Joe is doing a great job in foreign policy (not necessarily in his public appearances though). I think Vietnam is a more willing & eager partner than India, but both are the logical next tier of "allies" after Japan, South Korea, Australia & Philippines.



I assume Blinken is the driving force here. Looked him up and below caught my attention.


See below for the YT 3 song playlist. Not great, wouldn't spend money on it, but much better than anything I could do.

https://music.youtube.com/search?q=ablinken

McCarthy called for an impeachment inquiry without a vote because he knew a vote would fail. It is going to be fascinating to see if they are going to get to 51 on the actual impeachment vote.

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Didn't they argue Trump's impeachments would only make him more likely to get a 2nd term?

It's just noise for the low information voter.

Instead of a steady drumbeat of Trump's criminal cases, it will be a steady drumbeat of bothsides with Trump's criminal cases and [mumble mumble somthing Hunter Biden].

Cracks me up that these right wing ghouls are of course misrepresenting the money to Iran for the release of American prisoners using frozen Iranian funds while being totally cool with Kushner getting 2 bil from the Saudis.

McCarthy gives the HFC the impeachment inquiry and Gaetz responds by threatening to introduce a vacate motion if McCarthy doesn't do everything they demand.

How does he not realize there is no appeasing them.

Assume fairly lightweight survey. I'd think this is "ideal", I'd factor in (or give bigger weighting) to Cost of Living, Weather, Food etc.

But still interesting.

If I had to pick one (other than US) at this stage of my life, I'd pick a EU country specifically because of Schengen and ease of travel. If there wasn't Schengen, I'd go with Australia.

Americans rank United Kingdom as the best country in the world, poll reveals - with New Zealand second...and the US in third | Daily Mail Online

It's interesting that you're in favor of open borders in Europe but don't seem to have the same attitude towards the US border.

Honestly, don’t see what’s interesting about it.

The difference here is legal vs illegal immigration, legal vs illegal work/guest visas.

And before anyone brings the race card … regardless of skin color.

I don't know what she is complaining about. She's an adult, she made an adult decision, made money from it, and now complaining about it coming out? She has every right to do what she did, every right to run for politics etc. but voters have the right to know about her life choices.

I personally don't think this prevents her from running & winning. Standards have changed and this doesn't seem "bad" to me. I wish she would just embrace it (instead of complaining).

Virginia Democratic House candidate Susanna Gibson condemns sharing of sex videos | CNN Politics

I think she is the first that we are hearing about dealing with an issue like this, but she will be far from the last. Eventual politicians with an active Onlyfans account are just around the corner.

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It's a weird story. Nothing she did was illegal. The person who disseminated it did do something illegal according to Virginia law (the Republican operative). I know laws don't really matter in politics, but it is a crime.

There is a case to be made that revenge porn laws violate the 1st Amendment, especially when it comes to journalists. But I don't think it's ever been ruled in the higher courts. Probably something we'll see more of down the road and will need the courts to clarify further.

I did a little , um, research, on the video. I would vote for her.

I also think she's handling it poorly, although asking someone to act rational after having their sex tapes leaked to the world is asking a lot. She should have owned it and explained why she did it. That the act was with her husband.

This media portrays the country as prudish toward politicians, but we've seen voters don't care that much. The former first lady has nude photo shoots. The former President was having sex with a pornstar while his wife was home nursing their newborn. A popular Congressman was paying a minor for sex. Clinton got blown in the oval office over 20 years ago. There's a laundry list of people in politics who were flying to lolita island.

It's embarrassing and you'll get some blowback by the fake christian crowd who weren't going to vote for you anyway. But I think owning it makes the other side look like weirdo puritans to normal people.

Wait. They were live-streaming that video for tips. This isn't a stolen sex tape. This was arguably a public act. I would guess there is zero chance the Republican operative gets hit with revenge porn charges, and if they do there is no way they stick. It was a non-password protected open site with 5,700 watchers. You can't claim privacy on that.

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If they didn't have a license or authorization to disseminate, it's a crime in Virginia. The law is pretty clear.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/...ion18.2-386.2/

Whether the law is constitutional is up for debate.

Worth noting that the video was pulled from a site that illegally rips cam streams and uploads them without permission. Usually operated out of Russia or an Eastern Eiropean country. This wasn't some person who came across her livestream and sent a link to someone.

That will never stand up in court on a case like this.

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Dola: Just to take it further, they are trying to say a person telling a reporter of the existence of a video he never possessed on a site he does not own is "disseminating?" Again, no way he even gets charged.

Edit: This the case law that the attorney is trying to use to justify charges
"In that case,*Ronnie Lee Johnson v. Commonwealth of Virginia, the court found that consent to being seen is not the same as consent to being recorded, writing that there was a “stark distinction between an image existing only in someone’s memory … [and] a permanent file that may be shared or re-viewed indefinitely.”
The problem here is they were the ones recording. It was their camera that did the recording, not someone hiding a camera or in the bushes. Further, they broadcast that online. Doing something in public (and that would definitely be reconsidered as public) waves your right to privacy. The best they have is a copyright violation on the sites that hosted video. But someone pointing put that the video exists is not getting charged with squat.

This makes me think that opposition research at the state level is minimal. I'm going to research on all of this and maybe run for a GA Senate.

It totally depends on the opposition. Like George Santos opposition did absolutely zero, yet I have seen some pretty deep research items come out about county commissioner races. It just depends on how deep the pockets are of those you oppose. Or more specifically how much you piss off any wealthy donor.

Thanks. Want to volunteer for my campaign to do oppo research?

But wait ... going to vote for me?

For starters, that's not the swiss flag.

Thanks for noticing. Did a google reverse search and it's Swaziland or now formally known as Eswatini.

That would totally depend on what your platform is. But I can't do oppo research any better than anyone with Google.

First priority, legalize marijuana ...

That's a good one. I would be for that even though I don't partake.

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This just hit the height of hilarity.

Biden going on offense against the Republican "impeachment inquiry" Sent out this to all network/media services:

https://documentcloud.wondershare.co...7kOVnlVC0R4YIQ
Wondershare Document Cloud


Not sure if it talks about this here, but it's been reported that Trump's admin already ruled against an inquiry without a vote during the Ukraine Impeachment investigation.

She and her husband need to learn how to use sunscreen.

How do you use sunscreen during sex?

For that "Best Country" graphic above, I have trouble taking seriously any source which can't figure out the difference between Switzerland and eSwatini (Swaziland).

edit: I see whomario was on it

TBF, the survey referenced a US News link. Went to it and saw that US News had the right flag for Switzerland so I'm thinking it's some Daily Mail intern that got the graphic wrong.

Hmmm, don't know where to put this but it is somewhat political so I'll use Joe's place.

Interesting graphic on news sites political bias. You have to zoom in to see the individual news sites.

Interactive Media Bias Chart | Ad Fontes Media

MSNBC and FoxNews are no surprise. AP, Reuters and BBC are a little left of center which doesn't surprise me either. I don't spend alot of time on CBS or ABC so no opinion.

Surprised where HuffPost is, I'd put them on par with MSNBC or maybe even worse. I am surprised that Politico is that close to CNN and PBS. Forbes is a pay site so don't visit but would have thought more right than left.

That almost feels like Newnation paid for that as an ad, because that is exactly what they claim. Dead center.


edit: It is also interesting that NPR is the most reliable and almost dead center. It is almost as if without a profit motive you might get more reliable news.

I agree that they'll never be charged. The law wasn't designed to go after people with power; it was meant to protect people in power.

Regardless, the law is clear (to a fault). There is no exemption that states you can disseminate if you don't own it or host it. Otherwise, you could just throw your ex-girlfriend's nudes on Dropbox and claim the same thing. They also didn't record anything, they broadcast it. It was recorded by an illegal site based outside the United States.

The law is incredibly dumb and should be ruled unconstitutional. But the person broke it. The words "by any means whatsoever" would include links in an e-mail or text. There's a reason they wanted to remain anonymous.

It's a really weird chart because it doesn't define right or left either. For instance, Reason is a libertarian publication. It should be as economically far-right as you get but is lumped in as just right of center. Meanwhile others like Shapiro who want expansive governments are considered farther to the rigth likely due to their fascist beliefs. Just seems tough to put them on the same chart.

Another odd aspect is including foreign outlets. BBC and Al-Jazeera might be considered left of center in this country, but they'd be right of center in most of the world. This country is very far-right compared to the rest of the world.

You also have outlets like The Intercept listed as left-wing. They're an investigative new outlet and doesn't seem to have a lot of opinion pieces from what I've seen. You can argue it takes a strong isolationist stance, but I wouldn't consider that left or right wing.

In case you missed it today Hunter Biden sued a former Trump aide to Peter Navarro for being behind the publication of photos, texts, emails etc of Hunter and that he illegally hacked his Icloud's storage in order to do so:


MSN

Somehow the Susanna Gibson story snuck by me. Boy, if there ever was a face that screamed Chaturbate streamer

Your first statement is ridiculous on the surface because we have no idea how "powerful" this guy is, and I doubt whatever his position has any bearing on whether he would be charged or not.
Secondly, the law says "malicious" and clearly states an intent to dispute. Pointing out that something exists is not malicious or dissemination. He nor the reporter have committed a crime, and even the case law the lawyer used would only at best put culpability on the website. But even they would probably be able to beat this charge because of the fact this was publicly broadcast. It would be a violation of the Chaterbate terms of service and copyright law, that is about it.

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Nice Joe.

One more step towards an Asian NATO. Maybe sell more defensive arms to Taiwan.

(Still wondering though why Maverick didn't use F-35 vs F-18)

South Korea cleared to buy $5B worth of F-35s - Breaking Defense

Great that Hunter has been indicted on the firearm charges.


I'm also interested in the status of the Federal taxes charges. I know Weiss dismissed them because of some procedural thing and will re-file.

Bottom line. I think Hunter is a scumbag so don't mind him sweating & being squeezed. But even if found guilty of guns & taxes, my guess is bigger fines and minimal, if any, prison time.

The big prize is really finding any connection between Hunter's business dealings enriching Joe. Wouldn't be surprised if the Reps try to come up with a 2024 Oct surprise.

If we're going to start putting gun owners in jail for doing drugs, those prisons are going to fill up awfully quick.

That and it might be a violation of the second amendment. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ban...es-2023-02-04/

It's a weird one because gun groups have been trying to fight against laws like that for years. Guessing they'll just ignore this one but kind of funny that Hunter Biden might end up getting a pro-2A ruling through the Supreme Court.

Also weird because I can't find anyone who's ever been charged with that on the federal level.

Good for you McCarthy. You gotta push back on bullies (especially internet forum ones).

Kevin McCarthy's profanity-laced tirade overshadowed the special GOP impeachment briefing. - Live Updates - POLITICO
I like the goal. Need to see the details though

Totally normal stuff from the GOP

It's rare, but it does happen.

From what I saw is it only happens if the gun was used in a crime, repeat offender, etc...

For him to have no criminal history and be charged with this is a joke while the GOP screams and forms committees about the weaponization of the DOJ

I hate this place.

So this ends one of three ways.

1 The government loses. No way they appeal and drag this out.

2 The government wins and Biden appeals to SCOTUS. SCOTUS says the law is unconstitutional. Biden goes free.

3 The government wins and Biden appeals to SCOTUS. SCOTUS says the law is constitutional. Biden goes to jail, but the door is open for stricter gun possession laws.

What would conservatives consider a win?

How about

4 The government wins and Biden appeals to SCOTUS. SCOTUS turns down appeal so therefore congress can't use a potential ruling one way or another.

?

You forgot Option #4: The GOP wins POTUS and the Senate in 2024 and Hunter Biden is hung on the South Lawn after a show trial involving January 6th insurgents as the jurists.

There are 3 charges, 2 for lying and 1 for gun possession.

I can see gun possession as a toss up, but I'd think the lying will stick. But not much will come of it, maybe a fine and a slap on the wrist

Which will just further anger the MAGA folks, because they will see any reasonable sentence as him getting off easy.

What's funny is that Democrats don't care about Hunter Biden but are fine with him being punished if he broke the law.

It is the GOP who wants him to get off easy so they can complain about him getting off easy.

While I do feel this way, I also feel that we're spending an inordinate amount of resources on this case. Like, let's say Garland has appointed a special investigator into Hunter Biden because he may have peddled influence in return for $500K. Fine. Where's the special investigator into Jared & Ivanka for peddling influence for what was it, several billion dollars from Saudi Arabia?

That's ok because it is capitalism and they are all tremendously successful business people without the office of the presidency. And they are just amazing people who are really just taking losses for the benefit of the country. Hunter is a druggie freeloader who would be in a meth clinic without his dad, right?

But that would functionally let the ruling that the laws are constitutional stand. Not as strong as a SCOTUS affirmation, but it would definitely be used as support for stricter possession laws.

Maybe the Hunter Biden stuff can convince Joe that he doesn't need this aggravation anymore and not run again.

When do we start worrying exactly?

How serious of a problem is Biden’s soft Black and Latino support?

Here are three, overlapping explanations:@voxdotcom https://t.co/gQGYyeI6tm

— Christian Paz (@realcpaz) September 15, 2023

Corey Lewandowski is playing sexual Pokemon with high-profile Republican women. Now Kristi Noem is being accused of having an affair with him.

That's where the disconnect is. Trump supporters don't understand that people really don't give a shit about Biden. He's just a guy they voted for. And they especially don't care what happens to his failkid. They just assume that since they have a cult-like following for Trump, everyone must do the same for the person they vote for.

It's also why the "groomer" stuff never really took off. They've always had a weird sexualization of children in their culture. So they view everything through that lens. Other people don't sexualize children so they don't see a teacher with purple hair as "grooming". Just a teacher with purple hair.

It is right up there with the idea all liberals watch CNN. They believe because they are connected to Fox News 24-7, liberals watch CNN and are loyal to it. No one watches CNN. The ratings prove it.

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Guessing, without reading, that "not macho enough" is implicitly one of the main reasons.

No. Valid concerns about the economy and how bad it has been for the lower income bracket. There are also been a concerted effort from Republicans to target low propensity minority voters to discourage them from voting.

Texas Republicans remember Reagan's 11th Commandment and acquit Paxton on all 16 impeachment charges

Republicans have been successful about eliminating things such as the enhanced child tax credit without nearly the fight the dems should have put up. Not only can republicans end policies like those that impact so many lower income and minorities but they also are really good about pinning that kind of stuff on dems. Blue is constantly playing checkers while red is playing chess.

That's exactly what I was telling my wife. The GOP removed the ETC, but to the poor it just feels like a broken promise from the president. And again, the fear isn't so much they vote for Trump. It is that they just feel no reason to vote at all. The same is true with the youth vote.

The interview with Miley said balloon was not spying and did transmit anything home etc. but doesn't really provide info on how they know this.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-biz...s-spy-balloon/

I really would like to know how they know. I assume there wasn't a physical on/off switch that was turned off. Did they picked up with HD/SSD and found nothing in the caches etc.?

Don't know how I feel about the prisoner swap & releasing $6B in Iranian funds.

Very likely those Americans wouldn't have been imprisoned if not for the political stuff between US & Iran. And the $6B is really Iranian money anyway that we froze.

So, in general seems okay to me. But the article also had below statement which (once again) seems purposely vague. I'd like to know who the 5 Iranians are, were they -- college students/businessmen caught trying to spy, murdered someone, or were they captured related to terrorism etc.

Iran prisoner release: Five detained Americans expected to be freed | CNN Politics

From what I read we are going to monitor the account, which is in Qatar to make sure the money is used for humanitarian purposes not weapons or terrorism. Not sure how they can track that once Iran takes the money out, but getting 5 Americans back home for mostly likely the only crime was being citizens of the US has to feel like a win overall to me.

Yeah, fat chance of the money only being spent on humanitarian purposes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/i...r-e-rcna104475

Sorry about her diagnosis. She's a great example of taking stock of her personal priorities and doing what's really important regardless of the political implications. She's given plenty of notice so it is what it is for 2024. Wish her well.

My dad died from this several years ago and it was first being diagnosed as "just" Parkinson's Disease. It was not pleasant to watch at the end and my heart goes out to her and her family.

Hey sorry for your loss.

I didn't mean to bring back any bad memories for you.

I'm sorry to hear that Thomkal. Degenerative diseases like that can be rough to watch someone go through.

Thanks guys, no worries, Just glad she is doing the right thing and not try to hold on to her seat and spend time with her family while still relatively healthy

I was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disease 7 years ago. The progression from then to now is tough to go through.

That sucks Silver Owl. Sorry you having to go through that.

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{{{hugs}}}

I know I can't appreciate what you are going through but wish you the best.

Sorry to hear SO. I hope you've got enough support.

I’m sorry to hear that, Silver Owl. I hope you have loved ones who are helping you.

Thanks guys, I never realized how much being able to keep your balance affected pretty much everything until you don't have any.

Rupert Murdoch stepping down at Fox at last. I don't think much will change there given its staying in the family. I also thought that the Dominion lawsuit would finally get them to pull back on their lies on just about everything, but alas no. Maybe the next lawsuit coming up because it doesn't look like they want to settle, but let it all come out in court.

I was watching the first part of the Ashley Madison documentary on Hulu last night and there's a clip of Sean Hannity going after the AM founder about what a terrible business he runs and how do you sleep at night and what price do you put on your decency and soul for the profits you make off of ruining marriages and I thought - someone absolutely should be using that clip to hit Fox for their own business model. It was too perfect, fit Fox in every sense.

Damn Bob Menendez is one corrupt mofo. But SCOTUS has made it nearly impossible to convict on bribery charges, so he might get away with all of this.

dola

If the government can prove this Menendez is truly fucked.

Yeah hopefully this is the end of his political career unless of course he becomes a Republican

Had a good chuckle at this.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ted-rcna115256

Remined me of this

Not to mention, they have an incentive to put the screws to him as a pro-active example to effectively neuter Trump and his allies' arguments that the government is biased. That dude picked the wrong decade to get caught.

But it will play out in the media that both Dems and Trump are equally corrupt, so who cares?

Nice, I've always wanted gold bars ...

Watch for his MAGA turn. "They are just persecuting me because they knew I was about to change parties and endorse Trump." There's money in them thar suckers.

I mean the Dems put him as head of foreign relations. Not a great look.

Will they kick him out while the investigation is ongoing or will they follow the GOP playbook and defend him and give him the utmost support while this is going on?


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He's already claiming it's all about anti-Latino discrimination.

I mean he's been openly taking bribes for over a decade and they just keep giving him more power. So who knows?

T-6 days.

Always fun. Hear the Senate is trying to come up with a short-term Plan B.

Government shutdown: McCarthy confronts key decisions as Congress hurtles toward shutdown | CNN Politics