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

[Tami]

The 3 men convicted in the murder of Ahmaud Arbey were just found guilty on all Federal hate crime charges.

Good. Very good.

[Panfoot]

Latest proposed change to Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill riles Democrats

They say a new amendment would require schools to notify parents when LGBTQ students confide in school officials.

Oh I'm aware, I meant the next thing after that one.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Seriously. If you are not fighting for trans rights right now, you are rolling over for the authoritarian conservatism that the GOP wants to install. Attacks on trans rights are the tip of their spear right now.

Here's Rick Scott:




Trans rights are human rights, and if you buy what they're selling here, they'll come for your's next.

Absolutely right. Republicans have been trying to eliminate a woman’s right to choose practically since Roe v. Wade became law, and now they’ve set their sights on killing trans rights. Guess who’s rights would be next if the GOP gets its way?

[Mister Mets]

Surprised there seems so little concern here about Russian/Ukraine situation.

Perhaps a reflection of living in the US: it’s strength shields it’s citizens from many of the worlds potential woes.

It’s worrying…I think the truth is Western Europe is comparatively weak in the face of potential Russian aggression. I’ve thought for decades now that in any conventional war Russian troops could go through Europe very, very quickly…be occupying Paris in a matter of days if they wanted to.

But…of course…it’s profoundly more difficult to hold and control territory than just steam roller through it. Better the vast majority of the time to get what you want by trade, negotiations, and trickery.

I don't think it's a lack of concern as much as a lack of anything interesting to say. I expect most of us are in broad agreement that Putin is the bad guy. The situation is also in Flux so people don't want to commit to an opinion just yet. Biden haters don't want to say anything in case he does something wise and popular. His fans are likewise but eager to say anything in case it's a shitshow that makes Americans look bad.

[JB]

Putin's poodle parliament approves his request to 'use force outside Russia' - paving way for attack on more of Ukraine - after he sent 10,000 troops into Russian-held separatist areas: WH finally admits it's an invasion
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ces-claim.html

U.S. President Joe Biden will address Americans on the crisis from the White House at 1 p.m. Eastern Time
Russia's parliament approved Vladimir Putin's request to use military force outside his nation's borders
Russia has sent more than 10,000 troops into Ukrainian territory occupied by separatists, source has claimed
Came as Kremlin said Putin's order to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent extends to areas currently held by Ukrainian forces, raising fears of a land-grab and direct conflict
Putin said during a Tuesday news conference that he recognizes the sovereignty of the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions, despite rebels controlling less than half the territory there
White House national security official said Russia's movements amounted to an 'invasion' on Tuesday

Putin also just said that the Minsk Accords no longer exist. His full unhingement is on full display.

[Jack Dracula]

Russian oligarchs with property and bank accounts in US and Europe should be finding their assets seized and frozen any minute now.

[Catlady in training]

Yes..in a way..it’s odd..in that it’s profoundly troubling, but really could we have a useful discussion about it here? Because I guess we all have the same take on it: Putin is a charismatic mad man hell bent on expansion. (Some of us might dispute the charismatic.) No one here likely to put a contrary view, to try to tease out if there is any logic or justification in the Russian actions.

See it’s escalated today. In some ways better now than earlier… most of winter is over, so the EU response won’t be quite as muted because of the German dependence on Russian gas. (Well all of Europe and UK really…because if Germany is forced to seek supplies elsewhere, it creates problems that ripple through rest of Europe and UK.)

I am concerned, it currently looks like Putin will not be satisfied with just those two regions but start an all-out war. I don't know what to do, though. I consider myself a pacifist and despise any idea of war, but it seems to be clear that Putin is just laughing at all sanctions that EU is going to impose. And I don't like the idea of leaving Ukraine on its own, with no prospects of joining EU and NATO. I don't really see a solution here and certainly don't envy any of our leaders right now.

What I am most concerned at the moment is that we may have all underestimated just how unhinged Putin really is. I have seen a lot of comments recently about how sick he looks and speculations that he might even be dying and is looking to go out with a bang. I wonder if that might be true, because his address yesterday was completely unhinged (I only read some summaries of it, I have no intentions to read all of that nonsense.)

Righ now I can only hope that we will all be supportive of any refugees fleeing Ukraine.

[AnakinFlair]

I am concerned, it currently looks like Putin will not be satisfied with just those two regions but start an all-out war. I don't know what to do, though. I consider myself a pacifist and despise any idea of war, but it seems to be clear that Putin is just laughing at all sanctions that EU is going to impose. And I don't like the idea of leaving Ukraine on its own, with no prospects of joining EU and NATO. I don't really see a solution here and certainly don't envy any of our leaders right now.

What I am most concerned at the moment is that we may have all underestimated just how unhinged Putin really is. I have seen a lot of comments recently about how sick he looks and speculations that he might even be dying and is looking to go out with a bang. I wonder if that might be true, because his address yesterday was completely unhinged (I only read some summaries of it, I have no intentions to read all of that nonsense.)

Righ now I can only hope that we will all be supportive of any refugees fleeing Ukraine.

If that's the case, I reiterate my desire that he skip to the end of the bunker scene.

[JCAll]

I just seems crazy that someone can decide to rebuild the Russian Empire, and then just do it. Like, the war has started, it's happening now, I'm stunned.

[Mister Mets]

While there may be some people who are making the claims you're arguing against in the bolded part, the majority of those on the left who are looking out for the voting rights of minorities who traditionally vote Democratic are not saying that all or most of those minorities are having their rights taken away. Just that a substantial number of them are, and in clear ways such as removal of polling places in the areas that vote Democratic, mass rejection of mail-in ballot applications among that population, and a push for Voter ID while knowing (and having been admitted to openly by the occasional Republican on mic to their core audience, which is pretty brazen) that the population least likely to have one is most likely to vote straight-ticket D.

As was shown last election you don't need to eliminate the minority vote in order to swing Congress and the Presidency, in some cases you don't even need to swing it more than a percentage of the overall vote. You know this, we know this, the Republican Party sure as hell knows this (it's the entire reason they're so motivated to do it). So knocking the heck out of some strawman "not all minority votes are infringed" is entirely beside the point. Which is voter suppression, and of a group of people historically suppressed in their ability to participate in society, the economy, politics, education, etc. Because picking on those without power is the easiest thing to do when you're a sociopath and don't care who gets hurt as long as you get your way. Republicans have been all about that since Nixon's Southern Strategy, and they're just continuing to double/triple down on this.

I occasionally cringe over things my party does, but I can't imagine what it would be like to support a party that does this election after election so on some level I sympathize with you trying to do your best to rationalize continuing to support them. But if you're going to do so you need to own what they're doing and why they're doing it, and not making the case that because they're not doing it to the extent that they'd like to (yet) it means everything's aces and it's just politics. It's not. We've gone beyond that, and even the suppression of minority rights isn't the worst thing your party is doing. That would be attempting to undermine the legitimacy of elections in general and the US federal government in particular in order to try to weaken it to the point where they can dominate smaller slices of the pie at the expense of the whole because they know they're not going to be able to have a shot at the whole pie with changing demographics.

On the topic of "race traitors", that sounds too much like KKK talk to me to be comfortable using the term. However, the Republican Party has made a killing over the decades by convincing people to vote against their own economic interest in order to hold onto guns that aren't going anywhere and having a say in what a woman does with her body when it's none of their d##n business so it's no surprise to me if a black, female, or LGBTQ+ voter decides to vote against their overall well-being and standing as a human being in pursuit of a wedge/culture issue or economic one. The reason why MLK Jr's family tends to speak on behalf of the Republican Party is abortion, and Log Cabin Republicans tend to be well-off and are willing to take the tax cut even if it means remaining second-class citizens in other areas. I don't call my relatives who support Trump "class traitors" for voting against their own economic interest, I just call them foolish. I'd say the same of the Bonginos and Larry Elders of the world.

I was responding to a post that said "On top of that, the GQP are hellbent on rolling back voting rights, making it difficult to borderline impossible for people of color to vote, knowing they'd lean heavily Democrat."

You may think it's a strawman argument, but it is the goalpost someone else here established. We can certainly have more nuanced discussions about voting rights, but the initial comments set the tone.

They opposed Obama with a passion that would make a suicide bomber say 'Too much'. Not just on providing healthcare, but when he dared wear a tan suit, what he put on his hamburger and just about everything in between.

Then, they fell in lock step with a bigot who advocated a racist conspiracy theory, and have stayed with said bigot even as he attempted a coup that killed 5 people and hurt many more.

It's not 'politics as usual'. You simply argue that, hoping to drag everything down in the process.

For most of my lifetime, people have hated Presidents from the other party. Republicans hated Clinton. Democrats hated W. Republicans hated Obama. Democrats hated Trump. Republicans hate Biden, although I'll admit the temperature is a bit lower with an old guy who had been in major office for 44 years, and won the primary in a centrist lane. Democrats will likely hate the next Republican President.

[JB]

Russian oligarchs with property and bank accounts in US and Europe should be finding their assets seized and frozen any minute now.

Yes indeed.

Biden announces new sanctions against Russia to counter Putin's 'invasion' of Ukraine
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-ukraine...195703429.html

Biden said U.S. forces already in Europe were moving to strengthen the defenses of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a trio of NATO allies and former Soviet republics.

“Let me be clear: These are totally defensive moves on our part,” Biden said. “We have no intention of fighting Russia. We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States together with our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO.”

Biden said that the sanctions would target two major Russian banks, limiting their ability to finance sovereign debt. He added that the sanctions would extend to Russian elites and their family members, and made the case that since those individuals share in the country’s gains they should share in the pains as well. Biden said sanctions were coordinated with U.S. allies and would continue to escalate should Russia pursue war with Ukraine.

[Kirby101]

Traitor Trump praises Putin. How the GOP can claim to be patriots and still support this guy is beyond me. Will be interesting to see them scramble to say how correct he is without backing Russia.

"I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius,'" he said. "Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful."

"I said, 'How smart is that?' He's going to go in and be a peacekeeper," added Trump, who regularly praised and sought close ties with Putin during his time in office. "That's the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border. That's the strongest peace force I've ever seen. There were more army tanks than I've ever seen. They're going to keep peace, all right."

https://thehill.com/policy/internati...egions-this-is

[shooshoomanjoe]

From a global war, to a recession, a pandemic to a EU power invading another nation for their people. The events that happened in the first quarter of the past century also happened in the first quarter of this century.

[Mister Mets]

The situation in The Ukraine is very bad. I watch the news but to be honest it is something happening far away while I have a lot of troubles here.

My bills (Food, Energy, medicine, transportation to doctors, ) have gone up $293 combined in January, $327 in Feb, and my bills that I have to pay in March is even more.

To be honest with my father's declining health, and my bills shooting out of control, and my savings empty and going back to living check to check. I dont have a lot of time to focus on Ukraine.

That sounds bad but that is sadly the world we live in.

One thing that is helping is that my landlord has known me for many years and told me if things get bad I dont have to worry about a place to live as he will bend over backwards to work with me and my father.

I'm sorry about your troubles, and wish you the best.

It's a fair point that people have other stuff going on, and can't always pay attention to these kinds of international news items where the facts on the ground can change.

Er, perhaps you can check if the Tim Ryan campaign, or any progressive group that's involved in Ohio politics has any job openings. Granted, it may be too far from November for there to be significant opportunities.

Was it Tim Scott who spearheaded "opportunity zones"? I could be wrong about it being him but I do know the program has been helpful to minority communities. Larry Levy and his allies have made an impact in Chicago, and Fifth Third Bank has pledged over $100M in opportunity zones since early last year.

Chicago investors target $750 million for opportunity zones
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ortunity-zones

Fifth Third Bank Announces $100 Million Investment in Opportunity Zones
https://www.53.com/content/fifth-thi...cid=soc%253Atw



I believe Miami, a number of cities/towns in Pennsylvania, and some cities in the South and in the NorthEast have seen benefits from the program as well. It all started just before covid hit though, so I don't know if there's been any new investments since.

Yeah, Tim Scott's been big on opportunity zones.

https://scnow.com/news/local/tim-sco...7cdcbeb70.html

[The Cool Thatguy]

For most of my lifetime, people have hated Presidents from the other party. Republicans hated Clinton. Democrats hated W. Republicans hated Obama. Democrats hated Trump. Republicans hate Biden, although I'll admit the temperature is a bit lower with an old guy who had been in major office for 44 years, and won the primary in a centrist lane. Democrats will likely hate the next Republican President.

I don't remember W catching half as much hell as Obama did, even though he started a God damn war with a lie.