Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Hermit]

(Summed up by someone on Reddit, repeated here)

All recommended criminal charges from Jan 6th Committee:

Obstruction of an Official Proceeding 18 U.S.C 1512:

1. Trump

2. Clark

3. Eastman

4. Chesebro

Conspiracy to Defraud the United States 18 U.S.C 171:

1. Trump

2. Eastman

3. Clark

4. Chesebro

5. Meadows

6. Giuliani

Conspiracy to Make a False Statement 18 U.S.C 371, 1001

1. Trump

2. Eastman

3. Chesebro

"Incite," "Assist" or "Aid or Comfort an Insurrection" 18 U.S.C 2383

1. Trump

[Pariah]

To me, it's a foregone conclusion that the Republican Party, with its various factions, will eventually cannibalize itself. Could this be the beginning?

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene And Lauren Boebert Get Personal In Very Public Spat

 

I mean, could this actually be the beginning? Please?

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

To me, it's a foregone conclusion that the Republican Party, with its various factions, will eventually cannibalize itself. Could this be the beginning?

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene And Lauren Boebert Get Personal In Very Public Spat

 

I mean, could this actually be the beginning? Please?

 

Gosh.  How awful.

 

popcorn.gif

[unclevlad]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

To me, it's a foregone conclusion that the Republican Party, with its various factions, will eventually cannibalize itself. Could this be the beginning?

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene And Lauren Boebert Get Personal In Very Public Spat

 

I mean, could this actually be the beginning? Please?

 

I dunno if we can say that, just on these two having a spat.  I mean, they're Bart Simpson and Bud Bundy, so it's rather hard to take them as representatives of the Republican Party.

 

In other news...before the Dems lose control, the House Ways and Means committee voted to release 6 years' worth of Trump's tax returns.  

[unclevlad]

The pressure from the Tesla stockholders appears to be working.  Musk announces he'll resign as Twitter CEO once he finds a successor.

 

Now, mind, there's a honkin' big caveat to this.  As noted in NYT:

 

Quote

On Sunday, he tweeted that he had no successor and suggested that there were no qualified candidates to lead Twitter.

“No one who wants the job can actually keep Twitter alive,” he posted.

 

So we'll see what happens.  Until the successor is named, IMO, skepticism remains warranted.  And we'll have to see if he can do it fast enough to keep enough of the infrastructure intact, if that's possible.

[Lord Liaden]

2 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

I dunno if we can say that, just on these two having a spat.  I mean, they're Bart Simpson and Bud Bundy, so it's rather hard to take them as representatives of the Republican Party.

 

 

I would say that sounds exactly like representatives of today's Republican Party.

[BoloOfEarth]

8 hours ago, Pariah said:

To me, it's a foregone conclusion that the Republican Party, with its various factions, will eventually cannibalize itself. Could this be the beginning?

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene And Lauren Boebert Get Personal In Very Public Spat

 

I mean, could this actually be the beginning? Please?

 

5 hours ago, unclevlad said:

I dunno if we can say that, just on these two having a spat.  I mean, they're Bart Simpson and Bud Bundy, so it's rather hard to take them as representatives of the Republican Party.

 

3 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I would say that sounds exactly like representatives of today's Republican Party.

 

I'd say that's insulting to Bart Simpson and Bud Bundy.  Each of them has way more intelligence than Greene and Boebert combined (not that that's saying much), and a lot more sense than a vast majority of today's GOP.

[csyphrett]

Rep Scott Perry has been identified as the head conspirator helping Eastman and Clarke try to throw the 20 election back to the individual states to decide. I believe that a censure is on the table but I am not sure

CES 

[DShomshak]

11 hours ago, BoloOfEarth said:

I'd say that's insulting to Bart Simpson and Bud Bundy.  Each of them has way more intelligence than Greene and Boebert combined (not that that's saying much), and a lot more sense than a vast majority of today's GOP.

Boebert maybe, but I suspect Greene is only playing dumb. What clinched it for me was the "peach tree dishes." To me that sounds too on the nose, too calculated a mistake. An impersonation of ignorance and stupidity. And right on cue, mainstream media pounced on her and mocked her for it... and right on cue, the Republican base sent Greene more gobs of money. I am told she's the GOP's top fundraiser.

 

Fear Marjorie Taylor Greene. If I'm right, she has the chops to make it into the ruling junta of Fascist America, and maybe even win the Game of Thrones. Playing dumb can be a powerful gambit.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, DShomshak said:

Boebert maybe, but I suspect Greene is only playing dumb. What clinched it for me was the "peach tree dishes." To me that sounds too on the nose, too calculated a mistake. An impersonation of ignorance and stupidity. And right on cue, mainstream media pounced on her and mocked her for it... and right on cue, the Republican base sent Greene more gobs of money. I am told she's the GOP's top fundraiser.

 

Fear Marjorie Taylor Greene. If I'm right, she has the chops to make it into the ruling junta of Fascist America, and maybe even win the Game of Thrones. Playing dumb can be a powerful gambit.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

The cynic in me says that she's not nearly as dumb as the people who keep voting for her. 

 

You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American electorate, or so I've heard. 

[Old Man]

6 hours ago, DShomshak said:

Fear Marjorie Taylor Greene. If I'm right, she has the chops to make it into the ruling junta of Fascist America, and maybe even win the Game of Thrones. Playing dumb can be a powerful gambit.

 

As proven by George II, who was Harvard-educated (low grades notwithstanding) and flew supersonic jet fighters without dying (before going awol).

[BNakagawa]

Getting into Harvard is not exactly a flex if your ancestors are rich, powerful Harvard alumni.

[Lord Liaden]

Or rich non-alumni who make fat donations.

 

In those circumstances, getting through Harvard may not be a flex, either.

[DShomshak]

4 hours ago, BNakagawa said:

Getting into Harvard is not exactly a flex if your ancestors are rich, powerful Harvard alumni.

Out of curiosity, which ones? I know only that George H. W. Bush went to Yale.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Starlord]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/business/media/sean-hannity-fox-trump-election.html

[unclevlad]

5 hours ago, Starlord said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/21/business/media/sean-hannity-fox-trump-election.html

 

I really, really hope Fox News gets crucified in this trial.  IMO this is a watershed event.  The verdict should have a major impact on media practices moving forward.

[TrickstaPriest]

I can only hope.

Now I'm curious - has anyone had a chance to compare the tax returns to the ones that were leaked a few years prior?  Because there were some assertions in those ones that I'd be interested in hearing if they were legit or not...

[DShomshak]

I heard Pres. Zelenskyy's speech to Congress yesterday. I thought it was quite good: professional, well constructed.

 

Related: the Economist "World in 2023" special issue included a couple perspectives on Russia's decay that I hadn't thought of.

 

First: Putin has abandoned the basic principle of statecraft, that the state should try to maintain a monopoly on the use of organized violence. In using the Wagner Group and the militia of his Chchen stooge (named Kadyrov, IIRC) he's fostered warlords. This never ends well for the state.

 

Second, in claiming to annex Ukrainian provinces before he has real control over all the territory, Putin has made all of Russia's borders potentially fluid and open to dispute. He wants to change borders by force; other countries can do the same right back, or restive populations within Russia might dispute their own inclusion in the Russian Federation. Say, Chechnya and Dagestan, which tried rebelling not so long ago. Having abandoned the legality of fixed borders, can Russia hold itself together by raw force alone?

 

The authors assess Russia as a failing state. It is even thinkable that in a few years it may cease to be a state at all.

 

Dean Shomshak

[unclevlad]

But if Russia slides from failing to failed, don't think this will likely be anything but a massive disaster.  A country with nuclear weapons devolving to the point of a civil war?  Be Afraid.  Be Very Afraid.

 

There've been a few stories about the Ukraine war, and Russia's massive issues, in NYT.  A major factor has been the massive corruption, which has broadly destroyed readiness.  Endemic corruption on this scale should, I'd think, be another sign of a failing, approaching failed, state.

[Lord Liaden]

We may end up with something still called Russia, but greatly diminished, as some parts split off as independent countries, while others are seized by healthier nations whose territories Russia annexed in the past.

 

I've heard from a number of Russians that the country's size is one reason why many of them think Russia deserves to be a world power. Maybe some shrinkage would evoke a little more national humility.

[Old Man]

11 hours ago, unclevlad said:

But if Russia slides from failing to failed, don't think this will likely be anything but a massive disaster.  A country with nuclear weapons devolving to the point of a civil war?  Be Afraid.  Be Very Afraid.

 

There's been some quiet speculation online that Russia may be much less of a nuclear power than commonly believed.  ICBMs and thermonuclear warheads are expensive to maintain and there's no evidence that Russia has been spending anywhere near the money required to do so for decades.  The SLBMs probably work, and in an exchange cities would be incinerated and untold millions would die.  But perhaps nuclear winter is unlikely.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

9 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I've heard from a number of Russians that the country's size is one reason why many of them think Russia deserves to be a world power.

 

That's like saying Canada should be a world power!

 

 

 

... What?

[wcw43921]

Angry Librarian Tells Off Right-Wing Pro-Censors

[csyphrett]

It's come out that everything that George Santos said to get elected is false. Is there any repurcussions for that?

CES

[TrickstaPriest]

28 minutes ago, wcw43921 said:

Angry Librarian Tells Off Right-Wing Pro-Censors

 

I guess I can add 'librarians' to the list of 'enemies of the GOP' 😕