All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Catlady in training]

Why are we discussing Gina Carano anyway? Wasn't she just fired from a job when her employer concluded that she was creating negative public image? That is I believe an allowed action for private companies in democratic countries. If she thinks it's unjust, she's free to sue for unlawful termination and let the court decide, I doubt that one can seriously claim that US justice system is "woke".

[Catlady in training]

I would never take Orban’s cooperation for granted in any enlightened venture.

Is he still making it difficult for rest of EU to help Ukraine?

He always eventually folds, but first tries to get some advantages for himself, like the EU unfreezing the money they hold from Hungary for their slide into authoritarian pseudo-democracy.
It's exhausting and frustrating for the rest, especially at times when the speed is crucial.

[ed2962]

People are responsible for their own decisions.

But why is it savvy to point out that the US, Israel, and other's reactions to terrorism will create more terrorists, but the suggestion that this dynamic could play out on a domestic political level is laughable? (The cartoon is using a straw man. Gina Carano was clearly apolitical until she was provoked into a political discussion she had no reference points for and dogpiled until right-wingers came to her rescue . . . and her clear state as a political novice left her without the tools to recognize the bill of goods she was being sold. There's no reason for people to be going out of their way to create political enemies. It's strategically idiotic.)

Pretty sure Carano was ultimately fired by Disney after comparing conservatives to Jewish ppl during the Holocaust. And this was after Disney execs asks her to tone it down a bit. It's not like she went on a talk show to talk about action movies and was ambushed and asked to defend the Boer War or something.

The comic strip was about something different though...a few years back you started seeing more and more folks embrace alt-right ideology online and they would claim they were liberals but they became right wing cuz they were tired of being tone policed by the SJWs or whatever.

[ed2962]

Why are we discussing Gina Carano anyway? Wasn't she just fired from a job when her employer concluded that she was creating negative public image? That is I believe an allowed action for private companies in democratic countries. If she thinks it's unjust, she's free to sue for unlawful termination and let the court decide, I doubt that one can seriously claim that US justice system is "woke".

After doing a couple of movies for Daily Wire, she's now trying to sue to get Disney to re-hire her supposedly.

[PaulBullion]

After doing a couple of movies for Daily Wire, she's now trying to sue to get Disney to re-hire her supposedly.

Isn't Elon Musk financing her lawyer?

[PaulBullion]

Trump has filed his notice of appeal of the civil fraud judgment.

Signing the notice: Alina Habba and Cliff Robert's firms.


He does not have to put the money of bond down to file this appeal, but he needs to do so to stop enforcement of the judgment while the appeal progresses. Deadline to put down the money to pause enforcement is March 25, the day Trump's criminal trial starts in Manhattan (the porn actress sex hush money scandal).

[zinderel]

See. For me this begins to get into classism.

A lot of stuff where words are really important (like the pronoun stuff that kicked the whole thing off) are a matter of one's education and how educated one's circle is. A lot of this stuff begins to get into class signaling when it's not being handled with a care that not everyone gets on the uptake at the same time on these things.

People are so concerned with being right, they lose interest in what works.

Yes.

People are so mean to the disadvantaged millionaire celebrity in a high-profile gig, with a team of handlers and assistants, who outed herself as a transphobe and anti-Semite when she said transphobic and anti-Semitic things, and then doubled down on them after she got fired.

Why won’t people stop being so classist?! She has too much money to waste time on Google! She’s too busy to educate herself even SLIGHTLY before speaking publicly! It’s unfair and condescending and mean to call a famous person a transphobe or an anti-Semite just because her off-the-cuff statements were transphobic and anti-Semitic, and her actions afterwards showed that she was transphobic and anti-Semitic, and she didn’t have even the slightest modicum of compassion towards trans people (or the slightest self-awareness about her anti-semitism).

And facing CONSEQUENCES for the things she said? That’s just persecution of her religious and political views, and Disney should be sued.

…

…OR…she said and did stupid **** and is facing the consequences of her actions from a society that has had enough of willful stupidity and deliberate cruelty in the name of Jesus and America. And bringing her up as an example of a ‘victim of leftist extremism’ when the GOP presidential front runner is literally a Russian asset, and the GOP are openly fighting to oppress women and queer folx and people of color?

Sus, bro.

[Catlady in training]

Hungarian parliament is supposed to vote on approving Sweden's NATO membership today afternoon. I'll wait with celebration until it happens, but it might just be some good news in a week of mostly bad news.

They approved it AND "chose" a new president, so he can sign it hopefully soon.

[Catlady in training]

After doing a couple of movies for Daily Wire, she's now trying to sue to get Disney to re-hire her supposedly.

Oh, well. I hope Ron deSantis offered her his advisers.

[zinderel]

Pretty sure Carano was ultimately fired by Disney after comparing conservatives to Jewish ppl during the Holocaust. And this was after Disney execs asks her to tone it down a bit. It's not like she went on a talk show to talk about action movies and was ambushed and asked to defend the Boer War or something.

The comic strip was about something different though...a few years back you started seeing more and more folks embrace alt-right ideology online and they would claim they were liberals but they became right wing cuz they were tired of being tone policed by the SJWs or whatever.

I grew up Baptist, and watched my church go from a church that performed public services - charity drives, soup kitchens, outreach to widows and children - to a church that cared about ‘winning the culture war’ in a span of less than ten years.

One of the tactics we were taught to use in ‘spreading the word’ was to ‘adapt our witness’ to the persons we were witnessing to. So, we learned to be crafty.

“Your mom died of cancer? My Dad has cancer, and that struggle has been hard. I’m so grateful I have Jesus with me. Can I share a verse that’s gotten ME through some hard times…?””

“I don’t hate gay people at all, and neither does Jesus! You know, I struggled with same sex attraction, too, but there’s a Bible verse I go to when I’m really struggling…”

“Science is fallible, man. I’m a fan of science, and I just can’t stop thinking about the irreducible complexity of the human eye! Now, I’m no religious fanatic, but that CANT have just HAPPENED, right?!”

“I’m not religious, but it’s OBVIOUS that abortion is murder, to my in-depth understanding of science, medicine, and the law. And I’m a stay-at-home parent, so I know things!”

We were taught that lying to people is fine, as long as it ‘wins souls’ in the end.

American ‘Christianity’ traded the love of Jesus for the love of money and power. And being called out on it feeds into the persecution complex that modern ‘Christianity’ has convinced itself is proof they’re right. “They said I was wrong, but I have Jesus on my side, so I CAN’T be wrong! They must be agents of SATAN!”

Every one of the people who said ‘I’m a liberal, but now I support the party bringing Nazis back!’ or ‘I’m not a Christian, I just think that drag queens shouldn’t be around children and gay people are groomers…” is and was a liar.

Or they’re coming from a place that assumes American Christendom (and it’s very blatant white supremacist flavoring) as the default, and need to be disabused of that notion.

[CaptainEurope]

And we may have our first perjury in a Trump case:

Kenneth Chesebro, who helped devise the Trump campaign’s fake electors plot, concealed damning posts on secret Twitter account from investigators

Chesebro denied using Twitter, now known as the platform X, or having any “alternate IDs” when directly asked by Michigan investigators last year during his cooperation session, according to recordings of his interview obtained by CNN.

But CNN linked Chesebro to the secret account based on numerous matching details — including biographical information regarding his work, family, travels and investments. The anonymous account, BadgerPundit, also showed a keen interest in the Electoral College process and lined up with Chesebro’s private activities at the time.

The Twitter posts reveal that even before the 2020 election, and then just two days after polls closed, Chesebro promoted a far more aggressive election subversion strategy than he later let on in his Michigan interview.

[JackDaw]

So many different “flavours” of Christianity. I’ve come across a couple of rank and file Salvation Army members, who I think almost anyone would agree are really good people, putting a lot of time into helping others practically, with no tangible reward.

At other extreme… “fake” is one of the kinder descriptions.

I think one that surprised me most was a work colleague, who I worked with on a project, we had plenty of work related discussions. My assessment was “one of most pragmatic people I’ve come across, super sensible, intelligent”.

Then one Christmas at works party we talked about more personal beliefs, and I realised she believed the Earth was only 4 thousand years old. At first, I thought I’d imbibed too much alcohol and was hallucinating. But when I checked with a mate next day, it turned out I’d correctly understood what she’d said.

[JackDaw]

And we may have our first perjury in a Trump case:

Kenneth Chesebro, who helped devise the Trump campaign’s fake electors plot, concealed damning posts on secret Twitter account from investigators

Bet a fair few people have perjured themselves in earlier frolics? Could anyone truly believe he won the last election? (So reasonable chance some one fibbed or as Churchill would term it “uttered terminological inexactitudes” in earlier cases.)

But…I’m being pedantic…I assume you mean “first to get caught out, and hopefully jailed”? (And that as usual you’re probably going to be proven right.)

[kidfresh512]

The Back Channel Talks to Secure McConnell’s Endorsement of Trump

Donald J. Trump and Mitch McConnell haven’t said a word to each other since December 2020.

But people close to both men are working behind the scenes to make bygones of the enmity between them and to pave the way for a critical endorsement of the former president by the one Republican congressional leader who has yet to offer one, according to three people familiar with the conversations who were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

Assuming it happens, Mr. McConnell’s endorsement of Mr. Trump would have enormous symbolic value to the former president, giving him the embrace of the last holdout of Republican power whose rejection of him represents the final patch of unconquered territory in Mr. Trump’s march to the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

The support of Mr. McConnell, the Republican senator from Kentucky and the chamber’s minority leader, would also carry huge value in signaling to an entire class of donors and Trump-resistant Republican elites that it’s acceptable to get behind the party’s expected nominee — no matter their misgivings. This is no small thing, given that Mr. Trump has been forced to spend more than $50 million already on legal bills, and the groups supporting him are expected to be vastly outspent by President Biden’s operation.

Since the new year, both the Trump and McConnell teams have made an effort to avoid open warfare. It’s been a while since Mr. Trump has demeaned Mr. McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as “Coco Chow” or as Mr. McConnell’s “China-loving wife.” Ms. Chao, who was born in Taiwan, had served in Mr. Trump’s cabinet as transportation secretary, but she resigned a day after the attack on the Capitol, calling it “a traumatic and entirely avoidable event.”

The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell was never warm and probably never will be. They despise each other, and Mr. McConnell was appalled by Mr. Trump’s rise in 2016. But Mr. McConnell is nothing if not practical and during Mr. Trump’s presidency he set aside his own contempt for Mr. Trump and they worked together to pass a major tax cuts law and to confirm a record number of federal judges. Mr. McConnell’s crowning achievement was working with Mr. Trump to transform the Supreme Court — confirming three conservative justices who have gone on to achieve longstanding Republican goals such as overturning Roe v. Wade.

The disastrous and deadly aftermath of the 2020 election shattered whatever existed of their relationship.

Mr. McConnell came to view Mr. Trump as a dangerous liability after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the loss of two critical Senate races in Georgia for which he blamed the former president’s destructive behavior. He told people close to him that he never expected to talk to Mr. Trump again. And he told Senate colleagues that he was seriously considered voting to convict Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial, but ultimately decided against it.

I mean not surprising. But, it goes to show you cannot trust any of the GOP. Even when they give the smallest tiny critiques of the worst of Trump. And they turn right around and vote and endorse and empower him anyway.

[ed2962]

Isn't Elon Musk financing her lawyer?

Yes, supposedly. We'll see if he follows through.