US Politics, March 2024: The house of illuminati will NOT be holding any other event in the foreseeable future.

I actually believe he is truly dangerous and needs to be beaten at more than just the ballot box. I mean, he was beaten at the ballot box 4 years ago, and every single day he has still dominated the discourse and gained power.

every single day he has still dominated the discourse and gained power

Welllll...he has "dominated the discourse" in the sense that every day there's a flood of "can you believe this fucking criminal scumbag?" stories in the majority of the press, and a bunch of North Korea-style strongman worship on Fox and the other right-wing propaganda channels. Similarly, he has "gained power" in that the Republican Party is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump Corporation, but that has been totally destructive to the Republican Party and its attempts to increase its hold on Congress, pass legislation, etc., etc. So he, personally, has gained power over an organization that is spiraling to its doom precisely because he's in charge.

Well, it buys us another four years and turns him into another two-time loser in the majority of peoples' minds. Plus I know it inflicts pain on Trump, the worst kind of pain for him, I imagine.

xp

I mean ideally all this would've happened well before the primaries but now that he's the nominee it seems too late already. hell I'm kinda on the fence about whether or not a true democracy should allow you to vote a criminal in if they really want him that much. the classified docs case is pretty interesting though if indeed it's found he was *selling* these secrets, not just keeping them for fun. afaik we do still take our national security pretty seriously even if nothing else

He needs to be beaten at the ballot (which I hope and guess I think he will).

i agree that the judicial system has completely failed. but he's already been beaten at the ballot. he lost by 3 million votes in 2016, and 7 million votes in 2020.

The idea that anything is going to remove Trump and Trump-ism from our lives during our lifetimes is wishful thinking.

true, but wishful thinking is at the very core of US politics

I think there's a very high probability that he will die during most of our lifetimes

Biden backs Schumer after senator calls for new elections in Israel

President Joe Biden expressed support Friday for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after the senator called for new elections in Israel, the latest sign that the U.S. relationship with its closest Middle East ally is careening toward fracture over the war in Gaza.

Schumer, a Jewish Democrat from New York, sent tremors through both countries this week when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and warned that “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah” as Palestinian casualties continue to grow.

“He made a good speech,” Biden said in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland’s prime minister. “I think he expressed serious concerns shared not only by him but by many Americans.”

xp He'll have to be buried in an undisclosed location.

Cremated, and DJTJ smokes the ashes.

I expect that dead rich people are buried in their own private gated communities cemeteries.

People breaking in to piss on the graves

There is no way he doesn't end up in some Graceland like location where his legions can traipse through and take selfies with his tombstone for $75 a pop.

poor boys
and Trumpers
they all will be received in Graceland

No way there's not a statue and a Vietnam memorial type wall where you can get your name engraved for 10 thousand bucks

Wall of Rubes

Pence: I will not be endorsing Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/YJIuTBjzNR

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 15, 2024

bro most people are surprised

that may be a big deal, he can't really afford to lose those 5 votes

genuinely surprised

'Had he not commanded an unruly mob to hang me, my decision may have been different.'

to this day, whenever I see "Mike Johnson" I think they are talking about the guy from Dinosaur Jr and who worked with Mark Lanegan. It happened again today seeing a New Yorker email with "Mike Johnson" in the subject line. "Oh I forgot about him," I think, and click, and am instantly annoyed.

I do wonder if this is specifically because there was a mob out there trying to kill him or if it’s a sign that vanilla conservatives might not support him this time around. I know at least one guy who reluctantly voted Trump in 16 and 20 who vowed not to this go round

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXkN3nJyWEA

xxp a Eugene OR native! and local Gen-X legend

xp I made the comparison to Sen. Joe McCarthy awhile back.. everyone was scared of him until they weren't anymore. Maybe Pence's statement is the beginning of something, too early to tell

xxp I saw Mike Johnson with Mark Lanegan at a church in San Francisco, probably over twenty years ago; great show

four tracks from Mike's old Eugene band Snakepit are here: https://harrietrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wild-gift-music-by-robert-christie-and-friends-1984-1996

I know at least one guy who reluctantly voted Trump in 16 and 20 who vowed not to this go round

― frogbs

lol, 10-to-1 he votes for Trump again.

real mike johnson appears to have 'moved to france' with his wife over 10 years ago and retired from music. good for him!

i swear, i’ve nearly concluded that scotus, roberts, cannon, the gop, and garland, et al actually want trump to be uh, removed from contention by non-legal means.

so they just keep making sure he’s on them fuckin ballots. til people freak the fuck out. freaks me out.

then i stop projecting and just try to remember to vote. what could go wrong?

I think Trump actually getting the nomination has spooked some people in power. Like now they know that if Trump is kept out of the election by conviction or whatever his folks are not gonna accept it.

(musician Mike Johnson is quietly amazing on this:

Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet (1990, Sub Pop Records) )

^^^^ I have a first pressing of that on red vinyl, bought it when it came out

Feel like someone should start a Mike Johnson thread on ILM, but it would probably just swerve into a political discussion.

So what does the dem margin of victory have to be in order to get 1 of the 3 trump-appointed sc justices to vote against overturning the election?

Not the most comforting reading, but

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/15/mr-maga-goes-to-washington-00147054

The coverage of Vance’s first year in office has largely overlooked his emerging role as the political face of the New Right

how many times has a 'New Right' emerged and then imploded? Wasn't Paul Ryan part of some "New Right"?

The 'New Right' can't differentiate themselves from Trump and MAGA because in today's GOP it is dangerous to say anything that is different from what Trump says. So there is no 'New Right' except as a weak ass branding tool that no one knows about or cares about except younger politicians like Vance.

This whole idea of 'reshaping America' ignores that fact that most Americans live in cities, and most people who live in cities want nothing to do with this poppycock.. so this 'reshaping America' might gain some traction in suburban Oaklahoma City or the outskirts of Boise, but nobody else gives a shit

suburban Oklahoma City or the outskirts of Boise

I've been to Boise. It's a nice, cosmopolitan city with a walkable downtown and some really nice restaurants and an art museum and a club that books death metal bands. This shit isn't even gonna fly in Idaho, a state that has basically doubled its population since 2020, almost entirely thanks to an influx of California transplants.

JD Vance is as powerful now as he is ever going to be. His personality is just as repellent as Ron DeSantis's, and he's a craven flip-flopper who talked mad shit about Trump when that seemed like the safe bet, then went total bootlicker when that was the move. He has loser stink on him, and Americans hate a loser. He'll probably be able to hang onto his Senate seat for as long as he wants it, but eventually he'll quit and become a corporate lobbyist or something equally vile and amoral. But in the meantime, he'll be the subject of blowjob profiles from Washington insider journalists, who are some of the stupidest people on Earth.

otm

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/15/politics/texas-busing-migrants-donations-invs

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted shortly after he began soliciting private donations for his controversial migrant busing program that there would likely “be no cost to the state” given the outpouring of support from concerned citizens across the country.

But after nearly two years of fundraising to offset the program’s costs, Abbott’s operation has collected less than half of 1% of the roughly $150 million spent on busing migrants to sanctuary cities, according to a review of state records. And CNN found that the largest donation – $900,000 – never made it into the state’s coffers, either because it was a mistake or a prank.

Records show that at most, around $550,000 has been raised to date.

All prospective donors shot their wads on Trump sneakers & NFTs.

Even if convictions don't happen before the election, it's possible the mere existence of the cases may suppress the T vote - Maybe even enough to overcome the people ostensibly rallying to his side because "he's being treated so unfairly." IMO if you're on Team "He's being treated so unfairly," you were already on the Trump Train.

NY times has updated headline from Trump does "freewheeling " speech to : Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/16/us/politics/trump-speech-ohio.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dU0.sir9.UmpIP0xdPxeb&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Trump called migrants "animals" in Dayton, Ohio speech yesterday

Trump began that rally with a call to stand up and salute the "great patriots" "the January 6 hostages.”

his appeal must surely be growing more selective

lol

Freewheeling = no brakes

nah I think it's true, the Jan 6th stuff is a real liability, obviously a lot of voters will bear it and vote for him anyway but there's a lot of evidence that it's lost him a lot of support in the center. but he can't exactly disown them because then he loses support from the crazies. a skilled politician could probably thread the needle somehow but Trump is in way too deep and also I suspect his brain doesn't work anymore

Increasingly freewheelin'