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

[JackDaw]

Here is the obvious issue with anyone deciding the are going to dictate terms on what "Does..." or "Does Not..." warrant discussion.

The folks who will actually make up the votes needed to, maybe, keep Republicans from cleaning up in the fall?

They are going to hear about Feinstein and Jackson. It is entirely pointless to pretend that they are not, and that certain discussions should be avoided.

While I don't think that Feinstein will actually be what things hinge on once it matters?

It's just foolish to think that the overall discussion is something that can be controlled.

The entirety of things will have to be addressed. Not just the things that seem like they should be the whole of the discussion.

I agree. Telling people what they can’t discuss is anti-productive nearly all the time (almost put all the time, but things to do with people are rarely “always” or “never”.)

Boris Johnson is a master of dealing with stuff he wants to avoid talking about (he gets plenty of practice since he regularly cocks up).

His main 2 tactics are “throwing a dead cat on the table” (that is do something strange, bizarre, unexpected so people talk about that rather the thing he wants to avoid) and just hammering away “there are much more important things we need to talk about”. (For example, his main riposte to Partygate is just keep trying to move discussion onto Ukraine, immigration, and cost of living crisis.)

[numberthirty]

I agree. Telling people what they can’t discuss is anti-productive nearly all the time (almost put all the time, but things to do with people are rarely “always” or “never”.)

Boris Johnson is a master of dealing with stuff he wants to avoid talking about (he gets plenty of practice since he regularly cocks up).

His main 2 tactics are “throwing a dead cat on the table” (that is do something strange, bizarre, unexpected so people talk about that rather the thing he wants to avoid) and just hammering away “there are much more important things we need to talk about”. (For example, his main riposte to Partygate is just keep trying to move discussion onto Ukraine, immigration, and cost of living crisis.)

Don't get me wrong...

If the gut reaction is "Why are we talking about that a lady might be slipping when there are folks in government who were seemingly taking an active role in something that landed the 'non-government...' end of it in jail..."?

I get it.

That said, making it entirely about that feels like another situation where Dems will be asking the opposition to deliver them a victory in an election.

Meanwhile?

There is an actual reality where, at a minimum, Dems will have to hold onto what they have to even be in the running.

Like it or not?

Something like deciding that you will not really address Feinstein's possible issues?

It could cost them some of what they need to hold just to be competitive.

Never mind in a world where you had folks tossing "25th Amendment..." around every five minutes who now do no seem to want to discuss that someone may no longer be competent.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Florida Judge Voids U.S. Mask Mandate For Planes, Other Travel

A federal judge in Florida ruled against the Center for Disease Control's COVID-19 mask mandate for public travel. By the by, said judge was a Trump appointee, and was given a "Not Qualified" rating by the American Bar Association. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm going to continue playing it safe and masking up when using mass transit.

[achilles]

Pfft! Trump couldn’t broker a bowel movement for someone who’s constipated. That fool is only talking because he loves the sound of his own voice.

At this point, nobody could broker a peace deal; Putin doesn't want one, and the Ukrainians don't anymore either---too many of their people have been brutally murdered.

[Tami]

At this point, nobody could broker a peace deal; Putin doesn't want one, and the Ukrainians don't anymore either---too many of their people have been brutally murdered.

It's not exactly that they don't want a peace deal, they don't trust Putin and yeah they believe he should be treated as a terrorist and a war criminal.

If there was a way to end this diplomatically, I'm sure that the Ukrainians would consider it. But you can't be diplomatic with a mass murderer.

[thwhtGuardian]

It's not exactly that they don't want a peace deal, they don't trust Putin and yeah they believe he should be treated as a terrorist and a war criminal.

If there was a way to end this diplomatically, I'm sure that the Ukrainians would consider it. But you can't be diplomatic with a mass murderer.

Yeah, if the peace deal from Russia was," Hey, we just locked up Putin, how do we fix this now?" I'm sure everyone would be on board to seriously talk.

But if the deal is, "Give us everything we want...or you'll regret it." why would Ukraine want to consider?

[Catlady in training]

Can someone please explain why I takes so much time for the delivery? Or sanctions?

[/B]

That's what I was going to ask someone from Germany, lol. What do you make of this? https://twitter.com/andersostlund/st...J1BoyBGUyCLOFw
I don't know who is the guy writing it, is it credible or just a lot of speculations?

[Nasty_Boys]

Florida Judge Voids U.S. Mask Mandate For Planes, Other Travel

A federal judge in Florida ruled against the Center for Disease Control's COVID-19 mask mandate for public travel. By the by, said judge was a Trump appointee, and was given a "Not Qualified" rating by the American Bar Association. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm going to continue playing it safe and masking up when using mass transit.

Good. Should have eneded months ago. Looking forward to flying in the summer mask free.

[thwhtGuardian]

Florida Judge Voids U.S. Mask Mandate For Planes, Other Travel

A federal judge in Florida ruled against the Center for Disease Control's COVID-19 mask mandate for public travel. By the by, said judge was a Trump appointee, and was given a "Not Qualified" rating by the American Bar Association. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm going to continue playing it safe and masking up when using mass transit.

There should be a law about not being able to appoint people who the bar doesn't qualify.

[Mister Mets]

That's certainly how it usually plays out, which is why I said it was definitely possible it was true given her age.

But at the same time, if her decline is so bad that it's commonly known in the Capital as the Chronicle's sources claim then why aren't other news organizations confirming the story?

Liberal bias protecting its own?

But if so conservative sources like Fox News have their own sources at the Capitol, wouldn't they love to blow this wide open and not only paint a leading democrat in a bad light but also vilify liberal news organizations for covering up her decline?

Is it that only the Chronicle's sources are aware?

But if that's true then that doesn't make sense as something can't be both common knowledge and yet only known to a few select sources.

This may be a case where I'm familiar with more details of the story.

First, it's been written about elsewhere. Jane Meyer wrote about it in the New Yorker in December 2020.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-...nate-democrats

The Sacramento Bee wrote about it in January 2021, but it's under a paywall.

Politically, Republicans and conservatives aren't making hay of this because it's not in their interests to do so. Feinstein is more moderate than a likely replacement would be.

This is a sensitive topic which does explain why there aren't that many pieces about it.

It is worth noting that there aren't pieces about other older Senators, so we could consider why that is and it's likely that there isn't as much evidence for some of the others.

There was similar chatter about Thad Cochran a few years ago, and that turned out to be correct.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...-senate-243918

Listen, I don't know what's going on with Diane Feinstein one way or the other. I haven't really been following her lately. However, I do know a few things about Alzheimer's and dementia, both from personal experience with family members and professionally, with at least one client from when I worked as a counselor in social services. And in the early stages of these conditions, an individual can be totally lucid on Monday, seemingly in a fog on Tuesday and then completely lucid again on Wednesday. So it is entirely possible for some people who have had direct interaction with Feinstein to believe that there's nothing wrong with her and for others who have had direct interaction with her to believe that her faculties are failing. It could be entirely dependent on which day of the week they met with her.

It's a valid point.

However, if someone with incomplete information publicly vouches for another and then goes on to criticize anyone with concerns, they should be corrected.

[Mister Mets]

There should be a law about not being able to appoint people who the bar doesn't qualify.

That's a lot of power to give an unelected board.

Florida Judge Voids U.S. Mask Mandate For Planes, Other Travel

A federal judge in Florida ruled against the Center for Disease Control's COVID-19 mask mandate for public travel. By the by, said judge was a Trump appointee, and was given a "Not Qualified" rating by the American Bar Association. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm going to continue playing it safe and masking up when using mass transit.

The criticism about the judge's rating doesn't really address whether she's right or wrong.

[Kirby101]

So you think a newly appointed Judge, whose appt is filled with questions should over rule the government on health and safety issues. That is a lot of power for a single, unelected person.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That's a lot of power to give an unelected board.



The criticism about the judge's rating doesn't really address whether she's right or wrong.

I would prefer the CDC make the determination as to when to end the mask mandate, not some toady who was appointed by Trump and worked under Clarence Thomas for crissakes. On top of that, what was the hurry? I heard the mandate was scheduled to end on May 3rd, you mean to tell me people couldn’t wait two weeks before the expiration?

[Ozymandias]

Yeah, if the peace deal from Russia was," Hey, we just locked up Putin, how do we fix this now?" I'm sure everyone would be on board to seriously talk.

But if the deal is, "Give us everything we want...or you'll regret it." why would Ukraine want to consider?

Because what the other wants isn't everything they have, and they can lose it all if they don't give that part up. As superhero comic readers, we're inclined to think we'd refuse if someone tried to mug us, but if he's twice your size, you should reconsider before going into the whole punching bit.

[Malvolio]

I would prefer the CDC make the determination as to when to end the mask mandate, not some toady who was appointed by Trump and worked under Clarence Thomas for crissakes. On top of that, what was the hurry? I heard the mandate was scheduled to end on May 3rd, you mean to tell me people couldn’t wait two weeks before the expiration?

Good point. Besides which, a virus doesn't go away just because some of us have grown tired with the precautions.