TrickstaPriest

His lawyers were informed of the mistake about the documents, and neglected to make any of it privileged, meaning that all of it is admissible. My favorite quote from this story was the comment picked up on a hot mike made by the opposing attorney during a recess:
 
 

On an unrelated note, I invite everyone to check in on the defamation trial of Alex Jones, legendary denier of the Sandy Hook shooting, in which his lawyer accidentally sent all his emails and texts to the opposing attorney.  The emails and texts that he previously denied existed when asked to provide them to the court.  The emails and texts that implicate him in perjury and other criminal wrongdoing, and even involvement in the January 6 insurrection.
 
They also reveal that Jones' conspiracy site, Infowars, was making $800,000 per day.
 
 

And the Republicans are quite good at playing the stalling game, minimizing the window.
 
Plus, that's only one front.  The Republicans will continue their efforts to suborn state-level offices.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/democrats-favored-win-senate-first-time-538-1728325%3Famp%3D1
 
If this happens, it will be in no small part because former President Trump has thrown his considerable support into advancing terrible candidates in Georgia (Walker), Pennsylvania (Oz), and Arizona (Masters). I may need to write him a thank you note. That would be an astonishing political failure by the GOP, and give the Democrats a significant opportunity which they hopefully don’t bungle.
 
But hey, there’s still time…

I find that increasingly, political extremism results in polarized positions which do not reflect the beliefs of the majority of Americans. While the conservative platform is more extreme (and frankly frightening), the progressive platform has become focused on issues that don’t resonate so routinely lose the argument in the public square. With $6 gas, and 9.1% CPI the party in power (however shackled by internal strife in the legislative branch) is poised to get crushed and lose that legislative majority in the midterm elections. That’ll render their control of the Executive Branch less consequential for the next two years, and the lack of strong candidates doesn’t bode well for 2024. Within 4 years they could easily go from control of 2/3 of the government, to nothing.
 
I am very concerned about this, because for all their floundering about and focus on Instagram-style posturing rather than sound governance, the Democrats frankly represent more thoughtful policy and a rational approach to problem solving (usually). 
 
I miss Carville-style bare knuckle politics, red meat for the working class, and winning elections. A more pragmatic approach would make me happy, but if not we will see if the majority of the electorate backs the platform. The niche issues of the day do not seem to be getting it done.

In 50 years, I will be well and safely dead; almost certainly decades before that, I expect. When this country goes to Hell in the proverbial hand basket, I'll be gone.
 
But my kids probably won't be, and their kids won't be.
 
I do wonder what the United States of America will look like 50 years from now. Or if there will still be such an entity. Maybe in 50 years the US of A will be a third-world country (or maybe more than one), and everyone in North America will be speaking Mandarin. Maybe a lot of major cities and large swaths of farmland, here and elsewhere, will be radioactive glass. Maybe it won't be nuclear winter, but runaway global warming. Or maybe we'll all starve when we've killed all the bees and there's nothing left to pollinate our crops. 
 
The biggest problem I see is that I can't trust either major American political party to save us from any of these outcomes. The Democratic Party, as presently constituted, can't do it. They're impotent and ineffectual. Even with Executive and Legislative majorities they fail time and time again to make any significant changes. And the Republican Party doesn't want to save us. They're perfectly happy to push their profit- and power-driven agenda with complete disregard for the negative effects it has on the future--because for the people running the GQP right now, the only thing that matters is winning right now.
 
We're screwed.

Depending on how badly conservatives (Republicans in particular) plague the planet with disastrous ecological policies, Earth - or the United States, at the minimum - may not last fifty years. Well...not for us homo sapiens, anyhow. The bottom line is that they can cheat many things, but biological requirements aren't budging.

Another point to consider.
 
What's going on now is much like the civil rights movement of the 60s...in the other direction, of course, but otherwise similar.  So, sure, history suggests the pendulum will eventually swing back away from the Republicans...altho if they can co-opt the election process itself, that might not hold...but the swing we're seeing now, is becoming clear 50 years after the last swing.
 
So...how old would you be if this conservative period lasts 50 years?

Whoooaaaa.....
 
Where do you get 'scared' out of this?
 
Nooo...your take here is, I think, 100% wrong.  It's not fear, it's consolidating the power grab to eliminate ANY chance of it being reversed.  
 
Your position fails to recognize that the Republicans have been making steady gains for a couple decades...and have made significant gains at the state level.  Even if they lose Congress...which still is NOT!! expected...and if Biden or Harris wins in 2024, the state-level gains maintain their base.  The structure of the Senate remains in their favor.  Consider this:
 
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Presidents-Coinciding/Party-Government/
 
The Democrats have managed to unify for only 2 sessions...the first sessions of the first terms  of Clinton and Obama.  (IMO, no, they don't have it now, in practice.)  In the 20 Congressional sessions starting with Reagan's Presidency, I count 6 where Congress was split;  6 where the Democrats had both (but 4 of those were with a Republican president), and 7 where the Republicans had both...only 2 with a Democratic President.  The 107th Congress switched hands a lot. But, here's the thing.  What have the Democrats managed to pass, of their classical agenda, even when they've had a unified government?  They've still never gotten a solid gun control bill through, for example.
 
Also, this is different.  Democrats try to change laws.  Republicans try to change the government...to their advantage.  They're talking about this openly because they need to rally across a broad base.  This isn't gonna happen in a year...just like overturning Roe didn't happen in a year.  But it IS working.  Republicans have a Supreme Court that's heavily in their favor now...and for a LONG time to come.  They've got 3 Justices under 60.  More, they've shown they're absolutely willing to play for keeps to get it that way.  Gerrymandering has been a practice of both sides forever...but they've shown they'll take that much further with voting restrictions and challenges.
 
And, OK, they may be scared that the Democrats will overturn their actions should they gain control back...but the problem is, they almost certainly won't, and even if they do...the only way they can is to be just as draconian.  The Republicans do not mind a gutted government...it gives corporations more room to exploit, and civil unrest plays to their arguments.  To borrow one of my all-time favorite TV lines...Babylon 5, not surprisingly:
 
 
Emphasis mine, but it's also there on the screen;  the expressions and intonations are awesome.  And it's the key there.  The Democrats have little chance to beat the Republicans long term...and in the shorter term, any attempts to do so will drive them down to Republicans' level of ethics.  Which is to say, none.

We get an extra argument in Australia: even if we reduce our emissions, it won't make any difference, because there are much bigger polluters, so we needn't bother trying.

This also works by excluding the emissions caused by the coal and gas Australia exports. Australia is a major producer of both of those commodities, but if they are used elsewhere they doesn't count.

Yeah, November's going to be real interesting all right.

"Well, it's never happened to me, so I guess it's not real."
 
That's pretty much the entire 'argument'.
 
 
BUT THERE IS, DAMMIT! PAY ATTENTION!
 
Sorry, Vlad, not directed at you. Just venting in general. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. 
 
[Obscene gerund] science deniers can [DELETED] right the [REDACTED] off. 

I wasn't sure whether this should go here or the News thread, since there's nothing overtly political (at least in terms of party affiliation) in here. Still, better safe than sorry.
 
Christian Mission Ousted From Sioux Reservation After Distributing Hate Pamphlets

That would be a betrayal of the hate that Fox and Hannity and so on have been putting in them, even though many people will still feel 'they are nice enough'.  But the best thing we can do is be kind and helpful to the people who are being devastated by this stuff.  We can't be 'higher than thou' - we could have been fooled in the right circumstances ourselves.

Oh, the original form of the quote, and when it took place, are better than this truncated form.
 
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sanders-abortion-womb-classroom/
 
"
Context It’s true that Sanders said this. A video of the remark went viral after Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized abortion in the U.S., was overturned on June 24, 2022. The clip was recorded a month prior on May 24, however, the same day as the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. More of Sanders’ speech is featured in the story below.
    Fact Check
On May 24, 2022, Arkansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a campaign promise that touched on the subject of abortion, saying, “We will make sure that when a kid is in the womb, they’re as safe as they are in a classroom, the workplace, a nursing home. Because every stage of life has value. No one greater than the other.” This was a genuine quote.
"
 
And, since she made this *after* the news would have broken ... doubleplusungood the doublethink the modern gop has going on.
 

You may not like it, but this is what peak capitalism looks like.

The most disturbing aspect of this, for me, isn't that it was happening.  Corporate managers may do just about anything they think they can get away with.  The ongoing safety violations say a lot.
 
No, what bothers me more is the response.  Local cops don't have jurisdiction;  I get that, it's a state and federal law issue.  But when they kick it up the chain?  It's lost.  Alabama AG refuses to comment;  Alabama labor department may not have been notified.  It's somewhat similar to the Uvalde breakdown, where chain of command was a mess.  There's a big question in my mind whether the state AG was reticent to do anything because the plant has massive economic, and therefore political, clout.
 
Numerous people need to be in jail;  quite a few others deserve to be terminated at least, for failure to oversee...assuming they didn't know.  If they knew, then it's also criminal.  

School Board Candidate Says Doctors Who Help Trans Kids ‘Should Be Hanging’ From Trees
 
 

This...is frightening
 
One in five US adults condone ‘justified’ political violence, mega-survey finds

It's much better than nothing, sure.  I'm just saying:
a) the Trumpist echo chamber is larger than I think you believe.  Bullet point from story on PolitiFact from mid-June:
 
 
b)  There's nothing particularly new in that report.  Virtually everything in it, has *already* been ignored multiple times.
c)  Those trapped in the echo chamber actively reject any other argument, MOST of the time.  To borrow..with apologies..."these are not the sources you listen to."  
 
Basically, I think Trumpism is far more pernicious and pervasive than you do, among Republicans.
 
The proof is more likely to hit in the fall, but an early indicator might be to compare how many Trumpist-leaning or Trump-supported candidates won Republican primaries.  IIRC those were mixed results.

EDIT:  Stopped after looking at the 1st bullet point, but here's the 3rd bullet point:
 
 
https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/jun/14/most-republicans-falsely-believe-trumps-stolen-ele/
 
Recognize:  the Trumpists believe Trump is right, therefore anything adverse is simply a continuation of attacks he's suffered through.  It may well be fair to say that all these do now, is to cement Trump's position as a martyr.

Republican Judges, Lawyers, Senators Conclude 2020 Election Was 'Lost, Not Stolen'
 
Here is a link to their actual, very thorough and comprehensive report, methodically debunking every false claim; but the article above gives the high points. This is something you can direct people to which might actually change some minds, or at least counter arguments.
 
 

Sadly, that can be said about a LOT of fandoms these days

SJ is a stand up guy.  I waded into the comment thread for that post, he took a lot of heat from some of his customers for it.

Not having read all the relevant documents, my understanding on the gun case was it struck down the New York law based on it being “may issue” as opposed to “shall issue”.
 
Assuming I haven’t been badly mislead, this would not invalidate the National Firearms Act of 1934 simply on the basis of what we would recognize as a “machine gun” was not specifically referenced by the framers (along with suppressors, short barreled rifles, sawed-off shotguns, and a few other things).
 
Which doesn’t mean there isn’t any “there” there.  The NFA requirement for transfers of the regulated items can be argued as being “may” authorize as opposed to “shall” authorize - which likely would run afoul of the SCOTUS ruling. 
 
 

While the rulings were bad enough, yes, the underpinnings of them are simply horrifying.  The Constitution says nothing about TV or radio or the Internet, so is the FCC even slightly legit?  Prescriptions didn't exist;  the smallpox vaccine was (checking)...developed in 1796.  And it was the first one, IIRC.
 
Next big scare is this:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/independent-state-legislature-theory-explained
 
Because 4 of the current justices have said they favor the independent legislature theory.  Insane interpretation, IMO, as it asserts the state Supreme Court can't reverse the actions of the legislature.
 
And such a case is on the Court docket for the next term.  If the Court validates the theory, well...that might be the beginning of the end.  That puts us on a path that will likely lead to secession and/or civil war.