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

[CaptainEurope]

Reports are he's in "Life threatening condition". He was pro-Putin and against arming Ukraine. No word on if that played a part in the assassination attempt.

Politico also reported on his ties to organized crime a couple of weeks ago. Maybe he broke some promises he had made to the false people.

[CaptainEurope]

Biden Trump debate on CNN is on for June 27. No audience, no RFKJR (unless he miraculously meets the qualification requirements until then).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Biden Trump debate on CNN is on for June 27. No audience, no RFKJR (unless he miraculously meets the qualification requirements until then).

If I do watch, it'll have to be with the volume down and subtitles on as I can't stand listening to Trump for longer than five seconds. Hell, as it is, I'm barely able to tolerate even looking at him.

[Jack Dracula]

The primaries are actually not going that great for Trump:



https://twitter.com/DeanObeidallah/s...11914886029571

The media needs to repeat these results ad nauseum. Whatever Moderate Republicans out there who don’t want another Trump administration need reinforcement of their beliefs. It could spark some sort of movement and weaken or break his hold on the party.

[CaptainEurope]

US inflation slowed in April, providing a glimmer of hope for weary Americans

After a hot start to 2024, inflation cooled back down in April, providing a bit of hope for Americans worn down by elevated prices.

Consumer prices were up 3.4% for the 12 months ended in April, easing from 3.5% the month before, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.3%, a slower pace of growth than the 0.4% seen in the two months prior.

While elevated housing costs and high prices at the pump continue to weigh on Americans, Wednesday’s report did provide some welcome news on another staple spending area: Grocery prices fell for the first time in a year, dropping 0.2% from March.

A closely watched underlying measurement of inflation showed even more progress. Core CPI, which strips out the more volatile categories of energy and food, slowed from 3.8% to 3.6%, its lowest rate since April 2021.

[achilles]

Politico also reported on his ties to organized crime a couple of weeks ago. Maybe he broke some promises he had made to the false people.

Evidently, the shooter was some sort of poet. But it sounds like lots of people might have reason to try something like this.

[JCAll]

Yeah, the "Trump amnesia" is a terrible thing.

Trump's legacy was multitudes of dead people due to COVID.

Apparently the tumult of the last few years of the Trump presidency didn't happen in the minds of millions of Americans.

In their minds it didn't happen while it was happening either. They're happily blind to how bad Trump was, still is, and will continue to be.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

In their minds it didn't happen while it was happening either. They're happily blind to how bad Trump was, still is, and will continue to be.

Well, the alternative would be to admit they were wrong about Trump from the beginning, and that will NEVER happen.

[shooshoomanjoe]

US inflation slowed in April, providing a glimmer of hope for weary Americans

Inflation went up 3% last month? I thought Biden said inflation was over. Maybe Biden can try to pin it on trump again. How Biden just stop with the gaslighting.

[CaptainEurope]

Details on the guy who shot Slovakia's PM:

Slovakian media has named the shooter as Juraj Cintula from the small western town of Levice.

According to Slovak daily newspaper Dennik N, the suspected perpetrator is 71 years old, a writer and a founding member of the DÚHA Literary Club.


He has written three collections of poetry and published two novels titled 'The Message of Sacrifice' in 2010 and 'Efata' in 2015, according to the literary club's Facebook page. The latter is a novel about Slovakia's Roma community.

The Slovak Writers' Association (SSS) has registered Cintula as a member since 2015 however, have since tried to distance themselves from his association posting in a statement, "We express our indignation at such a brutal act, which has no parallel in the history of Slovakia."

Cintula reportedly owned a gun license, and previously worked as a security guard for a private security firm where he himself was the target of an attack in a shopping centre.

Markíza TV station reported on a brief video showing the suspect, which was released shortly after his arrest. In the video, he says, "I don't agree with the government's policies. Why are the media being targeted? Why is RTVS under attack? Why was Mazák dismissed from his position?"

The assassination attempt is the first on a senior politician in the history of modern Slovakia, which gained independence in 1993.

Beware the poets.

[Kirby101]

Inflation went up 3% last month? I thought Biden said inflation was over. Maybe Biden can try to pin it on trump again. How Biden just stop with the gaslighting.

You do know you left off a decimal point?

[Catlady in training]

Breaking news says the Slovakian PM Robert Fico has been shot in his gut.

A few weeks ago me and Catlady reported about Fico winning the election on a pro-Russia, no aid for Ukraine platform.

Just a slight correction, his party won in September last year and he's been governing for half a year now. Few weeks ago, it was his lapdog who won presidential election, so they basically have all the political posts now.

Reports are he's in "Life threatening condition". He was pro-Putin and against arming Ukraine. No word on if that played a part in the assassination attempt.

Politico also reported on his ties to organized crime a couple of weeks ago. Maybe he broke some promises he had made to the false people.

It is kind of weird. The shooter is a pensioner from small town, which is Fico's main voting base. But this guy seems to have been against his policies and most likely went nuts (just a guess, they don't have a medical evaluation yet as far as I know). But his neighbors say he was a nice, quiet guy, nobody would have guessed it. He also seems to have made videos in the past talking against violence. It's crazy. He had gun legally - not a very usual thing in this country thankfully. I have said it before, if we had more lenient gun laws, I'm afraid things would have been a lot worse, because our society is just as polarized as the American.

[Dalak]

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!

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 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.

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.

I'm less skeptical of people being convinced to vote against their own interests, especially considering how much misinformation is flying around nowadays.

A pleasant surprise in Europe:

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

Here's hoping the trend continues.

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.

Holding conservatives responsible for their actions might trickle down to wind up making it less attractive to be hateful liars, so it must be avoided at all costs.

"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

The Party of Trump, on display.

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.

I don't expect there to be such a huge shift, but I don't trust the memory of the voting public in the US.

[Dalak]

Red Lobster going under will be bad news for Biden in November (according to a future NYT article, I'm sure).

Considering the NYT is saying that calling for & getting Debates is a bad thing, I wouldn't be surprised.

Biden is sending $1B in weapons to Israel, despite claiming he was going to hold the weapons if the IDF goes into Rafah. Why is he playing both sides.

According to this link it's not as cut & dry as you are making out. The weapons he "claimed" are being held are still being held, and "The deal would be an entirely new sale, the aide said. That means any weapons that are part of it could take years to be delivered."

That seems like very important context to leave out by not providing a link when posting predictably misleading commentary.

People also don’t place any of the blame on the corporations hiring illegal aliens.

If someone is desperate, their family is starving, and they’re in fear of their own government and then an American company offers them a job (illegally) what the hell do you expect them to do?!?

Even if it is jobs that “no one else wants” they are still dangling a paycheck in front of desperate people who will do any job because their situation is life or death.

Unfortunately it’s America and we’re told regulation of business is evil. So we say it’s all the immigrants’ fault while looking the other way while Tyson Foods, Dole, etc. continue to offer them jobs.

Can you imagine what food prices would be without immigrants doing the backbreaking labor of picking produce and doing godawful tasks on industrial farms?

Meet the workers who put food on America’s tables – but can’t afford groceries

It's not on the desperate people unable to get legal jobs, but the businesses which provide them. IN some cases they are small ones helping out friends/family, but too often they aren't.

Because he has to play both sides. That's how politics works. If he really did cut Israel off completely, he would get hit from centrists. It's a no win situation.

Sadly, THIS. Politically, no matter what he does, he loses. Maybe even the election.

While I agree with teh sentiment, I'd point out the missing context.

It's causing more disarray in the GOP:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donal...b0d915e0fbf01f

GoP Delenda Est.

He sent the bill to Congress and Congress will vote on it. It's not a done deal yet and Bide, as I pointed out before, is NOT a King.

See Above for more missing context.

[Dalak]

Lindsey Graham literally just said Israel should do what the US did with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I wonder how well John McCain knew Graham before he passed.

Your Republican party, everyone.

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/valentina-gomez-video/

It's as I've said numerous times before in this thread: the LGBTQ community is the only minority that can be safely, and relentlessly attacked by the right without any risk of blowback. Knuckledragging harridans like Gomez are a pox on the human race.

By the by: It can be argued that THE biggest "grooming" book around is the Bible which preaches hate, division and intolerance.

There's no hate like Christian love.

All the major religious texts are self-contradictory. I believe people take from them what they bring to them. If a person is overly concerned with rules and their enforcement, they will take all the judgmental stuff from their religion. If they're more of a bleeding heart, they'll take all the stuff about compassion and aiding your fellow humans and universalism.

You get both groups from religion. Even the hippie dippie Buddhists are perpetrating a genocide against the Rohingya right now.

People are the problem. They don't need a book. It's just an excuse.

Tuck sums things up pretty well IMO

That is the most ridiculous and pathetic thing I have ever seen.

Seriously, I am starting to think that the GOP are putting Trump on a pedestal, not because of who he is or what he says or anything rational. They are doing it in a desperate attempt to gain power and need a figurehead, any figurehead, to have a reason for some semblance of unity. Especially since they have no platform, no polices, no beliefs, nothing else to justify their existence. Not anymore.

The only unity the GQP has is to Trump, the only platform the party has is enriching the wealthy and making everyone else suffer. I've never seen a cult of personality taken to these outrageous extremes like with Trump, I mean, we have politicians cosplaying as Trump while grown ass men publicly wear fucking diapers like he allegedly does. It's beyond insane. Perhaps the only example even more extreme than Trump was Germany with Adolph Hitler, and that's no hyperbole.

Trump is the one bringing in his MAGA crowd which haven't warmed to any GoP candidate other than him, so they will keep him around as their avenue to keep power.