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

[Mister Mets]

While I’m sure this plays well in right wing circles with Putin loving Republicans, this puts the administration in a seriously bad light considering it’s been against Russia’s war in Ukraine. Biden, to quote Ricky Ricardo, has got some ‘splainin’ to do, and he’d better do it soon.

This is not about helping Putin. Republicans are generally against unvetted immigrants, and potential endruns around limits. For the Biden administration, the main concern would be determining that these are dissidents, and not potential spies/ opportunists.

These are political points I disagree with vehemently, but they are reasons to run and finance strong candidates against him not kill him over.

While he's someone I don't like and actively wish he'd lose his job he's several levels under actual human scum worthy of death.

This is an important distinction that's lost on some people. They think that being on the right side justifies things they would not accept for their political opponents, suggesting that the problem isn't what the other side does.

[CaptainEurope]

Nobody here wants to suffocate Mitch with a pillow.

But in no way is NOT wishing him ill morally superior. It comes down to the Trolley problem: Do you want him to live and cause more future deaths (women who are denied an abortion, minorities attacked by White militia, trans kids driven to suicide) or do you want his evil effectiveness as a leader of a fascist party ended with one single death?

[CaptainEurope]

Alan Dershowitz defiantly suggests Trump will 'serve as president from prison'

"He will be indicted," Dershowitz told Newsmax on Sunday. "In New York, you can indict a ham sandwich. In New York City, you can convict a ham sandwich because the jury pool is so unfair."

"Even if he's convicted, he can run for president," he insisted, pointing out that Trump meets the Constitutional requirements for office.

"He can run for president from prison; he can even serve as president from prison," the attorney said.

I say let us test that theory, even if it is suggested by an Epstein island visitor.

[JackDaw]

Nobody here wants to suffocate Mitch with a pillow.

But in no way is NOT wishing him ill morally superior. It comes down to the Trolley problem: Do you want him to live and cause more future deaths (women who are denied an abortion, minorities attacked by White militia, trans kids driven to suicide) or do you want his evil effectiveness as a leader of a fascist party ended with one single death?

Will this one death really result in material improvement for others? He’s a not particularly effective 80 year old guy who would probably be replaced by some one more effective at doing what he does.

But logic chopping aside…I really don’t think it’s psychologically healthy to wish harm on others.

[CaptainEurope]

Trump is calling on the NYPD to ignore orders.

FroaJpoaQAYEWMh.jpg

[Vakanai]

Trump is calling on the NYPD to ignore orders.

FroaJpoaQAYEWMh.jpg

Huh, to be honest I was suspecting for him to try and order the NYPD to arrest Biden.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Huh, to be honest I was suspecting for him to try and order the NYPD to arrest Biden.

Give it time. I'm sure Trump will tweet something like that soon enough.

[thwhtGuardian]

Nobody here wants to suffocate Mitch with a pillow.

But in no way is NOT wishing him ill morally superior. It comes down to the Trolley problem: Do you want him to live and cause more future deaths (women who are denied an abortion, minorities attacked by White militia, trans kids driven to suicide) or do you want his evil effectiveness as a leader of a fascist party ended with one single death?

Again, those issues can be abated by just opposing him politically, no need for a trolley to run him over what so ever.

People like Putin or Kim Jong-un? No amount of political pressure is going to make those situations better and they are more evil than Mitch by several orders of magnitude so it's not so bad to wish they'd just die already.

[Mister Mets]

Nobody here wants to suffocate Mitch with a pillow.

But in no way is NOT wishing him ill morally superior. It comes down to the Trolley problem: Do you want him to live and cause more future deaths (women who are denied an abortion, minorities attacked by White militia, trans kids driven to suicide) or do you want his evil effectiveness as a leader of a fascist party ended with one single death?

That's gross.

[Kirby101]

Of course what I said is tongue in cheek. And while I loath the man, I don't sit and stew thinking of ways he could die. I do blame him for his anti-democratic packing the Court with religious fanatics who will cause the death of untold women. This man leading the Senate instead of Schumer will harm this country for decades.
It's an interesting gandanken experiment of how one person being in power, or not being in power can change the way things are.
Carter instead of Reagan, Gore instead of Bush, Romney instead of Obama, Clinton instead of Trump...and so on.

[thwhtGuardian]

Of course what I said is tongue in cheek. And while I loath the man, I don't sit and stew thinking of ways he could die. I do blame him for his anti-democratic packing the Court with religious fanatics who will cause the death of untold women. This man leading the Senate instead of Schumer will harm this country for decades.
It's an interesting gandanken experiment of how one person being in power, or not being in power can change the way things are.
Carter instead of Reagan, Gore instead of Bush, Romney instead of Obama, Clinton instead of Trump...and so on.

There's nothing wrong with blaming him for all those things, I certainly do, but injecting more violence in politics isn't the answer and even in jest it's just poor taste.

[kidfresh512]

N.Y. Authorities Prepare for Unprecedented Arrest of an Ex-President

He would be fingerprinted. He would be photographed. He could even be handcuffed.

And if Donald J. Trump is indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in the days ahead for his role in a hush money payment to a porn star, the former president of the United States of America will be read the standard Miranda warning: He will be told that he has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

These are among the routine steps for felony arrests in New York. But the unprecedented arrest of a former commander in chief — one whose devoted supporters once staged a violent attack on the Capitol — will be anything but routine.

Last week, senior officials from the district attorney’s office and the state agency that runs the courts had preliminary discussions to plan for a possible indictment and arraignment. So did officials from the Police Department, which patrols the streets outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse, and the court officers, who handle security inside the Criminal Courts Building, where Mr. Trump would be arraigned.

And on Sunday, more than a dozen senior Police Department officials and two of the mayor’s top public safety aides held a virtual meeting to discuss security, staffing and contingency plans in the event of any protests, one person with knowledge of the meeting said.

After an arraignment, Mr. Trump would likely be released on his own recognizance because an indictment likely would contain only nonviolent felony charges; under New York law, prosecutors cannot request bail in most such cases.

Mr. Trump will almost certainly be accompanied at every step of the process — from the moment he is taken into custody until his appearance before a judge — by armed agents of the United States Secret Service, who are required by law to protect him at all times. Security in the courthouse is provided by New York State court officers, an agency with which the Secret Service has worked in the past. The chief spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony J. Guglielmi, said he could not comment on any security arrangements for the former president.

[Tendrin]

Conservatism at its finest:

A Georgia county refused to change a health plan to cover a trans employee's surgeries, citing the cost.

The bill would have been about $10k a year for transition-related care for employees, per ProPublica.

The county spent nearly $1.2 million in legal fees fighting it in court, and lost.

Local Georgia officials refused to change a department's health insurance plan to cover the gender-affirming surgery of a trans employee, citing cost as a reason.

But Georgia's Houston County ended up paying a private law firm nearly $1.2 million to fight the employee in federal court, far more than the estimated $10,000 a year it would have cost to add transition-related care to the health plan, ProPublica reported.

And this month a federal judge ordered it to cover transition care for its employees.

"It was a slap in the face, really, to find out how much they had spent," Anna Lange, the sheriff's deputy who filed a federal discrimination lawsuit, said.

1.2 million to avoid spending $10,000 out of prue spite and bigotry.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/georgia-c...122510512.html

[SquirrelMan]

This is how Reuters is now reporting on McConnell's health:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell entered a rehabilitation facility last week after fracturing a rib in a fall earlier this month.

Remembering how the media breathlessly (see what I did there?) reported on Hillary's bout of pneumonia...



... it certainly is interesting that some outlets don't even mention the head injury anymore even though the rehab clinic mentioned deficits in balance, coordination and thinking with McConnell.

[CaptainEurope]

"Oh, you mean that time he gave himself a paper cut at the Waldorf Astoria?"