Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If you don't think it's OK, what do you think Democrats in the House should do about it?
A. Decided to fight and die on the wrong hill, aand we all know they will lose this battle.
B. IF Democratic party was seen to be fighting for the poor and disenfranchised citizens of their country with even half the energy and time and resources that they have wasted on this pointless exercise and the failed Russia bullshit smoke and mirror conspiracy they would be looking good to take down Trump about now..but of course not, they are just as much part of the problem as Trump is…
"Hundreds of Thousands Are Losing Access to Food Stamps"
Haven't seen the Democratic party or liberal MSM lose their shit over this and give it around the clock coverage..fight it tooth and nail, nope..just more and more and more Russia/Ukraine red scare bullshit, that only useful idiots buy into. unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any shortage of those war mongering nutters.
The Agriculture Department gave its final approval to the first of three rules that are ultimately expected to cut more than three million from the food stamp rolls.
Nice evasion. They are very simple questions, and the first only needs a yes or no answer. You can even pretend it's hypothetical if that makes it easier for you to answer:
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If you don't think it's OK, what do you think Democrats in the House should do about it?
Thank you for your honesty that you don't give a fuck about good governance, electoral integrity, corruption and outright misuse of state power for personal benefit.
However, I find it difficult to reconcile your lack of concern about a wannabe authoritarian dictator trying to use the power of the state to set himself up as an actual authoritarian dictator with your outrage about reports covering your favoured dodgy old white men politician idols when those reports fail to be sufficiently adulatory towards your idols.
I'm guessing you don't mean the alt left. So no, I think the point is this analysis (dems are as bad as repubs) no longer suffices and in fact increases fascism.
Tucker Carlson had this champion of the white nationalist replacement theory on his show. More than a few alt left figures knowingly play footsie with a fascist by appearing on Carlson's white power hour.
Those that seem willing to accept fascism as the antidote to neoliberalism would do well to review how fascists usually end up giving quasi-state powers to favoured corporates. Those favoured corporates then become some of the fasces (small sticks) that get bundled together with the strong intrusive state to become the strong bundle of fascism.
Those who object (rightly) to the excessive influence corporates have under neoliberalism ain't seen nuthin'. That gets turbocharged under fascism.
I think it's more that they deny Trump is a fascist (afaict).
So we have the centre-left saying Trump is worse than the Dems and thus not reforming the left, and the alt left saying Trump's not that bad or that the Dems/Repubs are as bad as each other, and thus Trump is in power. Impasse. Obviously the fascists win, but I'm not sure that anyone on the left can take the moral high ground here.
What kind of "reforming the left" do you think should happen and is actually achievable?
Sure if there were 218 AOC clones in the House and 60 in the Senate, there's a shit load of reform that could and would happen. But the electoral reality is there's maybe a couple dozen House districts an AOC clone could win, and maybe 4 states where an AOC clone could win a senate seat.
The sad reality is even after a Dem tsunami election, the 218th House rep is going to be someone like Conor Lamb, the 50th senator will be someone like Kyrsten Sinema, and the 60th senator will be someone like Joe Manchin.
So when Dems do get power, that's why most of their efforts go into simply reversing years of Repug vandalism of things like the food stamp program of the Voting Rights Act, and even feeble inadequate baby steps of progress like Obamacare are such a rarity.
Not supporting Biden would be a start. Let the AOC’s shine.
I’m not so interested in the same old tired TS arguments (I can take either side). I’m pointing to the problem of the left bickering over this while fascism rises.
Who is supporting Biden? Of TS regulars I can think of precisely one Biden supporter (and seemingly likely a former Biden supporter, from their recent comments).
But if Biden ends up being the nominee (dear God, please no), by virtue of the collective choices of the 30odd million Dem primary voters, then sure as shit I will support him in the general election. I'll have my hazmat suit on, but it will be support nonetheless. Because as flawed and reactionary as he is, he will still not be actively regressive, and may actually pull off a tiny bit of progress, if everyone is incredibly lucky.
Sorry, I mean the Dems supporting Biden. Which was a response to the idea that the left in the US could reform. Nothing to do with who to vote for is he gets the nomination.
Yes I can see the desire you have that the Dems do not go for another moderate such as Biden or even Mayor Pete – and I hope that in the final few months the progressive side of the Dems will win out. But having said that I concede that the fact remains, that overall the voting public and the hugely gerrymanded state of American "democracy" does not support a massive swing away from what is now government of the people, by the rich, for the rich.
I take some heart in the rise of women, and activists for more progressive policies, but when you consider that around 50% of males support Trump…. You see the enormous hurdle that any progressive politician must overcome.
“You see the enormous hurdle that any progressive politician must overcome.”
Yes. I think this probably tempers my pragmatic, the Dems are actually quite conservative, side. That there is an upsurge in such women is an incredibly good sign, and suggests that there is something being missed here by conventional analysis.
My comment about Biden wasn’t even so much that he is moderate as the problem of having another creepy dude in the WH. Not that Biden is in the same class as Trump, but I think on this a Biden presidency will be regressive.
@weka Keep in mind, the "Dems" you're talking about are the tens of millions of primary voters all across America, not some secret cabal of backroom plotters.
Interestingly, Biden has a very strong base of support among older black Americans. These are people that have seen times way shittier than now, as crappy as now may be.
Best guess is, they want improvement, not a revolution. Because most of all, revolutions create opportunities for amoral opportunists, and they are most likely to come out worse off.
Personally, I really don't agree with their apparent conclusion their best interests lie with Biden. But I do respect it.
I wasn’t talking about those Dems though. I was referring to the ones in positions of power. In the same way that I might criticise Labour for hanging onto neoliberalism for so long.
I’m not interested in arguing the other side from the position you take. As mentioned, I see that argument as counter productive to preventing fascism.
Former Democratic presidents have a long a sordid history of supporting 'friendly' fascists and authoritarians of one shade or another, so I fail to see your point?
As far as I can see one of the main problems for the progressive Left is that so many good, smart motivated lefties have brought into the DEM smoke and mirror ploy of Russiagate/Trump and taken their eye off the ball, that ball being the project of transformative progressive change as the number one objective. For some reason these easily sidetracked and/or deluded lefties seem to think the beginning of the end of US 'democracy' started on Friday, January 20, 2017, and if they don't think that, then they make a very good impression that they do.
Another centre left free trade neoliberal Dem party in the US, or in the UK or for that matter in NZ is exactly what we don't need at this pivotal moment….the markets cannot and will not provide the answers to the serious questions that need answering right now..but the progressive, transformative radical left can.
Corbyn 2019
Sanders 2020
That is where the beginning of our our real hope lay.
And btw in answer to Joe 90, the reason lefties go on Tucker Carlson is because MSM liberal media has completely blocked any dissenting Left voices from their platforms..so I wouldn’t go blaming them to quickly. And further I see no problem in trying to reach outside of members of your own ideology to invite discourse, and if you have to go on Fox to do that..then do it I say.
Let me restate it. While the centre left and the alt left are arguing over what the left should be (and by arguing, I mean trying to take each other down), the fascists are winning.
The centre right don't you mean. The corporate establishment of the democrat party in the USA is right wing economically and socially – especially policy wise – as represented by people like h.r.c and biden.
The alt left or what ever you want to call it, is arguing if you want to fight trump then do it. This falling for conspiracy theories and doing these b.s side shows whilst people suffer is a waste of time.
If you believe that impeachment is the answer – then your asking the wrong question. The economy is problem and trump and co are just part of that problem.
There is no argument, the transformative progressive Left is the only way forward, the freemarket, liberal third way left are already dead in water (like a chicken without it's head, they just don't know it yet), they already had their turn, and as we can all plainly see, it hasn't worked whatsoever…Obama's legacy is Trump, enough said.
What you don't seem to get (or at lest I haven't seen you acknowledge) is that the 'neoliberal' left has more in common ideologically with the right than they do with a real transformative progressive Left, and will defend their debunked ideology extremely aggressively, as we have witnessed in the UK and the US.
I guess that is why Obama has pretty much said he would try and block Sanders path to the leadership of the Democratic party if that were looking likely.
there is an argument and because of it I’m already thinking what it will be like moderating here next year during two elections.
My politics generally don’t sit easily within the left/right spectrum you are arguing about. So while of course I can see the difference between the neoliberal left and what you call the progressive left, that’s not where my politics begins and ends, and I think that the fight between liberals and lefties is dangerous. I don’t mean that you should stop criticising liberals, I mean that while that fight is happening in tunnel vision, all sorts of other social and politics dynamics are going on and those aren’t being accommodated by the liberal vs leftie battle.
Assuming your genuine. You must not have noticed that being pretty ok with what Trump did in Ukraine, is not the same as being happy with all forms of corruption.
No, I can in fact read Andres comment and it makes very broad accusations amounting to a smear. Actually your characterisation is probably more broad than what Adrian doesn't worry about also.
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
A:
in the overall scheme of geo politics, no I don't care, in fact I don't give a fuck about that.
I quoted the comment that I can't see being "smeared", given how contemptable it already is. How about you tell me what you're clutching your pearls over?
Thank you for your honesty that you don't give a fuck about good governance, electoral integrity, corruption and outright misuse of state power for personal benefit.
Because that seems a pretty accurate characterisation of Adrian's response. Not a smear at all.
Or maybe it was the idea that not caring about the corruption of the repug administration helps nazis? That's not a smear, either: the white house has stephen miller and had that breitbart fuckofascist in it, too. They kidnapped children with no way of returning them to their parents. People are dying. They literally put people in camps with insufficient water and sanitation. Dolt45 has given full pardons to war criminals that even the US military was prosecuting. Not "careless with bombs" criminals, "slits throats of unarmed and wounded captives" criminals. So no, that's not a smear, either.
Here is my take on the whole fiasco and the apparent lack of spine being displayed by those Repugnants in Congress :
1. The Ukraine scandal is clear impeachable conduct by Trump and should result in his removal from office. However, it won’t. That’s because the thing at the heart of the Ukraine scandal—an attempt to steal an election—is a thing that’s just A-OK with the GOP.
2. Let’s face it. Stealing elections isn’t just something that’s OK with the GOP; it’s the only way they have to stay in power and they’ve been doing it for DECADES. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, illegal campaign contributions, outright lies/slander of opponents. You name it.
3. Russian election interference and, now, trying to coerce Ukraine to interfere, are just natural extensions of what the GOP has been doing all along; it’s cheating, and the GOP are cheaters. They’re not going to convict Trump for that. They’re going to pat him on the back for it.
Holy crap…do you guys actually realize that if we were living in 1955, you are exactly the types who would have been passing on perceived and baseless information about your fellow citizens to the FBI that would have destroyed their lives…how does that make you feel?
My tribe may be a bunch of jerks, but they don't kidnap children at the border and then adopt them out because no paperwork was kept of who were the actual parents.
Your tribe, just like the other tribe, is led by gaggles of jerks who unleash heinous shit on humanity. Fuck you all for the waste you engage in/support/excuse.
Mueller's investigation showed the oaf's lickspittles were too stupid to actually manage collusion, even though their own emails showed they were all for it.
So they're guilty of being too stupid to collude with a foreign government? These emails…you've got a link to their contents right? And they'll show how they wanted to enter into a conspiracy with the Russian government and (presumably) also lay out in exquisite, painful detail the process of them falling flat on their own faces, yes?
If you don't have that, maybe you'll provide a feasible explanation of how it is that the indictment of Russians who will never set foot in the US fits in with the indictment of precisely zero US nationals for collusion/conspiracy with those self same (or other) Russian nationals.
The emails from 'junior'…they were in relation to that UK music promoter, yes? The one who freely admitted to making shit up? And the meeting that took place involved a Russian lawyer (forget her name) trying to get traction on the Magnitsky sanctions – it's in her testimony. (Correct me if I'm wrong on any of that and provide the content of the emails you referenced before – not a dumb arse google search page, cheers.)
I haven't ever suggested that collusion is a prerequisite for interference. I haven't ever said there was likely no interference from foreign actors in the US elections either (Russian or otherwise).
How sad. And you have to remember that the father of the Food stamp program was a republican Senator from Vermont.
He was way ahead of his time of course. In 1966 he proposed to Lyndon Johnson the very simple solution to the Vietnam War.
" He said that if a face-saving device was needed to pull out of the fighting, President Johnson should simply ''declare the United States the winner and begin de-escalation.''
On its face, the suggestion seemed simplistic. But in 1973, after the Administration of President Nixon had negotiated a Vietnam pullout plan that would obviously lead to an eventual Communist takeover in South Vietnam, Mr. Aiken could say: ''What we got was essentially what I recommended six years ago – we said we had won, and we got out.''
And now a former Democrat, today claiming to be a Republican is scrapping his other great idea.
Impoundment of funds was regarded as completely normal from the formation of the US until 1974. Thus it was there, and used, for almost 200 years. It was only in Nixon's time that it was banned.
Almost every President since, and an awful lot of candidates think that act should be repealed and things should revert to the previous approach.
For a while Clinton had a line item veto which did something similar but the Supreme Court threw that out.
The difference is the personal political benefit aspect of Donny Dotard's Ukraine extortion scheme. Previous quid pro quo arrangements where funds were withheld were to extract something that was in the US national interest. Whereas now, even Repug senators that are so far up Drumpf's ass they can shake hands with Hannity aren't even trying to argue the Ukraine extortion was for some kind of US national interest purpose.
I too suspect the number of minds that will be changed is a tiny fraction of the usual polling margin of error. But it will harden the view among the 52ish% of Americans disapprove of his job performance that on no account should he be given a second term.
I fear it is going to have the other effect. It might cause the opinion in those who have supported him in the past to veer around to one that says that the Democrats are trivialising the act of impeachment and trying to do it for something far below the "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" mentioned in the Constitution.
Look at what happened with Bill Clinton. The impeached him for, finally, having an affair and lying about it. He was impeached but it was a joke by that stage and he was acquitted in the Senate. I fear the same thing will happen here and it will strengthen Trump for next year.
God knows, I thought that Trump would be a disaster as a President and he has turned out to be even worse than I feared. I think that if he is re-elected we are going to get a nuclear arms race starting up. Trump has no concept at all of the role the US has had and anyone who thought that the US would help protect them is going to abandon ship. I can see South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and The Philippines among the countries that will start seriously looking at developing such weapons. After all the US under Trump won't help them if they are attacked. In the Pacific, as well as The Philippines I'll bet Taiwan is worried about an invasion because Trump won't help out. He abandoned the Kurds, staunch American allies though they were, because he simply doesn't care.
I want the Democrats to elect a competent centrist. To hell with Bernie and the others on the left. I want someone who can, and will beat the imbecile currently in the White House.
The Clinton impeachment sure does hang like a spectre.
But one significant difference is that Clinton's misconduct was in no way related to his duties of office, unlike the present case.
Remember it grew out of the second or third investigation into Whitewater the moved onto anything and everything they could possibly think of – travel agents, Vince Foster. The impeachment didn't even talk about the actual abuse of power, a powerful man taking advantage of a star-struck young subordinate (maybe coz that was just viewed as a perk of being a powerful man?), just that Clinton didn't spill everything about it when he was asked. Investigations has been going on for years turning up nothing, so people were pretty fatigued.
Whereas the current case is about a clearly proven case of actual abuse of the power of office, for his personal interest and the detriment of the national interest.
There's also plenty of credible people arguing that Clinton's impeachment cost the Dems in 2000, that without the impeachment Gore would have won handily and the Dems possibly taking the House.
While the current impeachment has is pretty much split the American public down the middle – actually there are slightly more in approval for impeachment than against – this is a different situation to that of Clinton, where it was a matter of sexual morality and lying about it, This goes right to the heart of the Constitution – bribery and corruption and in some eyes a far more serious matter worthy of Impeachment. I do not think the argument that this will have a flow on effect of increasing support for the Presidency will occur in this case. The lack of support for Trump has been pretty much the same throughout the past 3 years and if anything has been tracking south. It is never more than 40%. As the effects of the so call "tax cuts" kick in the average American can see that the so called great economy that Trump continues to bluster about is not for them and there are many polls that show his support in swing states is well below what is was in 2016.
The main problem as I see it is that it is now less than 11 months to election day. Wouldn't it be better for the Democrats to fight the election on the basis of what they will do for America rather than the focus being on a quarrel that no-one understands about what did, or did not, happen in a country that very few citizens of the US would be able to find on a map?
Like it or not a very large number of US people revere the office of the Presidency. If they don't understand why he is under what can be seen as partisan complaints they are likely to adopt the "My President. right or wrong" attitude if they think that the President is being attacked for what they do not see as particularly important reasons.
I hope I am wrong. However I worry that Trump will survive because those who voted for him in 2016 will gather in behind him if they see those eggheads and pointy headed East Coast liberals trying to drag down The (drum roll) President of The United States (salute).
It's almost certainly in the interests of the candidates to, at most, only refer to the impeachment obliquely in terms of things they won't do and what qualities they'll restore to the office.
It's also a dynamic that will probably hurt the candidates that are also sitting senators, ie Warren, Sanders, Booker, Klobuchar, because they will have to be in DC participating in the trial. Whereas Biden and Buttigieg can keep completely out of it.
But as for leaving it the voters, I'm with the idea that the things the FakeBronze Fuhrer has provably done are such egregious violations of his oaths and duties that there's no choice but to go ahead with impeachment. Because if you just let it slide because there's an election soon, then even the idea of impeachment becomes meaningless, and presidents basically become unaccountable kings for four years.
Unfortunately the Trumpers and Trumpettes will always be with us, as will the alt right "religious" conservatives – who support this adulterer, because he has promoted todate 170 ultra right wing (and in many cases completely unqualified) people to the role of federal and district judges. A position they will hold for life, and which will affect the judicial system in the US for decades, thereby allowing ridiculous laws passed by conservative administrations to perpetuate for a lifetime.
eg: Alabama Abortion Law temporary blocked – but in the future such action will have no hope of being successful if Trump has his way:
The current estimate of the size of the Trump base is around 28 – 32% of the voting public. This is where the Republicans only hope for re-election lies, and why they have cravenly given up all sense of a moral compass, because they realise that should they turn against Trump that sizable proportion of the voting public will turn against them. But as you can see – it is not a majority. Their only hope to the White House is through again winning the swing states that they only won by a handful of votes in 2016. (around 11,000 votes in one state and not much more in the other 3). It was in these swing states that Russian intervention was the most prevalent, and there has been little to no action by the Trump Administration to prevent such action happening again. Indeed 2 top cyber security officials are due to leave their positions early next year!
Two top government officials with broad cybersecurity and election-integrity portfolios have announced they are stepping down this month, a loss of expertise in a critical area less than a year before the 2020 presidential election.
Amy Hess, the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation will depart for a job as the chief of public services in Louisville, Ky.
Jeanette Manfra, the most senior official dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security, will leave her post at year’s end for a job in the private sector.
… Senior U.S. intelligence officials have warned the elections are likely to be targeted online by Russia and other foreign adversaries following Moscow’s success in disrupting the 2016 race.
Ms. Hess’s exit comes barely a year after she assumed her current jobat FBI headquarters after previously running the Louisville, Ky., field office. She took the job following a leadership turnover at the FBI cyber division earlier in 2018, as several top executives departed for lucrative private-sector jobs amid concerns about flagging morale.
Mieke Eoyang, vice president of the national security program at the centrist think tank Third Way and a former Democratic intelligence staffer in Congress, said there had been “tremendous turnover of senior cybersecurity personnel” during the Trump administration. Leadership changes, she said, were often more disruptive in the cybersecurity area because the government’s approach to the issue is less institutionalized than in other areas, such as terrorism.
Seth Meyers take a look at some of the Trump appointments that are now being pushed through the Senate by Moscow Mitch McConnell – who refused to allow any under Obama.
Indeed this is about all that the Senate is currently considering – the House have passed around 400 Bills in the past year up to the Senate where McConnell causes them to lie unconsidered. This is the great travesty of the Repugnants in power. If any one is worse than Trump it probably has to be McConnell. At least he knows what he is doing.
Unfortunately, the idea is not originally mine. If only I could remember where I first saw it to properly attribute it. Prob'ly yet another case of a man stealing intellectual property from a woman then getting credit for it.
I was interested in what Adrian personally thinks.
I am really not interested in what Aaron Mate thinks, it became clear to me long ago that whatever place he's coming from, it has at best a tenuous connection with reality. And I'm especially not interested in sitting through a fifteen minute verbal wankfest to get content that would take at most 2 or 3 minutes to absorb if it were presented in a written format.
So the result of your disinterest is a dishonest question pushing the MSM meme, hmmm looks like you are the one with " a tenuous connection with reality." maby get out more?
That Tinyfingers Tantrump was extorting Ukraine to smear a political opponent by withholding congress allocated and taxpayer funded aid is proven over and over and over again by the sworn testimony of those caught in the middle. Some of it very reluctant sworn testimony provided by Don the Con's allies he had personally appointed to those positions in the middle.
Transcripts of that sworn testimony are in the public domain, if you're interested you can go read them yourself.
If you want to pretend that's some kind of deceptive MSM meme, rather than proven fact, then hey, that affects your credibility not mine.
Jimmy Carter sold his farm to avoid any allegations of corruption. trump has from day one taken money via his business from foreign governments – with the Saudis topping the list.
If pelosi and co had their act together they would have got him on this ages ago. Rather than the whole russian conspiracy theory we had to suffer through.
The grey speculative bits added to the transcript are a pain. Mind you without the propaganda – how could they get you to think the right way.
trump is an idiot, sheesh he just really is a t.v. reality star in over his head.
Pelosi definitely was reluctant to impeach (I suspect mostly because the repugs will find him "not guilty" if he shot somone on live TV, on fifth avenue, and then tweeted why he did it). I think the deciding factor was when his corruption wasn't just personal financial gain, but it started to involvefederal funds, foreign governments, and all the rest.
Still does not explain the months of conspiracy theories.
The same proponent of the conspiracy theories is telling more porkies about about Sanders these day. If only she accepted the fact she lost because she was shitty candidate, with shitty policy, representing 40 odd years of failed economics – who ran a shitty campaign.
We might actually be in a position to oppose trump well – rather than half assed and divisively.
You appear to be giving a rather distorted view of Jimmy Carter selling his farm.
You seem to be implying that he sold it when he became President. He did not. He put it into a trust. That was run so poorly that when he left office the business was heavily in debt and he then sold the business. That was after he left Office and would be equivalent to Trump selling up in 2021 after he, hopefully. loses the Presidential election next year.
It doesn't really matter whether you put you property into a trust or not. It has to be a trust where you have no idea what is in it for it to matter.
As long as Carter knew he still owned a peanut farm, and he did, he could have taken actions that affected his property for the better.
The fact that it was poorly run doesn't matter. That simply shows he had lousy judgement in picking a manager. The critical fact was that he still owned the place and things he did for US agriculture policy could affect him.
About the only US official who really cut his wealth off from his actions was Alan Greenspan who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006.
He put all his money into 30 year US Government bonds and left it there. Short of actually giving everything to charity before he took office that seemed about the only possible way of removing his assets from the actions that he took in his job.
I don't know why you bother Adrian Thornton, the soft left are still in lala land over this.
Their russians in the corner paranoia has led to quite a few conspiracy theories.
If they actually had a spine, and/or any nous – trump could have been impeached on day one – the bribes he is taking at trump tower from the Saudis are still on going, and hardly anyone is even talking about it. Until now that is.
Good work protesters to ODT about Garrick Tremain's slick cartoon. He could find something funny about the Holocaust but wouldn't because the weight of their adverse judgment would fall on him. Bit he's been making funnies at brown people's plight for quite a time, but when there is a raging virtual plague of measles in Samoa, with new gloomy facts about additional long-term affects on the immune system, to make a quip about the reaction has been enough to silence him, and that should be final. The Editor has personally apologised and so he should.
Vote Lib Dem, get Tory, could be a thing so perhaps not.
Labour and LD have both said no to any coalition although Swinson may offer a confidence and supply agreement to prop up a Tory minority government. If she does, it's either the end of her promise to prevent a hard brexit or the impasse that triggered the election will continue.
But hey, a month ago Swinson reckoned she could win a majority so anything's possible.
Labour and LD have both said no to a coalition with each other? How does Labour hope to win then? LD's refuse to support anyone and Labour govern on a minority of seats?
Those 43 seats are in the Westminster Parliament. They are basically every Scottish electorate in the British Parliament. They aren't seats in Edinburgh's Assembly.
It is a FPP Parliament so party percentages don't tell you very much about the number of seats they will get.
Here is a recent poll that gives the LibDems 13 seats from 14% of the vote. Meanwhile they say that the SNP will get 43 seats and the Breexit Party none. Each Party is expected to get 3% of the vote.
This isn't the same poll of course but it illustrates the fact that percentage of the vote and number of seats aren't really related. It is one from a couple of weeks ago.
Promising, but I still don't fancy Labour's chances. That is why I haven't really taken much of an interest in the election. It is still going to be a bloodbath, and when the dust has cleared, the neo-Thacherites will have complete control of the country. It might not even be until the 2030's that Labour will get back into power TBH.
News reports are saying that bojo's likely majority is slipping fast. Anti tory voters are being encouraged to vote tactically. It's looking like it will be a hung parliament.
The UK are possibly going to face a hot and vengeful Irish border conflagration if Johnson wins and carries on in his Empire-colossus mode or Labour if they win, try to weasel out of anglo-irish-eu agreements so as to get better deals to suit English and Nth Ireland workers in withdrawal agreements.
"The analysis of almost 30,000 voters, for the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign, also finds that tactical votes by as few as 40,700 people in 36 key seats could prevent Johnson from forming a majority government."
Anyone who has a muppet in the family who will argue over the death penalty at xmas – good timing by the intercept. These four pieces are a heavy read, but they just lay bare the injustice and utter stupidity of the death penalty.
I didn't click to hear Boris talk about the measurements applying to inequality when some have IQs higher than 100 yet are fuckwit, moronic lowlives and in some cases, in Parliament.
The right’s belief in the existence of intrinsic, ‘natural’ hierarchies of humans is a real thing. It's always the bullshit rationalisation they trot out in some form or another to excuse inflicting avoidable suffering on their fellow citizens.
For the conservative/patrician right, hierarchy is based in the family you come from, the school you went to, the firms you worked for and who you know. For the neoliberal right, natural hierarchies are revealed (like God’s grace) by success in the market – if you make money it is because you are of intrinsically of higher merit or intelligence. And for the fascist/identitarian right, it is based on race, religion and culture – though this is usually disguised by talk about “western civilisation” or some such thing. Individuals can obviously believe in mixtures of all of these classification systems – there are tensions among them, but they also intersect.
The only thing that counters these sociopathic right-wing trash is the moral conviction that humans are completely equal in their capacity for joy and suffering.
The IQ measurement was useful in the 20th century in sorting out who was to be regarded as second rate, now it is everyone who hasn't got money and the right attitude of conformity to whatever group has been allocated.
EQ and study about human values and how to be in a world of machine-technology addiction should be the main study. All else can be looked up. Knowing stuff hasn't done us much good as in the last century – important, vital, things have been ignored. So education itself won't save us – discernment might.
EQ:
Self-awareness. Self-awareness is the ability to accurately recognise your: emotions, strengths, limitations, actions and understand how these affect others around you. …
Don't run working girls and boys down. They have a hard job – just regard them as if they were sportspeople operating in a different field. Sports people are respected – why shouldn't people who are active in the sex field?
I think that Donald and Boris are lesser than working girls and boys; they have to deliver or look out and rarely live in luxury. They are often too busy paying the ultimate controller over their drug dealer in crack? who might be from Dons and Boorish’s peer group.
Action Group for Palestinians of Syria say at least 3,708 Palestinians have been killed during the Syrian civil war, and 1,673 are being held in Assad regime abattoirs. At least 477 Palestinian-Syrians have been tortured to death in those abattoirs since 2011.
During the siege of the Yarmouk camp Assad forces and allied militias killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees with indiscriminate barrel bombs and elephant missiles.
Refugees, and who made them such? The Syrian civil war is a awful bloody mess, and it will continue being such until outside forces like Saudi Arabia, England, Russia and the USA stop arming the disparate groups.
Assard is a prick, nothing changes on that front.
Gaza is not at war with Israel, and the Great March of Return is a peaceful protest. Stones gets thrown sure – but in two short years the casualty lists are huge. In the thousands. Including disabled people in wheelchairs, journalists and medics. Not forgetting children, and pregnant women.
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed, the starkest statement yet emphasizing the gulf between the two sides ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang.
Pie to Boris: "You are a microwave meal Prime Minister … a microwave meal full of shit, no nutritional value at all, just an unremarkable turd waiting to happen…"
Boris Johnson, who looks like something you’d keep your pyjamas in, and who no reasonable person would choose to lead them into a chorus, has a strangely hunched demeanour; perhaps from all the time he spends crammed inside married women’s wardrobes, like a randy jack-in-the-box. This confused sex yeti has been booed by nurses: people who can remove a dressing, examine a festering wound, and still look up at you with a smile. Has any party ever elected a new leader so tired and dated? With a delivery best approximated as a living checklist of stroke warnings, his bumbling posho shtick almost resembles buffering, a kind of 3G Wodehouse. He doesn’t even seem to enjoy it; throughout the campaign he’s sported a face that looks as if it’s been kneaded by a baker going through a particularly bitter divorce, and the irony that comes into his eyes every time he crowbars in a catchphrase means that he breaks the fourth wall more than Deadpool. We thought the office of prime minister was what he lived for, his consuming ambition. It’s all been a bit like hearing Tony The Tiger talk about his diabetes.
The late and much missed Clive James wrote: “For years now – all my life, in fact – there’s been something building up in western liberal democracy that should have been foreseeable, but perhaps was too obvious. There will be a penalty paid for prosperity and stability, and the penalty is that the young will forget. Liberal democracy in the west can die of itself. It doesn’t need an enemy, it can create its own enemies.”
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
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"Journalist Aaron Maté shares why the impeachment saga is not resonating outside the Washington bubble."
Good short conversation discussing the obvious major flaws in the logic of impeachment and more with the ever reliable Aaron Mate'…
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If you don't think it's OK, what do you think Democrats in the House should do about it?
I think the Democratic party has…
A. Decided to fight and die on the wrong hill, aand we all know they will lose this battle.
B. IF Democratic party was seen to be fighting for the poor and disenfranchised citizens of their country with even half the energy and time and resources that they have wasted on this pointless exercise and the failed Russia bullshit smoke and mirror conspiracy they would be looking good to take down Trump about now..but of course not, they are just as much part of the problem as Trump is…
"Hundreds of Thousands Are Losing Access to Food Stamps"
Haven't seen the Democratic party or liberal MSM lose their shit over this and give it around the clock coverage..fight it tooth and nail, nope..just more and more and more Russia/Ukraine red scare bullshit, that only useful idiots buy into. unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any shortage of those war mongering nutters.
The Agriculture Department gave its final approval to the first of three rules that are ultimately expected to cut more than three million from the food stamp rolls.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/food-stamps.html
Nice evasion. They are very simple questions, and the first only needs a yes or no answer. You can even pretend it's hypothetical if that makes it easier for you to answer:
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If you don't think it's OK, what do you think Democrats in the House should do about it?
Are you serious?, in the overall scheme of geo politics, no I don't care, in fact I don't give a fuck about that.
One dodgy old politician trying to smear another dodgy old politician sounds like business as usual for those corrupt old men to me.
Thank you for your honesty that you don't give a fuck about good governance, electoral integrity, corruption and outright misuse of state power for personal benefit.
However, I find it difficult to reconcile your lack of concern about a wannabe authoritarian dictator trying to use the power of the state to set himself up as an actual authoritarian dictator with your outrage about reports covering your favoured dodgy old white men politician idols when those reports fail to be sufficiently adulatory towards your idols.
one side is in denial of neoliberalism and the other side is in denial of fascism. They bicker and meanwhile, fascism appears to be winning.
Only one mob routinely sides with fascists.
I'm guessing you don't mean the alt left. So no, I think the point is this analysis (dems are as bad as repubs) no longer suffices and in fact increases fascism.
Tucker Carlson had this champion of the white nationalist replacement theory on his show. More than a few alt left figures knowingly play footsie with a fascist by appearing on Carlson's white power hour.
https://twitter.com/pdabrosca/status/1186421590965272576
I was thinking of the ‘Trump isn’t so bad’ crowd on TS.
MSNBC yeap they side with fascist a lot.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trumps-empty-podium-gets-30-minutes-of-airtime
Lets not forget the hours and hours of conspiracy theories pushed by Rachel Maddow.
Or how about the centre left doing this
https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2018/06/20/house-and-senate-democrats-vote-68-percent-and-85-percent-for-massive-military-spending/#25cca6f25101
or this
https://newrepublic.com/article/155793/hell-democrats-just-extend-patriot-act
But the problem is talking on tucker the idiot carson – get a grip on reality – the woke left are a fucking joke.
Those that seem willing to accept fascism as the antidote to neoliberalism would do well to review how fascists usually end up giving quasi-state powers to favoured corporates. Those favoured corporates then become some of the fasces (small sticks) that get bundled together with the strong intrusive state to become the strong bundle of fascism.
Those who object (rightly) to the excessive influence corporates have under neoliberalism ain't seen nuthin'. That gets turbocharged under fascism.
I think it's more that they deny Trump is a fascist (afaict).
So we have the centre-left saying Trump is worse than the Dems and thus not reforming the left, and the alt left saying Trump's not that bad or that the Dems/Repubs are as bad as each other, and thus Trump is in power. Impasse. Obviously the fascists win, but I'm not sure that anyone on the left can take the moral high ground here.
What kind of "reforming the left" do you think should happen and is actually achievable?
Sure if there were 218 AOC clones in the House and 60 in the Senate, there's a shit load of reform that could and would happen. But the electoral reality is there's maybe a couple dozen House districts an AOC clone could win, and maybe 4 states where an AOC clone could win a senate seat.
The sad reality is even after a Dem tsunami election, the 218th House rep is going to be someone like Conor Lamb, the 50th senator will be someone like Kyrsten Sinema, and the 60th senator will be someone like Joe Manchin.
So when Dems do get power, that's why most of their efforts go into simply reversing years of Repug vandalism of things like the food stamp program of the Voting Rights Act, and even feeble inadequate baby steps of progress like Obamacare are such a rarity.
Not supporting Biden would be a start. Let the AOC’s shine.
I’m not so interested in the same old tired TS arguments (I can take either side). I’m pointing to the problem of the left bickering over this while fascism rises.
Who is supporting Biden? Of TS regulars I can think of precisely one Biden supporter (and seemingly likely a former Biden supporter, from their recent comments).
But if Biden ends up being the nominee (dear God, please no), by virtue of the collective choices of the 30odd million Dem primary voters, then sure as shit I will support him in the general election. I'll have my hazmat suit on, but it will be support nonetheless. Because as flawed and reactionary as he is, he will still not be actively regressive, and may actually pull off a tiny bit of progress, if everyone is incredibly lucky.
Sorry, I mean the Dems supporting Biden. Which was a response to the idea that the left in the US could reform. Nothing to do with who to vote for is he gets the nomination.
Which is a separate issue from the debate on TS.
Yes I can see the desire you have that the Dems do not go for another moderate such as Biden or even Mayor Pete – and I hope that in the final few months the progressive side of the Dems will win out. But having said that I concede that the fact remains, that overall the voting public and the hugely gerrymanded state of American "democracy" does not support a massive swing away from what is now government of the people, by the rich, for the rich.
I take some heart in the rise of women, and activists for more progressive policies, but when you consider that around 50% of males support Trump…. You see the enormous hurdle that any progressive politician must overcome.
“You see the enormous hurdle that any progressive politician must overcome.”
Yes. I think this probably tempers my pragmatic, the Dems are actually quite conservative, side. That there is an upsurge in such women is an incredibly good sign, and suggests that there is something being missed here by conventional analysis.
My comment about Biden wasn’t even so much that he is moderate as the problem of having another creepy dude in the WH. Not that Biden is in the same class as Trump, but I think on this a Biden presidency will be regressive.
As always, the money is a serious problem.
@weka Keep in mind, the "Dems" you're talking about are the tens of millions of primary voters all across America, not some secret cabal of backroom plotters.
Interestingly, Biden has a very strong base of support among older black Americans. These are people that have seen times way shittier than now, as crappy as now may be.
Best guess is, they want improvement, not a revolution. Because most of all, revolutions create opportunities for amoral opportunists, and they are most likely to come out worse off.
Personally, I really don't agree with their apparent conclusion their best interests lie with Biden. But I do respect it.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/01/politics/joe-biden-black-voters-poll-of-the-week/index.html
I wasn’t talking about those Dems though. I was referring to the ones in positions of power. In the same way that I might criticise Labour for hanging onto neoliberalism for so long.
I’m not interested in arguing the other side from the position you take. As mentioned, I see that argument as counter productive to preventing fascism.
Former Democratic presidents have a long a sordid history of supporting 'friendly' fascists and authoritarians of one shade or another, so I fail to see your point?
As far as I can see one of the main problems for the progressive Left is that so many good, smart motivated lefties have brought into the DEM smoke and mirror ploy of Russiagate/Trump and taken their eye off the ball, that ball being the project of transformative progressive change as the number one objective. For some reason these easily sidetracked and/or deluded lefties seem to think the beginning of the end of US 'democracy' started on Friday, January 20, 2017, and if they don't think that, then they make a very good impression that they do.
Another centre left free trade neoliberal Dem party in the US, or in the UK or for that matter in NZ is exactly what we don't need at this pivotal moment….the markets cannot and will not provide the answers to the serious questions that need answering right now..but the progressive, transformative radical left can.
Corbyn 2019
Sanders 2020
That is where the beginning of our our real hope lay.
And btw in answer to Joe 90, the reason lefties go on Tucker Carlson is because MSM liberal media has completely blocked any dissenting Left voices from their platforms..so I wouldn’t go blaming them to quickly. And further I see no problem in trying to reach outside of members of your own ideology to invite discourse, and if you have to go on Fox to do that..then do it I say.
“so I fail to see your point?”
Let me restate it. While the centre left and the alt left are arguing over what the left should be (and by arguing, I mean trying to take each other down), the fascists are winning.
The centre right don't you mean. The corporate establishment of the democrat party in the USA is right wing economically and socially – especially policy wise – as represented by people like h.r.c and biden.
The alt left or what ever you want to call it, is arguing if you want to fight trump then do it. This falling for conspiracy theories and doing these b.s side shows whilst people suffer is a waste of time.
If you believe that impeachment is the answer – then your asking the wrong question. The economy is problem and trump and co are just part of that problem.
There is no argument, the transformative progressive Left is the only way forward, the freemarket, liberal third way left are already dead in water (like a chicken without it's head, they just don't know it yet), they already had their turn, and as we can all plainly see, it hasn't worked whatsoever…Obama's legacy is Trump, enough said.
What you don't seem to get (or at lest I haven't seen you acknowledge) is that the 'neoliberal' left has more in common ideologically with the right than they do with a real transformative progressive Left, and will defend their debunked ideology extremely aggressively, as we have witnessed in the UK and the US.
I guess that is why Obama has pretty much said he would try and block Sanders path to the leadership of the Democratic party if that were looking likely.
there is an argument and because of it I’m already thinking what it will be like moderating here next year during two elections.
My politics generally don’t sit easily within the left/right spectrum you are arguing about. So while of course I can see the difference between the neoliberal left and what you call the progressive left, that’s not where my politics begins and ends, and I think that the fight between liberals and lefties is dangerous. I don’t mean that you should stop criticising liberals, I mean that while that fight is happening in tunnel vision, all sorts of other social and politics dynamics are going on and those aren’t being accommodated by the liberal vs leftie battle.
Your accepting Andres obvious smear of Adrians position as a basis for discussion?
Andre asked a clear question and got a clear answer (eventually). Dunno how one can "smear" an I-don't_care response to outright corruption.
Assuming your genuine. You must not have noticed that being pretty ok with what Trump did in Ukraine, is not the same as being happy with all forms of corruption.
It's just being happy with a pretty goddamned blatant form of corruption that targets both personal benefit and undermining the democratic system.
No, I can in fact read Andres comment and it makes very broad accusations amounting to a smear. Actually your characterisation is probably more broad than what Adrian doesn't worry about also.
Q:
A:
So your not even going to include the actual smear comment in your quote?
I quoted the comment that I can't see being "smeared", given how contemptable it already is. How about you tell me what you're clutching your pearls over?
Hint, the smear is not in the text you quoted… Though you may be more familiar with the form, when did you stop beating your wife?
was it:
Because that seems a pretty accurate characterisation of Adrian's response. Not a smear at all.
Or maybe it was the idea that not caring about the corruption of the repug administration helps nazis? That's not a smear, either: the white house has stephen miller and had that breitbart fuckofascist in it, too. They kidnapped children with no way of returning them to their parents. People are dying. They literally put people in camps with insufficient water and sanitation. Dolt45 has given full pardons to war criminals that even the US military was prosecuting. Not "careless with bombs" criminals, "slits throats of unarmed and wounded captives" criminals. So no, that's not a smear, either.
Here is my take on the whole fiasco and the apparent lack of spine being displayed by those Repugnants in Congress :
1. The Ukraine scandal is clear impeachable conduct by Trump and should result in his removal from office. However, it won’t. That’s because the thing at the heart of the Ukraine scandal—an attempt to steal an election—is a thing that’s just A-OK with the GOP.
2. Let’s face it. Stealing elections isn’t just something that’s OK with the GOP; it’s the only way they have to stay in power and they’ve been doing it for DECADES. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, illegal campaign contributions, outright lies/slander of opponents. You name it.
3. Russian election interference and, now, trying to coerce Ukraine to interfere, are just natural extensions of what the GOP has been doing all along; it’s cheating, and the GOP are cheaters. They’re not going to convict Trump for that. They’re going to pat him on the back for it.
Holy crap…do you guys actually realize that if we were living in 1955, you are exactly the types who would have been passing on perceived and baseless information about your fellow citizens to the FBI that would have destroyed their lives…how does that make you feel?
??????
What are you on Adrian?
And how does that comment relate in any way to mine?
My team must win. My tribe is righteous. I do no wrong.
My tribe may be a bunch of jerks, but they don't kidnap children at the border and then adopt them out because no paperwork was kept of who were the actual parents.
Your tribe, just like the other tribe, is led by gaggles of jerks who unleash heinous shit on humanity. Fuck you all for the waste you engage in/support/excuse.
Ukrainian interference was bent on preventing Trump from winning. (But hey.)
Russian interference? What was that again? That shown by all that jail time for US citizens on charges of collusion/conspiracy?
Mueller's investigation showed the oaf's lickspittles were too stupid to actually manage collusion, even though their own emails showed they were all for it.
Big indicators of interference are the indictments of Russian nationals for interference.
Cambridge analytica – oh wait 5 eyes buddy should not mention them…
lol
So they're guilty of being too stupid to collude with a foreign government? These emails…you've got a link to their contents right? And they'll show how they wanted to enter into a conspiracy with the Russian government and (presumably) also lay out in exquisite, painful detail the process of them falling flat on their own faces, yes?
If you don't have that, maybe you'll provide a feasible explanation of how it is that the indictment of Russians who will never set foot in the US fits in with the indictment of precisely zero US nationals for collusion/conspiracy with those self same (or other) Russian nationals.
Just for you, Bill:
https://www.google.com/search?q=don+jr+email
Surprised you haven't seen that link before.
As for your apparent belief that collusion is a prerequisite for interference, it's not. If anything, interference is a prerequisite for collusion.
The emails from 'junior'…they were in relation to that UK music promoter, yes? The one who freely admitted to making shit up? And the meeting that took place involved a Russian lawyer (forget her name) trying to get traction on the Magnitsky sanctions – it's in her testimony. (Correct me if I'm wrong on any of that and provide the content of the emails you referenced before – not a dumb arse google search page, cheers.)
I haven't ever suggested that collusion is a prerequisite for interference. I haven't ever said there was likely no interference from foreign actors in the US elections either (Russian or otherwise).
Which leads me to ask: why are you requesting evidence of collusion when Macro's comment was about interference?
🙄
That's very enably of you thornty.
Talking points arrived, huh?
/
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1202497146643210240
How sad. And you have to remember that the father of the Food stamp program was a republican Senator from Vermont.
He was way ahead of his time of course. In 1966 he proposed to Lyndon Johnson the very simple solution to the Vietnam War.
" He said that if a face-saving device was needed to pull out of the fighting, President Johnson should simply ''declare the United States the winner and begin de-escalation.''
On its face, the suggestion seemed simplistic. But in 1973, after the Administration of President Nixon had negotiated a Vietnam pullout plan that would obviously lead to an eventual Communist takeover in South Vietnam, Mr. Aiken could say: ''What we got was essentially what I recommended six years ago – we said we had won, and we got out.''
And now a former Democrat, today claiming to be a Republican is scrapping his other great idea.
I think they're doing it to stick Bitch McTurtle in a corner thornty.
Impoundment of funds was regarded as completely normal from the formation of the US until 1974. Thus it was there, and used, for almost 200 years. It was only in Nixon's time that it was banned.
Almost every President since, and an awful lot of candidates think that act should be repealed and things should revert to the previous approach.
For a while Clinton had a line item veto which did something similar but the Supreme Court threw that out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impoundment_of_appropriated_funds
I doubt that many Americans feel that a President not spending a bit of money that has been approved by Congress is really a hanging offence.
Instead of talking impeachment the Democrats should be going to Court.
The difference is the personal political benefit aspect of Donny Dotard's Ukraine extortion scheme. Previous quid pro quo arrangements where funds were withheld were to extract something that was in the US national interest. Whereas now, even Repug senators that are so far up Drumpf's ass they can shake hands with Hannity aren't even trying to argue the Ukraine extortion was for some kind of US national interest purpose.
I too suspect the number of minds that will be changed is a tiny fraction of the usual polling margin of error. But it will harden the view among the 52ish% of Americans disapprove of his job performance that on no account should he be given a second term.
"But it will harden the view ………"
I fear it is going to have the other effect. It might cause the opinion in those who have supported him in the past to veer around to one that says that the Democrats are trivialising the act of impeachment and trying to do it for something far below the "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" mentioned in the Constitution.
Look at what happened with Bill Clinton. The impeached him for, finally, having an affair and lying about it. He was impeached but it was a joke by that stage and he was acquitted in the Senate. I fear the same thing will happen here and it will strengthen Trump for next year.
God knows, I thought that Trump would be a disaster as a President and he has turned out to be even worse than I feared. I think that if he is re-elected we are going to get a nuclear arms race starting up. Trump has no concept at all of the role the US has had and anyone who thought that the US would help protect them is going to abandon ship. I can see South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and The Philippines among the countries that will start seriously looking at developing such weapons. After all the US under Trump won't help them if they are attacked. In the Pacific, as well as The Philippines I'll bet Taiwan is worried about an invasion because Trump won't help out. He abandoned the Kurds, staunch American allies though they were, because he simply doesn't care.
I want the Democrats to elect a competent centrist. To hell with Bernie and the others on the left. I want someone who can, and will beat the imbecile currently in the White House.
The Clinton impeachment sure does hang like a spectre.
But one significant difference is that Clinton's misconduct was in no way related to his duties of office, unlike the present case.
Remember it grew out of the second or third investigation into Whitewater the moved onto anything and everything they could possibly think of – travel agents, Vince Foster. The impeachment didn't even talk about the actual abuse of power, a powerful man taking advantage of a star-struck young subordinate (maybe coz that was just viewed as a perk of being a powerful man?), just that Clinton didn't spill everything about it when he was asked. Investigations has been going on for years turning up nothing, so people were pretty fatigued.
Whereas the current case is about a clearly proven case of actual abuse of the power of office, for his personal interest and the detriment of the national interest.
There's also plenty of credible people arguing that Clinton's impeachment cost the Dems in 2000, that without the impeachment Gore would have won handily and the Dems possibly taking the House.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/would-democrats-really-face-a-backlash-if-they-impeached-trump/
While the current impeachment has is pretty much split the American public down the middle – actually there are slightly more in approval for impeachment than against – this is a different situation to that of Clinton, where it was a matter of sexual morality and lying about it, This goes right to the heart of the Constitution – bribery and corruption and in some eyes a far more serious matter worthy of Impeachment. I do not think the argument that this will have a flow on effect of increasing support for the Presidency will occur in this case. The lack of support for Trump has been pretty much the same throughout the past 3 years and if anything has been tracking south. It is never more than 40%. As the effects of the so call "tax cuts" kick in the average American can see that the so called great economy that Trump continues to bluster about is not for them and there are many polls that show his support in swing states is well below what is was in 2016.
The main problem as I see it is that it is now less than 11 months to election day. Wouldn't it be better for the Democrats to fight the election on the basis of what they will do for America rather than the focus being on a quarrel that no-one understands about what did, or did not, happen in a country that very few citizens of the US would be able to find on a map?
Like it or not a very large number of US people revere the office of the Presidency. If they don't understand why he is under what can be seen as partisan complaints they are likely to adopt the "My President. right or wrong" attitude if they think that the President is being attacked for what they do not see as particularly important reasons.
I hope I am wrong. However I worry that Trump will survive because those who voted for him in 2016 will gather in behind him if they see those eggheads and pointy headed East Coast liberals trying to drag down The (drum roll) President of The United States (salute).
Even if he really is an Emperor with no clothes.
It's almost certainly in the interests of the candidates to, at most, only refer to the impeachment obliquely in terms of things they won't do and what qualities they'll restore to the office.
It's also a dynamic that will probably hurt the candidates that are also sitting senators, ie Warren, Sanders, Booker, Klobuchar, because they will have to be in DC participating in the trial. Whereas Biden and Buttigieg can keep completely out of it.
But as for leaving it the voters, I'm with the idea that the things the FakeBronze Fuhrer has provably done are such egregious violations of his oaths and duties that there's no choice but to go ahead with impeachment. Because if you just let it slide because there's an election soon, then even the idea of impeachment becomes meaningless, and presidents basically become unaccountable kings for four years.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/27/politics/impeachment-2020-voters-bill-clinton-richard-nixon-trump/index.html
Unfortunately the Trumpers and Trumpettes will always be with us, as will the alt right "religious" conservatives – who support this adulterer, because he has promoted todate 170 ultra right wing (and in many cases completely unqualified) people to the role of federal and district judges. A position they will hold for life, and which will affect the judicial system in the US for decades, thereby allowing ridiculous laws passed by conservative administrations to perpetuate for a lifetime.
eg: Alabama Abortion Law temporary blocked – but in the future such action will have no hope of being successful if Trump has his way:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/us/alabama-abortion-ban.html
The current estimate of the size of the Trump base is around 28 – 32% of the voting public. This is where the Republicans only hope for re-election lies, and why they have cravenly given up all sense of a moral compass, because they realise that should they turn against Trump that sizable proportion of the voting public will turn against them. But as you can see – it is not a majority. Their only hope to the White House is through again winning the swing states that they only won by a handful of votes in 2016. (around 11,000 votes in one state and not much more in the other 3). It was in these swing states that Russian intervention was the most prevalent, and there has been little to no action by the Trump Administration to prevent such action happening again. Indeed 2 top cyber security officials are due to leave their positions early next year!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-u-s-cybersecurity-officials-to-depart-as-election-season-enters-full-swing-11575658194
Seth Meyers take a look at some of the Trump appointments that are now being pushed through the Senate by Moscow Mitch McConnell – who refused to allow any under Obama.
Indeed this is about all that the Senate is currently considering – the House have passed around 400 Bills in the past year up to the Senate where McConnell causes them to lie unconsidered. This is the great travesty of the Repugnants in power. If any one is worse than Trump it probably has to be McConnell. At least he knows what he is doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXyds_jalBU
Beautiful turn of phrase, thank you
Unfortunately, the idea is not originally mine. If only I could remember where I first saw it to properly attribute it. Prob'ly yet another case of a man stealing intellectual property from a woman then getting credit for it.
Andre
You ask a dishonest question. instead of actually looking at the clip and understanding what Aaron is saying.
I dont like dishonesty!
I was interested in what Adrian personally thinks.
I am really not interested in what Aaron Mate thinks, it became clear to me long ago that whatever place he's coming from, it has at best a tenuous connection with reality. And I'm especially not interested in sitting through a fifteen minute verbal wankfest to get content that would take at most 2 or 3 minutes to absorb if it were presented in a written format.
So the result of your disinterest is a dishonest question pushing the MSM meme, hmmm looks like you are the one with " a tenuous connection with reality." maby get out more?
That Tinyfingers Tantrump was extorting Ukraine to smear a political opponent by withholding congress allocated and taxpayer funded aid is proven over and over and over again by the sworn testimony of those caught in the middle. Some of it very reluctant sworn testimony provided by Don the Con's allies he had personally appointed to those positions in the middle.
Transcripts of that sworn testimony are in the public domain, if you're interested you can go read them yourself.
If you want to pretend that's some kind of deceptive MSM meme, rather than proven fact, then hey, that affects your credibility not mine.
Here's the nice short factual executive summary of the House report on the matter:
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/12/politics/trump-ukraine-impeachment-inquiry-report-annotated/#executive-summary
Here's the annotated transcript of the key phone call from President Trump to President Zelinsky:
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/09/politics/trump-ukraine-transcript-annotated/
So forget everyone opinions: read through them both and make your own mind up.
Whether Trump is fired through a Senate trial or not, Pelosi is doing her constitutionally-specified job of ensuring that Trump is held to account.
"I stayed at the Trump Tower"
There the bribe – staying at trump tower.
Jimmy Carter sold his farm to avoid any allegations of corruption. trump has from day one taken money via his business from foreign governments – with the Saudis topping the list.
If pelosi and co had their act together they would have got him on this ages ago. Rather than the whole russian conspiracy theory we had to suffer through.
The grey speculative bits added to the transcript are a pain. Mind you without the propaganda – how could they get you to think the right way.
trump is an idiot, sheesh he just really is a t.v. reality star in over his head.
Pelosi definitely was reluctant to impeach (I suspect mostly because the repugs will find him "not guilty" if he shot somone on live TV, on fifth avenue, and then tweeted why he did it). I think the deciding factor was when his corruption wasn't just personal financial gain, but it started to involvefederal funds, foreign governments, and all the rest.
Still does not explain the months of conspiracy theories.
The same proponent of the conspiracy theories is telling more porkies about about Sanders these day. If only she accepted the fact she lost because she was shitty candidate, with shitty policy, representing 40 odd years of failed economics – who ran a shitty campaign.
We might actually be in a position to oppose trump well – rather than half assed and divisively.
I was talking about Pelosi.
Dunno what the hell you're on about.
You appear to be giving a rather distorted view of Jimmy Carter selling his farm.
You seem to be implying that he sold it when he became President. He did not. He put it into a trust. That was run so poorly that when he left office the business was heavily in debt and he then sold the business. That was after he left Office and would be equivalent to Trump selling up in 2021 after he, hopefully. loses the Presidential election next year.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/when-jimmy-carter-left-office-his-peanut-business-was-deep-in-debt.html
OK, in trust which he had no control of which was poorly run – so he effectively sold his farm to avoid any notions of impropriety.
The point was he did it to avoid corruption, be it local or offshore – trump has not. trump has a trust – but it's a family run one – from memory.
It doesn't really matter whether you put you property into a trust or not. It has to be a trust where you have no idea what is in it for it to matter.
As long as Carter knew he still owned a peanut farm, and he did, he could have taken actions that affected his property for the better.
The fact that it was poorly run doesn't matter. That simply shows he had lousy judgement in picking a manager. The critical fact was that he still owned the place and things he did for US agriculture policy could affect him.
About the only US official who really cut his wealth off from his actions was Alan Greenspan who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006.
He put all his money into 30 year US Government bonds and left it there. Short of actually giving everything to charity before he took office that seemed about the only possible way of removing his assets from the actions that he took in his job.
I don't know why you bother Adrian Thornton, the soft left are still in lala land over this.
Their russians in the corner paranoia has led to quite a few conspiracy theories.
If they actually had a spine, and/or any nous – trump could have been impeached on day one – the bribes he is taking at trump tower from the Saudis are still on going, and hardly anyone is even talking about it. Until now that is.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/saudi-funded-lobbyist-paid-for-500-rooms-at-trumps-hotel-after-2016-election/2018/12/05/29603a64-f417-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html
But hey oil, bribes, and head chopping allies are better than those pesky russians.
quick, check the cupboard
Neither are brilliant addy. The yankistanis don't have to hoose between them.
Yeah, fucking paragons of virtue.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/18/russian-mercenaries-beat-beheaded-syrian-man-leaked-video/
Over your disengious comments where did I say the russians were better – nope, did not happen.
Tiresome.
voters dont trust politicians…now theres a surprise.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018725911/austin-mitchell-this-is-the-most-uncertain-uk-election-ever
The conflicting imperatives personified
Good work protesters to ODT about Garrick Tremain's slick cartoon. He could find something funny about the Holocaust but wouldn't because the weight of their adverse judgment would fall on him. Bit he's been making funnies at brown people's plight for quite a time, but when there is a raging virtual plague of measles in Samoa, with new gloomy facts about additional long-term affects on the immune system, to make a quip about the reaction has been enough to silence him, and that should be final. The Editor has personally apologised and so he should.
To the hour.
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1203351713043775488
For those following the UK elections, an excellent episode of The Listening Post this week…
There's also a fascinating story about purpose advertising, companies playing on our emotions with a particular style of product marketing.
Full episode is 26mins, UK election story is the first one up….
Hung parliament?
Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has seen a big surge of support with the Tories advantage shrinking as the parties rally in the last weekend before the general election.
Labour made a huge four-point gain from 30 to 36 per cent between December 2 and 5, according to the latest data from Election Maps UK.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson's Conservatives stayed the same at 42 per cent, narrowing the gap between the two parties.
The Liberal Democrats dropped one point to 11 per cent while the Brexit Party crept up one point to four per cent.
https://twitter.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1203347824789856256
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-election-polls-labour-sees-190900891.html
how would that be a hung parliament? Either the LDs go with Cons or Labour.
Are the Northern Ireland seats no longer relevant to the outcome?
Only if Johnson needs them.
Vote Lib Dem, get Tory, could be a thing so perhaps not.
Labour and LD have both said no to any coalition although Swinson may offer a confidence and supply agreement to prop up a Tory minority government. If she does, it's either the end of her promise to prevent a hard brexit or the impasse that triggered the election will continue.
But hey, a month ago Swinson reckoned she could win a majority so anything's possible.
Labour and LD have both said no to a coalition with each other? How does Labour hope to win then? LD's refuse to support anyone and Labour govern on a minority of seats?
Oh yeah, what alwyn said, forgot about the SNP. What's the point of looking at Westminster alone?
Those 43 seats are in the Westminster Parliament. They are basically every Scottish electorate in the British Parliament. They aren't seats in Edinburgh's Assembly.
the relevant point here is how the UK govt forms.
They have.
https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/jeremy-corbyn-rules-lib-dem-coalition-happily-signed-austerity-11216622/
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/23/jo-swinson-rules-out-lib-dem-pact-with-labour-under-jeremy-corbyn
It is a FPP Parliament so party percentages don't tell you very much about the number of seats they will get.
Here is a recent poll that gives the LibDems 13 seats from 14% of the vote. Meanwhile they say that the SNP will get 43 seats and the Breexit Party none. Each Party is expected to get 3% of the vote.
This isn't the same poll of course but it illustrates the fact that percentage of the vote and number of seats aren't really related. It is one from a couple of weeks ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/27/mrp-poll-conservatives-on-course-for-68-seat-majority
I seem to remember at the last UK election there was much more analysis based on seats. Maybe that will happen in the coming week?
The Lib Dems are dead against Brexit – so going with Boris Conservatives would be off the table? While Labour offers a path to avoiding Brexit.
Promising, but I still don't fancy Labour's chances. That is why I haven't really taken much of an interest in the election. It is still going to be a bloodbath, and when the dust has cleared, the neo-Thacherites will have complete control of the country. It might not even be until the 2030's that Labour will get back into power TBH.
Cheers for the link Joe
News reports are saying that bojo's likely majority is slipping fast. Anti tory voters are being encouraged to vote tactically. It's looking like it will be a hung parliament.
The UK are possibly going to face a hot and vengeful Irish border conflagration if Johnson wins and carries on in his Empire-colossus mode or Labour if they win, try to weasel out of anglo-irish-eu agreements so as to get better deals to suit English and Nth Ireland workers in withdrawal agreements.
"The analysis of almost 30,000 voters, for the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign, also finds that tactical votes by as few as 40,700 people in 36 key seats could prevent Johnson from forming a majority government."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/07/calls-grow-to-stop-boris-johnson-with-tactical-voting-as-race-tightens
Anyone who has a muppet in the family who will argue over the death penalty at xmas – good timing by the intercept. These four pieces are a heavy read, but they just lay bare the injustice and utter stupidity of the death penalty.
https://theintercept.com/series/the-condemned/
I don't think there's a place for it at all, but the US system seems particularly flawed.
Fucking Nazi pig spouts dehumanising eugenics/master race rhetoric.
https://twitter.com/TheLabourLeftie/status/1203030312160284672
I didn't click to hear Boris talk about the measurements applying to inequality when some have IQs higher than 100 yet are fuckwit, moronic lowlives and in some cases, in Parliament.
And people still vote for the guy. The human race forever shoots itself in the foot, it seems.
The right’s belief in the existence of intrinsic, ‘natural’ hierarchies of humans is a real thing. It's always the bullshit rationalisation they trot out in some form or another to excuse inflicting avoidable suffering on their fellow citizens.
For the conservative/patrician right, hierarchy is based in the family you come from, the school you went to, the firms you worked for and who you know. For the neoliberal right, natural hierarchies are revealed (like God’s grace) by success in the market – if you make money it is because you are of intrinsically of higher merit or intelligence. And for the fascist/identitarian right, it is based on race, religion and culture – though this is usually disguised by talk about “western civilisation” or some such thing. Individuals can obviously believe in mixtures of all of these classification systems – there are tensions among them, but they also intersect.
The only thing that counters these sociopathic right-wing trash is the moral conviction that humans are completely equal in their capacity for joy and suffering.
I'm confused. Does Boris like Cornflakes or not?
He does. But you really don't want to know what he likes to do with them.
The IQ measurement was useful in the 20th century in sorting out who was to be regarded as second rate, now it is everyone who hasn't got money and the right attitude of conformity to whatever group has been allocated.
EQ and study about human values and how to be in a world of machine-technology addiction should be the main study. All else can be looked up. Knowing stuff hasn't done us much good as in the last century – important, vital, things have been ignored. So education itself won't save us – discernment might.
EQ:
Shorter, black and brown people don't matter.
https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1203077816851582978
https://fair.org/home/with-people-in-the-streets-worldwide-media-focus-uniquely-on-hong-kong/
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2444193685703510&id=796085293847699
Boris is only better than a crack whore because he was born to money
I couldn't get it to work as reply to 7
Don't run working girls and boys down. They have a hard job – just regard them as if they were sportspeople operating in a different field. Sports people are respected – why shouldn't people who are active in the sex field?
I think that Donald and Boris are lesser than working girls and boys; they have to deliver or look out and rarely live in luxury. They are often too busy paying the ultimate controller over their drug dealer in crack? who might be from Dons and Boorish’s peer group.
GAZA –
Time to stop buying Israeli goods and services. Fight the apartheid state were it will hurt it – in the pocket.
Action Group for Palestinians of Syria say at least 3,708 Palestinians have been killed during the Syrian civil war, and 1,673 are being held in Assad regime abattoirs. At least 477 Palestinian-Syrians have been tortured to death in those abattoirs since 2011.
During the siege of the Yarmouk camp Assad forces and allied militias killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees with indiscriminate barrel bombs and elephant missiles.
Barely a murmur.
/
Refugees, and who made them such? The Syrian civil war is a awful bloody mess, and it will continue being such until outside forces like Saudi Arabia, England, Russia and the USA stop arming the disparate groups.
Assard is a prick, nothing changes on that front.
Gaza is not at war with Israel, and the Great March of Return is a peaceful protest. Stones gets thrown sure – but in two short years the casualty lists are huge. In the thousands. Including disabled people in wheelchairs, journalists and medics. Not forgetting children, and pregnant women.
So much winning.
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1203483059515002882
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed, the starkest statement yet emphasizing the gulf between the two sides ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa/north-koreas-un-envoy-says-denuclearization-off-negotiating-table-with-united-states-idUSKBN1YB0FG
Pie to Boris: "You are a microwave meal Prime Minister … a microwave meal full of shit, no nutritional value at all, just an unremarkable turd waiting to happen…"
Frankie Boyle:
Boris Johnson, who looks like something you’d keep your pyjamas in, and who no reasonable person would choose to lead them into a chorus, has a strangely hunched demeanour; perhaps from all the time he spends crammed inside married women’s wardrobes, like a randy jack-in-the-box. This confused sex yeti has been booed by nurses: people who can remove a dressing, examine a festering wound, and still look up at you with a smile. Has any party ever elected a new leader so tired and dated? With a delivery best approximated as a living checklist of stroke warnings, his bumbling posho shtick almost resembles buffering, a kind of 3G Wodehouse. He doesn’t even seem to enjoy it; throughout the campaign he’s sported a face that looks as if it’s been kneaded by a baker going through a particularly bitter divorce, and the irony that comes into his eyes every time he crowbars in a catchphrase means that he breaks the fourth wall more than Deadpool. We thought the office of prime minister was what he lived for, his consuming ambition. It’s all been a bit like hearing Tony The Tiger talk about his diabetes.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/07/frankie-boyle-election-countdown-praying-prorogue-next-parliament
The late and much missed Clive James wrote: “For years now – all my life, in fact – there’s been something building up in western liberal democracy that should have been foreseeable, but perhaps was too obvious. There will be a penalty paid for prosperity and stability, and the penalty is that the young will forget. Liberal democracy in the west can die of itself. It doesn’t need an enemy, it can create its own enemies.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/08/brace-yourself-the-flood-of-lies-in-this-election-is-about-to-become-a-torrent