Politics & Stuff

[Vesper 28,795]

Insanity in the US

 

disgraced (sex kidnapping scandal) former Missouri Governor and current Republican US Senate candidate Eric Greitens made a violent, gun-laden advert advocating hunting RINOs

(RINO means Republican In Name Only, aka moderate Republicans, not MAGAt batshit cray asshats)

 

Elite Republicans are now openly encouraging political violence

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/20/eric-greitens-encouraging-political-violence/

At this moment in history, Republican radicalism comes in so many forms — election subversion, draconian abortion restrictions, gun fetishism, anti-LGBTQ scapegoating — that some argue the party is moving toward a new kind of fascism. That raises complicated questions, but one of fascism’s key features is the glorification of violence as a domestic political tool.

Keep that idea in mind as you watch this new ad from Eric Greitens, a Missouri Republican running for U.S. Senate:

https://wapo.st/3O6VJrj

 

With a shotgun in his hand and a pistol on his belt, Greitens accompanies soldiers busting into what appears to be a suburban home. Then he says to the camera: “Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”

For the uninitiated, “RINO” is short for “Republican In Name Only,” a term that originally referred to Republicans who were too ideologically moderate for someone’s taste. Now it is used to refer to those who, no matter how ideologically conservative, are insufficiently worshipful of Donald Trump or question the more radical beliefs and tactics of the extreme wing of the party.

Politicians often use martial rhetoric; they talk a lot about “fighting” and engaging in “wars” of various types, and even the word “campaign” originally referred to armies fighting each other. But this is qualitatively different.

Greitens is not deploying some subtle metaphor here. You can even order a “RINO Hunting Permit” sticker from his website. If asked, I’m sure he would say he’s not literally advocating the hunting and killing of human beings. But he kind of is.

In case you’re unfamiliar with him, Greitens’s campaign for Missouri governor six years ago featured an ad showing him firing hundreds of rounds with a gigantic machine gun while the narrator said he was “under attack from Obama’s Democrat machine.” Greitens won that election, then resigned amid multiple scandals. The most appalling of them concerned a woman who charged that he coerced her into sex and then blackmailed her. (He admitted having an affair but denied the blackmail accusation.)

Now he’s running for Senate, trying to stand out in a field of ultra-conservative candidates. There might be a hundred Republicans who fire guns in their ads, many of whom talk about how their guns are a protection against “tyranny” — in other words, they’re ready to use them to kill police officers and military service members. But Greitens is the first to so explicitly say that members of his own party should be hunted without the slightest hint that it’s an exaggeration.

Like most nations, the United States has never been completely without political violence. It has come from many directions, though right-wing violence has been more common and more deadly, from the murder of doctors and staff members at abortion clinics to the Oklahoma City bombing.

At the moment, we’re seeing a rise in widely distributed, low-level acts of violence and intimidation directed at the right’s enemies. This will likely escalate: This year has seen a dramatic increase in threats against Pride Month events, which comes after a couple of years of near-riots at school board meetings and threats against public health officials and election administrators.

There is an undeniable connection between what the angry right-wing mob does on the ground and what it sees from the Republican elite.

And what do members of the right-wing mob see? Every day on Fox News and other conservative media outlets, they get a deluge of histrionic outrage and apocalyptic warnings about “groomers” preparing to abuse their children, about the coming genocidal campaign against White people, about antifa coming to burn down their towns, about the impending outlawing of gun ownership and Christianity and everything else they hold dear.

If you actually believed all of it, violence might seem a reasonable response, just like storming the Capitol might seem reasonable if you believed Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

Trump repeatedly fantasized about acts of violence against liberal protesters to the bloodthirsty cheers of his supporters (“Knock the crap out of them, would you?”), but the fault does not end with him. The rising tide of thuggery is validated and encouraged by Republican officeholders, who are now devoting an extraordinary amount of attention to scapegoating vulnerable people (especially transgender kids) and echoing the lies and hyperbole of the conservative media.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of two Republicans serving on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, recently shared a death threat mailed to his wife, saying the two of them and their infant son would soon be executed. “There is violence in the future,” he said.

When more of it happens, candidates such as Greitens will pretend they had nothing to do with it. They will say their ugly, violent rhetoric was just figurative — even as they wink and nod to their supporters. They’ll claim to be shocked and ask how they could possibly have known anyone would take them seriously.

But we should take them very seriously. Violence isn’t something they’re working to discourage. It has become a key part of their rhetoric and their political program. And the worse it gets, the more pleased they’ll be.

 

[Fernando 6,455]

Wade vs Roe overturn, did not expect that. 

As more laws like this get overturn and others approved it just show the division in this country. 

I think eventually USA will brake up. This will not continue to last for long. You will have one country with their liberals view and another with conservative views. It will  be a divided country, similar to what happen to Israel in bibles time when they split and you have northern and southern Israel. 

[Fulham Broadway 16,837]

55 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Wade vs Roe overturn, did not expect that. 

As more laws like this get overturn and others approved it just show the division in this country. 

I think eventually USA will brake up. This will not continue to last for long. You will have one country with their liberals view and another with conservative views. It will  be a divided country, similar to what happen to Israel in bibles time when they split and you have northern and southern Israel. 

Russia'Johnson'd' the UK using just social media propaganda, (4 years in Moscow Cummings), and some pocket change 'donations'.  Russia Johnson'd the UK  before they Trump'd the USA. They wanted to destabilise the EU more than they wanted to destabilise the USA.

But division and destruction from within is the new warfare.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

Its impossible for the country to "Break up" because the divisions exist everywhere, and that is healthy.

 

Even in red Missippippi you go to Jackson and its as blue as Los Angeles. Same with Blue California. Go 1 hour outside the city and you are in trump country.

[Fulham Broadway 16,837]

ROE vs Wade has been overturned, so who has more rights in the US: a woman, or an AR-15 assault rifle? Find out which you are: 

Are your rights enshrined in the US constitution? 

A) Yes. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln foresaw the world that would come with such clarity that they made sure to protect me with the second amendment. What vision they had.
No. I kind of thought they were, but it turns out it was merely an interpretation of the law that was erroneous, according to five judges who make no secret of their political bias, and I no longer have autonomy over my own body.

Is there a powerful nutjob advocacy group defending you? 

 

A) ‘Nutjob’ is a defamatory term. It’s just a group of organised men with a keen interest in firearms, explosives and all things military, who regularly threaten street warfare if they don’t get their way.
Not really. I mean there’s the Democrat party, who are nominally in power, and there’s the president, but neither of them really do anything. A huge number of rational people will march against this decision and will be branded nutjobs.

What state are you in? 

A) The great news is it doesn’t matter, as the Supreme Court decided that second amendment rights are too important to be delegated to states. Those guys always have my back.
Unfortunately in one of the states that wasted no time taking the rights delegated to them by the Supreme Court and enacting a total ban.

Are you a man? 

A) Technically I’m without gender, but I like to think of myself as definingly male.
No, I’m a woman. When all my rights get taken away without my being consulted, surely it’s obvious?

Are you pregnant?

A) In a sense, yes, but pregnant with death. Which is just as legally valid as the other kind.
I am not at liberty to reveal that information as it may implicate me in a serious crime.

ANSWERS

Mostly As: Congratulations, you’re a gun! A FN SCAR 16S to be exact, fast, accurate, recoil-free and fully protected in law. You may go about your business without interference.

Mostly Bs: Bad news; as a pregnant woman you’re not capable of making your own decisions for yourself and your future, so your rights have been removed for your own safety. Otherwise there was a real risk you might kill.

 

 

[Vesper 28,795]

On 24/06/2022 at 20:42, Sir Mikel OBE said:

Its impossible for the country to "Break up" because the divisions exist everywhere, and that is healthy.

 

Even in red Missippippi you go to Jackson and its as blue as Los Angeles. Same with Blue California. Go 1 hour outside the city and you are in trump country.

not at all impossible

simple, very likely scenarios that VERY likely would lead to a breakup:

1. The out of control, RW christofascist (out of the 9 SCOTUS members they now have 5 ultra RWers, with the RW Chief Justice Roberts a 6 RWer, but not a fascist,  versus only 3 liberals) US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) continues to overturn massive civil rights cases:

they overturn the following cases (Clarence Thomas, the batshit cray black RW Justice with a traitor wife, Ginni Thomas, who was fully in the middle of the attempted coup) said in the decision that overturned Roe v Wade that they are going after:

Griswold v Connecticut (overturning that would allow states to ban contraception)

Obergefell v Hodges (overturning that would allow states ban gay marriage)

Lawrence v Texas (overturning that would allow states to criminalise gay sex)

Loving v Virginia (overturning that would allow states to ban interracial marriage)

Brown v Board of Education (overturning that would allow 'separate but equal' to become the law of the land, and allow states to go back to legal racial segregation, open racism)

Plus many other civil rights cases from the last 70 years are overturned.

PLUS PLUS, they (The RWers on the SCOTUS) will likely soon grant 'foetal personhood' from conception, which would instantly outlaw ALL abortions NATIONWIDE, not just kick it back to the States like they just did now.

 

2. The RW Rethugs take back both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate in 2022, and then hold both, PLUS they win back the US Presidency (POTUS) in 2024 (would be either Trump or Ron DeSantis , the Florida governor, who is just as evil as Trump, and FAR more intelligent), and hold both chambers of Congress, so back to complete Republican control of all 3 branches of the US government (Judicial, Legislative, Executive).

They then pass laws (that the RW SCOTUS upholds) that NATIONALISE all those christofash bans and laws. The Blue (Democratic-controlled States) States WILL not obey, it will never happen.

 

3. At this point (which WILL be reached if (and this is likely) the Republicans win Congress in 2022 and then POTUS in 2024, and keep Congress) there are two choices, BOTH of which lead to breakup:

(A) The Republican controlled national government tries to enforce the new christofash laws via force in the Blue States. The Blue Sates WILL resist, and this will lead to kinetic violence/civil war, and WILL instantly start the Blue States down the path to secession (ie leaving the Union of the Sates)

(B) The Rethug federal government does NOT try and enforce the law in the Blue States, which will instantly lead to the Red (Republican controlled) States starting to ignore US federal laws that THEY do not agree with. Chaos and kinetic violence ensues again, ad this will again lead to States stating to try and secede (in thsi case it might be Red States as well, IF the Democrats regain control of the POTUS in 2028).

 

Bonus force multiplier to this all:

In 2024 the Democratic POTUS candidate (Biden or someone else) wins the Electoral College, and this wins the Presidency, BUT enough Republican controlled Red States overrule the popular vote win of the Democrat in their states, and they (the Republican-controlled State legislatures) declare the Republican Presidential candidate the winner and send THAT slate of electors to the US Congress, who will accept the Red States usurpation of the popular vote (after VP Kamala Harris tries to overturn it, it then goes to each Chamber of Congress and the Rethug-controlled US House will vote in the Republican POTUS candidate, and the Rethug-controlled US Senate will vote in the Rethug Vice Presidential candidate) The RW SCOTUS upholds this all, and the Rethug POTUS and VPOYUS are sworn in January 20, 2025, and the Blue States will instantly start secession operations.

 

THAT (all that above) is how the USA breaks up in a  rapid fashion, as if those scenarios happen (and all of those are very likely to occur) there is almost no way to stop the inertia, no way to put the genie back into the bottle.

There are other, slower (5, 10, 15 years or so in duration) scenarios that could well lead to the same.

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Vesper

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

If the south, or any place, tried to secede again they would be beat into submission just like in the 19th century. The idea of breaking up over grievances has already shown as something the federal government wont, and will never, allow.

 

The idea of red and blue states doesnt hold up when every state for the most part has red and blue sections. It would have to be street by street, city by city, if things fell a part like that and it simply wont happen.

[robsblubot 3,504]

If the US does break up in the future, many conservatives will finally discover where all that money was coming from.

Florida will be very ironic: many migrants fled their countries for a better life, but IMO many do not understand what in the US makes life better. They may end up where they started.

@Sir Mikel OBE that's the case every time a country breaks up. It's never perfect, but things adjust over time.

Edited July 1, 2022 by robsblubot

[Vesper 28,795]

Who will be victorious in the Westminster Derby? Place your bets! #ToryLeadershipContest #spotthedonkey #VicTORYious

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,837]

38 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Who will be victorious in the Westminster Derby? Place your bets! #ToryLeadershipContest #spotthedonkey #VicTORYious

 

Decided by 180 000 Tory members. 

73% of Tory party members are men and 48% are over 65 years old, compared with 18% of the population as a whole. 

Median income over 80k

This why all the multi millionaire X Factor candidates mention 'tax cuts'. 

Every one of them as far as i can see is motivated by greed and narcissism all endorsed Johnsons lies, law breaking and general incompetence to keep their lavish , expenses filled luxury lifestyles.

All a bunch of cunts

[cosmicway 1,323]

We all want tax cuts but I don't see it coming.
The age of the big brother is looming upon us.
In the ancient world peoples revolted against taxes:
The battle of the Teutoburg forest, Robin Hood against the sheriff of Nottingham (if true), American revolution, French revolution.
In French revolution, the hero Lafayette warned Louis but Louis did n't listen - so he ended up minus a head.

In the modern world things changed. Socialism promised to tax anything that moves.
In Russia they created the holodomor, the genocide of the Ukrainians.
As a result people were charging against the electric fences to find freedom in the west.
This time the taxes were meant to go to the socialist state and not to the "gentilhommes" but the effect was the same.

In the end come the turn of the century.
Now it's the electronics revolution.
The taxman, be it Ivan or the king's horsemen, has an easy task now.
All the money is converted to points residing in computer banks.
At the flick of a switch he can confiscate all you got and more.

So if someone like Lafayette turns up and says "hey guys take it easy" they will just laugh at him. Take easy what mate ? All we do is press enter to run a subroutine.
So the age of slavery and conformity is here to stay.
What will happen if you are with a friend in a motorway and he runs out of gas ? He left his wallet at home as well so he asks to you to buy the gas from the station.
You do that, you continue your journey. But how get your twenty quid back ? The friend is willing to pay his debt but how ? The transaction has to be authorised 
by a political commissar. If he simply transfers twenty quid to you is a "suspect commercial activity" - you both go to jail. Fiddlesticks !

So that's socialism for you.
 

Edited July 14, 2022 by cosmicway

[Vesper 28,795]

On 14/07/2022 at 03:49, cosmicway said:

So the age of slavery and conformity is here to stay.

Literally, if the Republicans sweep both chambers of Congress in the US in 2022, and hold both in 2024, win back the Presidency, plus maintain and increase their dominance at State levels.

Most all civils rights gained since Brown v Board in 1954 (including Brown itself, the case that found separate but equal, ie racial separation, to unconstitutional, thus ending a large chunk of American apartheid) will be washed away in a raging flood of christofascism.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,795]

A Texas woman was forced to carry her dead foetus for two weeks after miscarrying because of state abortion laws.

 

 

 

[cosmicway 1,323]

9 hours ago, Vesper said:

Literally, if the Republicans sweep both chambers of Congress in the US in 2022, and hold both in 2024, win back the Presidency, plus maintain and increase their dominance at State levels.

Most all civils rights gained since Brown v Board in 1954 (including Brown itself, the case that found separate but equal, ie racial separation, to unconstitutional, thus ending a large chunk of American apartheid) will be washed away in a raging flood of christofascism.

I 'm not so sure they will take the Trump road but maybe they will.
However the protagonists of electronic-tax slavery are the left and the communist fellow travelers.

[Vesper 28,795]

58 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

I 'm not so sure they will take the Trump road but maybe they will.
However the protagonists of electronic-tax slavery are the left and the communist fellow travelers.

tax slavery my arse

the top of the pyramid and the corporations are massively undertaxed

and there are no Communists in power in any advanced nation

the 1950's called and want their red scare back

China is authoritarian state run oligarchic capitalism cosplaying with Mao's Little Red Book

 

[cosmicway 1,323]

16 minutes ago, Vesper said:

tax slavery my arse

the top of the pyramid and the corporations are massively undertaxed

and there are no Communists in power in any advanced nation

the 1950's called and want their red scare back

China is authoritarian state run oligarchic capitalism cosplaying with Mao's Little Red Book

 

This is delusion that there are no communists.
Not that Trump is my cup of tea or could be but it is a delusion.
I recall from the nineties a massive propaganda against the "Kolonaki" doctors of Athens. Kolonaki being the Belgravia of Athens,
They were not paying taxes was the myth.
I was mystified because, among doctors, those in uptown neighbourhoods were more likely to skip issuing receipts to the patients, but anyway.
I was further mystified because how could there possibly be a tax law enacted saying "Kolonaki doctors" ?
When I raised the point socialists like you called me a "black reactionary".
True to form the socialists won the election of 1993 and everyone had to pay huge advance taxes - bar civil employees.
That is open air chestnut vendors, scuba divers who collect the sponges from the sea - everybody.
So that's the story in fellow traveling political regimes but also in the "advanced countries" since the economic elites are not really against the system.
Why would a carpet gallery allow smaller carpet galleries steal their business and so on.
So it's plague on both houses really, commies and Trumpies.

Edited July 19, 2022 by cosmicway

[Vesper 28,795]

22 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

This is delusion that there are no communists.
Not that Trump is my cup of tea or could be but it is a delusion.
I recall from the nineties a massive propaganda against the "Kolonaki" doctors of Athens. Kolonaki being the Belgravia of Athens,
They were not paying taxes was the myth.
I was mystified because, among doctors, those in uptown neighbourhoods were more likely to skip issuing receipts to the patients, but anyway.
I was further mystified because how could there possibly be a tax law enacted saying "Kolonaki doctors" ?
When I raised the point socialists like you called me a "black reactionary".
True to form the socialists won the election of 1993 and everyone had to pay huge advance taxes - bar civil employees.
That is open air chestnut vendors, scuba divers who collect the sponges from the sea - everybody.
So that's the story in fellow traveling political regimes but also in the "advanced countries" since the economic elites are not really against the system.
Why would a carpet gallery allow smaller carpet galleries steal their business and so on.
So it's plague on both houses really, commies and Trumpies.

you project Greek political history too much onto the rest of the world

it has warped your perspective

there is not some giant wave of neo communism coming and there most certainly are not a tonne of communists running shit atm

[cosmicway 1,323]

2 minutes ago, Vesper said:

you project Greek political history too much onto the rest of the world

it has warped your perspective

there is not some giant wave of neo communism coming and there most certainly are not a tonne of communists running shit atm

The projection exists.