This is a surprise to no one. We have to realize that a great portion of the population will ride this all the way down to midnight. They’ll do whatever they can to keep the profit and power they already have. These people are not just enemies of humanity, they are enemies of life as we know it. Treat them as the raiders and pilferers they are.
The crazy part is, the majority of those voters have neither power nor money. They just get caught up in the cult of personality the GOP has going on. Every single one of their candidates is trying to be a hero for Republican voters. Trump will Make America Great Again. DeSantis will save the children from woke politics and trafficking. The other candidates are a mix of the two. None of them are grounded in reality, and none of them are offering actual solutions outside of catch phrases and threats/promises to end X "threat".
Its nothing but pure mental immaturity. Jumping from each perceived saviour to the next, these people are helpless against their own problems. And the ones that are beneficiaries of these policies and actions are nothing but malicious actors out for their own gain. This squabble isn’t new either. People have been squandering political power on themselves since we first figured out that apes together strong.
This is honestly the most successful part of the Republican strategy over the last few decades. They wanted to elect people who would pass tax cuts and legislation that disproportionally favored the wealthy and large corporations, but needed more people to vote for candidates like that. But how do you get people to vote against their own interests?
That was the genesis of aligning with the Christian right. Get people worked up into a froth about things like abortion (something Republicans weren’t previously against) or the “gay agenda,” and then have candidates who say they will save the country from those kinds of evils. People vote for those candidates, who then get in and pass the tax cuts and such.
Most of those folks don’t actually care about those issues, it’s just a way to fire up their base, and it’s worked frighteningly well.
That is what gets me. I have been through 8 presidents now and everything even somewhat useful has come under democratic administrations whereas republican ones do nothing but tax cuts that for me ends up being if im lucky an extra beer at the bar on weekends.
That means that a Republican who is legally barred from serving as an elector for Trump could be making decisions about voter registration, voting, and vote counts in an election where Trump is likely to be the GOP nominee.
This is a reminder to think about direct propaganda from Russia to establish voter apathy in people who would vote Democrat when you read all these self defeatist posts.
Only if said people are incapable of weighing their options of “Pro-Genocide” against “Genocide-Lite” in addition to the other partisan stances that make the GOP a trainwreck for America. Ah, who are we kidding, people are fucking idiots.
Sad there might actually be people dumb enough to not vote Democrat those election. It’s a terrible shit sandwich we have to bite into, but the alternative is way worse. I hate pelosi, but I know there’s a chance to boot that old bag later. We get trump for another 4 years and we’ll get a dictatorship and become Putins errands boy.
Except this wind is directly doing things to hurt Biden’s campaign. A major establishment figure highlighting one of their biggest issues with their base and further antagonizing them is actually politically relevant.
Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these—some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia.
And I say that having looked at this for a long time now, as you know.
She’s completely right. Some of the opposition is astroturfed. It’s part of Hamas’s strategy of “lawfare.”
It would be a betrayal of national security for the DOJ or FBI not to investigate the source of a lot of this messaging.
“I don’t think they’re plants,” said Pelosi. “I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.”
That could be plausible but a pro Israeli narrative neither needs no amplification nor benefits Russia’s political agenda.
Russia’s goal more than division is to reelect it’s agent, Trump. I find it hard to believe Russia would go out of its way to amplify to any significant extent the position taken by the US, NATO, EU, UK, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Japan, Australia, and Canada, which is that Israel is legitimately defending itself and not committing genocide.
Trump would immediately start a hot war with Iran and immediately cede all of Ukraine to Russia.
The GOP is clamoring to bomb Iran and pull Ukrainian funding today. The Democrats wants to avoid a hot war with Iran (for humanitarian reasons) and is bending over backwards to support Ukraine. The idea that Russia would push a pro Biden narrative (to sew division at the risk of reflecting him) is not plausible.
Since the dead kids don’t seem to be an issue, maybe these moderates would do it to deny the Russians their issue. Democratic moderates will fall all over themselves to coopt rightwing issues to deny them the ideological ground, maybe they can be convinced to actually adopt something good for once.
Well, that’s the point isn’t it? If there’s a legitimate military target and a reasonable warning tailored to minimize civilian casualties, that is not a war crime, let alone a genocide. It’s standard operating procedure, and morally and legally valid.
People seem to be completely unaware that before Israel bombs a building, it calls cell phones in the area and warns people to leave. One thing Hamas likes to do is tell people that those warning calls are a hoax, so that more civilians stay in the building to be killed. Nothing makes Hamas happier than more inncoent Palestinians killed with Israeli weapons.
People also seem to believe that every time a building is destroyed, there are never any Hamas members or weapons or tunnels. The extent of the tunnel systems in the Gaza Strip are well documented and if you threw a dart at a map of the strip, you’re pretty much going to hit a tunnel. I’m exaggerating, but not by much.
Again, if they are striking valid targets and warning the people to leave the area, it sucks and it’s horrible and of course it makes Democrats very uncomfortable because we are caring and empathetic people, but it’s not objectionable from an international law standard. Humanitarian corridors are open, supplies are flowing, and the daily death tolls have been decreasing for weeks. I agree with Pelosi that it’s delusional to call that genocide.
If it comes out that Israel does not really have valid military targets, or made no contemporaneous attempts to warn people in the target area, and that’s part of a policy or the result of training, as opposed to isolated war crimes, I agree it would be a genocide all day long. So far though, the evidence is overwhelming that that’s not what’s happening. Add to that the evidence that Israel is actively prosecuting people for war crimes and incitement to genocide.
If what a few extremist representatives in a democracy said actually matched the facts on the ground, I would credit this line of reasoning. There is clearly not an effort to wipe out the Palestinian people or the killing apparatus would become more efficient over time, not less.
Israel is actually sending more food and supplies into Gaza right now than anyone, and it’s ridiculous to say that they are intentionally starving people when they are the ones bringing in the food. I understand there’s widespread food insecurity in Gaza. It would have been super cool if Hamas did not build tunnels and then use them to launch terrorist attacks from underneath people’s markets and roads.
If Israel actually goes ahead and lets all of these refugees starve to death, or fails to rebuild the units of lost housing, I would tend to agree that war crimes are afoot. It’s too soon to tell.
But my friend, the daily civilian casualties has been dropping for weeks. Where is all this intentional killing your9 talking about?
Israel is actually sending more food and supplies into Gaza right now than anyone, and it’s ridiculous to say that they are intentionally starving people when they are the ones bringing in the food.
500 trucks used to go in on a daily basis. “Aid” (provided by a number of agencies and counties and not Israel) that had to be painfully inspected by Israel has been far below that. In other words, Israel actually withheld aid from Gazans, despite “allowing it in”.
This is what I mean. Even in the evac zone, the IDF calls and texts people before bombing.
Yes, people were told to leave the north and head south. Nobody said “everywhere south is safe.”
People keep making this point to me and it would be a good point if it was as black and white as coverage keeps implying. My observations have been as follows:
These stories are exaggerated by media outlets that do not publish sufficient detail to identify the date and location of the bombing. This makes it impossible to know if you have just read 10 articles about 10 bombings or 10 articles about one bombing. It also makes it impossible to look up and see if one can find evidence of the warnings that were given or the IDF explanation for the bombing.
Many of the articles that do contain enough information to identify the date and location but does not include idf’s explanation or any information related to any warnings. This gives the false idea that Israel is just bombing people. Indiscriminately, and it just isn’t true. Because literally every single time I have been able to identify the date and location from any reports of civilians being killed in bombings, I’ve been able to find for everyone some explanation from the IDF and some eyewitness account including videos or screenshots of the warnings that people have received.
Here’s a good example. It is unique only because everyone evacuated, despite Hamas’s attempts to mislead people into staying in the buildings:
Tailored to minimize civilian casualties. Hard for it to be effective sometimes when Hamas tells the civilians the warning calls are a hoax and not to leave.
This story is exceptional only because everyone evacuated and no civilians were killed. When Hamas tried to convince residents to stay by telling residents the calls were a hoax, the IDF fired warning shots to prove it. They said “we will not bomb this building until you say it is safe.” And they did not. Sometimes Hamas packs their whole family into the room above the tunnel shafts and forces them to stay to die proudly as martyrs.
This is not the uplifting story you seem to think it is. Someone rung this poor random guy and made him evacuate his entire community under extreme time pressure, only to destroy all the infrastructure so they can never return.
Three buildings were destroyed. As Mahmoud watched the destruction, the man on the phone said three more buildings would be bombed and then the residents would be allowed to return.
But a change of orders came suddenly.
They would bomb the full row of apartment blocks on the eastern side of the street, Mahmoud recalls being told.
This was more than 20 tower blocks, and hundreds of homes.
"There were people we hadn’t evacuated yet because there was no warning about those buildings. I told him, ‘At least give us until morning, in night time, where will the people go?’
“The answer was, ‘The orders have been received, and we will bomb all towers within two hours.’”
Mahmoud screamed at people to clear the area, running from block to block.
Residents describe chaotic scenes of adults shouting and children weeping. Some parents and children lost one another in the melee.
Despite the panic, Mahmoud stayed on the phone the whole time, trying his best to delay the bombing.
The voice on the other end of the phone continued, without emotion.
"He even told me, ‘Take your time. I won’t bomb unless you give me permission.’
"I said 'No, it’s not my permission. I don’t want you to bomb anything. If you want me to evacuate, I will evacuate for the safety of the people, but if you want to bomb, don’t tell me you need my permission.
And towards the end:
Mahmoud and the man who called himself Daoud kept speaking until the streets went quiet. Then the calls abruptly stopped without any further instructions for the people of al-Zahra.
“They didn’t tell us to go back to our homes, or to evacuate or leave the area. So people waited until noon, and then they started to move,” Mahmoud says.
In the hours and days that followed, the community of al-Zahra, like many in Gaza, disbanded.
“Even for the people whose homes were still standing, there are no services left… the sewage systems are damaged, there is no bakery, there is no supermarket, there is no water, no electricity,” Mahmoud says.
They didn’t care about this man. They took everything he had apart from his actual life and he had done nothing wrong. You think it is a story of IDF benevolence but it is literally a war crime.
Yeah no I read it, nor do I find it uplifting at all.
But it speaks for itself as evidence in refuting the claims people are making about indiscriminate bombing and intentionally targeting civilians. It’s just not true, at least not any more than a handful of isolated war crimes. It’s shitty but that’s the reality of it.
Israel is and will likely continue to prosecute people responsible for war crimes.
Think they hold any war crimes trials in Gaza? No. The fact is that in Gaza the governing power will pay you well if you indiscriminately target a bunch of Israeli civilians, as they did on October 7.
The tunnels are forfiet now, as a matter of proportionate response and self defense. If Israel has to destroy several city blocks to get to whatever part of the tunnel system Hamas has dug underneath them, that’s not Israel’s fault. Hamas put them there. Hamas used them to launch terrorist attack after terrorist attack, decades of rocket attacks, decades of suicide bombings, and now mass shootings, all while actually indiscriminately targeting civilians. How does that go over in Gaza? Hamas is more popular than ever.
Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives;
The dentist office is not a military objective just because there’s a tunnel 20m below it.
More importantly, there are 26 THOUSAND dead Palestinians, mainly innocent civilians. If they are not intentionally targeting them they are the most careless and/or incompetent army in the world.
It’s just not true, at least not any more than a handful of isolated war crimes. It’s shitty but that’s the reality of it.
Oh well that’s ok then, just a “handful” of “isolated” war crimes 🤣
Sometimes Hamas packs their whole family into the room above the tunnel shafts and forces them to stay to die proudly as martyrs.
God how ridiculous are the things you believe to keep yourself from seeing Israel is butchering mostly civilians. Why would Israel know the room is full of civilians before bombing? Imagine, you're whatever heinous evil you see Hamas as, and you're trying to avoid being bombed in your secret tunnel. Why would you pack a room full of civilians right above your location? Are you doing it in secret so IDF doesnt see where you are, if so that doesnt give you any protection because they wouldnt know about the civilians to be deterred from bombing anyway. Or in broad daylight to make sure they know civilians and you are there, in this war where the presence of civilians has not stopped them from leveling neighborhoods at all.
I’m not going to go tit for tat on sources with you and documentation.
The US, EU, UK, NATO, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Japan, and Canada, all say it’s not genocide for the reasons I’ve cited. You will see as it plays out before the ICJ.
Speaking of delusions, I havent mentioned genocide. I been talking about the majority of people Israel is killing are civilians, by an insane margin. Even from Israel themselves saying a 2:1 ratio of civilians to militants, and that ratio is disputed.
Nothing makes Hamas happier than more innocent Palestinians killed with Israeli weapons.
Then stop doing it.
Israel is running into Gaza like a Fuze player on hostage gameplay, and wondering why the hostages keep getting in the way of the bombs. Either it is stupidity or maliciousness.
When it should be treating this like a gang or mafia that has infiltrated the population of Gaza and using them as unwilling participants.
People also seem to believe that every time a building is destroyed, there are never any Hamas members or weapons or tunnels.
People don't understand shit. Me included. In fact, me the example. However, people can empathize with human suffering.
People have eyes and can think, maybe Israel should stop bombing indiscriminately. Maybe Israel, should tone it down a bit?
It doesn't inspire any confidence you either don't know what you are talking about, or don't know that Israel has a completely different philosophy from what you are arguing.
I mean, but you’re lying about indiscriminate bombing. The evidence is absolutely overwhelming that Israel is effectively warning people and striking valid military.
It is delusional to say as you have that the bombing is indiscriminate if they’re literally calling people on the phone and telling them where the bombs are going to hit before they land. That’s very discriminate.
The Rohygna were targeted indiscriminately. Myanmar had helicopter gunships strafing crowds of refugees, burning down whole villages without ever even pretending that there was a military target. Clearly war crimes.
It’s not a mystery why the civilian casualties are so high. It’s because Hamas is a terrorist organization that employees a strategy of martyrdom and voluntary and involuntary human shields specifically for the purpose of gaining international sympathy, and because Hamas dug tunnels under where most people live and then used them for decades to launch tens of thousands of rockets and finally on October 7 a massive border incursion and a campaign of actually indiscriminate mass shootings of Isreali civilians, on purpose, the tunnels must now be destroyed.
And that means that unfortunately whatever is above them is also likely going to be destroyed or at least rendered inhabitable from a structural engineering standpoint. Israel didn’t put the tunnels there, that was also Hamas, and also part of their strategy of martyrdom and human shields.
I mean, but you’re lying about indiscriminate bombing. The evidence is absolutely overwhelming that Israel is effectively warning people and striking valid military.
I’m not sure what relevance you think this is. Are there military targets or not? Are there warnings or not? The targets in Gaza are pretty much underground.
She's directly linking any protestation of the war with Putin. She's essentially saying if you protest for cessation of hostility in Gaza you're a tool of Putin.
It's incredibly disingenuous and will definitely hurt their numbers. And in a race that's going to be as close as this is, it could easily lead to a red Presidency.
I think you're buying into her attempt to soften the blow.
She starts off the statement by immediately linking protests with Putin, then follows it up by putting up a front as though she's in some way neutral.
John Stewart did a pretty good show about this sort of thing about a decade ago about Glenn Beck. "She's only asking questions! How do we know these protestors aren't all Russian agents, after all?"
I think it’s also plausible that Russia would astroturf to help Trump get back in office. By turning people against the Democrats and toward a third party to split the vote.
Then again, Russia is all about weaponizing the cracks in the target society. Adding to the discord over this situation by astroturfing both sides is right out of their playbook.
(Ed) And I’m guessing Israel is doing some of its own astroturfing. And probably same for Hamas and sympathetic entities.
TL:DR Republicans got subpoenaed as part of an investigation, to determine who is funding conservative SCOTUS members. The suspicion is that lawmakers have been lining SCOTUS members’ pockets to protect their bills. Republicans are screaming and crying, because they don’t want to be forced to actually give up that info.
I get the feeling they're in two camps. Some rich and powerful people are true believers; others are performers. Why can't there ever be a person who actually wants to be "tough on crime" when it comes to white collar crimes and politics? It's almost as if the entire thing is designed to keep people where they are forever, rich and poor.
Why are they mad? I’m convinced Republicans could consume a child on national television and their constituents would find a way to blame it on the Democrats.
Heads of criminal organizations and cults do be like that.
He knows he commands a large mob, and he’s not afraid to use the nuclear option if he has nothing left to lose. It’s why Fani Willis (successfully) argued that the pending juries need anonymity, despite the fact that Georgia normally requires that jurists’ names be public.
He’s dangerous, unhinged, and self-absorbed. The sooner he goes to prison or dies, the better off we’ll all be.
Honestly I’m hoping that he doesn’t manage to jet off to some foreign country and avoid both prison and death. Imagine this slime of a human being meddling in US elections for another 10 years while in Russia, pandering to the idea that some shadow-cabal was after him all this time while the lunatics just get worked up into a worse frenzy than before. Nothing good can come from him continuing to interfere in politics.
On top of that, it assumes he can just escape. Unlike the Jan 6 insurrectionists, he’s both already being watched by the government (the NY-assigned Receiver, for example), and he’s instantly recognizable anywhere he goes (I don’t think he knows how to be low-profile).
I don’t know if he’ll make it to prison, however. Every time I see a picture of him, he looks older than the last time; all this rage-manufacturing, potential dementia, and litigation can’t be good for him.
But if that happens, at least I can be happy knowing his legacy of the Trump Org is doomed, too.
I think it’s bullshit that Ms James and Judge Engoron (among many many others) are expected to just let him continue to call out the dogs against them.
I mention Engoron specifically because the threat of contempt worked to redirect Trump off of Judge Engoron’s staff.
But it looks like everybody is assuming that he would take any order prohibiting him from attacking public figures to the Supreme Court and win.
So jury members, clerks, people whose personality is not part of the political process, are getting protected but the judge and the AG just eat it and have their lives put at risk.
I dunno about that. The SC didn’t exactly enjoy it when it happened to them post-Roe, plus there’s a case to be made that threatening judges and AGs in such a fashion, where violence is far more likely from his cultists, affects the ability to have a fair trial.
On top of that, free speech is limited, and it excludes threats of violence. Not that this SC is above overturning such a doctrine, but I think even they wouldn’t want to open that Pandora’s Box, since it would certainly and swiftly be used against them.
9 times out of 10 if a child is being abused it is by their parents. Think about that every time these people talk about their right to own their kids. I will vote for the first person who suggests a list of rights for children from their parents. I say this as a parent of two.
So much this. Think of it in terms of child custody in family court, parents have and deserve NO rights, the only thing that matters is the best interests of the children. If that's with mom and/or dad great, if not, so be it. Earn the privilege of your kids, or they will grow up and tell you to F off.
(P.s. you sound like a great parent, thank you for making the world a better place).
U.S. conservatives are posturing for genocide. Understand that your conservative coworkers and neighbors will politely watch and do nothing as your existence becomes illegal. Some conservatives kill with a gun and others kill with a polite smile. But they are all killers. All of them. Remember this in your dealings with them. They will watch you die and will do nothing at all to stop it.
Conservatism is a plague of death in desperate need of a cure.
We should continue to demand that Biden stops funding Israel and stops selling them weapons right now, but thinking that voting Trump is will be any better is just dreaming.
The people of Ukraine will be wiped out if Trump gets power.
The issue is that the conservative vote for party lines while democrats vote for what they like. I’m not sure it’s true that Ukraine will get wiped out, but I’m fairly sure Biden won’t have a 2nd round as president.
And I’m not sure it’s a bad thing in the long run. We’ll end up with a further weakened USA, giving room for others to rise up and set a new agenda
You think that the US becoming like Hungary (for example) will be better in the long run?! Or are just unaware of what continuing to move to the right does to a nation and subsequently, international relations?
Aside from the fact that the orange fuck-stick would press Israel to go harder, and that Ukraine would be wiped off the map. As an LGBT person I feel I'm justified in saying, GO FUCK YOURSELF.
Yeah - I’ve done nothing to elect either of them so I’m the one that should go fuck myself. You utter rubbish of a tosser- go back to your armchair activism
The article says the Trump administration considered killing Assange but gave up the idea. The article says that the new plan is to kill him by putting him in prison for the rest of his life. This isn’t killing someone though. Language is meant to convey meaning, this is just word play.
Also, I don’t really feel empathetic towards Assange, he acted as a Russian mouthpiece with his show on RT and his interference in the 2016 US presidential election. From WaPo: “Assange is a foreign national who reportedly collaborated with Russian intelligence to derail Clinton’s candidacy. As unredacted portions of the Mueller report show, during the 2016 presidential election campaign, WikiLeaks communicated both with Trump advisers and with Russian-intelligence (GRU) front organizations, DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0. WikiLeaks subsequently sought to cover up its connections with the GRU.”
Hilary lost cause she was a God awful candidate the establishment tried to force feed us. Had they gone with someone more viable, with less baggage, they would have won, irrespective of Russian interference
Hilary was less god-awful than Trump, and the leaks absolutely damaged her campaign. You sound like you are ok with Putin interfering with our elections.
It scares me how many comments I see on this subject are something to the effect of "people don't deserve human rights unless I am able to empathize/agree with them."
Everyone deserves human rights and you are being disingenuous to suggest that the OC was saying otherwise.
They said they didn't feel very empathetic toward Assange because he didn't follow the journalistic practices he claimed he was.
Nowhree did the OC say anything bad should happen to Assange, nowhere did they suggest anything that wasn't legal, they didn't really say they had any hopes about the outcome for him.
You are the one who tried to make this argument about human rights instead of about Julian Assange.
Weird how this happens in every thread about the guy. Almost like there are paid posters watching out for this stuff.
Me, reading your comment: Hmm, this comment by @andyburke is right, I was too hotheaded, I should apologize to the original poster.....
tried to make this argument about human rights
Me: ... it is about human rights tho...but maybe I jumped the gun a bit...
Weird how this happens in every thread about the guy. Almost like there are paid posters watching out for this stuff.
Me: .... record scratch followed by laughter. I'd love a job where I was paid to post the stuff I post, though.
Do you seriously think this corner of the fediverse is filled with people paid to change your opinion? These sites are in their infancy, way too small, the only shills around here are for fake Adderall. It's one of the things I like about it.
My advice to the paranoid is get yourself a kbin account so you can literally see who upvotes what. That will end your paranoia about cabals.
Also, I don’t really feel empathetic towards Assange, he acted as a Russian mouthpiece with his show on RT and his interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
I wish more people would see this. He isn’t some freedom fighter. He happily became Putin’s useful idiot and published the selective leaks Russia provided to swing the 2016 election to Trump. I find it hilarious that after that, Trump wanted to kill him.
I get no paywall. I’m betting you want to stay willfully ignorant. Where do you think Assange/wikileaks got the info from the DNC?
Try Wikipedia
On December 9, 2016, the CIA told U.S. legislators that the U.S. Intelligence Community concluded Russia conducted operations during the 2016 U.S. election to prevent Hillary Clinton[13] from winning the presidency.[14] Multiple U.S intelligence agencies concluded people with direct ties to the Kremlin gave WikiLeaks hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee.[14]WikiLeaks did not reveal its source. Later Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, claimed that the source of the emails was not Russia or any other state.
The point is, it was selective. Russians hacked BOTH the RNC and DNC, then only sent the DNC information to Wikileaks. Assange was a moron that did exactly what Putin wanted him to and selectively hurt Democrats to help Trump.
While the Trump administration dropped plans for Assange’s extrajudicial murder, neither it nor the Biden administration has turned away from killing him slowly in solitary confinement in Britain and, if the British appeals court agrees to his extradition, in an American super-maximum-security prison for the rest of his life.
Let’s not forget Obama, who initiated Assange’s slow, grinding political assassination.
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