All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[JCAll]

As I recall it, The Governator's ascension had a bit of flukeyness to it. His predecessor, Gray Davis got axed in a recall vote, mainly powered by something that wasn't his fault: the California Electricity Crisis, brought on by a pack of free-wheeling energy company's policies. Now, make no mistake, Schwarzenegger's celebrity was definitely an asset, but I'm not so sure he could have climbed that hill had California not been in such mess at the time.

He was running against Gary Coleman and Gallagher at one point. And probably some actual politicians nobody remembers.

[JCAll]

I mean the idea that anyone in the Trump family or in his orbit could be moderating voices or influences was always absurd. People wondered if Ivanka would be a Trump-whisperer because she seemed to have more moderate views (in that she acknowledged climate change was a thing) but that was always an absurd proposition.

Donald Trump all through his life has been a profoundly evil man. Whether it's the housing segregation of the '70s, that Ad against the Central Park Five in the '80s, his general personal corruption, possibly being a serial rapist (given the number of accusations and allegations on him), a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, and of course the unforgivable Birther-attempt, he was and is evil. If his family backed him through all of that, then they will back him through anything. They are all corrupt and complicit.

I'm always hearing talk about his kids getting into politics after this, like a landmine sending out shrapnel. Ivanka is the big draw, but honestly any of them could probably run in a red district in Florida or somewhere and easily take a seat. I don't know why they would want to, the con seems to be falling apart, but the threat is there.

[DrNewGod]

I mean the idea that anyone in the Trump family or in his orbit could be moderating voices or influences was always absurd. People wondered if Ivanka would be a Trump-whisperer because she seemed to have more moderate views (in that she acknowledged climate change was a thing) but that was always an absurd proposition.

Donald Trump all through his life has been a profoundly evil man. Whether it's the housing segregation of the '70s, that Ad against the Central Park Five in the '80s, his general personal corruption, possibly being a serial rapist (given the number of accusations and allegations on him), a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, and of course the unforgivable Birther-attempt, he was and is evil. If his family backed him through all of that, then they will back him through anything. They are all corrupt and complicit.

Trump is one of those people who is so insecure he will not tolerate anyone with a real backbone in his presence, and so vicious he cows those he does allow near. Yeah, any hope that he was going to be contained was wishful thinking to the point of delusion. While I anticipated him being a horrible president, even predicting that he'd get impeached back in the primaries, I have to admit shock at just how bad it got.

I'm always hearing talk about his kids getting into politics after this, like a landmine sending out shrapnel. Ivanka is the big draw, but honestly any of them could probably run in a red district in Florida or somewhere and easily take a seat. I don't know why they would want to, the con seems to be falling apart, but the threat is there.

Ivanka is a dangerous bit of work. Every bit as selfishly ambitious and detail-averse as her father, but has managed to avoid looking as extreme as him. Progressives will remember her for what she really is, but she's probably got most other potential voters fooled. I sincerely hope NY's prosecutors are planning to give her an Jared some attention too. Don't care if she actually does time, but I'd breathe a bit easier if she had a felony on her record to keep her off future ballots.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I'm always hearing talk about his kids getting into politics after this, like a landmine sending out shrapnel. Ivanka is the big draw, but honestly any of them could probably run in a red district in Florida or somewhere and easily take a seat. I don't know why they would want to, the con seems to be falling apart, but the threat is there.

The kids -- Don Jr. Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany -- are on a spectrum of being somewhat smarter than Dad and also somewhat dumber. Of the lot, Don Jr. seems to combine evil with a little pragmatism, making connections with the GOP establishment and oligarchs and preserving some kind of relationships. So he knows some of the angles. Ivanka Trump is just vapid, and content to be a power-behind-the-throne kind of person and she does try to project an element of warmth which Dad doesn't. Trump always seems unhappy, he frowns all the time, shouts all the time and doesn't have a sense of humor beyond insulting and mocking people...whereas Ivanka does try to project those qualities. If she follows Dad, it will be as a different kind of candidate. We also need to factor that her candidacy will be tied to her looks...and as she gets older, as she ages, she might lose some of the blonde barbie appeal she might have for the Trump base.

The other two are nonentities from what I gather. Eric seems more like a henchman to his siblings and his Dad. Tiffany was supposedl a black sheep but then she became a proud MAGAt during her Dad's campaign so I guess she's female Eric.

Trump is one of those people who is so insecure he will not tolerate anyone with a real backbone in his presence, and so vicious he cows those he does allow near. Yeah, any hope that he was going to be contained was wishful thinking to the point of delusion.

He sees his children as extensions to himself, bribes them with inheritance, wealth, allowance and so on.

While I anticipated him being a horrible president, even predicting that he'd get impeached back in the primaries, I have to admit shock at just how bad it got.

I mean you sort of thought that at worst Trump would be a GOP oligarch in power and he has been that. Trump in power did stuff that basically any GOP candidate would do, and that's plenty bad (tax cuts, the Judge stacking, the SCOTUS-grift). So there's the usual level of bad, but he's gone far beyond that with the COVID-19 criminal negligence and the Putsch.

Ivanka is a dangerous bit of work. Every bit as selfishly ambitious and detail-averse as her father, but has managed to avoid looking as extreme as him.

Apparently when Scarlett Johanssen did that skit on SNL: Complicit (which gotta say, Gold!!!), Ivanka Trump felt personally offended by it very much like her Dad. The Trump family seem to like insulting other people but don't like it when they get insulted in return. I think people went on a light touch with Ivanka because of her Gwen Stacy looks, this fetishization of white women, especially white blonde women (seriously the Nazis for all their Aryan talk weren't as invested in that as Americans are), so magazines like Vanity Fair and other magazines treated her in fashion terms, in style terms and so on...and that normalized her.

I sincerely hope NY's prosecutors are planning to give her an Jared some attention too. Don't care if she actually does time, but I'd breathe a bit easier if she had a felony on her record to keep her off future ballots.

I actually do think that Ivanka and Jared will land on their feet after this, albeit I don't see any political future for them, in America at least. I think Jared might move to Israel. But socially they will pay a price. Both are more or less banished from NYC, and nobody will for a long while want anything to do with them. Business-wise, Jared will try and rebuild in Dubai and other parts where he's tried to expand his business interests in his entire time in the WH administration.

By the way in other news...Sheldon Adelson, billionaire mega Trump donor and casino magnate died.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/busin...ath/index.html

It would be bigger news if it hadn't coincided with the Putsch's aftermath, and I guess that's a form of justice.

[Kirby101]

Nationally, the Trump name is poison. Sure they could move somewhere and run for Congress, but any national ambitions by these seditious idiots has been crushed.

[Amadeus Arkham]

The president says his words that instigated a riot that ended up getting five people killed was completely fine. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m...truly speechless.

[Tami]

‘I do regret being there’: Simone Gold, noted hydroxychloroquine advocate, was inside the Capitol during the riot

A doctor and outspoken critic of the coronavirus vaccine was among those who entered the Capitol building last week during the siege that disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Simone Gold gained national attention in July when she and other physicians appeared in front of the Supreme Court for a sparsely attended news conference to decry pandemic lockdowns and criticize government efforts to stop the spread of the disease. Video of the event, organized by conservative activists, was retweeted by the president and viewed by millions before social media platforms took it down.

Gold confirmed to The Washington Post that she is the person pictured carrying a bullhorn on the Capitol grounds Wednesday in FBI and D.C. police bulletins seeking more information about individuals who were present.

She might regret it if she gets arrested.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The president says his words that instigating a riot that ended getting five people killed was completely fine. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m...truly speechless.

The shocking thing about the Putsch is the total impunity on every level. The participants marched in with swagger like they clearly could do what they wished and get away with anything, and you see that even now after they got cuffed or put on no fly lists.

In the case of Trump and his administration, the remarkable thing is that there was no attempt at disguise, no cover story, no official statement to spin the narrative right away. No legal statement and nothing.

And now Trump is all "so what?" and moral equivocating about it.

I think the statement he gave is basically Trump reaching IDGAF stage!

[worstblogever]

I'll note that I believe that Twitter can kick out conservatives, and has been correct to kick out quite a few.

However, the argument would be that conservatives and liberals have the right to pay the same level of access to Twitter or to healthcare or to food. A Bernie Sanders voter and a Trump fan can go with four bucks to a supermarket and buy a gallon of milk.

Maybe you shouldn't have cited this example, because the ***holes in your party in state legislatures keep insisting on passing laws to allow the sale of RAW milk, because pasteurization is apparently the debbil.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Pramila Jayapal has tested positive for COVID-19 after being in a room with mask dodging GOP in a crowded room during a Pandemic.
https://jayapal.house.gov/2021/01/11/covid-test/

WASHINGTON — United States Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) received a positive COVID-19 test result tonight after being locked down in a secured room at the U.S Capitol where numerous Republican lawmakers recklessly refused to wear masks in the moments after the January 6 attack. Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress, advised representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have, “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.” The duration in the room was multiple hours and several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one.

“Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them. Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic — creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack,” said Congresswoman Jayapal. “While I am isolating per the Capitol Physician’s instructions, I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount. I share the outrage and anger of my constituents and those across this country who have watched Donald Trump fail to combat this raging pandemic and refuse to take care of Americans who are suffering, dying, and devastated. Now, we have also watched him openly fuel and incite these insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol and our democracy on January 6—so I will not rest until I do everything in my power to remove this President from office.”

“I am also calling for serious fines to be immediately levied on every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol,” Jayapal continued. “Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms. This is not a joke. Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”

Jayapal began quarantining immediately after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, fearing and foreseeing exactly what would occur given the number of maskless lawmakers sitting in the same room as her and her colleagues. In an interview with The Cut on Thursday, she said, “I’m quarantining now because I am convinced that where we ended up, in the secured room — where there were over 100 people and many were Republicans not wearing masks — was a superspreader event.”

Move the Inauguration away from the Capitol.

Go back to Federal Hall, New York, where it all began.

[Joker]

2018 is NOT "a yEar Or tWO aGo" so it was indeed NOT covered.

He’s saying someone already mentioned that it’s an older video being circulated as new. So, in this thread, that news was indeed covered.

[Joker]

I'll note that I believe that Twitter can kick out conservatives, and has been correct to kick out quite a few.

However, the argument would be that conservatives and liberals have the right to pay the same level of access to Twitter or to healthcare or to food. A Bernie Sanders voter and a Trump fan can go with four bucks to a supermarket and buy a gallon of milk.

But not everybody has the money for healthcare, because they’ve made sure it’s not just a for profit market, but what amounts to essentially an extortion racket existing in a capitalist country where the working class are treated with endless disregard, low pay, no benefits, and as I said, largely, an inability to obtain those benefits without employer assistance. So we know you’re well aware.

**** ain’t the same as buying milk or using a free, privately owned social media app. Not even remotely. Nobody needs twitter, but healthy, prosperous societies need access to affordable food and health services. This is something your party constantly rallies against under the guise of “socialism” being bad.

[InformationGeek]

Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson has died.

...got nothing but a shrug for the man who enabled the worst people for so many years.

[Mister Mets]

Nationally, the Trump name is poison. Sure they could move somewhere and run for Congress, but any national ambitions by these seditious idiots has been crushed.

I kinda hope so, but people have short memories.

Maybe you shouldn't have cited this example, because the ***holes in your party in state legislatures keep insisting on passing laws to allow the sale of RAW milk, because pasteurization is apparently the debbil.

That's a different category.

The libertarians who like raw milk would want it to be available to all who ask for it, regardless of their political views.

I'll note that raw milk doesn't map neatly onto partisan politics. It's prohibited in some red states (Alabama, Indiana, Montana) and allowed in some blue states (California, Connecticut, Nevada, Washington)

https://milk.procon.org/raw-milk-laws-state-by-state/

[DrNewGod]

Nationally, the Trump name is poison. Sure they could move somewhere and run for Congress, but any national ambitions by these seditious idiots has been crushed.

I hope you are correct. I can't forget the feeling in 2008 that the country had chosen to turn a corner, that the far right had discredited itself with a disastrous, unjustified war. Meanwhile, the fascists stewed and seethed.

They're now on the run, however defiantly, and their organizational tools have been snatched from them. But they're not dead, nor have they lost their predilection for self-delusion. Progressives and Moderates are going to have to be very careful to be ready to put differences aside in 2024.