'normal'. several of them are okay now, but only after years of therapy and several prescriptions. I'm so glad I didn't enlist myself. for a while I actually wanted to. though to be fair I wasn't quite aware the extent to which army recruiters could straight up lie to you. the thing I heard from a lot of my friends was "we weren't supposed to actually see any action"

So far there's been zero evidence Joe Biden did anything close to illegal to help Hunter. Appointing a special counsel just builds an expensive firewall against the Republicans and their innuendos. The irony is that it won't slow down the innuendos a bit or alter the political outcome by more than a trifle. All that will happen is that the special counsel will spend millions setting up an independent investigative apparatus and Hunter Biden will get a somewhat stiffer sentence as a result.

I kinda dread another both sides thing and I'm sure the media hasn't learned a damn thing from 2016 but at the same time I think the GOP wildly overplayed their hand with the Hunter Biden shit in 2020 so rehashing it yet again while their own guy is facing multiple criminal indictments probably won't play so well. I mean don't get me wrong it seems clear Hunter's done a bunch of illegal shit but he's not involved with government at all, unlike Trump's kids!

The funny (sad) thing about all of this is that the republicans are super pissed that Garland named Weiss as special counsel. Unless the prosecutor says up front that they plan to lock up Joe Biden and throw away the key, the GOP will continue to complain and churn indefinitely because that's all they have.

"They all looked the same"

I think I liked donation requests that looked like collections notices more than this uWu shit.

https://x.com/johnfetterman/status/1690026537276637184?s=46&t=z1egexpHAtHcPPxgbp4Hrw

Fox News anchor: "I remember, 20 years-old, going to Trier, Germany and trying to find the home of Karl Marx 'cause, you know, 1848, he wrote Mein Kampf. I wanted to know what was all about. So, that's part of the education in America." pic.twitter.com/Kjj7nW3nUt

— Doug Aoki (@Nantanreikan) August 11, 2023

Sorry guy, Mein Kampf was written by Machiavelli in 1986.

I thought that was satire, but nope. I guess he proved he's not just another pretty face on FOX News.

Most cops in America can’t rub their stomachs and pat their heads simultaneously, much less read at an 8th grade level or be able to run a mile in under 40 minutes

Mein Kampfer van Beethoven

Trying to understand the political calculus here — who at the Iowa State Fair are you appealing to with this?

2024 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy raps Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair. pic.twitter.com/xUxlxUf3TY

— The Recount (@therecount) August 12, 2023

Bored ILMers on a Saturday afternoon

Ramaswamy trying to up his street cul-de-sac cred.

Trying to understand the political calculus here — who at the Iowa State Fair are you appealing to with this?

You don't think there are a lot of Eminem fans at the Iowa State Fair? You're American, right?

the soapbox is near the beer sales place that plays 90% country and rap with a smattering of classic rock and hair metal

if there are any other questions about the iowa state fair let me know and I’ll go check it out this week and report back!

Any innovations this year on the "deep fry it and eat it" front?

https://www.iowastatefair.org/food/whats-new

looks like the Deep-Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-n-Cheese Grilled Cheese might be the new contender

now this is the kind of on-the-ground reporting ILX needs

lol I'm sure there's plenty of Eminem at the Iowa State Fair. I'm unpersuaded that an Eminem rapalong is a savvy political move for a Republican presidential contender trying to connect with voters there. Or anywhere really. Not that anything about Ramaswamy's run makes much sense, but yelping about "the border" and "Democrat-run hellholes" is probably a better use of his time.

https://x.com/dylanewells/status/1690448077138636800?s=46&t=1N_JLJbpRIqXBqvEx7NdhA

He should've eaten a corn dog while rapping.

hmm, the Iowa Twinkie looks less deadly and just as tasty imo
xps

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/chIZnzPUj_fb0x4_OJpu_klCaW0=/0x0:2500x2500/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x2500):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18972142/BERNIE_REACTION.jpg

Aren't state fair appearances are more about polishing up your "I'm the candidate you'd want to hang out and drink a beer with" persona? I think the basic idea is to circulate wherever the biggest crowds are, wear jeans, shake lots of hands, smile like a lunatic, eat some messy finger food, and rub elbows with all the 100% real Americans.

Sure, Eminem just seems like a weird route to go. I guess maybe trying to channel "your dorky cousin at the wedding reception" energy.

there’s apparently an insanely stupid Vivek billboard two blocks from my house. no clue why, unless the ad buyers think you can see the billboard from nearby I-235, which you can not. I live in possibly the most heavily democrat-leaning neighborhood in the state

Sure, Eminem just seems like a weird route to go. I guess maybe trying to channel "your dorky cousin at the wedding reception" energy.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWbAT39XAAAOVie?format=png&name=small

Ok if that's from a Vivek interview

We almost went to the last day of the Wisconsin state fair today. Hilariously, they have an entire section on their site dedicated to foods on a stick:

https://wistatefair.com/fair/foods-on-a-stick/

Oddly, Wisconsin, the friggin' dairy state, does not have a cow made of sculpted butter. But the Illinois state fair sure does! Here it is, rightly being admired by our governor:

https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/bdtonline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/85/f85ac218-5618-5abb-9520-67233e7ca712/64d427645506a.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C1107

JB just thinking bout that cow

You only get one corndog do not miss your chance

“Outside the pork tent, things were even dicier.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/13/trump-desantis-supporters-spar-iowa-bar-00110992

One of those sentences you never think you will ever say, and then you're suddenly saying it.

Do we have footage of DeSantis eating corn on the cob in public like a robot

I understand Politico skepticism but that article is really something, actual reporting

Looking up at the sky, Matt Wells, the Washington County chair for DeSantis’ Iowa operation, muttered that “Trump people are degenerates.”

Well, yeah.

also deplorables, as I heard it

Those people are degenerates....
...and I need their votes.

This piece from the "conservative but not like that" site the Bulwark, about how the media misunderstands Biden voters and seems mysteriously uninterested in doing safari trips to talk to them, is really good.

That was excellent. Thanks. I've been waiting for that story.

wtf were republicans doing on 4th street? thought we chased them out of there years ago

is that where "The Copper Cup" is located?

yeah. not a place I go to but I think I've been there once? really wish we'd completely lost all early primary status for all the parties right about now. I can't overstate how annoying it is to have all these people crawling around every few years

xp thx for article, unperson. yeah, the generalities in the article are often pretty darn general-- too general?-- but v helpful to remind "the media" about.

Isn’t Iowa just a bunch of welfare farmers mooching off the government?

I would've suggested hitting up Zombie Burger

that's a popular tourist spot, sure

xp mostly thousands of hogs and an ever-decreasing number of people growing corn iirc

virtually no one outside the culture war right thinks a millionaire who owns car dealerships but didn’t go to college, or a tech-industry venture capitalist who complains about the “woke mob,” are working class, while a middle-school teacher with a college degree or a coffee barista who puts they/them pronouns on a nametag are elites.

Yeah this

https://i.postimg.cc/ZnKWpfLd/IMG-7550.jpg

Is this anything

that TRUMP FOR PRISON 2024 sign my parents have in their front yard must be working

Nope, false alarm

(for now)

what, the sign?

interesting

The Fulton County, Georgia, court's website briefly posted a document appearing to detail several criminal charges against Donald Trump on Monday before taking the document down without explanation.
The document was dated Aug. 14 and named Trump, citing the case as "open."

— Sarah N. Lynch (@SarahNLynch) August 14, 2023

I'm sure the DA found that 'interesting', too.

Some good news:

Judge Rules in Favor of Youth Plaintiffs in Montana Climate Lawsuit

A Montana district judge on Monday issued a ruling in the nation’s first constitutional climate change trial declaring the youth plaintiffs have a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment” while revoking two Montana statutes. The state Attorney General’s office said it would appeal the ruling.

The 103-page order by Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Kathy Seeley comes two months after the landmark Held v. Montana trial took place in Helena and explicitly states that Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions are “proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment, and harm and injury to the youth plaintiffs.” It also rolls back two laws enacted by Montana’s Republican-led Legislature this year, HB 971 and SB 557, which made changes to the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).

“Plaintiffs have proven that as children and youth, they are disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts,” the order states. “The Defendants have the authority under the statues by which they operate to protect Montana’s environment and natural resources, protect the health and safety of Montana’s youth, and alleviate and avoid climate impacts by limiting fossil fuel activities that occur in Montana when the MEPA analysis shows that those activities are resulting in degradation or other harms which violate the Montana Constitution,” the order continues.

The lawsuit, the first of its kind to reach trial, was filed by 16 youth plaintiffs from across Montana who alleged the state violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by promoting the fossil fuel industry and exacerbating climate change.

“As youth, we are exposed to a lot of knowledge about climate change. We can’t keep passing it on to the next generation when we’re being told about all the impacts that are already happening,” Rikki Held, the suit’s lead plaintiff, told the Beacon before the trial. “In some ways, our generation feels a lot of pressure, kind of a burden, to make something happen because it’s our lives that are at risk.”

nice

seeing how the legal system normally functions, this ruling is like successfully drawing to an inside straight.

that TRUMP FOR PRISON 2024 sign my parents have in their front yard must be working

― mh, Monday, August 14, 2023 12:07 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was driving around in the countryside near my parents' house (rural upper Michigan) and saw a sign that said:

TRUMP
20-24
years in prison

Trump and the numbers were in giant letters and the hyphen and tagline much smaller. I just about died laughing, it is absolutely incongruous for the area and even more absurd as a result.

sheesh, listening to janet yellin on the news is like listening to a doctor tell you you are going to die but they never say it and instead tell you that things could get better but you know you are going to die.

props for her magic mushroom dinner though. that brought a smile to her face when asked about that! wowie zowie. all of a sudden that pyramid on the dollar bill started glowing and made her third eye shine like jewelry. #propstoRakim

link?

So I have two disappointments here. Neither Cleta Mitchell, nor Lindsey Graham appear to have been indicted.

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) August 15, 2023

helpful summary from a friend:

More top posts from Reddit Mega thread:

Just to cover all the Georgia-specific information and concerns as we go forward with this perilous but unprecedented prosecution:

Georgia is one of three states where the governor has no clemency power. Pardons are granted by a parole/pardons board only after an appeal and minimum of 5 years sentence served. Pardon power is established by the GA constitution, and takes a 2/3rds vote in both chambers to amend (which Republicans currently don't have).

Georgia is also a state that holds an expansive RICO structure - much broader than the federal outline it's modeled after. Fani Willis is particularly experienced with prosecuting these cases.

There's a separate law recently passed that gives the state legislature power to remove prosecutors after a review process, but this will likely be successfully challenged in the courts if attempted against Willis. The state constitution explicitly grants the judiciary oversight of DAs, and they won't be too keen on a separate branch usurping their authority.

So it's not completely out the question that this investigation is thwarted in some way - but it's a tall order. He definitely picked a terrible state to commit felonies in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8_f3kJOX_8

Sorry if this was already posted, this is all a fast moving story, right?

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a44810596/georgia-trump-trial-text-messages/?fbclid=IwAR3DghdNZD6Hxy7D-TxXC4TgGudtofkrjyAg-V35-UsXv-lWpbk2hKdx2cg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-35q9ISBsI

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video_thumb/FHKqfHmUcAQNYJh.jpg
"RICO-la ... !"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK0mjeIky0Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0XzV71LT18

I love Peter Baker's reporting:

The novelty of a former leader of the United States being called a felon has somehow worn off. Not that the sweeping 98-page indictment handed up in Georgia accusing him of corruptly trying to reverse the state’s 2020 election results was any less momentous. But a country of short attention spans has now seen this three times before and grown oddly accustomed to the spectacle.

Multiple prosecutors have now cumulatively laid out an alleged presidential crime spree of epic proportions, complete with tangled intrigues, mysterious co-conspirators and intersecting subplots. The Georgia indictment went further than previous ones by charging 18 others with joining a criminal enterprise with the former president, including associates like Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark and John Eastman.

Yet most Americans made up their minds about Mr. Trump long before prosecutors like Fani T. Willis or Jack Smith weighed in, polls have shown. He is, depending on the perspective, a serial lawbreaker finally being brought to justice or a victim of persecution by partisans intent on keeping him out of office.

This guy projects Fair Balanced Objective Reporter on the teevee but his editor let him get away with that bullshit first paragraph.

depending on the perspective

The thing about Americans having made up their minds years ago is that it really doesn't matter, because Americans don't charge or try criminals.

^ otm. was thinking the same thing. citing polls in an article about prosecution for extremely serious crimes treats the entire question of his guilt or innocence as a political contest not a matter to be considered by multiple juries who have seen and heard massive amounts of testimony and evidence. it's a nonsensical perspective that trivializes the gravity of the proceedings.

it's like there's more about preferences and fights than one man's peccadillos. or his tremendous oceanic trash gyre of crimes and malfeasance. and it's always he/him. and why does pecado have one "c" and peccadillos have two?

A conviction would also sway a not-insignificant number of people in the middle to the side of "serial lawbreaker."

Fun fact, Peter Baker and I had the same journalism teacher

and only you practice it?

A conviction would also sway a not-insignificant number of people in the middle to the side of "serial lawbreaker."

― papal hotwife (milo z), Tuesday, August 15, 2023 1:12 PM (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah I know it seems like everyone is terminally online these days but I guarantee you a lot of people aren't, I know there are a lot of low-info GOP voters going "can they seriously not get anyone else" at this point and I don't think it's a given that they're all gonna fall in line and vote Trump anyway

Probably meaningless, but it would be interesting to see if this is repeated elsewhere

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the critical early presidential primary state of New Hampshire, according to an Emerson College survey released Tuesday.

He was just here for the Springsteen shows. I'll say this much about him, he really knows how to stand there and let people repeatedly kick him in the nuts. I like that in a presidential candidate (that I would never vote for).

it should be noted that they're still both polling in single digits in NH

Was surprised this didn't get picked up more when it happened (at the start of the month) - either from the CHUDs who'd get the vapors or from normal people who would correctly recognize it as being cool as hell

Had my very first @FirstAvenue show with the Music Rockers to celebrate MN legalizing marijuana!

For those wondering: I was playing a Roland System 1 analog modeling synth. We also had a Novation Peak, 3 laptops running Ableton, processed vocals, and 4 drummers. pic.twitter.com/QT91zqAqyq

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 12, 2023

I hope she got her ARP 2600 from the run they did a couple of months ago.

OMAR PLAYS ANTISEMITIC SYNTHESIZER!

that rules

I agree, Lindsey Graham should be indicted.

I thought her band would be like boring reggae or something but it sounds like insane Crash Worship stuff

their usual name is Marijuana Deathsquads

Dr. Feelgood gets bodyslammed:

Rep. Ronny Jackson curses at officers, is tackled to ground in video of detainment

Law enforcement officials, according to the report and to their accounts of the incidents in the videos, asked Jackson repeatedly to back away from a teenage girl who was experiencing a seizure, to make room for the EMS who were just arriving. But Jackson, who served as the White House physician under Presidents Obama and Trump — refused and grew increasingly combative with officials before being tackled to the ground by two law enforcement officials...

oh god, he claims in the video to be an ER doctor (which he was, in 2005) and then claims that EMTs “work for me”

those rodeo beers were really taking him back

Action Jackson!

Why didn't you just move out of the way?

I wasn't drinking!

One year anniversary of Inflation Reduction Act:

Inflation on Aug 16, 2022: 8.5 percent

Inflation on Aug 16, 2023: 3.2 percent

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) August 16, 2023

Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said inflation in product and transportation costs is coming down. Supplier requests for price increases are “negligible.”

“Net new requests for costs, and certainly cost increases in the supply chain, that’s completely abated." https://t.co/pp1LFr2xOH

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) August 16, 2023

to the extent "it's the economy" things are in increasingly good shape

where "economy" = the kind of economy that gets covered in the media and drives the votes of the remaining 15 swing voters.

Good distinction

otm

I only care about the price of pork belly futures.

i do think this is good news though, and should be part of the reelection campaign.

8% to 3% (while maintaining the lowest unemployment rate since the 60s) is not nothing.

What is Joe Biden even doing to open up new pork markets in Beijing

More than anything this economy upends a bunch of bullshit ideology that leads to austerity

I think when people think about recent high inflation and how that's impacted them, what they are really looking for is disinflation rather than inflation at a lower rate. Now that probably wouldn't actually be a good thing, and it is definitely not something anyone should expect to happen, but I think that's a big part of the disconnect.

based on recent GOP primary polls, DeSantis is in danger of being overtaken by....Ramaswamy

(ok, not REALLY yet, but Ramaswamy's vote share has sharply increased while DeSantis's is going the other way. Desantis was in 20% range and is now hovering more like 14%, and Ramaswamy actually beat him in one recent outlying poll)

Ronnie boning up on Bubba Sparxxx verses.

Ramaswamy is going to benefit most from being in a debate.

Mr DeSantis, can you clarify your response?

"How else can I put it
I don't speak no other languages?"

moodles: disinflation is lower (positive) inflation. do you mean deflation, i.e. negative inflation?

Trump is going to schedule live rallies to compete with every single GOP debate, right?

xp

yes, that's what I meant

the extent to which DeSantis has already crashed and burned is amazing, I was expecting this to happen after the debates started and people actually heard him talk but he hasn't even gotten that far!

if anyone's gonna overtake Trump it can't be a guy who was a total sycophant for him a few years ago. unfortunately that cuts out like 99% of the GOP, since the central party plank right now is that Trump is cool and smart and totally innocent of any crimes, and how do you run against a guy you've been building up for 7 years as infallible? the only one I can see maybe pulling it off is Chris Christie who is already making the rounds as the one GOP guy willing to go on all the shows and say "yeah, he's obviously a criminal"

xp yeah i can imagine voters might want deflation ("i want the old prices back"), but it is pretty much always a disaster when it actually happens iiuc.

exactly

which term accurately describes what is happening to DeSantis right now?

shrinkage

Diarrhea

the only one I can see maybe pulling it off is Chris Christie who is already making the rounds as the one GOP guy willing to go on all the shows and say "yeah, he's obviously a criminal"

It helps that he looks straight out of central casting

"The Inflation Reduction Act is spurring manufacturers to return to the US in droves, the chief executive officer of US Steel Corp. said, “This is the most amazing thing we’ve seen in the United States for a very long time."https://t.co/mvKKtlVfH2

— Xarabande (@atL4L5) August 16, 2023

a country music singer will be President

no way in hell Dolly runs.

nyt opinion: america really wants a fascist authoritarian tyrant, but with calming, less crime-y vibes.

Matt Yglesias: "Why Trump's imprisonment at Rikers and subsequent being eaten by an alligator during his escape attempt is devastating for Democrats"

Americans want a straight shooter that can also literally shoot straight.

53% of Americans say they will definitely not vote for Trump in ‘24, with a further 11% saying they probably won’t. Here’s why that’s bad news for Joe Biden.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 16, 2023

thinking the Republican primary will be decided by whomever is standing under the improperly affixed ceiling lamp during the first debate

lol Pitchbot

yeah they pretty much nail the NYT's steez at this point

Didn't Maureen Dowd literally write a column that the Pitchbot had pitched?

Didn't Maureen Dowd literally write a column that the Pitchbot had pitched?

It’s happened several times when you combine Dowd’a actual columns with the output of her cohort

xp GOP Repbuttal to USS: "Well actually, it's our SCOTUS's reversal of the Clean Water Act and our boys' termination of the EPA that brings back manufacturing, not any "Bidenomic" Inflation Reduction Act BS. Which is why we should ALL want toxic dumps-- just uh, over there, with the poors and plebs. Fact: future prosperity smells like thioacetone and heavy metals."

Also the American economy as such seems like it’s gunna get worse on the level most people actually experience it on since the Fed and other American power holders are attempting to make up for the ~6 million people who left the labor force in the last 3 years(and/or died) but also _not_ change immigration which would help fill those spots.

Didn't Maureen Dowd literally write a column that the Pitchbot had pitched?

*cough*

I can’t top this pic.twitter.com/jCFf6gUyfF

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 15, 2023

When does more indictments actually equal fewer indictments?

If the president goes to prison, do we not all go to prison?

Adolf Hitler's death, how it will hurt the allies

a country music singer will be President

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQX_a_JoUcLq6CrB9Uqm9rBLOjchRKMisRVNw&usqp=CAU

DOBRO BRO 2028

Why the JFK Assassination is just a headfake

Man Lands on Moon, But Many Other Moons Remain Unwalked On

Joe Biden wins reelection in a landslide. Here's why that's bad news for Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

https://i.imgur.com/SLQ2MOn.png

gedda brain washpost morans!

peter baker is the worst of these IRL pitchbot people. he has this veneer of rigor that makes the circular logic and his obvious boredom with his subject in a piece like this even worse than the usual "bad thing for trump is actually bad for biden" stuff https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/us/politics/trump-indictments-georgia-criminal-charges.html.

If the president goes to prison, do we not all go to prison?

― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Wednesday, August 16, 2023 10:59 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Lol

This thread is on a roll

https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/22866740/20161018/070532/styles/raw/public/article_images/img_20161018_184257_01-1476831303-4378.jpg

which term accurately describes what is happening to DeSantis right now?

― earosmith (Neanderthal), Wednesday, August 16, 2023 11:17 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

shrinkage

― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, August 16, 2023 11:17 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Disinflategate

Quicksandis?

DeSafinito

Demorning After

Look me in the eyes and tell me
That I'm Santisfied
I'm so
I'm so
DeSantisfied

D’oh Santis

Da doo Ron-Ron-Ron
Da doo Ron-Ron

His political implosion has been one of the most enjoyable so far this century, couldn't happen to a nicer guy

He keeps repeating "I'm the one they don't want to win the nomination!" and the sentiment seems to be catching on with the general public

DeSans

DeSans t'is

I don't practice Santisria

i do not sniff the coke I only smoke santismilla

Looks like they might get this guy, too. No idea what the politics of the prosecutors association in Georgia are, though. I'm guessing Republican.

New: Pete Skandalakis, the head of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of GA, is asking a Fulton judge for access to the special grand jury's final report to review any info about Lt. Gov. Burt Jones 1/ pic.twitter.com/GUAVy84Jxr

— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) August 16, 2023

Apparently ie’s coconspirator # 8

"Former State Senator Burt Jones" is now "Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones," btw.

DeSantis thing is even funnier in that there's not even a particular reason for it. he's not doing anything he wasn't doing when he won re-election, he's just that much of a fucking goblin

holy cow this is not a parody:

As he sought to connect with voters and donors, critics said DeSantis had resembled — to quote a couple of posts — “a robot put together from scrapped spare parts from Disney’s The Hall of Presidents” or “an extraterrestrial in a skin-suit trying to learn to be human.”

But when Guy, the menswear writer, watched a video of DeSantis cycling through four different facial expressions in about three seconds during a news conference, he saw something even more disturbing.

“Oh, God,” he remembers saying to himself. “That’s me.”

The governor’s anti-charisma — his apparent struggles to make small talk, his propensity for letting a smile fall too quickly from his face — reminded Guy of himself at parties. Or the time he had no idea what to say after a fan of his fashion writing recognized him at a tailoring shop.

“It was exactly like those DeSantis moments,” he said. “A normal human being would understand how to light up your face, how to engage, how to say the right thing. But DeSantis doesn’t have that. And I definitely don’t have that.”

Guy is not the only awkward American who has identified with DeSantis as he has emerged as the Awkward Candidate.

“Like Ron DeSantis, I spend every day trying to act like a human,” said Michelle Witherspoon, an environmental consultant in California.

“Every time I watch the videos, I cringe,” said Kate Ecke, a therapist from New Jersey who recently forgot to bring identification when picking up her child at summer camp and subsequently “really weirded out” a counselor by offering to show her C-section scar as proof of motherhood. “But I’m cringing because I’ve been that person.”

They'd better get an actual Awkward American to play DeSantis in his biopic.

lol Get Michael Cera to the prosthetics tent, stat!

It can't be anyone but Tom Cruise tbh

xp i made this hall of presidents parody a few years ago

https://vimeo.com/248242009

desantis would have fit right in

“As he sought to connect with voters and donors, critics said DeSantis had resembled — to quote a couple of posts — “a robot put together from scrapped spare parts from Disney’s The Hall of Presidents” or “an extraterrestrial in a skin-suit trying to learn to be human.””

Critics OTFM

outfitted with the absolute worst voice anyone running for office could ever have

This was … an interesting angle for an article but Ronny D is something beyond “awkward”

xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPIvwu-573Y

More like the best speech ever

Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell Randy Gonzales, I'm coming

Posting this only for the joy of these idiots attacking each other.

Vivek spox: “Vivek’s job on Aug 23 is to introduce himself and his vision to the American people. These boring, canned attack lines from a robotic candidate doesn’t change that. If DeSantis struggles to use a spoon, I can’t imagine he is particularly agile with a sledgehammer.” https://t.co/SAPjuDEEby

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) August 17, 2023

TS: Fake Vivek vs. Vivek the Fake

My name is Vivek, it rhymes with cake,
Ron DeSantis wants to call me a fake
But I got the rhyme and I got the meter
I'll take a sledgehammer to his brown pudding Peter

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/17/ron-desantis-republican-debate-memos-presidential-campaign

The genius of #1--"Attack Joe Biden and the media"--cannot be overstated.

I bet he's really mad all the other candidates know that now too. There goes his advantage.

“Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy,” the memo said, advising DeSantis to coin a Trump-style nickname: “‘Fake Vivek’ Or ‘Vivek the Fake.’”

how will Ramaswamy's political career ever survive this sledgehammer attack???

"Ramaswampy" is right there

Fake and Vivek don't even rhyme

^ Vivek news!

He pronounces it Viv-ache

Good morning!

you'd think they'd organise a Hurricane Hilary so it blew straight through Mar A Lago not keep it on the other side of the country wouldn't you. blooming weather gods.

Every breath you tek
Every move you mek
Every vow you brek
Every cake you bek
Every leg you brek
Every fake Vivek

So there's really going to be a Republican debate next week that features a gaggle of GOP goons who largely lack the courage to criticize the frontrunner (who may or may not even show)? That's kind of historic, and embarrassing. Maybe Christie will egg them on.

The only card for any of them to play is to mock Trump and shame him into coming next time. The way he did it in 2016.

yeah I mean the frontrunner is a guy who just got indicted for the 4th time and won't even show up to the debate, if you aren't gonna capitalize on that then I assume you simply don't want to be president

The bind they're in is that if Trump does have to drop out for jail reasons, his voters are probably going to go to the candidate who seems most likely to pardon him.

Anyone who mocks trump will face the unstoppable rebuttal of Ron Desantis

It's especially weird when they've been given a literal stage from which to take aim at Trump. It's fascinating and, well, kinda sad to see them box themselves in thus far, really to no one's benefit but Trump's, which, yeah, is pretty counterproductive in a presidential candidate. It's really their only tool that can move the needle at all, in either direction, but they're such cowards. Waiting for Trump to die is a terrible strategy, and as we all know, just sets you up for disappointment.

trump will be there, it’ll be like when the stones came to watch muddy waters at the checkerboard and ended up on stage

Maybe Christie will egg them on.

I still think most of them are running not for president but for gauleiter.

https://i.imgur.com/wZxGvWA.png

Fuck that narrative. Plenty of people are awkward without being authoritarian, racist goons.

oh, this narrative is in the style section, i don't think it's taking hold anywhere

the article is actually kinda funny!

...But when Guy, the menswear writer, watched a video of DeSantis cycling through four different facial expressions in about three seconds during a news conference, he saw something even more disturbing.

“Oh, God,” he remembers saying to himself. “That’s me.”

The governor’s anti-charisma — his apparent struggles to make small talk, his propensity for letting a smile fall too quickly from his face — reminded Guy of himself at parties. Or the time he had no idea what to say after a fan of his fashion writing recognized him at a tailoring shop.

“It was exactly like those DeSantis moments,” he said. “A normal human being would understand how to light up your face, how to engage, how to say the right thing. But DeSantis doesn’t have that. And I definitely don’t have that.”

Guy is not the only awkward American who has identified with DeSantis as he has emerged as the Awkward Candidate.

“Like Ron DeSantis, I spend every day trying to act like a human,” said Michelle Witherspoon, an environmental consultant in California.

“Every time I watch the videos, I cringe,” said Kate Ecke, a therapist from New Jersey who recently forgot to bring identification when picking up her child at summer camp and subsequently “really weirded out” a counselor by offering to show her C-section scar as proof of motherhood. “But I’m cringing because I’ve been that person.”

“It’s extremely relatable to me,” said Audrey Kamena, an incoming freshman to Yale University who said she once called her high school history teacher “Mom” and still thinks “about it every night before bed.”

Alex Whitlock, a stay-at-home dad and a “Never Trump” Republican from West Virginia, found himself relating to DeSantis after reading an article that mentioned that the governor made people uncomfortable with his “propensity to devour food during meetings.”

“I don’t always have an appropriate sense of when to eat or not eat,” said Whitlock, who also said he rarely knows when he’s supposed to shake someone’s hand.

the awkward majority

yeah its hilarious, seems obvious the media really wants it to be anyone but Trump because it's getting really hard to do their standard horserace/"both sides" narratives, unfortunately the 2nd place is a guy who just fucking sucks and now they have to argue why that's actually good

seems obvious the media really wants it to be anyone but Trump

doesn't seem obvious to me, feels more like the media really wants it to be Trump because those sweet, sweet outrage machine clicks

It's 2016 all over again--a collection of utter assholes who shouldn't be in positions of any authority, let alone the Presidency--only worse.

doesn't seem obvious to me, feels more like the media really wants it to be Trump because those sweet, sweet outrage machine clicks

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

Only after DeSantis, as every Floridian knows, proved himself about as likable as mayo in a garbage bag.

right but it feels like they're whitewashing DeSantis the way they did with Trump in 2016. feel like most MSM coverage of Trump right now is very negative outside of some obviously stupid op-eds

idk from what little I can bear of cable and network news it sounds as if the pundits have soured on DeSantis but ymmv

His entertainment value is negative.

Now is John Kasich's moment.

PenceMentum

Jeb! is tanned, rested and ready.

After 'woke,' DeSanctimonious' favorite word is 'narrative'... he uses it more than I say dude

most Italians are racist

-signed

an Italian

Jeb! is tanned, rested and ready.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, August 18, 2023 12:17 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wake me when he's hot, ready, and legal!

please fap

lol

In this thread, JEB stands for Juicy Edible Bum

Jeb! is tanned, rested and ready.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, August 18, 2023 12:17 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wake me when he's hot, ready, and legal!

― Prop Dramedy (Old Lunch), Friday, August 18, 2023 2:44 PM (fifty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflag

THIS IS THAT CLASSIC SHIT

fuck I meant to include the all-important Neanderthal uppercut. fuck

I don't know what you heard about me
But you can't get a LOL out of me
No EXCELSIOR, no truth b
Cos I'm the motherfuckin' Ne-A-N-D

xpost lol it's all good. i love this board.

That was a really good sequence, kudos

Vivek the Fake was the worst part of the last Game of Thrones season.

Vivek the Fake, Worst of His Name

Abbott-appointed Toolbox gutting Houston schools caught in being massive Toolbox Shockah!

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-students-propaganda-musical-18303434.php

Azagidi claimed Miles appeared one day before the performance to rehearse and didn't remember certain parts of the play despite writing the piece himself. Performing arts students were also given a week to assemble the play and four days to create the music.

Video from the show included here:

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/hisd/2023/08/18/459920/houston-isd-student-regrets-performing-in-propaganda-play-starring-mike-miles/

someone needs to mail him dead field mice for the rest of his life

lol

Ramaswamy: Look, I think Elon is an excellent example of what he did at Twitter is a good example of what I want to do to the administrative state… pic.twitter.com/QMVGoY4GTK

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 18, 2023

you can't block people from coming to your house

xp rename it?

X-America

you can't block people from coming to your house

Does shooting them on the doorstep count? Because you can do that.

Shooting them is how you keep them from leaving.

All joking aside, I know he has no chance in hell of being president but Ramaswamy will definitely in a future Republican administration and that’s terrifying. Well, any future Republican administration will be terrifying.

"When in doubt, Dems scream racism"

*looks at gop* uh, there's no doubt, shitheel

Deleted previous tweet about Chip Roy saying his jeep sometimes goes dead bc he pulled out the fuse that controls the seatbelt beep and the headlights - it was such an odd digression that I wanted to check tape and transcribe. pic.twitter.com/RLAVGT9waj

— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 19, 2023

isn’t this guy one of the supposedly smart ones?

No.

smart in terms of strategic thinking about to achieve his goals? OK maybe. but smart in terms of the goals he's trying to achieve? that's stretching things.

iiuc he is considered (by NRO etc. not normal people) a rising intellectual and legislative star of the post-trump right. he's obviously a moron.

Really? I would have thought he was considered a useful idiot even by people on his team. I mean, he's not must-be-watered-daily stupid like Tuberville, but he's right up down there.

Smart GOP just makes cash. It's just easier to buy politicians as you need them.

Sorry, Chip Roy is not a serious person; there was a whole show about this.

Chip’s a Roy

good morning!

I mean, the right thinks Ben Shapiro is scary smart.

a whole show

Biden is now visiting Maui and press has been focused on his brief non-statement early about the fires there and his not scheduling a decision earlier to visit , rather than on whether US agencies are there helping out ( most reports say they are ). But it seems kinda naive I think for Biden White House not to have recognized that press would focus on him and not the agencies.

All I know is that now he's lost my vote.

that's usually the reason that administrations like to delay their visits because Presidential visits take up a lot of resources at times when the impacted area needs them for other things.

well except for Trump, he often came when he was told not to

like Texas/Louisiana, because he diverted attention from relief efforts. or he didn't show up when they wanted help, because of racism, like Puerto Rico

But Biden White House didn’t make clear early that he didn’t want to interfere with operations and would arrive to throw paper towels today when it would not interfere. Or something like that

yeah, the WaPo story is grotesque. I mentioned it today:

Beltway reporting at its most decadent and self-involved. The substantial fed response buried in the middle and the reporter sneaks in the classic "his personal reaction to the disaster are under intense scrutiny." Who's doing the scrutiny? Republicans. https://t.co/Yy4FwzZMsl

— Moderna Love Gets Me to the Church on Time (@SotoAlfred) August 21, 2023

Biden is delivering the paper towels, he's bringing the Bounty

The press is gonna ask him about Hunter Biden, not about the fucking fires.

That WaPo story:

Indeed, the federal response effort has been substantial and multifaceted, with FEMA joining agencies including the Defense Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration to deliver aid to locals. By Saturday, more than 1,000 federal personnel were on the ground, and the rush of federal aid included thousands of blankets and cots, more than 50,000 meals and cash payments of $700.

With a large military population stationed in Hawaii, the Pentagon dispatched helicopters to fight the blazes, deployed Coast Guard vessels to rescue residents who rushed into the ocean fleeing flames and sent hundreds of troops to move debris from roads. Cadaver dogs trained to search for bodies have accompanied military specialists in remains identification to search through the ash and rubble.

More than 1,000 federal personnel were on the ground, and the rush of federal aid included thousands of blankets and cots, more than 50,000 meals and cash payments of $700
Here's why that's a problem for Biden

fuck, Obama's slow reaction to Kent State was an even bigger atrocity

yeah but the response undercut White House claims about Biden's compassion

Hawaii's going for trump for sure now

Hawaii isn't part of the US come on learn greogaphy

“Come on, man. Are we talking about Moana comes from? That place ain’t real.”

Don’t try posting while using exercise equipment

He'll bring some airport macadamia nuts home for Hunter

Everyone knows he started the fires to radically depreciate the value of that land, then he's going to get corrupt proxies to build it up again with government money and make billions.

Biden Crime Family strikes again smh

XP^^There's conspiracy theory going around Qtypes about the Maui fires were set so the island can be rebuilt with Smart Cities.

Oh, i heard it was lasers from China, but that makes more sense

I only have an old Motorola city

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBKc8O3rt38

well except for Trump, he often came when he was told not to

Um.

When you're a president, they let you do it.

(Ugh, that was in poor taste and I preemptively denounce myself)

Looks like the first wave of these GA nerds has started to surrender, I wonder how long until the mugshots show up.

This simmering 1st Amendment argument they're all making/implying is wild. You have a *general* right to free speech, but not absolute. Like pretty much everything else that is legal, doing that legal thing in pursuit of an illegal thing kind of negates the legality of that first thing. If you tell someone to rob a bank as part of a broader plan/conspiracy, you can't get all "freedom of speech!" about it. I mean, you can, but you'll lose in court. It's the 1st Amendment equivalent of specious sovereign citizen arguments.

Yeah and they’re not being charged for their speech — they’re being charged for their actions. The speech that preceded/surrounded/abetted their actions became intrinsic to the actions (conspiring!) but if there had been no actions, there would be no charges.

And lol the president calling an election official and telling him to “find” more votes is not just speech, it’s literally action itself.

Yeah, fraud and criminal conspiracy are not protected by the First Amendment.

So I generally agree and think all these people are guilty as hell, but it has been pointed out by various legal experts, think people like popehat, that the indictment treads dangerously close to muddying the waters wrt the 1st amendment by including many acts that really are protected speech even though those acts add minimal value to the overall charges. A more streamlined indictment could have focused on the most obviously criminal behavior and left a lot of the more dubious stuff out.

Maybe they won't be found guilty of those weaker or dubious charges.

Or they are bargaining chips?

The hell are we arguing about? The charges in the Georgia case are quite clear to this layman.

the indictment treads dangerously close to muddying the waters wrt the 1st amendment by including many acts that really are protected speech even though those acts add minimal value to the overall charges

Possibly, with a normal defendant who would take popehat's advice to "shut ... and I cannot stress this enough ... the fuck up" and "stop doing anything but finding a defense attorney" when becoming a person of interest in a criminal investigation.

Or, since this defendant is pathologically incapable of shutting the fuck up and stopping from doing things, the inclusion of these predicate acts in the Georgia indictment could stir more stuff up and spur him on to commit additional overt acts post hoc that do support the predicate elements of conspiracy and Georgia RICO violations.

Getting really tempted to do a fundraiser for one of these indicted MAGA doofs and then just pocket the money

Or hell, ILX can cosplay as Mike Countryman, a poor patriot who was jailed by his own government.

And use the money to add all kindsa new toys for ILX. Like AI posting

love the idea but i fear you'd find the justice system suddenly working swiftly and efficiently

Mike Huntryman

Or, since this defendant is pathologically incapable of shutting the fuck up and stopping from doing things, the inclusion of these predicate acts in the Georgia indictment could stir more stuff up and spur him on to commit additional overt acts post hoc that do support the predicate elements of conspiracy and Georgia RICO violations.

― felicity, Tuesday, August 22, 2023 12:45 PM bookmarkflaglink

otmfm

I spoke with someone on the House Republican side this morning who freely admitted they will likely lose the House.

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) August 22, 2023

can't wait!

It's hard to imagine they'll keep those NY seats, especially if Trump is on the ballot.

The Senate, otoh

and when McConnell's hands finally fall off, he can't hold a gavel anyway

More dirty work in Texas, as new "Death Star" rule attacks...alot

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/08/greg-abbott-texas-attacks-austin-with-death-star.html

The goal of Death Star is simple. The deeply conservative Texas Legislature wants to effectively deny cities—the state’s large Democratic-leaning cities, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin in particular—the ability to pass local laws and regulations in eight major policy areas: agriculture, business and commerce, finance, insurance, labor, natural resource law, occupational law, and property law. And it does all this in a bill that is 10 single-spaced pages long, nearly one page of which is legislative findings, not actual law.

don't know why I'm even surprised at how brazen this stuff is anymore

What Vivek Ramaswamy said last night regarding his quotes to the Atlantic about 9/11 compared with the audio that disproves his claim that he was misquoted. pic.twitter.com/FXNJjRovJ8

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 23, 2023

Ramaswamy’s teeth and forehead are really something

I get Joel Osteen vibes from him. Total huckster.

Local observers say FEMA has done a good job responding to the Maui wild fires. But in this New York Times staff zoom meeting, they aren't so sure.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) August 22, 2023

Vivel should have issued a statement like Newt did: "Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood."

I always find these little moments to be quite revealing about a candidate. pic.twitter.com/EQKmnFb1Mu

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 23, 2023

incredible. a "reporter" taking messages to a presidential candidate's cleaning staff, is it? i guess it's good to understand the power dynamics at play

Being a 9/11 truther is somehow one of the least offensive positions a Republican can take at this point.

More Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams, less trans panic please.

oh you know if 9/11 happened today they would be claiming the hijackers were trans

from venezuela

they'd be pro-terrorist.

"New York, a failed Dem state, deserves this for failing to secure their border (?), and promote Christian values. Hell they probably hijacked the planes, false flag!"

his recorded comment "how many police, how many federal agents were on the planes that hit the twin towers?" is completely batshit insane.

he tried to walk it back by saying he was misquoted, that he was trying to say the 9/11 commission lied about Saudi Arabia's involvement, but he wasn't misquoted

I used to hate Kaitlan Collins because she's basically a republican shill, but I like that republican politicians want to be interviewed by her and she's now at least attempting to expose some of their hypocrisy

Question: What’s your expectation for the GOP debate?

Biden: I have none pic.twitter.com/6D84ewnhCf

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 23, 2023

Pilates? Fruity!

Vivek is the Just Asking Questions candidate.

I want to know how many Federal agents were part of the Moon landing

The question doesn't even make any sense. Is he saying that these federal agents knowingly participated in a suicide mission? To what end? To make Saudi Arabia look bad? To justify an invasion of Iraq?

I realize these things don't justify much thought, but I am struck by the level of incoherence.

It was just a tangent from his 1/6 conspiracy theory

He's just a fucking dumbass.

that's my conclusion

Three hours of solid debate prep this morning. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/luY1k3m0wN

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 21, 2023

So far, that looks about right

Vivek doing his best to move into Tracy Flick position tonight, so I expect he’ll surpass DeSantis within 2 weeks

The only way I would have watched this debate is if it had been held outside at 3: 00 today.

On a runway

I’ve seen enough to know he’s our next supervillain, fwiw

vivek is such a freak

https://x.com/chrislhayes/status/1694534425491517875?s=46&t=QDZVA2Ds4KfmaZUAmIs9Gw

Next debate should be between Vivek and Zizak

Zizek rather

If Vivek gets any boost it'll last like two weeks. And he won't do anything as fun as the Herman Cain cigar ad.

Sorry, it was a cigarette, not a cigar.

Saw a tweet drawing a millennial equivalency between Ramaswamy and Buttigieg and … finally I kinda get the anti-Mayor Pete thing? Sorry it took so long, et al

Hey guys, this is not about Jan 6 2021. It’s about Jan 21 2017, or 2025

DeSantis and Ramaswamy were terrible--the latter's Andy Hardy routine is hard to take.

Y'all watched this?!

You've been posting that same comment forever. It's like you check in all night, just waiting for what you think is the right moment.

But Alfred is right to say that.

If you're interested in something you watch it. Making a big show on cue of being above it all is tiresome.

I admire your fortitude.

I don’t know why I had the vague impression this debate was an Important Event and not just a fucking C-list clown show. South Carolina represent!

(At least none of our top bail bondsmen have been indicted recently, that I know of.)

If you're interested in something you watch it. Making a big show on cue of being above it all is tiresome.

― clemenza, Thursday, August 24, 2023 12:20 AM

You take me, as ever, too seriously!

Political kink shaming is the most acceptable kink shaming.

I forgot this was last night, that's how above it all I am

I don't even own a debate

i didn't watch, but checking the fact check on CNN it appears Haley is the only one who didn't spew lies all night?

this sounds like it was a loathsome evening so i'm sure republicans thoroughly enjoyed it

imagine telling people you're a republican, that you vote republican

As Taylor Swift said, all too well.

My stance on presidential debates is that while I’m somewhat interested in other people’s impressions of what happened, my days of watching them are over. It’s too draining on too many levels.

(I may tune in to see the next Democratic debates for my home state, though.)

None of these people is going to be president, or even vice-president. You might as well have watched a Model UN meeting staged in an insane asylum.

I would say my only wish was that the debate outranked the Trump-Cucker interview, but then I came to the inevitable "Who cares?"

In the current RCP betting averages (I know, mostly meaningless), DeSantis trails not just Ramaswamy but also Newsom.

similarly, Biden's lead is growing in latest head to head with Trump. usually multiple polls come back w/ Trump leading, with the majority lead by Biden. 6 of the last 7 have Biden ahead, the other is tied.

(again...mostly useless at this point and not REALLY a reason to celebrate for that reason and because lead is still small, but a small indicator that the indictments may be having a sliver of an effect at this point).

Swamentum

I just can't deal with NPR and pretty much every other news entity treating this debate as if it were absolutely normal, it bothers me far more than the lunatic behavior of the candidates

I don't even own a debate

― Pontius Pilates (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, August 24, 2023 9:37 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

next month’s thread title plz

I just can't deal with NPR and pretty much every other news entity treating this debate as if it were absolutely normal, it bothers me far more than the lunatic behavior of the candidates

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel),

This. For Florida residents like Neanderthal and me, treating DeSantis as if he were a fucking Jeopardy contestant makes me want to blow up the earth.

I did not watch, I followed some updates. it would be less depressing that they're all so awful if they didn't have so many people who think they're not awful.

poetic justice, the next debate being in a building that is non-compliant with local regulations and collapses during the debate

Chris Christie in his dying words "the market will...self...regul-"

anyone even considering voting for any these refugees from the island of doctor moreau should be ashamed for the rest of their lives and never ever allowed to live it down

He’s dying inside. He hates this. He hates his life
pic.twitter.com/hxhC6cLDqE

— eve6 (@Eve6) August 24, 2023

he's kind of reminding me of a create-your-own baseball player i made a few years ago

https://i.imgur.com/HANhhTJ.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/Rdbs3Kd.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/sqcoXcG.gif

loool, yes, he's absolutely a poorly-rendered video game character whose facial expression can never quite maintain fidelity with the words coming out of his mouth. Which as we all know is high on the list of what people look for in the leader of the free world.

(DeSantis attempts to hardman Putin, his brief steely glare melts into the face that toddlers make while shitting their diapers)

that desantis clip = me at my last job interview

https://i.imgur.com/5LpmYrd.gif

loool @ Andy Hardy routine, I appreciated that ref, clemenza

josh marshall thinks ramaswamy will be trump's running mate

If there was a revelation last night, at least to me, it’s that I believe there’s a very good chance Trump will choose Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate. People frequently speculate that Kari Lake or another Trump super fan will get the nod. But I doubt it. Even for big time Trump and Big Lie supporters Lake, I believe, has become kind of a joke. Ramaswamy captures the aggression and transgression of Trump without at all clearly copying him. He’s also managed to break through, and not as a one-dimensional Trump defender, while checking every key box for Trump. He matches him on every policy goal, such as they are. He is basically alone in promising to pardon Trump for any crime he gets convicted of on Day One. He threw out the needless and actually quite silly line that Trump was the greatest president of the 21st century. (Since presumably Democrats — Biden and Obama — aren’t in the running this equals saying that Trump was better than George W. Bush.) But I’m sure it sounded great to Trump. Trump would like a younger, non-white veep candidate with a ton of energy, who matched and exceeded him on aggression and served as his attack dog during the campaign. In those American carnage moments, reclaiming our “identity,” he has Trump’s darkness. He also has the one seal of validation Trump’s always respected: money.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/morning-after-reax-and-ramaswamy-as-likely-veeper

Bradley Cooper is

DeSantis

he's gonna go all method-y and get the lobotomy to do it up right

a quick diy way to get the same effect is to turn a hair dryer to the hottest setting and whoosh it directly to the face for as long as possible, then immediately act

He is basically alone in promising to pardon Trump for any crime he gets convicted of on Day One.

Nikki Haley said the same, more or less, on CBS This Morning.

There's still plenty of time for everyone to get sick of Vivek's Ivy League Prick shtick ... including and especially Trump

not gonna help him with state charges, doggie

(to Ramaswamy)

vivek seems like one of those guys who has a morning "routine" that involves waking up at 4:30am and taking like 12 different pills and meditates for exactly 8 minutes before replying to emails and doesn't eat anything until noon

greet the sun!

https://i.imgur.com/RzmAuvp.jpg

I am reasonably certain Vivek could fulfill a "the son I never had" role in Trump's circle, tho

Even Ramaswamy as president couldn't pardon Trump of the charges in GA tho surely?

Obvs ramaswamy won't be president

I was going to say no way Trump could deal with someone that insufferable, then I remembered all the Dick Tracy's rogues he surrounded himself with. Or maybe I should say, he was surrounded with, because I doubt Trump had much direct interaction with any of these weirdos. They're like those fish that swim alongside whales and pick off parasites. So maybe this Ramaswamy would work after all, it's not like Trump gives a shit.

Nah, never gonna happen (the VP thing, or Ramaswamy making it into the Trump inner circle). Trump surrounds himself with old white men, corporate goons, and the occasional young white racist (Miller). I doubt he'd even be willing to be photographed with Ramaswamy. Josh Marshall is as brain-poisoned as any other DC hack, he just thinks he's safe 'cause he sees through the others.