I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
It’s disappointing to watch an increasing number of Republicans fall in line behind former president Donald Trump. This includes some of his fiercest detractors, such as U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who raised eyebrows during a recent interview by vowing to support the “Republican ticket.”
This mentality is dead wrong.
Yes, elections are a binary choice. Yes, serious questions linger about President Biden’s ability to serve until the age of 86. His progressive policies aren’t to conservatives’ liking.
But the GOP will never rebuild until we move on from the Trump era, leaving conservative (but not angry) Republicans like me no choice but to pull the lever for Biden. At the same time, we should work to elect GOP congressional majorities to block his second-term legislative agenda and provide a check and balance.
The alternative is another term of Trump, a man who has disqualified himself through his conduct and his character. The headlines are ablaze with his hush-money trial over allegations of improper record-keeping for payments to conceal an affair with an adult-film star.
Most important, Trump fanned the flames of unfounded conspiracy theories that led to the horrific events of Jan. 6, 2021. He refuses to admit he lost the last election and has hinted he might do so again after the next one.
Those holding their nose and falling behind Trump tend to rely on similar arguments. Sometimes it involves, as Barr stated in his CNN interview, the, “duty to pick the person who I think would do the least damage to the country.”
Ironically, having served as his attorney general until December 2020, Barr saw firsthand Trump’s ability to cause damage. Barr’s declaration that the U.S. Justice Department uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election infuriated his boss and set off a chain of events that ended with Jan. 6.
Trump and his allies hatched cockamamie schemes that included fake slates of electors and have led to indictments (so far) in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Georgia. They spread wild-eyed conspiracy theories that resulted in defamation lawsuits, including a $148 million verdict against former Trump lawyer and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Other reluctant Trump supporters will cite their policy differences with Biden. Or Trump’s accomplishments as president, ranging from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to three appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. Or they will point to the sense of chaos sweeping the nation right now, most notably the widespread anti-Israel protests at college campuses.
I get it. No one likes paying higher taxes, and these protests are unsettling. But the last year of the Trump presidency was hardly a time of tranquillity. His handling of the pandemic was erratic, including at one point musing about consuming disinfectants. His reliance on incendiary phrases such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” fueled racial unrest. His infamous march to St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street from the White House, flanked by top aides (including Barr) and brandishing a Bible, further set the nation ablaze.
Trump has shown us who he is. We should believe him. To think he is going to change at the age of 77 is beyond improbable.
Yet each new day increases the possibility of a second Trump presidency. Voters’ memories are short. A new CNN survey showed a majority (55%) of all Americans viewing Trump’s presidency as a success, while 44% see it as a failure. Compare that with Biden, whom only 39% call a success compared with 61% who think his term has been a failure. The same poll shows Trump with a 6-point national polling lead over Biden, whose approval rating (38%) is well below the 50% threshold of reelected incumbent presidents.
The situation is equally bleak in the battleground states that will determine the next occupant of the White House. A recent poll from the Wall Street Journal showed Trump leading in six out of seven of those states. If these results hold, he will have more than enough electoral votes for a second term.
The healing of the Republican Party cannot begin with Trump as president (and that’s aside from the untold damage that potentially awaits our country). A forthcoming Time magazine cover story lays out in stark terms “the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.”
Unlike Trump, I’ve belonged to the GOP my entire life. This November, I am voting for a decent person I disagree with on policy over a criminal defendant without a moral compass.
Yeah, I'm just saying, the Hunter Biden dick pics keep coming up because a certain congresscritter needs to keep copies on her person. For reasons. I'll admit it's entertaining to know just how much she thinks about his monster dong, but it's mostly an observation about what lets her keep doing it and having it broadcast like a soccer goal.
.... god damn it brain.
Now I'm seeing and hearing Jessie Waters throw his arms up and yell DONNNNNNNNNNG! with the pic floating up behind him.
After Donald J. Trump tallied victories in Texas, California and 12 other states, Nikki Haley was expected to drop out of the presidential race, according to people familiar with her plans. She was set to deliver remarks in Charleston, S.C., at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Biden's actually been kind of decent, better than I expected, but I'm voting against trump, first and foremost. That dude is loudly broadcasting that he'll make life absolutely miserable for minorities, people who didn't support him, etc, and it's supported by his first time and his "efforts" with covid that largely came down to, "Let it hit the cities, they voted against me anyhow."
The label that they are hateful is accurate. You can't be "for liberty" by restricting what people can do, read, say, etc. The name of the group is an applause light rather than having any meaningful bearing on their activities.
Oh, they include it in the bills that ban trans care: continue forcing "corrective" surgery on intersex people. That kind of surgery on the genitals of children is always exempted from the trans care bans.
Yeah, he absolutely should have replaced the supreme Court judges trump placed that made the ruling! Or at least he should have ordered them to rule differently by executive order!
Donald Trump cemented his grip on the Republican National Committee on Friday after his daughter-in-law and another ally assumed top leadership posts amid a debate among members over whether the organization should help pay his legal bills....
People can vote however they want. Wanting to vote Republican doesn't say anything good about you as a person, and implies at least one of several possible bad things.
Three years after supporters of Donald Trump violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the future of the criminal cases against the rioters may hinge on the presidential election.
So, in order to avoid having no influence, you use all of your influence to advance someone else's ends? Idk man, seems like you could have told Trump to eat a dick on national TV, told the Republican senators that you were never going to have a better chance to get rid of his ass, and voted to convict and bar him from politics if it passed.
Sure, I don't get to be a senator, but the fuck would I want to be a senator for, if that was the price of entry? You get to be a pawn, and get played? Pass, old man.
This issue really evokes my emotions, because of how much I love sports. I think sports are a vitally important part of the human experience. I guess dance is, too, but we’re not talking about dance, in and of itself....
You do you, man, but I feel like getting this het up over a competition you'll never be involved in, have any control over, or be forced to watch, is kind of a waste of lifespan. Are you happier for it? Healthier? Wealthier? Kinda seems like it's just burning more than one second off your life per second for no benefit.
Also, tradition is just peer pressure from dead people, and they told me in school not to give in to peer pressure. We didn't have breakdancing as an event, and now we do. The only constant is change.
Yeah this is in fact pretty dicks, and I'm saying it as someone who's been arguing with people here about not voting / voting third party in November. Absolutely send in a message / protest vote in the primaries.
The result of banning drugs in the real world (including alcohol) have repeatedly been demonstrated to be:
Users continue to get their drug
What they get is no longer of a reliable potency or purity. Many users are harmed by this
Black market sellers who are providing the product of uncertainty potency and purity have no access to peaceful legal systems for settling disputes, and resort to violence, hurting and killing each other and bystanders
The net effect is significantly worse than if you spend the effort providing education, assistance getting clean, known safe units, and quality of life increases - most people use to escape their lives. If their lives are better, there's no need to escape.
How would you do so nonviolently? Would you get your people into office? That seems like the nonviolent way to seize control of the state, but if there is another, I'm interested to hear it.
Unconditional US support from 2021-2024 is what got Israel there? Are you of the view that if we dumped them completely, right now, Israel would collapse or have no ability to prosecute their war against the Palestinians? To the best of my understanding, this is not the case, and I do not believe Biden has the ability to flatly dump Israel singlehandedly; I believe we have treaties with them, which are the law of the US and would need to be nullified by congress, which is never happening, and cannot reasonably be laid exclusively at Biden's feet.
It seems very much to me like people trying to keep some ideal of purity for themselves, and if someone who unironically says, "genocide Joe" would care to correct me I'm listening, but it's unclear how letting the guy who changed the us stance on settlements being unlawful to being totally cool win because of your unwillingness to recognize that this world is actively on fire, and we have to live with whatever future we steer to regardless.
"If you decide not to decide, you still have made a choice."
No, I do not expect someone who lost relatives in Gaza to vote for the person they blame for it. Humans are creatures of emotion first and logic second, and the vast majority of people won't be able to divorce themselves from their emotional state to do the expected value math. That doesn't mean that, by letting Trump win, they will be doing something other than permitting more people to get massacred faster.
Are you aware that the administration has been pushing on them to not do the shit they've been doing? It seems to me like the answer to that is no, and you expect Biden to just declare terms to a country half a world away which has quite a lot of weapons already, up to and including nuclear arms, I think. Israel is capable of producing weapons on their own. Today isn't 40 years ago.
Biden has done many things that are popular, but people are poorly informed. How much student debt has Biden forgiven, off the top of your head and without consulting the internet?
RE: Is Ernest still here?
I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
Geoff Duncan: Why I’m voting for Biden and other Republicans should, too (www.ajc.com)
Senate dismisses Mayorkas impeachment without trial (thehill.com)
Live Updates: Haley Is Expected to Suspend Her Campaign (www.nytimes.com)
After Donald J. Trump tallied victories in Texas, California and 12 other states, Nikki Haley was expected to drop out of the presidential race, according to people familiar with her plans. She was set to deliver remarks in Charleston, S.C., at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Christian hate group leader claims fellow hate group isn't hate group (www.friendlyatheist.com)
Donald Trump says he'll revoke Joe Biden's protections for trans people 'on day one' (www.advocate.com)
OC Message from the moderator: why should we stop praising wealthy philanthropists ?
Wealthy people are often depicted as example for society, especially when they are financing good causes. Thy're not. Here are a few reasons why....
Biden makes appearance on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' for interview (www.nbcnews.com)
Biden appeared almost 10 years to the day after he was a guest on the first “Late Night” show with Meyers when he was vice president in 2014....
Trump tightens grip on US Republican Party as daughter-in-law takes key post (www.reuters.com)
Donald Trump cemented his grip on the Republican National Committee on Friday after his daughter-in-law and another ally assumed top leadership posts amid a debate among members over whether the organization should help pay his legal bills....
Trump's MAGA movement is causing Republicans in Congress to hate each other (www.salon.com)
Bipartisan House members unveil new border, foreign aid proposal (abcnews.go.com)
Oh nooooooooo the criminal is being held to his numerous crimes oh nooooo (midwest.social)
The Trump campaign embraces Jan. 6 rioters with money and pardon promises (www.npr.org)
Three years after supporters of Donald Trump violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the future of the criminal cases against the rioters may hinge on the presidential election.
Most powerful Republican in Congress complains he has no influence: Mitch McConnell has admitted he can’t control the Republican Party. (newrepublic.com)
One of Congress’s most powerful Republicans apparently feels powerless in the face of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign....
Missouri Republican candidate torches LGBTQ-inclusive books in viral video (www.nbcnews.com)
This year, Olympic medals will be awarded for breakdancing, and it literally makes me sick to my stomach.
This issue really evokes my emotions, because of how much I love sports. I think sports are a vitally important part of the human experience. I guess dance is, too, but we’re not talking about dance, in and of itself....
deleted_by_moderator
Alcohol should be banned everywhere.
There is not a single reason for any human to get access to alcohol to drink....
American bourgeois democracy (lemmygrad.ml)
cross-posted from: lemmygrad.ml/post/4134651...
Rashida Tlaib and 'uncommitted' voters just delivered a major rebuke to Biden over Israel — and it could make him lose Michigan to Trump in 2024 (www.businessinsider.com)