I can barely follow that article. It is written like someone on stimulants.
Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
- Thread starter GasBandit
- Start date
GasBandit
Staff member
The Supreme Court approved a white-dominated congressional district drawn by the Republican-controlled South Carolina legislature, reversing a lower court decision that found the map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander that resulted in the “bleaching of African American voters” from a district. The decision, however, won’t have a direct effect on the 2024 election. South Carolina had asked the justices to issue a decision by Jan. 1, but after that deadline passed the lower court ordered the state to use the map deemed unconstitutional this year no matter how the Supreme Court ruled. (New York Times / NBC News / NPR / Politico / Associated Press / Washington Post / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
GasBandit
Staff member
A second flag carried by rioters on Jan. 6 was flown outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s vacation home in New Jersey. The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has been embraced by Christian nationalists and, like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6. It dates back to the Revolutionary War. The flag was displayed at Alito’s New Jersey vacation home in July and September of 2023. An upside-down American flag – a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement – was hung outside Alito’s home days after the Jan. 6 attack. Democrats, meanwhile, called for Alito to recuse himself from cases related to Trump and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court will rule on whether those who stormed the Capitol can be prosecuted for obstruction, and whether Trump is immune from prosecution for actions he took while president. (New York Times / Associated Press / CNN / Axios)
GasBandit
Staff member
House Republicans temporarily banned a Democrat from speaking in the chamber after he listed off Trump’s criminal charges. “Donald Trump might want to be a king, but he’s not a king,” Rep. Jim McGovern said. “We have a presumptive nominee for president facing 88 felony counts, and we’re being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. There are real facts […] And yet, in this Republican-controlled House, it’s OK to talk about the trial, but you have to call it a sham.” McGovern went on to list the counts Trump was facing, including that he was “on trial for sending a hush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law,” and that he’s charged with conspiring to overturn the election and stealing classified material, and that “a jury has already found him liable for rape in a civil court.” Republicans interjected and demanded that McGovern’s statement be “taken down” from the congressional record. McGovern declined to withdraw them, prompting an extended delay. His remarks were eventually ruled out of order, and he was blocked from speaking on the House floor for the rest of the day. (NBC News / ABC News / Washington Post / Politico / Axios)
Oh no, this is good. This is exactly what we need people to see and hear to help avoid this country voting for Trump.
No, this is how they advertise and "sound their mating call" as I have previously described it.
--Patrick
--Patrick
I sometimes fluctuate between calling myself more left wing or right wing - based in part on who I'm talking to (European and American ideas of "left wing" are very different), partly on what axis we're talking about (culturally vs economically) and sometimes because of recent influences changing my thinking on specific topics or whatever.
But no matter where I consider myself to be, I will never understand the mental gymnastics and sheer cognitive dissonance required to be an actual Trumpist right winger/cultist.
There really is something cultlike about it past a certain point.
Sure, you can think illegal aliens should be deported and gender identity issues are a mental issue. I disagree, and I think your ideas are dangerous, but, okay.
But there's just so many inconsistencies and illogical fallacies there that at some point I just... Give up.
But no matter where I consider myself to be, I will never understand the mental gymnastics and sheer cognitive dissonance required to be an actual Trumpist right winger/cultist.
There really is something cultlike about it past a certain point.
Sure, you can think illegal aliens should be deported and gender identity issues are a mental issue. I disagree, and I think your ideas are dangerous, but, okay.
But there's just so many inconsistencies and illogical fallacies there that at some point I just... Give up.
It's, sadly, real easy to understand. It works a lot like religion (I'm going to begrudgingly add "not all religions" here, but... it's most of them, at least the biggest, most organized ones).
The world as it is now, is pretty fucked. It's a huge tangle of problems, and trying to think about this huge tangle of problems can make you feel sad, because disentangling all of that is hard and working to solve any of it is even harder. In fact it's too hard, too much for any one person to handle. And so it's real easy to reject all of this and just join the group that tells you actually everything is great. America (or your country of choice here) is great again, and all that has to be fixed is this fake culture war we've cooked up to stand in as a replacement so you don't have to worry about the real problems. It's a whole package, you can put it on as your entire identity, and you can feel superior knowing that it's ok to be racist and you don't have to work on yourself at all and it's not your fault that your children won't let you see your grandkids.
I mean Joe Manchin sucks but there will never be a better Senator from West Virginia until the day I die.Well, at least he can stop pretending he ever actually was a Democrat.
Most of us are North American. We all know lots of big fat guys. Has anyone ever seen a group of identically fat guys like that before?
I'm seeing double, ten Krustys!
figmentPez
Staff member
Anthony Fauci was giving testimony before congress. Seated directly behind him, making faces, were a January 6th rioter, and a man who has made death threats towards public officials.
That honestly looks ai generated. It's the exact same body generated with different faces.
The hand on the bluish guy is weird for sure.
Judging from the daughter's reaction, her Dad's behavior was probably expected. It's not a look of shock. It's a look that says, "aw jeez, here we go again."
GasBandit
Staff member
More illustration that the thin blue line flag is just the coward's swastika - backing the blue is only for when they're shooting minorities.
Speaker Mike Johnson floated a “three-pronged approach” to punish the Department of Justice for Trump’s felony conviction. With House Republicans’ push to impeach Biden going nowhere, Johnson announced a plan to use the appropriations process, legislation, and Congressional oversight to rein in Trump’s prosecutors at both the federal and state levels by limiting funding for the FBI, federal prosecutors, and “state prosecutors or state attorneys general involved in lawfare.” Johnson suggested that “All those things will be happening vigorously, because we have to do that, because the stakes are too high and because people are losing faith in our institutions.” Some Republicans, however, acknowledge that they don’t have enough votes to pass legislation in the House. And even if they could pass a bill, it’s unlikely to go anywhere with the Democratic-controlled Senate. (Politico / The Hill / Politico / CNN)
Speaker Mike Johnson floated a “three-pronged approach” to punish the Department of Justice for Trump’s felony conviction. With House Republicans’ push to impeach Biden going nowhere, Johnson announced a plan to use the appropriations process, legislation, and Congressional oversight to rein in Trump’s prosecutors at both the federal and state levels by limiting funding for the FBI, federal prosecutors, and “state prosecutors or state attorneys general involved in lawfare.” Johnson suggested that “All those things will be happening vigorously, because we have to do that, because the stakes are too high and because people are losing faith in our institutions.” Some Republicans, however, acknowledge that they don’t have enough votes to pass legislation in the House. And even if they could pass a bill, it’s unlikely to go anywhere with the Democratic-controlled Senate. (Politico / The Hill / Politico / CNN)
GasBandit
Staff member
Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned the “repeated attacks” from Republicans on the Justice Department, calling them “unprecedented,” “unfounded,” and “extremely dangerous” during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. “I will not be intimidated,” Garland said in his opening statements. “The Justice Department will not be intimidated. We will continue to do our jobs free from political influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.” House Republicans have advanced a conspiracy theory that the Manhattan district attorney, which convicted Trump on 34 felon counts of orchestrating an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election by falsifying business records, “was somehow controlled by the Justice Department.” Garland emphasized that the Justice Department is “completely independent” from the District Attorney’s office, adding: “We do not control the Manhattan District Attorney.” The hearing also comes as House Republicans have threatened to hold Garland in contempt for withholding records from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Garland told lawmakers that he didn’t see a “legislative purpose” for Congress needing the audio when “the words are the same on the transcript as the audio.” (Associated Press / CNBC / Axios / New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News / CBS News / CNN / Politico)
GasBandit
Staff member
Biden issued an executive order that temporarily suspends most asylum claims at the southern border when unauthorized crossings exceed a daily threshold. Biden said he’s taking action to “gain control” of the border after convicted felon Trump and the Republicans left him “no choice” when they sunk the bipartisan immigration deal they had once demanded. Under the order, when crossings exceed a daily average of 2,500 over the course of a week, Biden can shut down the border in between ports of entry. Once the shutdown is in effect, Homeland Security can reopen the border once average crossings have fallen below 1,500 for seven consecutive days. Regular asylum processing will be restored 14 days later. Migrants who cross without authorization will not be eligible for asylum absent compelling circumstances, making the measure the most restrictive border policy instituted by Biden, or any other modern Democrat, and echoes Trump’s 2018 effort to ban migrants who cross the border illegally from claiming asylum, which was later blocked by federal courts. The ACLU, meanwhile, plans to sue the White House over the executive order, saying “a ban on asylum is illegal just as it was when Trump unsuccessfully tried it.” (NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News / Bloomberg / Mother Jones / Axios / CNN / CBS News)