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Politics: where a week is a long time
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Just close your eyes and hope the whole madness goes away, as it surely must.
There must be a whole bunch of people who have had their eyes closed since mid-2016 and are still waiting to open them again.
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GOP keeps moaning about unity and healing, but whenever they have a softball lobbed at them to show they are sincere they cry about how unfair the Dems are being. Their argument about convicting Trump or even simply reprimanding crazy Q lady boils down to “but that would set a precedent of holding politicians accountable!!”
I don’t see a way out of this death spiral.
They’re stuck.
They’re afraid of losing the Trumpers because there’s a lot of elections they’ll lose without them. Long term though, they know they’re fucked if they’re seen as the party of Trump, the biggest loser they’ve ever had in office. Trump returning as a candidate is just as bad a nightmare for them as him creating his own “Patriot Party”. Either way, they’re fucked.
I do think there are a lot of Republicans who are ready to take on the Trump section of the party, who want to fight for the long-term chances of the GOP and for the party’s sanity (such as it was). But the alternative of just saying, “Hey it’s a big tent, we’re fine with whatever as long as you’re ready to take control of women’s bodies!” seems like the easier way to most at the moment, I suppose. Just close your eyes and hope the whole madness goes away, as it surely must.Oh, they’re absolutely stuck. They created a monster and now they don’t have the spine to stand up to it. They’re literally terrified of the truth at this point because they have no clue how their lie-fueled monster will react to it. Or rather, they’re pretty sure they know how it will react. It’ll smash shit and maybe kill more people instead of slowly starving to death.
The votes we’ve seen for the Trump impeachment vol 2, Cheney’s leadership vote, and the Q lady vote tell us a lot about where the party stands. Basically maybe 2/3rds don’t really want to back the crazy Trump shit, but only about 5-10% of the party is willing to stand up for American and to put that on the record. I suspect the Senate vote to convict/acquit Trump will show the same. We’ll get somewhere between 1 and 5 GOP Senators willing to do the right thing, while the others hide behind procedural bullshit as an excuse to save face with the terrorists that tried to kill them all a month ago.
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AP-NORC poll: Americans are split on Trump’s impeachment
Don’t know why I was expecting more than half to be in favor.
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Don’t know why I was expecting more than half to be in favor.
Hopium is a hell of a drug.
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Will it be as expensive – or more so – for them to stand by Trump? That’s the important question here. I’m afraid it won’t be, because most GOP voters have already shown they’ll put up with Trumpism. GOP stance will change only if surveys show that there has been a long-term chang in that after the Capitol.
I don’t see any evidence that that they will lose voters by backing Trump. For all the talk of moderate Republicans being driven off and groups like the Lincoln project spending millions targeting them, a higher percentage of registered Republicans voted for Trump in 2020 than in 2016.
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The big question for the GOP is, how many votes is going to stand by Trump cast them?
On The Guardian daily podcast the expert there said the situation is more specific to the individuals. Those that veer too far from Trump are being threatened with being primaried by ‘forever-Trump’ candidates. So for a chunk of them it’s self preservation coming before anything else, at least an opposition member of congress still has their job.
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It’s not just about registered Republicans though, and it’s not about the Presidency (right now).Right now, it’s about the state level and the houses. It’s about Republican representatives keeping their jobs. It’s about Georgia.
What is the best winning strategy for Republicans right now? Going against Trump is sure to lose them part of their base. So might not going against him, and more importantly it’ll lose them independent voters and allow the Democrats to keep mobilising their base (which was probably the deciding factor in Georgia). Because that’s the other side of things – aligning with Trump may not lose them any Republican votes, but the worse Republicans are looking with all this, the more motivated are Democrat voters to actually go out and vote.
So, there’s a lot more factors at play here. GOP strategist will go whatever way they think is more likely to win them elections.
Well that’s the thing, the Republicans seem to be uninterested in softening their stances and instead doubling down on voter suppression. They’ve introduced dozens of bills aimed at restricting postal and absentee voting at a state level in the last couple of months
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So, there’s a lot more factors at play here. GOP strategist will go whatever way they think is more likely to
win them electionsallow them to stay in power.Fixed it. Subtle difference.
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The GOP really ought to let Trump form his own party. At heart, the people who are rabidly supporting Trump are also rabidly anti-government. They don’t trust government at all, so even if you get into office, you can’t govern. I mean, it’s like buying hand grenades for home protection.
A phenomenon that I find interesting, but it is hard to research is the idea of people from the counterculture of the 60’s & 70’s forming into the militia movements & white supremacist communes of the 80’s and 90’s and MAGA maniacs today. The Manson family opened people’s eyes to it, but hippies and anti-establishment groups weren’t always left-wing. They were also very politically ineffective. The anti-war movement during Vietnam was actually set back when the hippies got involved because the vast majority of Americans who had been turning against the war started to associate the protests with weirdos and drug addicts rather than the relatively dignified students and intellectuals who had started the movement.
The GOP will take a hit if it lets Trump form his own party, but it also feels like it would be a toxic and incompetent leader taking a poisonous group of supporters and isolating them from any real politics while moderate conservatives would actually start to return to the Republican party. Socially, many immigrant and minority communities would be attracted to the GOP’s basic agenda if they weren’t lead by a bunch of racist nuts.
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Really the GOP should grow a pair and convict him. Make his brand utterly toxic. Sure he could try to form a new party after that but it would just be the crazies willing to back him. If GOP leadership condemned him on that level then almost all conservatives would likely fall in line.
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A friend sent this to me:
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The GOP will take a hit if it lets Trump form his own party, but it also feels like it would be a toxic and incompetent leader taking a poisonous group of supporters and isolating them from any real politics while moderate conservatives would actually start to return to the Republican party. Socially, many immigrant and minority communities would be attracted to the GOP’s basic agenda if they weren’t lead by a bunch of racist nuts.
It’d be the viable long-term strategy, but who’s thinking long term in politics? They’ve been riding this tiger for a while – Reagan’s fucking Government Is Not The Solution, It’s the Problem – and though they have to know at this point that it’ll eat them in the end, they can’t bring themselves stop now, because it’d cost them a lot in the short term.
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We may well see the UK split up and a change in heads of state for places like Australia and Canada but an end to the monarchy in England I think is as likely in my lifetime as the US second amendment being repealed.
Just by chance this map appeared in my Twitter feed today.
Apart from a few clusters it seems most of the anti-monarchy feeling is with the Celts.
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We may well see the UK split up and a change in heads of state for places like Australia and Canada but an end to the monarchy in England I think is as likely in my lifetime as the US second amendment being repealed.
Just by chance this map appeared in my Twitter feed today.
Apart from a few clusters it seems most of the anti-monarchy feeling is with the Celts.
I interpret that map as when going to colour in Northern Ireland, they realized after raiding the office supply room, they didn’t have enough magenta.
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We may well see the UK split up and a change in heads of state for places like Australia and Canada but an end to the monarchy in England I think is as likely in my lifetime as the US second amendment being repealed.
Just by chance this map appeared in my Twitter feed today.
Apart from a few clusters it seems most of the anti-monarchy feeling is with the Celts.
The source for that map is here: https://election.unherd.com/
And it lets you look at the results by constituency, which is interesting. There are some other interesting polls they’ve done too about tax on high earners, immigration and religious morals.
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We may well see the UK split up and a change in heads of state for places like Australia and Canada but an end to the monarchy in England I think is as likely in my lifetime as the US second amendment being repealed.
Just by chance this map appeared in my Twitter feed today.
Apart from a few clusters it seems most of the anti-monarchy feeling is with the Celts.
It’s quite interesting though that those “few clusters” in England are gathered around major cities – London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle all seem to have pockets of opposition.
I daresay if you drew a similar map of Brexit support it would look pretty similar, including the difference between that strong opposition in Scotland and the more mixed picture in Wales.
It would be interesting to see the results adjusted to reflect population rather than constituencies – the small (on the map) purple areas around those cities will reflect a large number of people compared to similar size areas elsewhere.
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The source for that map is here: https://election.unherd.com/
Interesting, thanks.
The page for that data on the royal family suggests that the map is very misleadingly coloured in places.
Here’s what I get in terms of individual constituency data when clicking on some of those purple “anti monarchy” constituencies in Scotland:
Without clicking on all the individual constituencies it makes me think that it’s been coloured to show relative support rather than absolute support, but in a way that doesn’t correspond to its own labels. So while the green constituencies are more supportive than the purple ones, even those dark purple ones in Scotland are more in favour of the monarchy than against it.
It’s pretty poor data visualisation and makes me wonder if they’re deliberately trying to present it to suggest a trend of feeling in Scotland and Wales being strongly opposed to feeling in England that isn’t really there.
Really the whole thing should just be varying shades of green.
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Looking at their top ten list of anti-royal constituencies, only the top three have figures where the anti-royal sentiment is greater than the pro-royal sentiment. So I will correct myself, out of the 632 constituencies represented there should be three purple ones.
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QAnon’s most dedicated followers still believe that former President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election, is yet to be sworn in.
March 4, 2021 is a day they have marked in their diaries, insisting that is the date when Trump will be inaugurated in Washington, DC, and, ultimately, return to power.
Coincidentally, Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC is hiking up the prices of suites around that period. The hotel, just blocks away from the White House, has almost tripled the rates for some rooms on the nights of March 3 and 4, according to Forbes.
The sovereign citizen movement
The reason why QAnon supporters place so much importance on March 4 is rooted in the bizarre beliefs of the ‘sovereign citizen movement.’
It believes that Americans are not subject to a variety of federal laws. The basis for this is that a law, enacted in 1871, secretly turned the US into a corporation rather than a nation.
Consequently, they view every president inaugurated since as illegitimate. Members of the sovereign citizen movement believe that former President Ulysses S. Grant was the last legitimate president.
Grant, like other presidents in the 19th century, was inaugurated on March 4. The sovereign citizen movement believes that the republic will be restored and Trump will become the US’s 19th president on March 4, 2021.
This fantasy has gained traction with the hardcore of QAnon adherents attempting to make sense of President Joe Biden’s recent inauguration, according to Vice.
March 4 appears to have become a marketing opportunity for Trump’s DC hotel.
The normal rate for a deluxe king in March would usually run between $476 and $596, according to Forbes. This year, the same type of room is priced has almost tripled. On March 3 and 4, the magazine reported that the room is going for $1,331 per night.
The price hike is exclusive to the Trump International Hotel, according to Zach Everson in his 1100 Pennsylvania newsletter.
Other luxury hotels in the White House’s vicinity appear to have standard rates for the nights of March 3 and 4, Everson said.
Trump International Hotel did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment for this story.
This would not be the first time that a Trump hotel had raised its rates to coincide with a political event.
On January 5 and 6, Trump International raised its rates significantly. The cheapest room available was $8,000 on the night of the deadly insurrection, according to Forbes’ reporter Suzanne Rowan Kelleher.
On January 7, the hotel’s managing director shared that the Capitol siege’s week was one of “record-breaking” numbers.
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South Africa says Astra Zeneca vaccine is not effective for the new strain and they’re not giving it anymore.
Seriously ominous vibes.
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There seems development on that story too. They are saying today that while the AZ vaccine is only 60% effective on the SA virus it contributes to lessening the effects and the chances of hospitalization or death. The people getting it are all getting mild symptoms only.
This is something often overlooked with vaccines when we focus on complete immunity. With my youngest kid they added rotavirus vaccine to the standard set over here, so he was vaccinated and his older sister wasn’t. He still got it but all his symptoms (which with that disease is basically vomiting up everything you ingest) went away within 24 hours. She went for 3 days and we were on the verge of admitting her to hospital when she just managed to hold down some sugar water. It took her a week to get back to normality while he was fine the same day.
The vaccine was the difference between a mild upset and a very worrying condition that could have needed hospital treatment.
It looks pretty much guaranteed we will have to approach this like the flu jab with updates to cope with new strains. The AZ vaccine is important for less wealthy countries as it’s about a 10th of the price of the others.
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The news media (in the US, at least) love to jump on any less-than-perfect news about this virus and the vaccines. Local news anchors were eagerly reporting in late January that vaccine distribution sites were going to run out of doses by the end of the day, and having an appointment was no guarantee that you’d get a shot; but they didn’t bother to report that new shipments were arriving the next day. They want their audience to be nervous and scared, so that they will stay glued to the television for an update. Same thing with these new strains — yes, the vaccine may be less effective against the variants, but the news reports make it seem like the vaccines are totally ineffective, which (as Gar points out) is JUST. NOT. TRUE.
As many people as possible need to man up and get the shots; and all newsmedia need to support and enforce that concept. The goal is to get to the point where the coronavirus (all strains) is as potentially dangerous as the flu, and is treated the same as the flu in terms of prevention. Only then can we as a worldwide society get back to a new semblance of normal.
And we need to stop voting anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists into office.
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This is something often overlooked with vaccines when we focus on complete immunity.
Yeah, there’s already been a headline here that there was an outbreak of the British strain in a retirement home here. But apparently the vaccination worked just fine, as none of the infected had anything worse than mild symptoms.
The residents of the care home near Osnabrück, near the Dutch border, all tested positive for the B.1.1.7. variant of the coronavirus after receiving two jabs with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccination in January.
None of the elderly people have had serious symptoms, however, which could indicate that the vaccination has effectively protected them from serious illness caused by the new strain.
On Monday BioNTech released data that showed its jab was also effective against the British and South African variants of the virus, which are more infectious.
The news media (in the US, at least) love to jump on any less-than-perfect news about this virus and the vaccines. Local news anchors were eagerly reporting in late January that vaccine distribution sites were going to run out of doses by the end of the day, and having an appointment was no guarantee that you’d get a shot; but they didn’t bother to report that new shipments were arriving the next day.
Same here. Everything on the news is either about how Germany didn’t get enough vaccines or they already want to stir up a big fight over whether people who’ve been vaccinated should be able to move freely again etc.
And it’s just, like, can everybody just shut up for a bit here? We’re at the tail end of a year of pandemic and we’ll be through the worst of this pretty soon and can you just stop tearing into everything when it’s actually pretty amazing that we’ve pretty much solved this with science?1 user thanked author for this post.
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One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ main Arkansas gubernatorial rivals just dropped out of the race
Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (R) has reportedly had his hopes set on the state’s governorship for a long time, even leaving Congress to pursue that goal, and he officially declared his candidacy for the job, which is opening up in 2022, back in August. But on Monday, he announced he’s bowing out and will instead seek to become Arkansas’ next attorney general.
In a statement, Griffin said he believes “I can do more for Arkansas” in that capacity, but the early reactions from analysts are that Griffin likely came to the realization that his prospects of defeating former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who launched her campaign just two weeks ago, in a GOP primary were slim. The race, for the moment, is down to Sanders and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, another prominent Republican in the state.
But the fact that Sanders’ name recognition — she’s both an ally of former President Donald Trump and the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) — may have proved too much even for Griffin, who reportedly has “a resume as long as your arm and a huge war chest,” suggesting her path is pretty clear. Tim O’Donnell
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Okay, so what we need to do is link her to Bernie Sanders and the republicans will do the rest to establish as a fact that she is a communist russian asset. Q! Do your thing!
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she’s both an ally of former President Donald Trump and the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
Is that all it takes to be a State Governor these days? Our nation is doomed.
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It’s all you need in Arkansas at least. They obviously have very low standards. In Simpson’s terms, they just need someone to hand them mini American flags.
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It’s all you need in Arkansas at least. They obviously have very low standards.
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U.S. Senator Shelby will not seek reelection: statement
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, 86, said on Monday he would not seek reelection for a seventh term in 2022, becoming the latest Republican senator to step down ahead of a midterm campaign that is likely to be spirited and expensive.
“I am grateful to the people of Alabama who have put their trust in me for more than forty years. I have been fortunate to serve in the U.S. Senate longer than any other Alabamian,” Shelby said in a statement.
The Senate is closely divided, with Democrats and Republicans each holding 50 seats and eager to seize decisive control in 2022. Republicans in the conservative state of Alabama are viewed as likely to find a successful candidate to replace Shelby, who last won re-election in 2016 with 64% of the vote.
Shelby was first elected to the Senate in 1986 as a Democrat before switching parties.
He has been a central figure in negotiations in recent years on funding government programs as a top senator on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Shelby also played important roles on banking industry legislation and, despite the popularity of former President Donald Trump in Alabama, sometimes broke with him, such as with his opposition to the president’s trade tariffs.
Republican senators Rob Portman, Pat Toomey and Richard Burr have also announced they will not seek reelection in 2022.
Reporting by Makini Brice and Richard Cowan, Editing by Franklin Paul and David Gregorio
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, 86, said on Monday he would not seek reelection for a seventh term in 2022, becoming the latest Republican senator to step down ahead of a midterm campaign that is likely to be spirited and expensive.
The Republican party have decided to nominate someone who goes by QGuy1488 to run on their ballot in Senator Shelby’s stead. Described as a “stand up guy” by a representative of 8chan, QGuy1488 has made public appearances at events in Charlottesville and more recently Washington DC
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Local news anchors were eagerly reporting in late January that vaccine distribution sites were going to run out of doses by the end of the day, and having an appointment was no guarantee that you’d get a shot; but they didn’t bother to report that new shipments were arriving the next day.
And I feel NYS is being as misrepresentative with information about the vaccine rollout. As a diabetic, I will be in the next group to be vaccinated. That’s supposed to start next week. I get the state won’t have the supply to immediately vaccinate me, but the way they are talking is as if theoretically, the supply existed, members of the “preexisting condition” group could be poked next week, De Jure, it’s just a matter of pragmatics. But, I know earlier groups had to have proof they were eligible, and information on what proof is needed is available. They don’t seem to be willing to supply what information I need to even set up an appointment beginning next week, until next week. People need time to prepare- talk to their doctors and such. But I need to wait to even know what I need? So given how things are going, the inability to schedule an appointment by a few days could make the actual appointment be a a few weeks latter then it would have been. This is BS.
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Latest Brexit casualty is the shellfish industry, surprising no one except, apparently, the minister in charge of the shellfish industry. Environment secretary George Eustice said,
Bringing an end to this traditional and valuable trade is unacceptable
some weeks after Boris Johnson’s trade deal brought it to an end.
Background: a decade ago, the UK helped write an EU law which required shellfish imports into the EU to meet certain quality standards. Shellfish from EU countries which did not meet those standards (e.g. those from English waters) were exempt from those standards and could be freely sent around the EU, which was useful because most of English shellfish were sold to other EU countries.
The UK is now outside the EU and, guess what, does not meet the import standards which we helped the EU set.
This is apparently the EU’s fault
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Background: a decade ago, the UK helped write an EU law which required shellfish imports into the EU to meet certain quality standards. Shellfish from EU countries which did not meet those standards (e.g. those from English waters) were exempt from those standards and could be freely sent around the EU, which was useful because most of English shellfish were sold to other EU countries. The UK is now outside the EU and, guess what, does not meet the import standards which we helped the EU set. This is apparently the EU’s fault
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Well, can’t your shellfish just raise their standards? Go to night school or something?
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One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ main Arkansas gubernatorial rivals just dropped out of the race
One can only hope that there will be a strong candidate on the Democrat side. Looks like Arkansas usually flips after two terms of one party, and Huckabee fucking Sanders should definitely motivate the left to come out and vote.
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Latest Brexit casualty is the shellfish industry, surprising no one except, apparently, the minister in charge of the shellfish industry. Environment secretary George Eustice said,
Bringing an end to this traditional and valuable trade is unacceptable
some weeks after Boris Johnson’s trade deal brought it to an end.
Background: a decade ago, the UK helped write an EU law which required shellfish imports into the EU to meet certain quality standards. Shellfish from EU countries which did not meet those standards (e.g. those from English waters) were exempt from those standards and could be freely sent around the EU, which was useful because most of English shellfish were sold to other EU countries.
The UK is now outside the EU and, guess what, does not meet the import standards which we helped the EU set.
This is apparently the EU’s fault
Look, we made those rules, so we’re allowed to break them, OK? What do you mean ‘no’?
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Well, can’t your shellfish just raise their standards? Go to night school or something?
We’re introducing an Australia-style points-based system where all shellfish have to be able to speak English and have jobs earning at least £24,000 a year.
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One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ main Arkansas gubernatorial rivals just dropped out of the race
One can only hope that there will be a strong candidate on the Democrat side. Looks like Arkansas usually flips after two terms of one party, and Huckabee fucking Sanders should definitely motivate the left to come out and vote.
And to be honest, she really has no charisma. She always seems to have a sour expression on her face. I figure her dad will be the real power and tell her what to do.
The best shot for the Democrats would be to find a young, attractive, charismatic candidate to run against her.
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The best shot for the Democrats would be to find a young, attractive, charismatic candidate to run against her.
That’s so off-brand it would defy the laws of mathematics if you tried to graph it.
Besides, you just jinxed it. Democrats will now go for a taxidermied white veteran of the civil war.
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Described as a “stand up guy” by a representative of 8chan
Strike one.
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Described as a “stand up guy” by a representative of 8chan
Strike one.
My reply might have been what the kids these days are calling political satire.
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Local news anchors were eagerly reporting in late January that vaccine distribution sites were going to run out of doses by the end of the day, and having an appointment was no guarantee that you’d get a shot; but they didn’t bother to report that new shipments were arriving the next day.
And I feel NYS is being as misrepresentative with information about the vaccine rollout. As a diabetic, I will be in the next group to be vaccinated. That’s supposed to start next week. I get the state won’t have the supply to immediately vaccinate me, but the way they are talking is as if theoretically, the supply existed, members of the “preexisting condition” group could be poked next week, De Jure, it’s just a matter of pragmatics. But, I know earlier groups had to have proof they were eligible, and information on what proof is needed is available. They don’t seem to be willing to supply what information I need to even set up an appointment beginning next week, until next week. People need time to prepare- talk to their doctors and such. But I need to wait to even know what I need? So given how things are going, the inability to schedule an appointment by a few days could make the actual appointment be a a few weeks latter then it would have been. This is BS.
Correction: The State actually posted information on what people with underlying conditions need as proof of eligibility, but it’s not on their main COVID vaccine website; you have to search for it specifically on a search engine.
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Another day, another betrayal by Johnson and co, this time on cladding remediation costs for leaseholders, but so what? They’ve racked up so many in the last two months, what’s one more?
40 Tory MPs are not happy about it? Johnson has an 80 majority, screw ’em.
Vote Johnson out of power? Not until 2024 so screw the voters too.
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Exclusive: Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party
You’d think the Trumpers would be the ones splitting off into their own party.
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Tomato, tomahto. Either way, it’s not going to happen. Many Republicans have already admitted that they need the support of the Trumpers when they seek re-election, which is why so many of them are not going to vote to impeach Trump despite the horrendous events that he fomented last month before and during the Electoral College proceedings. For too many politicians (including Democrats), the days of voting your conscience instead of your wallet are gone.
It’s sad to realize that Mitt Romney is the only decent person left in Washington.
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There’s also zero reason for Trumpers to break away from the GOP because the GOP is still selling his lies and protecting him. All evidence is that the GOP is going to live or die as the party of Trump.
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They never stopped, Reagan only looks moderate compared to what followed but he did a lot of bad shit. As, if he were here, Miqque would likely remind us of.
In Miqque We Trust
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Trump is the L. Ron Hubbard of American politics. They should see how people are rescued from Scientology and apply it. Primarily, though, it’s ex-Scientologists that are best able to convince people to leave, so maybe ex-MAGA people need more support and attention.
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Trump is the L. Ron Hubbard of American politics. They should see how people are rescued from Scientology and apply it. Primarily, though, it’s ex-Scientologists that are best able to convince people to leave, so maybe ex-MAGA people need more support and attention.
I’ve actually read one of Hubbards books, “Dianetics” and it is easily in the top 3 worst books I’ve ever read. It does pretty well to get rid of anyone who does critical thinking in the first couple of pages, and I kind of admire that rhetorical little trick and it tells me something about Hubbard which doesn’t fit Trump:
Hubbard knew exactly what he was doing and he was smart about it.
Whereas Trump knows shit about shit and is being shit about it.
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I’ve actually read one of Hubbards books, “Dianetics” and it is easily in the top 3 worst books I’ve ever read. It does pretty well to get rid of anyone who does critical thinking in the first couple of pages, and I kind of admire that rhetorical little trick and it tells me something about Hubbard which doesn’t fit Trump:
There was a Scientology centre in the town where I was at University, and they used to stand outside tempting people in for a “free personality test”. I honestly wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but I had to walk up and down the road a dozen times before they finally asked me. I guess I didn’t look rich enough
The test was bollocks, but it was amusing to see the tricks they used to convince you that you really needed their “treatment” (I felt the same when I went to a clairvoyant). I was entertained, so I bought their book … and it’s easily in the top 3 worst books I’ve ever read
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The test was bollocks, but it was amusing to see the tricks they used to convince you that you really needed their “treatment” (I felt the same when I went to a clairvoyant). I was entertained, so I bought their book … and it’s easily in the top 3 worst books I’ve ever read
Face it, David; you just don’t have what it takes to be a Thetan.
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I’ve been listening to Daniel Schmachtenberger who says democracy has a problem in that it can go with a 51 % majority even if those policies are highly problematic for the 49 %. Ideally a society should talk out their problems until you get a solution that is acceptable to all.
The model we have on the internet is also stoking the division. People’s resentments are the highest currency as they generate clicks. I wonder if a society acceptable to all could ever work, as long as people can be convinced others are out to get them.
Conversely, divorce was legalised in Ireland based on a 50.3% yes vote, literally one vote per ballot box won the referendum. Would it be unfair to keep it illegal because of a slim majority in favour of it?
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Conversely, divorce was legalised in Ireland based on a 50.3% yes vote, literally one vote per ballot box won the referendum. Would it be unfair to keep it illegal because of a slim majority in favour of it?
In 1955 82.9% of Swedes voted to keep left hand side traffic (albeit with a low voter turnout at around 52%).
In 1963 they decided to change it anyway.
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I was watching a thing about Harold Wilson’s government in the 60s in Britain and their technocrat approach. He put together a group of experts and ran roughshod really over public opinion. They legalised abortion, homosexuality, ended the death penalty and none of those measures polled near a majority, the death penalty still doesn’t today I think. They have all stood for at least 50 years mainly because the experts were right.
Though it’s a different approach in different countries. Places like Ireland, Switzerland and US states do a lot more of direct democracy on various issues. Although there’ve been 4 referenda in the UK in the last 10 years they are reserved really for changes to the political structure (voting reform, devolution, membership of the EU etc).
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That’s true of course, I don’t think there is a good realistic alternative for going with a simple majority. However it does cause division.
There’s always going to be division though. Lower Decks had a very funny bit in one episode where the crew had to destroy an unstable moon in order to save a planet, and the captain was working to appease various groups who were concerned – farmers who lived there, religious people for whom the moon had significance, that sort of thing. But there’s one guy who refuses any solution – destroying the moon will mean pollution will fall on his moon instead of it, and ruin his civilisation. He spends much of the episode screaming that the Federation are murderers for even contemplating any solution.
Eventually it transpires that his “civilisation” is his wife and him, they’re really rich, own the moon and the pollution will ruin a recent renovation to his house. So Captain Freeman just decides to ignore him and implode the moon.
And yes, Lower Decks is a comedy, but it raises a good example that some people will disagree with any proposal even if the impact on their lives is relatively minor. Consensus is nice to have but sometimes striving for that consensus is not worth the effort. In many ways, democracy of a simple majority is the fix to get past that.
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Conversely, divorce was legalised in Ireland based on a 50.3% yes vote, literally one vote per ballot box won the referendum. Would it be unfair to keep it illegal because of a slim majority in favour of it?
But if you’d substituted the word “Brexit” for “divorce” there, you would have a lot of people saying that such a slim majority means we should keep the status quo.
Basically, the weight you give to the size of the majority varies depending on whether you got the result you wanted or not.
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Conversely, divorce was legalised in Ireland based on a 50.3% yes vote, literally one vote per ballot box won the referendum. Would it be unfair to keep it illegal because of a slim majority in favour of it?
But if you’d substituted the word “Brexit” for “divorce” there, you would have a lot of people saying that such a slim majority means we should keep the status quo.
Basically, the weight you give to the size of the majority varies depending on whether you got the result you wanted or not.
Absolutely, I’m not saying that plebiscites or referendums are the right way to go to make monumental decisions, but that there are situations in which a narrow victory is a good thing by the morals most of the people on here have in common. In fact, having to have referendums in Ireland on divorce and abortion and other issues has been seen as a bad thing by many human rights groups because it depends on enough people making the “right” decision at the ballot box to impart rights on people. We’ve had so many referendums here because it’s the only way to alter the constitution of the Republic and most of them have been aimed at removing or altering items that really shouldn’t have been there in the first place. To take divorce as an example again, the 1996 referendum legalised the act, but specifically placed the restrictions on when you could get divorced in the constitution. It took another referendum in 2019 to alter the text to remove said restrictions and recognise divorces granted in other countries. This passed with an 82.07% yes vote.
It is worth noting as well that from a procedural perspective, the Brexit referendum was a shitshow. It was run as an advisory question, and as such would pass with a simple majority but could be ignored by the people. In UK law a referendum that carries the weight of law like a Irish one requires a 60% yes vote to pass.
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the Brexit referendum was a shitshow
Whew, I’m glad that the actual Brexit was an unmitigated success.
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Well, the Senate just approved a measure to call witnesses in the Trump Trial, which means this shit will drag on for who knows how long and the outcome won’t change one bit. I understand why they want to do it, but almost all the GOP senators are still going to hide behind their arguments of jurisdiction. Just like McConnell they’ll be able to say, “sure I think what he did was wrong, but I don’t believe the Senate has jurisdiction to convict after he’s out of office because I view the primary purpose of impeachment as removal from office.” Which of course ignores that McConnell refused to bring the Senate back to have the trial while Trump was in office, but that’s the GOP for you. Bend the rules as much as humanly possible and then feign ignorance.
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Yeah most people will go along with whatever a government does or experts say, even if they don’t like it.
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experts
Imagine accepting the word of someone who knows what they’re talking about. People are such cucks.
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Yeah most people will go along with whatever a government does or experts say, even if they don’t like it.
Yes, the capitol siege is a sign this could be changing. This is what Schmachtenberger warns against, the polarization has grown to such a degree that more people could be willing to break the system we have, and fail either towards chaos or totalitarianism.
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Well, the Senate just approved a measure to call witnesses in the Trump Trial,
And now they’ve done an about-face:
I need a Lindsey Grahams face-blocker alongside my ad-blocker.
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Trump acquitted for second time following historic Senate impeachment trial
Not surprising, really. Still disappointing.
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Fine, bankrupt his company and throw his fat arse out onto the streets.
Sadly the more likely outcome is….
Witness! Trump 2024:
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before they finally asked me.
Oh, if I ever was publicly asked for a test by a Scientologist, I’d take out my bottle of Xanax and say “I know you think this is evil, but this is the only thing standing between me exercising my right to Free Speech, and me commiting a crime, because if I missed a dose, I would see you as trying to kill me by convincing me to engage in risky mental health behaviors. I know my state without this, so you better thank the Thetans this ‘evil’ medicine exists, and that I take it, because if it didn’t, and I didn’t, I don’t know, and don’t want to think about what would happen to you.”
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Yeah most people will go along with whatever a government does or experts say, even if they don’t like it.
It’s an interesting thing though on whether you follow an agenda from the people or drive one yourself. Even though Wilson went against popular opinion that did turn to his thinking over the years and he got re-elected. A lot of those we see as strong leaders have been agenda setters rather than followers.
It’s a fine line though, Thatcher for example drove through unpopular reforms but when she was determined to force through a local flat tax it caused riots and lost her her job. The behaviour bordering on dictatorial as it was ignoring both public opinion and that of most of her own MPs.
I don’t think anti-vaxxers or climate change deniers are a majority but if they were you’d hope a government wouldn’t change tack because of that.
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FBI Informant Panic Is Ruining Friendships All Over the Far Right
As federal authorities crack down on the far right after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the movement’s leaders have found new sources of suspicion: each other.
In the Trumpist “America First” movement and the far-right paramilitary group the Proud Boys, alliances are fracturing as extremists brand each other as potential informants. Now racist live-streamers are accusing their former comrades of attempting to turn over followers to law enforcement, while Proud Boys chapters are splintering from the national organization over similar fears.
Until the FBI started closing in, white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Patrick Casey were the two most prominent figures in the racist “America First” movement.
The pair built up shared audiences on live-streaming platforms, and cheered as their fans, nicknamed “groypers” after an obese version of the cartoon Pepe the Frog, heckled more moderate Trump allies at conservative events.
But the federal heat is on after Fuentes received roughly $250,000 in a much-scrutinized bitcoin transfer, then appeared outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. The FBI is reportedly investigating the bitcoin transfer, though Fuentes has not faced charges over the money or the riot.
On Thursday, Casey distanced himself from Fuentes and America First in a live-streamed video, slamming Fuentes’ decision to gather his followers in Orlando later this month for a conference right as other America First supporters face charges over the riot.
“Some people who were at the Capitol are going to flip,” Casey said in his video.
Declaring the aftermath of the Capitol riot “a million times worse” for the far-right than the crackdown that followed the fatal white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, Casey claimed, without offering evidence, that Fuentes’ bank accounts have been frozen by federal authorities. He also accused Fuentes of planning to drive cross-country, rather than fly, to the Florida conference because he suspected he was on the federal no-fly list, then concealing that possibility from his followers.
Worst of all, Casey argued, Fuentes planned to gather all of his supporters in Orlando, where they could be easily recorded by federal investigators or informants. He went on to suggest America First’s members would see the conference for what he thinks it could be: an FBI trap.
“He wants you to give him your real name, to show up to his event where your face will be visible, where your cell-phone data will be in close proximity to his,” Casey said.
Fuentes didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Accusations that one-time allies have become federal informants aren’t uncommon in the extreme right, which has built up an entire lexicon of terms to describe the varieties of real or suspected federal infiltrators. But that paranoia has been ratcheted up in the aftermath of the riot, with the Proud Boys—a group that has seen a slew of members indicted—splintering under accusations that leaders have become informants or otherwise been compromised by the FBI.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested in Washington, D.C., two days before the riot, and now faces felony charges over the possession of illicit firearm magazines. But a Reuters report on Tarrio’s history as a federal informant cast members’ suspicions on their own leader, even as Proud Boys who allegedly participated in the riot face federal conspiracy charges.
Proud Boys chapters in three U.S. states—including four local chapters in Indiana—now claim to have broken with the national organization over Tarrio’s work as a federal informant. (Tarrio did not return a request for comment.)
“We reject and disavow the proven federal informant, Enrique Tarrio, and any and all chapters that choose to associate with him,” read a statement shared by the Indiana group’s state-level Telegram channel and on the Alabama group’s website, previously reported by USA Today. “We do not recognize the assumed authority of any national Proud Boy leadership including the Chairman, the Elders, or any subsequent governing body that is formed to replace them until such a time we may choose to consent to join those bodies of government.”
Proud Boys in Oklahoma also broke from Tarrio’s leadership, issuing a statement on messaging app Telegram in which they accused him and other national “elders” of “failure to take disciplinary measures [which] have jeopardized our brothers safety and the integrity of our brotherhood.”
Tarrio responded to the Oklahoma chapter’s departure with a series of memes accusing Oklahomans of being rednecks, or having sex with relatives. Anti-Tarrio Proud Boys responded with their own memes accusing their former leader of ratting out members of the group, photoshopping his face on rapper and government witness Tekashi69. Another meme played on the menacing Proud Boys motto “Fuck Around and Find Out,” claiming that Tarrio would instead “Snitch Around and Rat Out.”
But don’t expect Proud Boy splinter groups to morph into peaceful book clubs. The Indiana Proud Boys, for example, are led by Brien James, a longtime member of white supremacist groups with a history of violent brawls. Other white supremacists have previously slammed James as a law enforcement risk (someone “you want to keep away from you because you know he’s going to do something to bring the cops over,” one previously noted). Nevertheless, James took to Telegram this week to blame Tarrio and Ethan “Rufio Panman” Nordean, a prominent Proud Boy who was arrested on Feb. 3 over his own alleged role in the riot, of being untrustworthy.
“Now we have another ‘war boy’ and elder who is trying to snitch on the president? For something he knows damn well the president didn’t do? You made your own choices Rufio,” James wrote, adding that “if you are a Proud Boy I would recommend having your chapter declare full autonomy from the national structure at the very least.” (A public defender listed as representing Nordean did not respond to a request for comment.)
The Capitol riots have been followed by still more rifts internationally.
Anti-fascist activists in Manitoba, Canada, also claim their province’s Proud Boys chapter has dissolved. The CBC reported that, while the chapter had been largely inactive for the past year, the group was dead this month, when the Canadian government designated Proud Boys as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, Jason Lee Van Dyke, who registered the group’s trademark and briefly led the Proud Boys in 2018, filed this week to surrender the trademark to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, legal documents show. Van Dyke previously told The Daily Beast he revoked Tarrio’s license to use the name after a Black church in Washington, D.C. sued the Proud Boys for allegedly burning their flag in a rally weeks before the Capitol attack.
“I don’t want any recourse or anyone thinking I have any control over this group, that I have anything to do with this group, or that I am going to have anything to do with this group in the future,” Van Dyke said in a separate interview this week. He claimed he’d tried to transfer the trademark to another Proud Boy, who got spooked after Canada slapped the group with a terrorist label.
“There was one individual … who contacted me about having the trademark transferred to him,” Van Dyke told The Daily Beast. “After the Canadian government made a determination of the Proud Boys as a terrorist group for whatever reason they did that, that individual told me he was out and he would not be taking over the trademark. My response to that individual and those who had been working with him on acquiring the trademark was that they had seven days to get back to me regarding who was going to take it over, or I was going to surrender it.
“I did not hear back from anybody and the trademark is surrendered.”
As for the America First movement, Casey’s criticism of Fuentes has riled the “groypers,” who have been forced to choose between their two leaders. Fuentes appeared to respond to Casey on Thursday night by tweeting a video of Donald Trump talking about disloyalty.
But Fuentes’ supporters and allies have good reason to believe federal law enforcement is focusing on their group. Anthime Gionet, a Fuentes ally who goes by the alias “Baked Alaska,” was arrested in January after filming himself entering the Capitol. Riot suspect Riley June Williams, who wore an “I’m With Groyper” shirt to the Capitol, allegedly stole a laptop computer from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Casey urged his followers to consider how they would react to Fuentes’ conference if any other far-right leader had been behind it.
“You would be like, ‘Wow, federal honeypot, federal honeypot event,’” Casey said. “You would probably accuse the guy of being a fed.”
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FBI Informant Panic Is Ruining Friendships All Over the Far Right
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FBI Informant Panic Is Ruining Friendships All Over the Far Right
“Maybe the real enemies were the friends we made along the way.”
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When it effects people personally they react quicklier. With an issue like abortion some people might be opposed to it in principle, but they don’t take action against it because it’s not directly effecting them.
I think that’s fair but I think there are also policies that affect people in a negative way that get through on rhetoric. They got away with putting millions into unemployment by using deflection, people can and often do vote against their own interests.
You can see that with Brexit where several people have been featured on TV who voted for it on emotion but have essentially seen their businesses go bust.
Abortion is very different in the UK compared to the USA or Ireland because the driver there isn’t really personal impact but religious belief. Britain is a country with thousands of empty church buildings with no idea what to do with them (I did live close to one that was a soft porn cinema in the 70s and 80s and then a curry house). Of my peer group growing up I know absolutely nobody who regularly attends church. My mother goes (or did pre-Covid), she’s 85 and nobody else in the congregation of about 12 is under 65. If it survives 10 years I’ll be amazed and they have already merged 5 churches into one.
That’s something that has been a huge escalation in my lifetime though. In the 1960s when Wilson was making those decisions religion was very pervasive in society. Hence the death sentence one is the only one that really stands against a lot of public opinion now. Wilson was legislating in an era where chemical castration for gay men was still in place, we’re now over 20 years on from a trans singer winning the Eurovision and an out gay man getting the popular vote in Big Brother.
Trans policies nowadays attract a huge level of debate but they won’t actually make any significant personal difference to 99% of the population. That’s not an argument that they shouldn’t be defended but just that the level of noise is way higher than say policy on utility prices that affect everyone directly.
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When it effects people personally they react quicker. With an issue like abortion some people might be opposed to it in principle, but they don’t take action against it because it’s not directly effecting them.
On the other hand, in the case of abortion or same-sex marriage, it certainly does not affect the people taking the strongest action – pro-life and anti-gay marriage activists – any more or less than it does the people who support pro-choice and same-sex legitimacy. Probably, in the case of gay rights, the supporters are far more directly affected, but their opponents, who are not, are even as strongly opposed to it. So, why are they when it will make no direct difference in their lives?
Meanwhile, anti-war movements from the Vietnam War to the Iraq War were massive and had strong popular support but really had no effect as far as shortening or even limiting the wars.
The most obvious defining factor in movements is whether or not they can get the majority of voters to promise to vote in line with the movement. That’s when the problems arise as there are multiple issues involved and the mass of voters can’t be moved on a single issue. It often doesn’t matter if a movement directly affects a person – like prison reform for example – but only if the person really cares strongly enough that it will motivate a vote.
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Still a toad:
Lindsey Graham warns Kamala Harris could be impeached if Republicans win House next year
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The Congressional GOP are little more than a cult of terrorists at this point. Their idea of compromise and negotiating is essentially “don’t do anything we tell you not to do or we’ll do that same thing back to you times 25.” And all the while they cry about the other side ruining democracy as they themselves desperately try to inch towards autocracy. They’re a cancer inside America.
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