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

[Tami]

https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/who-i...s-19396311.htm

Peaceful protests.

One person doesn't make everyone rotten. The issue is so heated it is speeding up global warming 10 fold.

Still, it was very dangerous and very stupid to threaten others like that.

[Mister Mets]

Old people were happy to forget the horrors of the war, young people to enjoy life in a country in reconstruction…

What kind of life the displaced people from Gaza fleeing the bombings will have? I think resent is all what they will have.

They should resent Hamas for all the bad things in their lives.

[Tami]

This senator wants a privacy law. She’s been one of its biggest obstacles.

When Maria Cantwell first ran for the U.S. Senate, she championed what was then an unconventional political cause: internet privacy.

“What you do on your computer should be your business, and no one else’s,” Cantwell, the dot-com millionaire and former U.S. House member, said in a 2000 campaign video that showed her huddled around a clunky white desktop monitor with a group of schoolchildren. The internet, she said, should remain “a tool for learning,” not for governments and private companies to “invade your privacy.”

Twenty-four years later, Cantwell (D-Wash.) has finally unveiled a bipartisan agreement aimed at achieving that vision. But the path ahead remains murky. As the Senate Commerce Committee chair, Cantwell has unusual power to regulate the tech industry’s abuses, but her panel’s track record is sparse: Of dozens of bills introduced to address privacy, content moderation, even artificial intelligence, few have advanced.

“That’s where a lot of the tech legislation goes to die is that committee,” said one House aide. “It’s a graveyard over there.”

Cantwell herself is a primary reason for the impasse, according to more than a dozen current and former congressional aides in both parties, and others familiar with the committee’s dynamics, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the powerful senator. Some said they feared retaliation.

Cantwell has repeatedly upended privacy negotiations. In 2019, she broke up a working group trying to hash out a compromise. In 2022, she rebuffed a landmark agreement from three key lawmakers, a first-of-its kind bipartisan deal. Again and again, aides said, she has thwarted promising talks by refusing to iron out key disputes, speaking out publicly against colleagues’ efforts and not empowering her staff to fully negotiate.

On Sunday, Cantwell heralded a breakthrough privacy measure with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), marking the first time the leaders of the two critical committees had agreed on a plan to establish a federal baseline for what data companies can collect online and to give consumers new privacy rights. Lawmakers, privacy advocates and industry leaders praised the deal, one of the most sought-after pieces of internet policy in Washington.

But at least five aides said it was the type of agreement that could have been struck years ago. And there’s still skepticism about Cantwell’s ability to close out the process. “Expectations are low,” said one Senate aide.

[Mister Mets]

I didn’t think I was trying to make the perfect the enemy of the good. BTW the irony of you saying that isn’t lost on me.

There may not be Nazis currently in charge of governments but nearly all the hallmarks of the ideology are alive and well in several countries around the world including our own thanks to the abandonment of basic democracy by the Republicans.

I have to wonder if you really believe this.

[Tami]

I have to wonder if you really believe this.

Some GOP rhetoric is similar to that of American Nazis from the 1970s

Not long ago, liberal claims that Republicans were fascists rang false to many observers. In the early-21st century, the party’s leaders, such as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, focused on lower taxes and rolling back regulations on businesses. Both men were institutionalists who took governing seriously even while they remained wary of governmental overreach.

Yet today, even many “Never-Trump” Republicans, who supported Bush and Romney, look at the increasing role played by right-wing extremists within the GOP and see a genuine fascist threat.

Conservative journalist Bill Kristol hears “inflections, or at least overtones, of fascism,” while former Republican operative Tim Miller decried how when former president Donald Trump had dinner with rapper Ye and alleged white supremacist Nick Fuentes in Florida, the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, a top Trump rival, didn’t have “the courage to say anything.”

Texas GOP executive committee rejects proposed ban on associating with Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers

Two months after a prominent conservative activist and fundraiser was caught hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes, leaders of the Republican Party of Texas have voted against barring the party from associating with known Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers.

In a 32-29 vote on Saturday, members of the Texas GOP’s executive committee stripped a pro-Israel resolution of a clause that would have included the ban. In a separate move that stunned some members, roughly half of the board also tried to prevent a record of their vote from being kept.

In rejecting the proposed ban, the executive committee's majority delivered a serious blow to a faction of members that has called for the party to confront its ties to groups that have recently employed or associated with outspoken white supremacists and extremists.

In October, The Texas Tribune published photos of Fuentes, an avowed admirer of Adolf Hitler who has called for a “holy war” against Jews, entering and leaving the offices of Pale Horse Strategies, a consulting firm for far-right candidates and movements.

The GOP’s Nazi Problem Has Deep Roots

nominee circles the drain, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis can take pride in the fact that he is almost keeping pace with his chief rival in having embarrassing Nazi scandals. Earlier this week, in response to continuing lackluster polling, DeSantis fired 38 staffers. Axios noted that one of those staffers was Nate Hochman, a speechwriter who “secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.” Earlier, Hochman and other staffers stirred controversy by sharing a bizarre homophobic and transphobic pro-DeSantis ad (presented as a fan creation, even though evidence points to its being another in-house production). This follows hot on the heels of a June scandal when it turned out that Pedro Gonzalez, a pro-DeSantis influencer whose social media voice was being promoted by the Florida governor’s staff, had a record of anti-Semitic, racist, and fascist private direct messages.

Although he’s trying hard, DeSantis still lags behind front-runner Donald Trump—not just in the polls but also in shameless pandering to white nationalists. Trump of course has the advantage of a head start in this competition. His extensive record (crisply catalogued in a 2017 Slate article) includes his numerous sly uses of alt-right memes, his promotion of extremists like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, and his infamous “very fine people” response to the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. More recently, Trump dined last year with Adolf Hitler aficionado and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

Surprise: The GOP’s Favorite Gathering Was Full of Nazis

Self-identified Nazis were at CPAC—and for all of the event leadership’s political waffling, NBC News had the receipts to prove it.

On Saturday, NBC News reported that the fascists “didn’t meet any perceptible resistance” at the conservative conference, and mingled openly with Republican personalities and members of Turning Point USA, describing themselves as “national socialists” while discussing “race science,” skull measurements, and anti-Semititc conspiracy theories.

Why Trump's authoritarian language about 'vermin' matters

At a recent rally, former President Donald Trump used language in a speech that echoed Adolf Hitler, comparing his political opponents to "vermin."

"We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country," he told a New Hampshire crowd.

There were other nods to authoritarianism in the speech. Trump praised Hungary's strongman leader: "The head of Hungary – very tough, strong guy – Viktor Orban," Trump told the audience, adding approvingly, "He didn't allow millions of people to invade his country."

[Panfoot]

I think you mean photograph. There was no kidnapping involved.

Whoops, fixed!

[Jack Dracula]

I have to wonder if you really believe this.

Take some time to objectively study how other democracies devolved into authoritarian autocratic regimes and get back to me.

[Gray Lensman]

They should resent Hamas for all the bad things in their lives.

What few services they have tend to be provided BY Hamas, th destruction of their friends and families are carried out by Israel. Hamas also has control over what information they receive. Getting them to blame Hamas is an uphill battle, which isn't helped by the IDF actively playing into the narrative.

Something else needs to be done, and whatever that answer is, it's going to be slow going, and with a lot of setbacks along the way. But it's pretty clear that the current solution isn't working.

[Catlady in training]

One person doesn't make everyone rotten. The issue is so heated it is speeding up global warming 10 fold.

Still, it was very dangerous and very stupid to threaten others like that.

It is a same kind of radicalization that people displayed on January 6. All of them need some time to cool down and reflect on their radicalization. Prison should provide that.

[The Cool Thatguy]

It is a same kind of radicalization that people displayed on January 6. All of them need some time to cool down and reflect on their radicalization. Prison should provide that.

Not to defend what happened, but comparing those protesting what's happening in Gaza to the Jan 6 is far from fair.

Gaza is a legitimate issue, where hundreds are dying needlessly.

Jan 6 is just some douchebag being a douche.

[CaptainEurope]

Apparently, Iran is attacking Israel directly tonight with hundreds of drones.

CNN live ticker about it:
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/l...-24/index.html

[Tami]

Apparently, Iran is attacking Israel directly tonight with hundreds of drones.

CNN live ticker about it:
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/l...-24/index.html

I have never before seen a more clearer example of a country's government engaging in Self-Harm as I have seen with the Israel Government led by Netanyahu. They are like a kid with a Big Brother who has always defended them cause they were the ones being bullied, then the kid gets the idea that they can do anything they want so they go out and start bullying others, expecting that their Big Brother will protect them.

Question is, what will the US do?

[The Cool Thatguy]

I have never before seen a more clearer example of a country's government engaging in Self-Harm as I have seen with the Israel Government led by Netanyahu. They are like a kid with a Big Brother who has always defended them cause they were the ones being bullied, then the kid gets the idea that they can do anything they want so they go out and start bullying others, expecting that their Big Brother will protect them.

Question is, what will the US do?

I fear we know the answer to that, at least in the short term.

But Ben N is definately undermining Israel's support long term. I supported them for a long time, but before October 7th, I was getting ready to say 'F**k 'em'.

The way he's acting, I am gonna be drifting back to that stance sooner than later.

[Username taken]

I have never before seen a more clearer example of a country's government engaging in Self-Harm as I have seen with the Israel Government led by Netanyahu. They are like a kid with a Big Brother who has always defended them cause they were the ones being bullied, then the kid gets the idea that they can do anything they want so they go out and start bullying others, expecting that their Big Brother will protect them.

Question is, what will the US do?

That's the real question.

[babyblob]

Damn Iran has attacked Israel. Im really worried about how bad things get and how long it will be before the US gets dragged into another middle east war.