You're defending the violent slaughter of civilians by an ethnostate.

Jesus, Israel is not without blood on their hands, but lumping them in with NK, Somalia and the like is just ludicrous, bordering on just plain bigoted.

I wasn't comparing them to those countries. I was saying the people in Gaza (and the West Bank) live in similar oppressive situations to those in those countries.

They have been holding millions of people in a concentration camp and committing genocide against them. It's an apartheid state that doesn't allow free speech, free expression, or a free press. Throw in some forced sterilization and torture.

I don't know where that would put a country on the oppressive nation rankings. But I'd say it's pretty high up there.

Dems flipped florida state house district 35, which DeSantis won by 12 points.

https://www.newsweek.com/kentucky-bi...1398?piano_t=1

Sex between 2 men - a crime
Being trans - a crime
2 men or women marrying each other - crime

Sex with your first cousin - a-ok

Trump posted that a president needs total immunity even for things that cross the line. There's no doubt what will happen if he's elected.

Skeletons, meet closet.

While at the same time attacking Biden for made up things that cross the line.

The fact that no one seems to be calling Trump on his BS is amazing. No one has asked him if he understands that his version of immunity means Biden could have him assassinated or if he understands that everything he's accusing Biden of isn't a crime based on his immunity claims. He can't have it both ways.

That 3 panel judge should have asked Trump's attorney that question.

I don't like the "forgiveness" but don't mind it. From what I've read so far, a lot of the forgiveness is to correct mistakes, bad record keeping, unfair continuation of repayments and such. In other words, stuff that should be fixed.

(As someone who has personally suffered through the clutches and stupid inefficiencies of the IRS, which has been remediated in my favor only after I reached out to my congresswoman, I sympathize with anyone having to deal with a big, uncaring, inefficient agency).

So fine. But if true, that this mess was caused by whoever, and whatever agency, I want heads to roll. Why aren't heads rolling?

And if I was one of the student debtors done wrong, I would sue for, at a minimum, interest on the unnecessary repayments I made and unnecessary "pain and suffering" or like. You'd think there'd be a class action lawsuit.

Biden administration to cancel $4.9 billion in student debt for 74,000 borrowers - MarketWatch

Yeah Baby, this is the horse trading, backroom dealing, creativity I was talking about.

Dems float a trade: Ukraine-border deal for protecting Johnson - POLITICO
But reasons why it won't happen ...


... and last but not least, it's no longer a secret.

Johnson can save his gavel for the next year working with the Dems, but after that he would be done politically.

Nice. Good to see there's still some bipartisanship & deal making in the House.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/19/bipa...use-vote-.html

I mean he's not wrong, but talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations.

One thing both parties can agree on is corporate welfare.

Or, you know, government could step in and fix the problem. Maybe, you know, that's a good role for government. Fixing problems.

Florida's CFO supports a bill that would give rump 5 mil in tax funds for his criminal defense.

In the last 24 hours, the U.S. has bombed Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq. Bush years are back baby!

Sounds like an argument for smaller (and more efficient) government and less bureaucracy.

No, it doesn't.

My first thought was great, hope they get some good info. Looks like it may hinge on the minor's testimony.

My second thought is how come they hadn't reached out to her already?

My third thought is how come Trump allies haven't shut this down?

Exclusive: House ethics probe of Gaetz seeks information from DOJ and woman who allegedly had sex with congressman as a minor | CNN Politics

I just looked at the list of GOP House Committee on Ethics Members, and while I'm sure they're all Trump supporters, I don't see a single name that jumps out as one of the typical House Circus Caucus. Also, there are a fair number of Republicans pissed at Gaetz for taking down McCarthy, making the party look bad, and basically getting nothing out of the stunt. I'm sure they'd love to see him go away, one way or another. Even my KY Rep, who touts his affiliation with Trump whenever he needs votes, directly called out Gaetz for this stunt in a recent local interview.

Last I heard, she had refused to be interviewed by anyone about this. So glad they seem to finally be getting to the bottom of this. Gaetz is one of the biggest embarrassments in congress, would love to see him get kicked out.

Interesting situation for Joe.

This is why I’m not paying my student loans

Don't know what'll happen but interesting social experiment. It's like the "sovereign citizens" movement.

A use case ...

I would say he should file bankruptcy but some asshole spearheaded a law that doesn't allow those loans to be discharged.

Biden administration awfully quiet about an American teenager being executed by Israeli forces last week.

Israeli Fire Kills Palestinian American Teen In Occupied West Bank

Let me know if the Israelis knew he was an innocent American teen and purposely executed him.

Innocent of what? He was an American teenager visiting family. Soldiers and settlers have been executing Palestinians in the West Bank for a long time. This isn't new. It's just this time they executed an American and our government is shrugging its shoulders.

Did the IDF know he was an American?

If not, then an innocent American teenager wandering about in an active warzone that is in month 4 and you expect the US government to do what exactly?

You do know the West Bank isn't Gaza, right?

Sorry I missed that.

Question still stands.

There are 60,000 Americans in the West Bank.

Then they should leave and come back to the US where it's (arguably) safer.

So maybe the 2 parter is too much at one time. How about you answer the first question and then we'll do the second?



Hint: I'm pretty sure I know the answer, so just a formality.

Biden family business associate had no contact with Joe Biden, lawyer says | CNN Politics

Another swing and a miss by Comer

DOJ announced the results into gov cuomo's sexual harassment investigation, and it comes out as the same day as perhaps trump's rape case ends-they found he sexually harassed 13 women and he and his staff retaliated against them when they tried to report it;


https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr...cutive-chamber

Most of them are Jewish settlers. They are the ones terrorizing Palestinians and murdering them for their homes/land. They are very much safe in Israel as they work alongside the IDF. You should really read up on this region more.


I don't know if they knew he was American. I'd say it's arguably worse that they just open fire on any dark-skinned person they see. At the very least, the State Department should be putting out notices that dark-skinned people are in danger of entering Israel as their military has a history of executing people.

If any other country's military was openly executing our citizens, it would be a massive international incident.

What a fucking demented perverty.

Anyway, we are reaching Nixon levels soon.

📊 Pew Research: Biden Job Approval

Approve: 33%
Disapprove: 65%
—
White: 30-68
Black: 48-49
Hispanic: 32-65
Asian: 39-59
Postgrad: 50-49
College grad: 36-62
No college: 27-71
Ages 18-29: 27-71
—
N=5,140 | January 16-21 | MoE: ±1.7%https://t.co/n9H5XicREZ pic.twitter.com/YLA1KlGkfr

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) January 26, 2024

And it's looking more and more like Michigan is going to go to Trump. He should be fine in PA and maybe WI. Think NV is gone and it might come down to Arizona after all this.

Since October 7th, I have received ZERO correspondence from White House, DNC, or MDP leadership about the concerns from our community on the ongoing genocide unfolding in Gaza.

After 110+ days of US-backed Israeli bombings that have killed Palestinian babies and families, many… https://t.co/yzyidHs4XV

— Abraham Aiyash (@AbrahamAiyash) January 26, 2024

Yup. Good luck with Trump in the WH.

?

Not sure what this has anything to do with my comment? I am saying if you are in an area where there is really, bad stuff going on, com'on back to the US.

But I'll wait on the acoustic signatures of the incident before I positively & accurately determine who shot who.

Yes, it would be a massive international incident. Good thing there's no evidence that IDF or the Settler was targeting the kid because he was an American.

Per the other thread and your accusations that IDF bulldozed over Palestinians (and bombing of hospital, and another bombing of another hospital with a guided illumination flare etc.), I'd learn to wait for more analysis before jumping to twitter-like conclusions.

It is still bad that our "ally" is executing random civilians whether they are American or not. The fact they did this to an American should result in a strong response. I know they're brown and fair game to you, but he was an American citizen.

And yes, please wait for whatever bullshit report the IDF puts out. Just like the bullshit report with the American journalist they executed. Or that big Hamas headquarters under the hospital. Or the beheaded babies.

I'd say it would be nice if we could get some journalists on the case, but Israel keeps executing them and their families.

With your full-throated defense of one of the most far-right government in the world, I think you'd be happy with that.

Intent (and context) is important. Wait for the investigation.

If IDF knew he was an innocent American and purposely killed him, yes there should be a response. If not innocent or didn't know he was an American, then that factors into consideration.

Don't forget the rapes and the mutilated bodies.

Anyone come into my house and tries to hurt my family, I will happily kill him/her.

... not a Trump supporter, but it'll be fascinating to see what happens with the Hamas loving progressives and the days after a Trump win.

Again, I know you know very little about the region, but MEMRI is basically Israeli Newsmax.


There is no free press in Israel so you have to understand that any reporting is essentially state-run media.

No need to read the reports. Watch the video clips. I mean, you provide us with news and video tidbits without confirming first, so why not here.

We're talking about something that happened in the West Bank. Settler violence over there has nothing to do with Hamas. I don't know why you keep bringing it up. Please, pick up a book and learn a little about the region and its conflicts.

And no, you wouldn't be able to stop the military from coming to your home and doing whatever it wanted. Remember that in the West Bank, it is illegal for Palestinians to own guns but legal for Jews. Part of the whole apartheid thing they have going on.

Because there is Hamas in the West Bank. And the tensions in Gaza spills over into West Bank.

I'll pick up a book after you read up on JDAM acoustics and flare "guided missiles".

Not my point? Israel is justified in using force for self-defense.

Arguably, it is now excessive force. But not right after Oct 7.

But you're a pacifist? Would you let people come into your house and hurt your loved ones without a response?


EDIT: IMO this should be in the other thread. I'll wait for you there.

interesting study I ran across about how when Democrats are in office-Obama and Biden here- Republican voters/poll takers believe the economy is bad no matter what the actual numbers/economists are saying and the reverse for when Trump was in office. I mean i can believe Republican congressmen/woman feeling that way, but Republican voters feeling that way when trump did almost nothing to improve infrastructure, But Biden got an infrastructure package that no republicans voted for but continue to this day promote when infrastructure project in their state/district are being improved, bring jobs and money to the area.



The public isn't 'skeptical' of Biden's strong economic performance — just Republicans

That seems like a universal thing with politics today. Democrats ended up being very anti-war at the end of the Bush term to now where they are essentially neocons today. Remember how all the talk about immigrant kids in cages under Trump just magically ended when Biden was sworn in?

Republicans become fiscally conservative when they are out of office. Democrats become anti-war when they're out of office. The parties are eerily simlar to one another when they are in actual office which is likely the goal of their donors.

Uh oh.

Joe just isn't in a good position, don't think he has any good options.

First on CNN: Three US troops killed in drone attack in Jordan, at least two dozen injured | CNN Politics

Neocons like Rumsfeld, et. al.? If so, are you suggesting there's a saying there's a thought-out plan and approach being guided by key Democrats in and out of office, backed by aligned think tanks, to implement a heavily interventionist strategy globally?

The OK GOP passed a resolution saying they won't support Sen. Lankford until he stops negotiating with Dems on an immigration bill.

dola

So frustrating that Dems aren't even trying to make a story out of the Trump WH pharmacy being a pill mill for fentanyl and ketamine. Fox News would suspend regular programming for a month if this was a Biden scandal.

Almost nothing tied to Trump is shocking anymore. There is a total burn-out on scandal when it comes to him. I mean, he took top secrets documents to his home to show off to his friends. Nothing seems to matter.

In part because Dems wait for the media to do the work, but the story will never be bigger than Dems make it in such a partisan environment.

I guess it could work.

But I'm guessing it'll be more effective if Taylor Swift and like helped out (is she a Dem?).

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/28/firs...and-biden.html

What's insane is his GOP opponents didn't realize that until they started doing opposition research. One of the candidates, either Haley or DeSantis, were doing focus groups with Trump supporters to find out which issues made them swayable. They found nothing moved them.

One person said the border was their top concern and when they were shown that Trump didn't really do anything for the border wall and large gaps remain the person responded that Trump did that purposely to know where migrants are crossing and make it easier for Border control to capture them. Everything they threw at them they either responded they don't care or they explained it away.

The best way to attack Trump, IMO, is to needle him. He makes mistakes and becomes unhinged when you question his intelligence and things like that. I'd love to see someone start calling Stephen Miller the real President to see how Trump would react. You're not going to sway his base, but the more unhinged he is the more he alienates actual swayable voters. Haley seems to finally realize this, but it's far too late for her.

perhaps something interesting going on in Congress right now-one of the House clerks just read a statement that the justice department has subpoenaed the master of arms for congress for documents. Too soon to know what this about but bears watching.

Some early speculation-Special Counsel smith and Rep Perry have been fighting a long privilege battle over his Jan 6 documents/phones which he (Perry) recently lost and this may be over what was in these documents.

new information:


this appears to be about a house Democrat allegedly misusing govt money meant for personal security, so alas not that interesting but curious which Democrat this was

Doesn't look good for Boebert.


Now if we can only get rid of Gaetz and MTG.

I'm guessing with the way things are going, she'll make an excuse to drop out and just take a gig at Newsmax or whatever.

Maybe the next district over will like her more

Some conservative nut job label Beobert as the Right's Taylor Swift. Twitter has quickly dubbed her "Trailer Swift."

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Dads everywhere want their daughters to grow up to marry a sex offender and to give a bar owner a handy in a theater.

I thought Jewel was already dubbed "Trailer Swift."

No election thread yet, just nomination so I'll put it here.

We know there'll be claims of irregularities the months leading up to Nov 5. If I was an advisor to the Election Commission, I'd tell them to start spending money now ... essentially do an analysis & create a public campaign running from now to the end.

1) Here's the list of 2020 (major) claims
2) Here's why they were wrong
3) Here's the steps, measures, transparency etc. we'll put in place for 2024 to reassure you the #1 won't happen
4) Here's any additional steps, measures we are implementing
5) etc.

The campaign needs to be continuous, widespread reach etc. It needs to also collect feedback and publicly address them. It won't solve everything but increased public awareness of what's being done will help alleviate some concerns.

I suspect early balloting & drop box is going to be one of those issues. Regardless of veracity, it's not a big deal to have secured drop boxes with cctv's everywhere etc. Whatever the process. I'm sure there'll be bipartisan agreement to spend a couple billion to reduce the confusion & BS from 2020.

The concerns, regardless of how valid or not they are, should be addressed publicly. It's better than staying quiet and not messaging. We know some of this will be going to courts from both sides, so confront them now and give courts time for a ruling.

None of that will matter. The GOP has become a cult and if dear leader loses it will only be because it was stolen. There is no other reality these people will accept.

I wish I had your optimism.

GOP-led states have dropped out of ERIC, which was actually a really good anti-fraud system.

A lot of the GOP leaders want fraud and confusion so they can try to successfully J6 the next election.

They aren't against fraud. They are against losing.

I've mentioned earlier that as Project Manager implementing systems, it's normal to create a "risk log" where it describes the risk, then probability of risk (VH-H-M-L), then severity/impact of risk (VH-H-M-L). I'd then review with client (public) and create a mitigation or contingency strategy for the more significant risks.

Generalizing ...

8) Extensive claims of fraud; Very-High Probability; Very-High Impact


Bottom-line to me. It can't be ignored, something needs to be done. It's like you see a train headed towards you, you need to take some action.

Albion said it perfectly


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So far this week I've seen conservatives argue that the NFL, the Department of Defense, and youth sports are all liberal conspiracies.

To me this is similar to the Q people or flat-earthers. When someone is set in their beliefs, you can't argue them out of it. It's a character issue at that point, not a logical one, when someone simply is not willing to accept the facts or even consider the possibility that they could be wrong. Almost everyone has elements of this in themselves, but those who have really gone into it head-first are beyond reaching via a PR campaign.

We already have overwhelming evidence that election fraud is simply not a remotely significant factor in national or even state-wide elections, and that the best thing we can do is making voting access easier (more polling locations in urban areas, universal early voting, etc). A lot of the objections boiled down to things like 'there's no way that many people voted for Biden', just like we've even seen people on this forum say the Covid numbers are false. When you're not willing to face clear and substantiated evidence, nothing can be done to make you accept it.

And now we've reached the point where it's infecting both parties. I can't find the source of exact numbers, but I've seen polls where something like a third of Democrats wouldn't accept the result of the election if Trump won. I'm sure a lot of that is understandable Trump hate/fear, but I think you can only rip the country apart so far before people simply refuse to accept what is happening, even if the alternative is worse.

Am I crazy for thinking Russia is behind these attacks in the middle east? They have all their eggs in the basket of Trump getting reelected and what looks worse for Biden than unrest in the Middle East?

They already put him in a no win situation. If he does nothing he is weak, if he strikes he is escalating.

Looks like it Cori Bush.

🚨BREAKING NEWS -- THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is conducting a criminal probe into @CoriBush, according to six sources familiar with the investigation.

The Justice Department subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money.…

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 30, 2024

man i'm sure MTG will be happy about this news. DOJ doing there jobs, regardless of political party involved. And if they find something in the subpoena materials to charge her with it, so be it.

Yes, that is crazy. Dems can't blame Russia every time they fuck up.

This is the story. She has been paying her husband out of campaign finds as a part of her security. Not a great look, but I don't know the legalities.



i think i read she was investigated by the House ethics committee on this and cleared, so remains to be seen what the DOJ thinks.

I'm pretty much always for more scrutiny on campaign spending for all politicians. So many of them abuse the laws for personal gain.

With that said, I don't get this case at all unless they're leaving something out. Her husband is being paid market rate for security. He's also qualified for the job. And considering how many threats she receives and how little the DOJ does with those threats, I feel like security is pretty warranted.

I'd be fine with a rule that you can't have family on the payroll, but like half the major politicians out there do it. Unless there is something more to this case, it feels really weird.

So Trumpers v. Swifties is the big political rivalry now whose outcome will shape our nation? That's where we are?

Sadly, what a country we live in.

I'm actually okay with that.

I really, really hope the Trumpers attack the Swift(ies). It can only help Joe.

Foxes decide other fox in henhouse wasn't there to cause trouble.

So now we’ve got bad blood.

I don't think we ever had mad love.

Grassley is now worried that passing a tax cut bill will help Biden.

It's amazing how publicly the GOP is making clear they won't solve any problems if it might benefit a Democrat.

Personally, I don't care if it's one Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan-Border bill or 3+ separate bills. Let's just get to the voting for Ukraine at least who has the most immediate need.

Access to this page has been denied


EDIT:

Welp, some good news for Ukraine at least.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68165971
I wonder what Orban got?

The child labor bill florida passed today allows 16 year olds to work 30 hours per week and up to 6 days in a row during the school year. Oh, and the employer isn't mandated to give them any breaks.

It’s floridas goal to have as many low income uneducated citizens as possible.

Going to be interesting next week.

GOP House on their standalone bill and Senate coming out with their Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan-Border bill. Either way, glad it's on the next step to some sort of conclusion (I hope).

Access to this page has been denied

It's wild how he turned them into Alabama with some better weather this quick.

Basically, a whole lotta pain for Joe but not all is bad.

Access Denied

The independents surprised me.

Wasn't there a thing a while back where Trumper's were intentionally screwing with polls by saying they were something they weren't politically? I remember that from somewhere. It surprises you because it's almost certainly bullshit. Trump's path isn't convincing people to vote for him it's convincing them not to vote at all. At this point you are either voting for Trump or you aren't. He needs those that aren't to not vote at all.

FWIW I don't think the MAGA's are that coordinated or disciplined to fake out the "independents" vote.

But yeah, I'd like to see some additional polling to confirm/deny this.

Additionally, I know some here disparage the Trump voters as not being "educated". If this poll is accurate, the 42% college educated backing Trump is impressive.

re: that independent stat -- I've identified as an independent for my entire modern political lifetime, I've never been a GOP member in reality nor in any survey.

I know a handful of others who fit the same description so that factors into that somewhere.

TBH this surprises me.

I consider myself independent, leaning GOP on some areas, leaning Dems on other areas. I've voted for GOP & Dem Presidents in the past.

Don't take this in anyway other than idle curiosity, have you voted for GOP & Dem Presidents in the past?