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

[Gray Lensman]

The gop is holding up nominations right now. If appointing a few judges that the GOP wants gets a much larger set of vacancies filled by people we do want that is by definition a good deal.

But mostly, I recommend everyone be skeptical when you hear things like this. Be skeptical, but be ready.

Since there is no vacancy right now, that means Mitch actually has to honor the agreement FIRST, as opposed to getting what he wants and then reneging on his part of it.

At least that is what it appears to be on the surface.

[Tendrin]

Since there is no vacancy right now, that means Mitch actually has to honor the agreement FIRST, as opposed to getting what he wants and then reneging on his part of it.

At least that is what it appears to be on the surface.

That seems correct, yes

[babyblob]

if it is a case of Mitch having to do his part first then fine. but I am just a bit jaded on the GOP living up to their promises.

[Dalak]

"Malicious compliance" isn't the equivalent of heinous acts. It just means people following their interpretation of the letter of a request/ policy rather than the spirit. It can be a useful form of protest, but we should acknowledge it for what it is.

That isn't an answer to my question, it also ignores that I put "Malicious Intent" right behind heinous acts. Why jump to maliciousness in this case where there is no history or proof of maliciousness when you defend the people who made the Don't Say Gay bill and the ones trying to get the twisted boogeyman version of CRT that doesn't exist out of schools for believing they are doing what's right? I'm giving you a chance to actually answer here before I go with what seems obvious, to prove you aren't being deliberately obtuse or any other form of trolling.

[CSTowle]

I’ve got to point where I tend to immediately believe anything bad about the Donald. Unfair bias I know, but as the old joke goes “it saves time”.

But must admit the idea of the Donald having a “physical altercation with his security detail” seems immensely out of character surely? Wouldn’t it require physical courage?

It doesn't seem in character for him, and if anything it's the sort of thing I could see him paying an underling to put out there because it makes him seem like a "man of action" who couldn't bear to be away from his beloved fellow patriots. That it's hearsay, that the Secret Service seem to be pushing back on that narrative, doesn't help.

Based on how Republican voters typically handle Trump controversy, I predict they'll both believe it's bulls##t made up to frame Trump while also believing it because it makes them feel like he tried to be there and was held back by traitors to the cause. And I don't mean some will believe one and some the other, I mean I think they'll believe both.

On Biden still reaching out for that dollar labeled "bipartisanship" on a fishing line, try to look at it from his perspective. He was sent to the Senate 50 years ago this fall. He came up in the pre-Reagan era, and developed relationships and probably friendships with people on the other side of the aisle. He believes it's possible because it not only was possible but was the norm once upon a time.

Maybe it's hubris, but there's probably part of him that thinks if he can somehow bring sanity and compromise back to Congress he could be remembered as the man who healed the nation and restored faith in government. We all know that's not going to happen, I'm sure on some level he does too, but he wants to try. If nothing else perhaps it can sell his brand as a reasonable man and be a contrast to the likely Republican lineup in 2024.

[CaptainEurope]

It doesn't seem in character for him, and if anything it's the sort of thing I could see him paying an underling to put out there because it makes him seem like a "man of action" who couldn't bear to be away from his beloved fellow patriots. That it's hearsay, that the Secret Service seem to be pushing back on that narrative, doesn't help.

Meanwhile, in Donald Trump's character:

“One night he comes in - in a rage - and starts pulling Ivana’s hair. Then according to her sworn deposition testimony ‘he raped me’.

“At this point she is terrified, runs out of the room, runs down the hall to her mother’s room and locks the door behind her. She stays up crying all night.

“The next morning, again according to her testimony, she comes creeping out and sees him and he goes ‘did it hurt?’”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...on-documentary

"Don Jr. opened the door, wearing a Yankee jersey. Without saying a word, his father slapped him across the face, knocking him to the floor in front of all of his classmates," Melker writes on Facebook. "He simply said 'put on a suit and meet me outside,' and closed the door."

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/m...ollege-8900500

[kidfresh512]

if it is a case of Mitch having to do his part first then fine. but I am just a bit jaded on the GOP living up to their promises.

If the GOP win control in the midterms, there will have to be compromises to get seats filled. At that point you either stop filling seats the rest of your 4 years which I would do if they only wanted their conservative, religious types on. Or you give me this anti abortion guy, we give you 3 of your picks somehow.

The power would be in the voters hands to not let Mitch have negotiating power.

[Tami]

Opinion Democrats must stop promoting Republican extremists

By boosting the primary campaigns of right-wing zealots running against more moderate Republicans, Democrats seek to set up favorable races for themselves, against less electable candidates, in the general election. The result is that Democrats have helped Trumpian fanatics move one step closer to offices from which they could directly threaten the nation’s democracy.

Tuesday night brought the latest example. State Sen. Darren Bailey (R) won the Illinois GOP gubernatorial nomination after Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and the Democratic Governors Association spent $30 million to help him. The Trump-endorsed Mr. Bailey made his name by opposing covid-19 public health measures, pushing to evict Chicago from Illinois and favoring the banning of abortion in the state.

I thought doing this was a minor experiment, but maybe it is getting out of hand.

[CaptainEurope]

The Supreme Court sharply curtails the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. In a 6-3 ruling, the court sides with conservative states and fossil-fuel companies in adopting a narrow reading of the Clean Air Act.

https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog/statu...09020891598848

[Tendrin]

https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog/statu...09020891598848

Yeah, this is a disastrous ruling.

[kidfresh512]

Sen. Leahy, third in line to presidency, falls and breaks hip

Senate President Pro Tempore Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), the most senior member of the Senate Democratic caucus who stands third in the line of presidential succession, fell and broke his hip and will undergo surgery Thursday.

Leahy, who is 82 years old, fell Wednesday evening at his home in McLean, Va., his office announced.

Any nominee who doesn’t have Republican support will have to wait for Leahy’s return to work unless there’s also an absence on the GOP side of the aisle.

[thwhtGuardian]

https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog/statu...09020891598848

There goes the neighborhood.

[Panfoot]

My only solace is that maybe we can at least speed up climate change a bit and sink Florida faster.

[useridgoeshere]

Opinion Democrats must stop promoting Republican extremists

I thought doing this was a minor experiment, but maybe it is getting out of hand.

The problem is that Democrats still don't seem to understand what's happening, the issues that make people vote the way that they do, how to govern effectively, or that demographic shifts won't make them inevitable winners. Most American voters will sell out democracy, other peoples' rights, or even their own long-term interests for short-term promises.

JB is talking about how Darren Bailey is Trump, while Bailey is talking about making people safer, giving parents control of their education, and economic issues. I don't think Bailey will win Illinois - more Democrats voted in the primaries, even without a flagship race, compared to the most expensive Republican gubernatorial primary ever, plus a Senate nomination race.

[kidfresh512]

Supreme Court rules for Biden in clash over Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

The Supreme Court ruled for the Biden administration Thursday in a dispute over a Trump-era immigration policy that requires U.S. asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their applications are processed.

The 5-4 ruling found that the administration did not violate federal immigration law when it sought to rescind the policy. The justices returned the case to lower courts for additional proceedings.

Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, enacted in 2019, has remained in effect under President Biden despite his Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) effort to end it. Lower courts, in response to a red state legal challenge, have blocked DHS’s two attempts to unwind the policy.