All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[kidfresh512]

US House Speaker Johnson to join Republican parade at Trump hush money trial

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson will join former President Donald Trump at his hush money trial in Manhattan on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said.

Johnson, the top Republican in Congress, is the latest and most senior party member to attend the proceedings, in which Trump is charged with trying to cover up a payment to an adult film star in the final weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, widely seen as a possible Trump running mate, is also due to attend on Tuesday, along with hardline House Republicans Byron Donalds and Cory Mills and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamay.

Trump has already drawn support in the form of personal appearance from several Republicans on Capitol Hill including Republican Senators Rick Scott, J.D. Vance - another potential Trump vice president - and Tommy Tuberville.

On Monday, Vance, Tuberville and House Republican Nicole Malliotakis stood behind Trump in a courthouse hallway as he railed against the proceedings, the judge and his November rival, Democratic President Joe Biden.

This is so embarrassing. They all have to show support and sit at Trump's trial on hush money payments to a porn star. Good thing they don't have anything better to do like you know their jobs working for the American people or anything.

[Dalak]

A former coworker of mine just posted a Tik Tok video on her Instagram of some young bearded guy yelling about how old the candidates are and saying he’s just going to write in Mickey Mouse. It’s this type of thinking that will help Trump get elected.

People are not considering how this election will affect people outside of their own bubble. POC voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, environmental protection, etc. are all on the line but dumbasses are not going to vote because Biden is “too old”.

America is going to vote to dismantle democracy.

Can you imagine if Biden said half the crazy incoherent sh!t that Trump says at every rally?

This is why I ask others if they know any good arguments I could use to convince people who say they aren't voting.

We are either going to see the biggest racial realignment in American voting in half a century or ... we're not.

The cross tabs of these polls are frequently very weird. Polling is in a really odd place right now.

I have more respect for the predictive accuracy of polling than most people.

On UK scene there’s certainly a fair number of cases where the polls predict one result and something else happens. But that’s usually down to the polls having been close, and the actual result was actually possible accepting the forecast error variation. If the polls are consistently predicting something with a healthy margin (e.g. a consistent lead of 5 percent or more), then it’s very likely it will happen.

But aren’t the Biden/Trump polling figures close and “all over the place”?

The problem when comparing US polling to UK polling is that the populace here is getting increasingly spiteful & uncommunicative so that skews results in an unpredictable way depending on who responds to the polling and how truthful they want to be. I worked for several years in telephone surveys and that leads to alot of political polling, and one of the strangest people I spoke to asked to be identified as a Chain Link Fence instead of allowing me to call him Sir. I had to leave that JOb in 2020 to move here to Florida and I haven't missed it, but it showed me how much things are changing and how polling science needs to catch up in the US.

Polls aren't votes -- instead of being concerned about polls people should be focused on the Republican Party's concentrated efforts to dilute and obstruct the voting rights of their opponents as those are long term issues.

Conservative Republicans understand this reality which is exactly why they have spent decades blocking and dismantling the voting rights of non-whites.



The issues Oliver is talking about in this video are still in contention in places like Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Arizona and almost everywhere where Republicans are in power due to the Supreme Court dismantling of the Voting Rights Act.

As was noted before -- lower voter participation from black and brown voters can often be directly attributed to increased Republican voting restrictions.

The rest they take care of via gerrymandering and other forms of disenfranchisement -- whether legal or illegal.

-----

"Following the 2020 United States presidential election and the unsuccessful attempts by Donald Trump and various other Republican officials to overturn it, Republican lawmakers initiated a sweeping effort to make voting laws more restrictive within several states across the country. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as of October 4, 2021, more than 425 bills that would restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 states—with 33 of these bills enacted across 19 states so far.[4] The bills are largely centered around limiting mail-in voting, strengthening voter ID laws, shortening early voting, eliminating automatic and same-day voter registration, curbing the use of ballot drop boxes, and allowing for increased purging of voter rolls.

"Republicans in at least eight states have also introduced bills that would give lawmakers greater power over election administration after they were unsuccessful in their attempts to overturn election results in swing states won by Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The efforts garnered press attention and public outrage from Democrats, and by 2023 Republicans had adopted a more "under the radar" approach to achieve their goals."

https:/http:///en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republ...External_links

The GoP has made it clear throughout the last 5-10 years, that if their candidates lose they will not accept the validity of the elections and will instead try to challenge the process or even incite riots if possible. As the rank & file have defended Trump and the Jan 6th Rioters so often there's no choice to accept their culpability in encouraging such actions & behavior.

It’s interesting the number of people that are effectively happy to characterise the potential miscategorisation of business spend as a non crime.

Actually it is a crime, and there’s at least 2 important reasons for that. The first is that most big companies…even the ones that don’t have a Stock Exchange listing… have a multitude of shareholders. If the guy in charge of the company is free to record spend anyway he wants he would be free to enrich himself by spending money anyway he wants…that would be fraud at the expense of other shareholders.

After that the way the spend is categorised decides how it treated for tax purposes, for example whether it’s tax deductible or not.

It’s not the sort of crime that I’d expect senior Republicans…well known for seeing business integrity as paramount…to regard as trivial. (Well unless it helps them…)

If you'll look at historical trends regarding Trump, Paxton, and so many other US conservatives, Fraud is only a crime when it's lefties on the line (See: Biden, Hunter).

The only reason George Santos got in trouble is because he targeted the wrong conservatives in his fraud.

Isn't it ironic how members of the so-called "Party of Law and Order" are all too willing to make excuses for and support a rapist, thief, liar and crook like Trump? The hypocrisy is staggering.

That same hypocrisy shows in the Religious Right supporting someone who has broken nearly all of the ten Commandments, and then some.

I don't think the last couple of generations of Republicans ever gave a damn about the law, just order as they saw fit.

And that is a unifying factor in GoP Officials & Voters, they want the authority to tell others what to say, do, and live but they don't want to allow anyone else that same authority. Look at the video posted of idiots crossing the border posted earlier in this thread for an example of this. Many more can be provided upon request.

[Dalak]

US House Speaker Johnson to join Republican parade at Trump hush money trial



This is so embarrassing. They all have to show support and sit at Trump's trial on hush money payments to a porn star. Good thing they don't have anything better to do like you know their jobs working for the American people or anything.

Johnson needs to kiss the ring after working with Dems for the good of the country or else Trump will see him booted after he doesn't have to sleep through his trial.

Even 10 years ago I couldn't have imagined this would be the reality in which we live.

[aja_christopher]

It’s interesting the number of people that are effectively happy to characterise the potential miscategorisation of business spend as a non crime.

Actually it is a crime, and there’s at least 2 important reasons for that. The first is that most big companies…even the ones that don’t have a Stock Exchange listing… have a multitude of shareholders. If the guy in charge of the company is free to record spend anyway he wants he would be free to enrich himself by spending money anyway he wants…that would be fraud at the expense of other shareholders.

After that the way the spend is categorised decides how it treated for tax purposes, for example whether it’s tax deductible or not.

It’s not the sort of crime that I’d expect senior Republicans…well known for seeing business integrity as paramount…to regard as trivial. (Well unless it helps them…)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

US House Speaker Johnson to join Republican parade at Trump hush money trial



This is so embarrassing. They all have to show support and sit at Trump's trial on hush money payments to a porn star. Good thing they don't have anything better to do like you know their jobs working for the American people or anything.

Can't say I'm surprised. I guess it'll only be a matter of time before Madam Howler Monkey, Rapey McForehead, Lauren Beetlejuicer, Fled Cruz and the rest of the GQP clowns show up and this turns into a real circus. This whole business is disgraceful on levels I can't possibly imagine.

[Username taken]

Here is the thing about those polls-those are polls that inquire about everyone and then breaks it down by race.


Now if you when you talk to pollsters who ONLY talk to a certain race-the results are different. A few black centric pollsters tossed out numbers that had black folks supporting Biden. However they never get interviewed on mainstream media.

So it depends on who you are looking at.

Yeah, there's black pollster that focused on polling black people exclusively and saw no racial re-alignment whatsoever.

I'm going to repeat what I said during the mid-terms when the "red wave" was predicted, the only way Trump wins all those swing states is unless there's a great racial re-alignment that we haven't seen in most of our life times. It's certainly not impossible but I will be curious as to what could lead to this re-alignment when there's been a surge in open racism and the GOP has been working over time to roll back benefits that minorities have accrued over the years.

I know there's real discontent with Biden in minority circles (for myriad reasons) but how this will affect the elections remains to be seen.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yeah, there's black pollster that focused on polling black people exclusively and saw no racial re-alignment whatsoever.

I'm going to repeat what I said during the mid-terms when the "red wave" was predicted, the only way Trump wins all those swing states is unless there's a great racial re-alignment that we haven't seen in most of our life times. It's certainly not impossible but I will be curious as to what could lead to this re-alignment when there's been a surge in open racism and the GOP has been working over time to roll back benefits that minorities have accrued over the years.

I know there's real discontent with Biden in minority circles (for myriad reasons) but how this will affect the elections remains to be seen.

The only explanation I could come up with on the fly is that black churchgoers are in perfect alignment with their white counterparts when it comes to homophobia, transphobia and a general dislike, if not loathing of the LGBTQ community. Still, I can't imagine that demographic producing the sort of sea change needed to tip the scales in Trump's favor. Sure, I have no doubt rich black folks are in his corner for more tax cuts, but, they're an even smaller faction, I can't imagine them making any sort of tangible difference either. While I understand there's a disconnect between Biden and minorities, do they think for one goddamn second that Trump will listen to their concerns? Short answer----HELL no!

[CaptainEurope]

A pleasant surprise in Europe:

Catalan separatists set to lose majority in Spain’s regional elections as pro-union party picks up seats

Six years after plunging Spain into its worst political crisis in decades, Catalonia’s separatist parties are in danger of losing their hold on power in the northeastern region after the pro-union Socialist Party scored a historic result in Sunday’s election.

The four pro-independence parties, led by the Together party of former regional president Carles Puigdemont, were set to get a total of 61 seats, according to a near-complete count of the ballots. That is short of the key figure of 68 seats needed for a majority in the chamber.

The Socialists led by former health minister Salvador Illa savored their best result in a Catalan election, claiming 42 seats, up from 33 in 2021, when they also barely won the most votes but were unable to form a government. This was the first time the Socialists led a Catalan election in both votes and seats won.

“Catalonia has decided to open a new era,” Illa told his thrilled supporters at his party headquarters. “Catalan voters have decided that the Socialist Party will lead this new era, and it is my intention to become Catalonia’s next president.”

Illa led Spain’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic before Sánchez sent him back to Barcelona to lead his party. The 58-year-old Illa’s calm tone and focus on social issues convinced many voters that it was time to change after years of separatists pressing for severing century-old ties with the rest of Spain.

Sánchez congratulated Illa on the X platform for the “historic result.”

The Socialists will need to earn the backing of other parties to put Illa in charge. Dealmaking in the coming days, maybe weeks, will be key to forming a government. Neither a hung parliament nor a new election is out of the question.

[CaptainEurope]

GNjmJPUWwAIE-Sv.jpg

Marge should return that Pulitzer.

[Username taken]

The only explanation I could come up with on the fly is that black churchgoers are in perfect alignment with their white counterparts when it comes to homophobia, transphobia and a general dislike, if not loathing of the LGBTQ community. Still, I can't imagine that demographic producing the sort of sea change needed to tip the scales in Trump's favor. Sure, I have no doubt rich black folks are in his corner for more tax cuts, but, they're an even smaller faction, I can't imagine them making any sort of tangible difference either. While I understand there's a disconnect between Biden and minorities, do they think for one goddamn second that Trump will listen to their concerns? Short answer----HELL no!

Yeah, there's a fair bit of dislike of the LGBTIQ community (calling it fair is a little bit of an understatement). Also (and despite media reports), most religious black people are fiercely pro-Israel and do call the Jewish people "the chosen people". The number of black people that hold this view are a very significant number.

All this being said, these issues haven't been wedge issues in the past and Trump's net effect on the black community was resoundingly negative. I can't imagine they would ignore all the bullsh!t of his first term and vote for him this time.

[kidfresh512]

Yeah, there's a fair bit of dislike of the LGBTIQ black community (calling it fair is a little bit of an understatement). Also (and despite media reports), most religious black people are fiercely pro-Israel and do call the Jewish people "the chosen people". The number of black people that hold this view are a very significant number.

All this being said, these issues haven't been wedge issues in the past and Trump's net effect on the black community was resoundingly negative. I can't imagine they would ignore all the bullsh!t of his first term and vote for him this time.

I mean Trump and co literally tried to specifically get millions of Black peoples votes tossed out on Jan 6th. Then proceeded to whine for years it didn't work. And tell all the racists who stormed the capital he loved them and they were political prisoners. He literally said black people probably like him cause he has a mug shot.

Of course you can find a few Tim Scotts etc. But it wont be the few Black votes he gets that provides the win if he gets in.

[zinderel]

In ‘News you just can’t make up’, Alina Habba - one of trump’s many future unpaid sycophants - went on Sean Hannity - one of Trump’s collared elephants - to complain about how Democrats are trying to overthrow the Constitution and that there is a ‘dual system of justice’ in America that will come for ‘your’ (directed at the average terrified-of-brown-people-and-rainbows Fox News viewer) children if the Avatar of the Seven Deadly Sins that the GOP has chosen as their new God is held accountable for his actions.

Just more psychopathy, lies, gaslighting and hypocrisy from the GOP and it’s propagandists.

Nothing new.

[zinderel]

Yeah, there's a fair bit of dislike of the LGBTIQ community (calling it fair is a little bit of an understatement). Also (and despite media reports), most religious black people are fiercely pro-Israel and do call the Jewish people "the chosen people". The number of black people that hold this view are a very significant number.

All this being said, these issues haven't been wedge issues in the past and Trump's net effect on the black community was resoundingly negative. I can't imagine they would ignore all the bullsh!t of his first term and vote for him this time.

I have never understood how a free people whose cultural identities, family bonds, languages, and faiths were stolen, beaten, and raped out of them by ‘Christians’ could continue to so passionately embrace the ignorance and bigotry and awfulness of the ‘god’ of their former (and current…) oppressors.

ESPECIALLY in an age of international communication and access to knowledge, where they can reconnect with what was ripped away from them.

Trauma has continuing generational effects when left unaddressed, is all I can come up with.

[aja_christopher]

Johnson needs to kiss the ring after working with Dems for the good of the country or else Trump will see him booted after he doesn't have to sleep through his trial.

Even 10 years ago I couldn't have imagined this would be the reality in which we live.

"Speaker Mike Johnson’s appearance at Trump’s felony trial marks a remarkable moment in US politics"

"U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson assailed the U.S. judicial system on Tuesday, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court with Donald Trump and using his powerful position to attack the hush money case against the former president as an illegitimate “sham.”

It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker turning his Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy. Johnson, who is second in line for the presidency, called the court system “corrupt.”

Outside the New York courthouse, he decried “this ridiculous prosecution that is not about justice.” He said, “It’s all about politics.”

The speaker is leading a growing list of Republican lawmakers who are criticizing the American judicial system as they rally to Trump’s side, appearing at the courthouse to defend the party’s presumptive presidential nominee. Trump is accused of having arranged secret payments to a porn actress to hide negative stories during his successful 2016 campaign for president.

With Trump stuck in court and barred by a judge’s gag order from criticizing witnesses or certain elements of the case, Johnson and the lawmakers are taking it upon themselves to attack the proceedings, now in a fourth week of witness testimony. They’re using the trial as a de facto campaign stop as they work to return the former president to the White House. The Republican speaker, who is wholly dependent on support from Trump to keep the gavel, has aimed to strengthen their alliance, particularly as Johnson has come under fire from his own caucus in the House, including a failed effort at his removal by a fellow Trump backer, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Johnson made an appearance with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago club last month to announce new House legislation to require proof of citizenship for voting, echoing Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats are abetting immigrants entering the U.S. illegally to swing elections — another potential route for Republican challenges to the 2024 election.

There isn’t any indication that noncitizens vote in significant numbers in federal elections or that they will in the future.

And Johnson joined Trump on stage for the Republican National Committee’s gala at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, praising the presumptive presidential nominee and saying House Republicans fully expect to ride Trump’s coattails to their own re-elections to keep the majority hold on the chamber. Johnson has been using the pulpit of the speaker’s office in Washington to attack the U.S. judicial system, criticizing the courts as biased against the former president, claiming the case is politically motivated by Democrats and insisting Trump has done nothing wrong.

The speaker has demurred when asked if the 2020 election was legitimate, and in a departure from the tradition of trust and adherence in U.S. election systems, Johnson and other Republicans have hedged when asked if they will accept the election results of 2024"

https://apnews.com/article/donald-tr...f2600f40da6ac3

[Robotman]

The GOP went all in on the “culture war” and if there is a sizable shift in voting demographics than I guess it was a smashing success.

Most Latinos and African Americans are still very religious and socially conservative. So voting against legal abortions, LGBTQ rights, and stopping immigrants from entering the country could be appealing despite Trump openly embracing white nationalism.

There is a huge swath of the Latino population who are very anti-immigrant and have bought into the “immigrants bring more crime to the country” talking points that the GOP has pushed.

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 47% of Latinos believe the migrant situation at the US-Mexico border is increasing crime, while 47% believe it has no effect, and 6% believe it is decreasing crime. 59% of Latinos aged 50 and older believe the migrant situation is increasing crime, while 42% of those aged 18–49 believe the same.


The most concerning thing about the latest election polls is that Trump’s support was under reported in both 2016 and 2020. Some chalked it up to MAGA voters not trusting traditional institutions and refusing to participate in polling.

If that is still the case Biden (and democracy) is in serious trouble.