6 hours ago, MigL said:

Almost half of America is composed of stupid people, who can't seem to connect cause and effect, and will keep voting for the same idiots, no matter what idiotic, and despotic, policies are implemented.

At least British people aren't as dense, and can change their minds.

"When confronted over his hypocrisy for only turning on ICE when he got deported, he didn't fight it. "You got me!" he said."

Milo Yiannopoulos changes his tune on Trump's ICE after 'physically degrading' removal

Maybe he didn't watch the news, to see people getting brutalized, separated from family, deported to places unknown, and even shot to death; but at least he caught on when it happened to him 🙄 .

1 hour ago, MigL said:

At least British people aren't as dense, and can change their minds.

"When confronted over his hypocrisy for only turning on ICE when he got deported, he didn't fight it. "You got me!" he said."

Milo Yiannopoulos changes his tune on Trump's ICE after 'physically degrading' removal

Maybe he didn't watch the news, to see people getting brutalized, separated from family, deported to places unknown, and even shot to death; but at least he caught on when it happened to him 🙄 .

It's what happens when someone joins the 'Leopards Eating Faces Party': they eat faces. It's in the name, but people still join.

I suspect the Milo ejection was just for show. "See? We're not racist! We will even deport white Englishmen!" Milo was convenient, since Loomer had already put a target on his back, so they could kill two birds with one stone.

6 hours ago, CharonY said:

If you can play the rules to benefit you, then you do. This is just smart business sense. This is why you stop investing in your business after you are sufficiently rich, but invest in politicians instead.

This would make Timothy Mellon and Elon Musk the worst investors in the history of the nation.

19 hours ago, CharonY said:

This is why you stop investing in your business after you are sufficiently rich, but invest in politicians instead.

Makes the case for electing politicians that cannot be bought, and/or putting strict limits on political party financing contributions/influencing.

3 hours ago, MigL said:

Makes the case for electing politicians that cannot be bought, and/or putting strict limits on political party financing contributions/influencing.

I think the latter is more realistic than the former. I think some wealthy folks running for office claimed that they are less likely to be corruptible as they are already rich. Looking at Trump as just one prominent example, grifters are gonna grift.

16 hours ago, TheVat said:

This would make Timothy Mellon and Elon Musk the worst investors in the history of the nation.

Not sure, by paying millions, Musk is reaping billions in tax payer money. The ROI looks pretty decent to me.

4 hours ago, CharonY said:

Not sure, by paying millions, Musk is reaping billions in tax payer money. The ROI looks pretty decent to me.

I was thinking more about him investing millions in a president who loathes electric cars and the infrastructure they require. Nor does Musk's large battery (for utilities) initiative get much respect from the Turnip. It is true that agencies like NASA maintain contracts with SpaceX, and saved it from bankruptcy, but am not sure how much that owes to the Turnip. Just saying - maybe Musk has done better bribing county officials in Texas.

3 minutes ago, TheVat said:

I was thinking more about him investing millions in a president who loathes electric cars and the infrastructure they require. Nor does Musk's large battery (for utilities) initiative get much respect from the Turnip. It is true that agencies like NASA maintain contracts with SpaceX, and saved it from bankruptcy, but am not sure how much that owes to the Turnip. Just saying - maybe Musk has done better bribing county officials in Texas.

I don't really think that Musk cares much about car sales. His main goal is increasing evaluation and has rebranded his companies almost on a continuous basis. He has branded Tesla as software and/or robotic or whatever company to get his evaluations up. That being said, and I am not sure how much of that is marketing, there are analysts (and Musk) saying that the end of electric subsidies will actually weaken competition more than Tesla. The battery and solar race is, from what I understand over, as there is no way to compete with the Chinese at this point.

Considering how unmoored Tesla evaluation is from actual car sales I don't really think that the policies are hurting it that much, especially as he is able to use the money he gets from the government to prop it up. There was a report of SpaceX buying close to a billion dollars in Cybertrucks and batteries from Tesla, for example.

There is also a secondary game that the billionaires are playing and I think it is genuinely ideological. Thiel is a consistent example but Musk too. In that scenario a few million injection (as well as support via social media platforms) is just play money to bend society to their will. Internationally, that is. I would love to see Musk attending the AfD meetings in person and try his Hitler salute there.

Why would an administration that is willing to run up the defense budget not see cyber security as an integral element of national security? This has been an ongoing mystery.

https://wapo.st/4yOGjyr

(Gift link to Wash Post article)

New hacking threat has election officials scrambling weeks before the midterms

(...)

"The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which states have relied on to warn about threats — especially those that American intelligence agencies have detected overseas — has been cut under the Trump administration. It lost about a third of its staff last year, according to documents released by Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee."

WTAF, Orangeymandias??

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

(CISA), which states have relied on to warn about threats — especially those that American intelligence agencies have detected overseas — has been cut under the Trump administration

All to facilitate Russian election interference.

The 2020 election had about 10 Million more people show up on election day, than the 2016 and 2024 elections.
Hopefully D Trump has 'inconvenienced' enough voters to show up, not be complacent, and recognize what's at stake, like they did 2 years ago when they stayed home.

Get out and vote on Tuesday.
Elections have consequences.

7 hours ago, MigL said:

All to facilitate Russian election interference.

The 2020 election had about 10 Million more people show up on election day, than the 2016 and 2024 elections.
Hopefully D Trump has 'inconvenienced' enough voters to show up, not be complacent, and recognize what's at stake, like they did 2 years ago when they stayed home.

Get out and vote on Tuesday.
Elections have consequences.

To be pedantic, more people voted but it was not on election day.

“In the 2020 election, 69% of voters nationwide cast their ballot nontraditionally — by mail and/or before Election Day. This is the highest rate of nontraditional voting for a presidential election

…

By comparison, about 40% of voters cast their ballots by mail and/or prior to Election Day in 2016.”

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/what-methods-did-people-use-to-vote-in-2020-election.html

Dear Mr President -  you know that Ohio Republican Senate candidate whose ass you were lusting over  in public ?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jon-husted-body-comments-b3072952.html

Well  he lost … and talking of losers

Mister -not dear- president of the U.S. Hope you have a bad day.

You have spread your diarrhea everywhere, totally unable of reversing the inflation caused by you with your tariffs and more; proving you are a fraud in your finances forté. The deep damage to the economy will now not be reversible, the citizen difficulties inflated and the petroleum companies happier than can be.

If you believe the democrats are bad, voters said you are worse.

7 hours ago, toucana said:

Well  he lost … and talking of losers

2 hours ago, Externet said:

f you believe the democrats are bad, voters said you are worse.

Oh, don't be such downers; it's time to celebrate.

HAPPY MIDTERM ELECTION EVERYONE !

How'd that mid-decade gerrymandering work out for ya? When people wanted a "businessman" to be President, at least they should have elected a successful one. I wonder what people consider to be Trump's most successful "business"? AFAICT all of his money has come from bluster and scams...

Some highlights from AP News...(Incoherent gurgles of joy in the background at the Vat residence)

Voters absolutely punished Trump’s allies almost everywhere. Democrats won in swing states like Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and North Carolina and in Republican strongholds of Iowa, Kansas, Texas and even South Carolina. Trump’s controversial mid-decade redistricting plan appeared to backfire. And Republican losses allowed Democrats to make history in Georgia, where Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history, while in Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa will become its first Latina governor.

In the House, Democrats flipped districts that voted for Trump by as much as 18 points in 2024. Democrats won at least seven Senate seats in ruby-red states and battlegrounds alike: Kansas, which hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina.

(And for some comedy...

On Tuesday night, Trump posted on social media that Abbott [Texas governor] was to blame for his loss, calling him a “RINO” — a Republican in name only.)(For our overseas friends - calling MAGA monstrosity Greg Abbott a RINO is like saying Mussolini wasn't really a Fascist, a FINO perhaps)

Trump was also dealt twin defeats in two Midwestern states that had borne the brunt of high diesel prices and his tariff war. Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican Roger Marshall in Kansas, while Republican Ashley Hinson lost to Democrat Josh Turek.

Me: A bad day for fascists! And I think some karma might be coming your way, Herr President. Bear in mind that the Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity only applies to actions taken in the performance of official duties. Aaaannnnddddd I don't think gaming the system for your personal crypto schemes, or raping 14 year olds, are official duties of the POTUS, hmm?

55 minutes ago, MigL said:

Oh, don't be such downers; it's time to celebrate.

HAPPY MIDTERM ELECTION EVERYONE !

Yup, champagne cocktails tonight, here in London. But perhaps not in the Kremlin….

6 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Yup, champagne cocktails tonight, here in London. But perhaps not in the Kremlin….

In Kremlin is night for drink vodka direct from bottle, tovarich.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

In Kremlin is night for drink vodka direct from bottle, tovarich.

Like every night.

Will it be the Canard à l'orange tonight, Sir?

Edited Wednesday at 07:33 PM2 days by sethoflagos
sp

I canardly wait!

3 hours ago, CharonY said:

Like every night.

Heh.

Is possible is possible.

3 hours ago, sethoflagos said:

Will it be the Canard à l'orange tonight, Sir?

"Lame Donald Duck"
J Behar, The View

3 hours ago, MigL said:

"Lame Donald Duck"
J Behar, The View

I see a pair of ducks have returned to the pond near where I live.Perhaps it was an omen.

Sadly last year all their (if it was the same pair) brood was seemingy predated by invisible wildlife (minks?foxes?)

Anyway let us wish godspeed to the typical arsetype of the Duck in Chief in his new reincarnation as we approach the festive season.

Edited Thursday at 03:03 AM2 days by geordief

18 minutes ago, geordief said:

I see a pair of ducks have returned to the pond near where I live.Perhaps it was an omen.

Sadly last year all their (if it was the same pair) brood was seemingy predated by invisible wildlife (minks?foxes?)

Anyway let us wish godspeed to the typical arsetype of the Duck in Chief in his new reincarnation as we approach the festive season.

Pike. I've watched a group ducklings disappear over a day whilst fishing.

Should not have bullied to get your way.

Not your policies but how they were implemented.

Democrats rallying doesn’t fix anything.

1 hour ago, StringJunky said:

Pike. I've watched a group ducklings disappear over a day whilst fishing.

Ah yes , (a) pike might be fitting.Not sure if we have pike here ,though as it is fed by one very small stream that fluctuates a lot with the rainfall and the outlet is a very steep drop.

The level goes up and down quite a lot from day to day and I never saw a fish of any size that would be dangerous to ducklings(they are amazingly nippy across the water when very small)

A good few miles down the road it is well known that minks do for practically all of them every year(that is a much bigger area of water and they must have maybe a dozen semi domesticated families there ,as well as a few swans and nearby cormorants ,oyster catchers etc)

Edited Thursday at 04:46 AM2 days by geordief