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

[Dalak]

At what point are you going to hold Americans accountable for their choices?

Visit other public forums and you will see many simply prefer Trump’s agenda -- they do not support climate change legislation, police reform, abortion rights, voting accessibility, LGBT visibility, or DACA.

With that in mind instead of focusing on polls just let people vote instead of worrying like the last two times when Democrats overperformed.

80-90% of black people vote against Trump -- yet people ask why black people don't do more instead of asking why others are doing less.

Millions more Americans vote for Hillary and Biden -- yet people don't ask why Americans accept a political system that clearly allows for the tyranny of a white nationalist minority.

Democrats are clearly the more popular candidates so that is not the issue -- the issue is a system that consistently awards the presidency and power to less preferred Republican candidates.

The article in the link literally states exactly what steps the Biden administration is taking to address the issue -- instead of wondering if they have a plan you could just read what you are posting.

Quoted in agreement.

The only group that votes around 80-90-% democrat are African-Americans. Regardless of what any polls say now, I don't expect that to change during election day. Why aren't other groups of voters not bothered by a Trump return?

It can't be one group of voters job to "save democracy". The rise of Trump has completely dispelled the myth of the "post civil rights" liberal generation. Trump's greatest support is amongst millienials which says a lot about society.

There has to be a way to encourage people to stop being assholes in a post-shame world, because they loudly shout about just don't care about how others think of them anymore.

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.

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.

Lots of theories, but this is surprising.

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.

17% of Voters Blame Biden for the End of Roe

Even though this was more specifically about Abortion. I think it goes to the larger issue we have talked about many times. And that is the ignorance of the electorate in general. I mean it explains a lot of these poll numbers honestly. This selective amnesia about Trumps term.

And then the complete disregard of reality for what Biden is and is not responsible for. I mean granted we are more 'checked in' with news and politics than average people. Anyone participating regularly on a forum like we are and reading and sharing news and debating the politics of the day clearly are more interested and will have more accurate grasp for the most part on what the reality of the news is.

But, at this point if you do not understand how government works on a basic civics level like a lot of these people. Who are kindly in most of these polls are referred to as "voters with less education". All that can be done is try and beat back the noise of what the media chooses to focus on. Air adds on social media, TV, anywhere you could possibly reach these people. Trumps own words taking responsibility. Over and over again.

While the rest of the media focuses on Biden's age, while ignoring Trumps incoherent ramblings and victim conferences outside his various courtrooms.

This sort of thing only makes me less confident in the US voting populace.

Exactly. Why are any women voting for a complete misogynist, a serial cheat. He has no respect for his wives, he has a massive judgement against him for rape. He took full credit for ending Roe and says the states should decide. Which means he owns the archaic bans and bounties these states have put on women. Against IVF, what they plan to do with birth control. And possibly the federal implications if GOP get control again to get around blue states who are trying to protect women.

Dems should definitely still be reaching out in a real and tangible way for miniorities because of that steadfast support. But, at the end of the day if Trump wins it wont be Black people's fault.

Why? Well, ever since 2015, we've seen that there's scores of women out there who just plain don't care that Trump is literally the scum of the earth, a lot of that boils down to the reason I repeat here ad nauseum about why people support him----HATE. Trump hates who they hate (minorities, immigrants, gays), and that makes him a hero in their eyes, regardless of how he treats women. To put on my amateur psychologist hat, perhaps all those harridans see in Trump is the media mogul, the billionaire "businessman", the flashy TV star and long to be in his orbit, especially in the case of women who have little joy in their lives and live vicariously through him. These are the women all too willing to vote against their own interests because they've gulped down the Kool-Aid, and, in Trumpworld, it's MAGA first, gender a distant second.

WPP hit it on the nose here, it's the freedom to be the worst person they want to be with no consequences.

[Dalak]

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

I will look at the After-Action report.

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.

This I agree with, let the ones who are holding their nose to vote GoP know they don't have to be caught up in Trump's BS if they want to do something about it.

Details on the guy who shot Slovakia's PM:



Beware the poets.

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.


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.

This isn't the kind of person you expect to be gunning anyone down, this is another frightening example of what the polarization of things is doing to us. Of course you can't just pal around with people who are actively trying to oppress several groups of people either.

You do know you left off a decimal point?

Really? *sigh*

[Jack Dracula]

Exactly. Why are any women voting for a complete misogynist, a serial cheat. He has no respect for his wives, he has a massive judgement against him for rape. He took full credit for ending Roe and says the states should decide. Which means he owns the archaic bans and bounties these states have put on women. Against IVF, what they plan to do with birth control. And possibly the federal implications if GOP get control again to get around blue states who are trying to protect women.

Dems should definitely still be reaching out in a real and tangible way for miniorities because of that steadfast support. But, at the end of the day if Trump wins it wont be Black people's fault.

IMO Trump did well with suburban moms in 2016 mostly because of the mistrust or Hillary that was stoked by conservative media. Evidently they mistrusted Hillary more than they were disgusted by the Access Hollywood scandal which really should’ve killed him in all female demographics.
This time around I have to think it’s the hateful rhetoric concerning LGBTQ+ Americans and the whole book banning movement.
We can’t have deviants corrupting the minds of our precious little angels you know. /s

[skyvolt2000]

There has to be a way to encourage people to stop being assholes in a post-shame world, because they loudly shout about just don't care about how others think of them anymore.

But the question remains why is it on black folks to save America from Trump?

In fact why does the GOP target black folks?

Everything Project 2025 affects EVERYONE.

Abbott's Vouchers for private schools is going to hit every public school including white and Asian ones in Texas.

Abortion ban is trying to force white women to birth kids HOWEVER it's forcing everyone to do that. So for every 10 white women that give birth-20-30 babies of color are going to show up as well.

[skyvolt2000]

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.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy...t-drop-of-2024

Prices rose 0.3 percent from March to April, the Labor Department said Wednesday, down slightly from 0.4 percent the previous month. Measured year-over-year, inflation ticked down from 3.5 percent to 3.4 percent. And a measure of underlying inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, fell to the lowest level in three years.

Inflation had been unexpectedly high in the first three months of this year after having steadily dropped in the second half of 2023. The elevated readings had dimmed hopes that the worst bout of inflation in four decades was being rapidly tamed.

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

Red Lobster has been in trouble before Biden and even Trump and Obama.

They put themselves in this mess with the endless shrimp sales. Lets not forget Covid.

Biden, Trump and Obama had no control over that.

[Tami]

I really liked this



And a bit of trivial, I'm only 6 DAYS older than Colbert. I just found that out since I missed this on the 13th. Very happy to nearly share a birthday with him.

[Tami]

And just to be fair

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I really liked this



And a bit of trivial, I'm only 6 DAYS older than Colbert. I just found that out since I missed this on the 13th. Very happy to nearly share a birthday with him.

Pretty cool!

[Mister Mets]

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

They're agreeing to this quickly. ABC seems to have hosts set for September.

I think it's fine to have an early debate.

Republicans are playing into Biden's hands here, consistently downplaying expectations to the extent that if it's likely he knows who he is and where he is during the debate, he'll do okay.

I would like to be a fly in the wall on debate prep. The best strategy for Biden would be to have practice debates with the person playing Trump being as obnoxious as possible, even if Trump may end up being worse.

[Jack Dracula]

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.





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.

I’m curious what you think caused the polarization in your country. When do you think it began and what exacerbated it?

[Jack Dracula]

But the question remains why is it on black folks to save America from Trump?

In fact why does the GOP target black folks?

Everything Project 2025 affects EVERYONE.

Abbott's Vouchers for private schools is going to hit every public school including white and Asian ones in Texas.

Abortion ban is trying to force white women to birth kids HOWEVER it's forcing everyone to do that. So for every 10 white women that give birth-20-30 babies of color are going to show up as well.

Right now, the polarization in the US may be largely between white people. Minority voters with different perspectives and fewer illusions about nationality, patriotism, classism, etc may bring a clearer, uncluttered view with them to the polls.
Just my off-the-cuff thoughts.

[Tami]

The Mass Psychology of Trumpism

How is it possible that a twice-impeached former president facing 91 criminal counts can now be favored to return to the Oval Office? Why do his supporters not recoil when Trump promises to unleash an authoritarian regime as president and to assume the role of dictator on Day One? What explains his enduring appeal?

Questions like these have been raised ever since Donald Trump began to gain political traction in early 2016. Back then he claimed, quite presciently, that he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue in New York City and not lose a single vote. Since then, countless observers have puzzled over the unshakable hold he exerts on a vast swath of the American electorate. Many factors — economic, political, cultural, psychological — are surely at play in shaping Trump’s abiding relationship with his supporters.

My argument, as strange as it might sound, is that Trump’s enduring appeal stems from the perception — his own and others’ — that he is not a person. In the minds of millions, Trump is more than a person. And he is less than a person, too.

Donald Trump sees himself in the same way. While Trump insists that he is a force for good rather than evil, he truly perceives himself to be qualitatively different from the rest of humankind. He has often compared himself to a superhero. He has famously described himself as a “stable genius” who has never made a mistake. He is not lying when he makes these outrageous claims, for Trump truly believes them to be true, just as he believes he won the 2020 election.

At the same time, Trump is incapable of describing an inner psychological life or of identifying traces of reflection, emotional nuance, doubt or fallibility. Even though he talks about himself all the time, Trump has never been able to explain his inner world or to narrate stories about how he has come to be the person he is, as frustrated interviewers and biographers have repeatedly noted.

The New York Times television critic James Poniewozik has observed that the “real” Donald Trump is a television character. In trying to predict what Trump will do, Poniewozik cautioned, “The key is to remember that Donald Trump is not a person.” What Poniewozik meant is that Trump’s behavior is not driven by the strategies, motivations and beliefs that we typically attribute to full-fledged people. If you want to gain insight into Trump, ask yourself this: What might happen next on television? What would a TV character do?

Trump played himself as a TV character for 14 seasons on “The Apprentice.” Millions of Americans came to know him through that show, establishing what the cognitive scientist Shira Gabriel and her colleagues have described as strongly emotional “parasocial bonds” with Trump. But even before that, going back to the 1980s, Trump honed his character to play a distinctively Trumpian protagonist in life, so much so that over time he has become a heroic character: Trump is the mighty role and nothing else. You feel it in his presence, as did Tom Griffin, in 2006, after negotiating a real estate deal with Trump in a Scottish pub. “It was Donald Trump playing Donald Trump,” a befuddled Griffin noted afterward. He found the encounter very strange. Indeed, Griffin seemed to experience something like ontological confusion. Did I see the real Trump? Or was he playing a role? The answer to both questions turns out to be “Yes!” That was the real Trump. The real Trump is the role. There is no other Trump.

[numberthirty]

[Tami]

How America tried and failed to stay White

“I think that we have sufficient stock in America now for us to shut the door.”

That sounds like Donald Trump, right? Maybe on one of his campaign stops? It certainly fits the mood of the country. This year, immigration became voters’ “most important problem” in Gallup polling for the first time since Central Americans flocked to the border in 2019. More than half of Americans perceive immigrants crossing the border illegally as a “critical threat.”

Yet the sentiment expressed above is almost exactly 100 years old. It was uttered by Sen. Ellison DuRant Smith, a South Carolina Democrat, on April 9, 1924. And it helped set the stage for a historic change in U.S. immigration law, which imposed strict national quotas for newcomers that would shape the United States’ ethnic makeup for decades to come.

Immigration was perceived as a problem a century ago, too. Large numbers of migrants from Eastern and Southern Europe flocked to the United States during the first two decades of the 20th century, sparking a public outcry over unfamiliar intruders who lacked the Northern and Western European blood of previous migrant cohorts.

On May 15, 1924, Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Act, which would constrain immigration into the United States to preserve, in Smith’s words, America’s “pure, unadulterated Anglo-Saxon stock.”

[aja_christopher]

One hopes you actually care about Palestinians more than you care about African-American and LGBT American voters.