[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

But he's pulling them out for his buddy Putin.

Ah. The old Putin pullout.

Hey if that’s what it takes to get our troops out I’m all for it. No reason for us to have military forces there any longer.

I'm all for it if this is the straw the breaks the GOP's back when it comes to supporting that terrorist-emboldening Trump.

It won't be, but a guy can dream.

OG_slinger wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:
AP wrote:

Critics have long warned that the data may be incomplete, in part because it is based on voluntary reporting by police agencies across the country.

This is my biggest red flag while reading that article. There are other red flags, to be sure.

It's how all FBI crime data is collected: individual police departments have to voluntarily report it.

It should also be noted that most police departments in decently-sized cities report this data to the FBI because they have to collect it for their local governments. It's the Mayberry PDs of the country that don't.

That being said these were also the same PDs that massively underreported things like how many civilians they shot and killed every year.

Just to clarify, my big red flag is that the data is self reported by the police, rather than being researched and tallied by an impartial third party. The police are required to report something, rather than being required to report accurately.

I’m sorry if I was vague.

LouZiffer wrote:

Ah. The old Putin pullout.

Oh how I wish, I wish I had but more than one like to give...

Hobear wrote:
LouZiffer wrote:

Ah. The old Putin pullout.

Oh how I wish, I wish I had but more than one like to give...

I just got this now so I gave a like.

California woman wields stun gun while accusing family of 'acting like Black people' in 'white neighborhood'

There's video...

She's also wielding a poodle. I guess she thought she needed her dog for protection?

ABC: Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is new and disturbing information in the alleged militia plot against the governor of Michigan.

The 14 men charged had far more violent plans than just a kidnapping, according to federal and state authorities.

New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building by 200 combatants who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials.

And, according to government documents now on file in lower Michigan court, there was also a Plan C -- burning down the state house, leaving no survivors.

Good thing that Scott Atlas just encouraged people to "rise up" against Governor Whitmer's new covid order.

Wow. In alabama too? these are some brave kids.

thrawn82 wrote:

Wow. In alabama too? these are some brave kids.

Congrats to the kids who did this. Now how are they going to solve the fact that the people in power won't allow this to happen?

BadKen wrote:

California woman wields stun gun while accusing family of 'acting like Black people' in 'white neighborhood'

There's video...

She's also wielding a poodle. I guess she thought she needed her dog for protection?

If someone walked up on me in my drive while carrying a weapon and spouting racist sh*t, she's getting a straight on beatdown that is getting posted to Worldstar.

Gremlin wrote:

ABC: Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is new and disturbing information in the alleged militia plot against the governor of Michigan.

The 14 men charged had far more violent plans than just a kidnapping, according to federal and state authorities.

New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building by 200 combatants who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials.

And, according to government documents now on file in lower Michigan court, there was also a Plan C -- burning down the state house, leaving no survivors.

These seem like reasonable people we can reach out to and work across the aisle with.

Paleocon wrote:

If someone walked up on me in my drive while carrying a weapon and spouting racist sh*t, she's getting a straight on beatdown that is getting posted to Worldstar.

My favorite thing about that video is that the way the kid turned the phrase around at the end and made it a point of pride.

Gremlin wrote:

ABC: Disturbing new details in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is new and disturbing information in the alleged militia plot against the governor of Michigan.

The 14 men charged had far more violent plans than just a kidnapping, according to federal and state authorities.

New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building by 200 combatants who would stage a week-long series of televised executions of public officials.

And, according to government documents now on file in lower Michigan court, there was also a Plan C -- burning down the state house, leaving no survivors.

There's still room at Gitmo, right?

Why Fox News Can’t Afford to Quit Donald Trump - Disinformation about the election’s outcome is desired by Fox’s viewers, not forced upon them

I just found this part true and so, so dismaying.

But this isn’t just a matter of future revenue for Fox and the Murdochs. The primetime fraud clamor has the effect of creating a false narrative that will likely deform the U.S. political system for years ahead. About half of Republicans in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll believe that Trump “rightfully won” the election, and according to a Politico poll, 70 percent of Republicans do not believe the election was free or fair — even though, it bears repeating, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and nearly every day another court in the nation tosses out another unfounded lawsuit from the Trump campaign. Of course, the campaign’s tweets and statements reach an audience without amplification by Fox News, but the amplification is crucial oxygen that gives vigorous life to the delusions.

What this means, once Biden is inaugurated in January, is that a bitter portion of the electorate will likely regard his presidency as illegitimate — a presidency of stolen votes. It takes little imagination to envision four years of far-right kneecapping of Biden based on this fraudulent narrative of fraud. It would be a new form of birtherism but more virulent and durable because Fox has seeded it so deeply and widely — and seems intent to continue doing so. Even if Trump shambles off to a post-presidential bog of legal jeopardy and incoherent tweets, the Republican Party will have the weapon it needs to inflict the damage it wants.

Fox (and other alt-right propaganda channels) as a Sith force manipulating the poor and otherwise innocent sheeple is a myth the left loves to believe, as the alternative - people only believe what they want to believe in the first place - is so horrid.

dejanzie wrote:

Fox (and other alt-right propaganda channels) as a Sith force manipulating the poor and otherwise innocent sheeple is a myth the left loves to believe, as the alternative - people only believe what they want to believe in the first place - is so horrid.

I’ve done a little bit of reading about this. The truth is, it’s an incredibly complicated situation. It’s hard to sum up why people believe what they believe in a concise statement. What works best for me, is to look at it it like a religion.

The narrative of the radical right is their gospel, and right wing media outlets that proliferate that narrative are their holy texts. They follow and believe without questioning anything. When it comes to the election, they don’t think that maybe there could be election fraud, and that it should be looked into. They (wrongly) believe in their heart of hearts that the Democratic Party has stolen the election. They don’t need proof. They don’t want proof. They will go to their graves believing that the Democratic Party defrauded the democratic process, and stole this election.

I’m not sure if anyone has figured out why people subscribe to ideologies like this. That is the super complicated part. What we do know is that devout Christians will always believe that Jesus was the son of god and died for our sins, and radical right fascists will always believe that Trump won this election.

I think Fox is only a part of the ecosystem that is the conservative media feedback loop. I have often described it as the hate powered monster truck that is the modern Republican party. As an ecosystem, it has a momentum of its own and is perfectly capable of travelling in the direction that physics demands without seemingly critical components. And since it seems perfectly happy to let velocity be its measure of success, steering seems to be irrelevant.

RawkGWJ wrote:
dejanzie wrote:

Fox (and other alt-right propaganda channels) as a Sith force manipulating the poor and otherwise innocent sheeple is a myth the left loves to believe, as the alternative - people only believe what they want to believe in the first place - is so horrid.

I’ve done a little bit of reading about this. The truth is, it’s an incredibly complicated situation. It’s hard to sum up why people believe what they believe in a concise statement. What works best for me, is to look at it it like a religion.

The narrative of the radical right is their gospel, and right wing media outlets that proliferate that narrative are their holy texts. They follow and believe without questioning anything. When it comes to the election, they don’t think that maybe there could be election fraud, and that it should be looked into. They (wrongly) believe in their heart of hearts that the Democratic Party has stolen the election. They don’t need proof. They don’t want proof. They will go to their graves believing that the Democratic Party defrauded the democratic process, and stole this election.

I’m not sure if anyone has figured out why people subscribe to ideologies like this. That is the super complicated part. What we do know is that devout Christians will always believe that Jesus was the son of god and died for our sins, and radical right fascists will always believe that Trump won this election.

I like the concept of likening fringe thinking to a virus (I feel it necessary to say it predated the current pandemic). Which summed up is we basically used to have herd immunity against conspiracy theories and fringe ideas because they just didn't reach enough people open to the idea. Thirty years ago if you hung out at the local coffee shop and spouted ideas about lizard men taking over the world you became "that crazy guy". Now with social media and media networks allowing for communities of like minded people to share and spread their ideas we've lost our protection.

Clumber wrote:

I like the concept of likening fringe thinking to a virus (I feel it necessary to say it predated the current pandemic). Which summed up is we basically used to have herd immunity against conspiracy theories and fringe ideas because they just didn't reach enough people open to the idea. Thirty years ago if you hung out at the local coffee shop and spouted ideas about lizard men taking over the world you became "that crazy guy". Now with social media and media networks allowing for communities of like minded people to share and spread their ideas we've lost our protection.

The original definition of "meme" was an idea or behavior that spreads through a population like a virus.

I Lived Through A Stupid Coup. America Is Having One Now

A fairly bleak, disheartening read.

I think what gets me is that this bell cannot be un-rung. A vast majority of Republicans say the election was not free or fair. You cannot walk back from that easily, and many of the paths forward from here are... well...

There’s a ticking bomb at the heart of your democracy now. Your government, the very idea of governance is fatally wounded. Chaos has been planted at its heart. I don’t know what this chaos will grow into, but I can promise you this. It won’t be good.
Prederick wrote:

I Lived Through A Stupid Coup. America Is Having One Now

A fairly bleak, disheartening read.

I think what gets me is that this bell cannot be un-rung. A vast majority of Republicans say the election was not free or fair. You cannot walk back from that easily, and many of the paths forward from here are... well...

There’s a ticking bomb at the heart of your democracy now. Your government, the very idea of governance is fatally wounded. Chaos has been planted at its heart. I don’t know what this chaos will grow into, but I can promise you this. It won’t be good.

This is basically what I am waiting on. Just waiting for the first idiot with a gun. Not if, but when.

If I was Biden or Harris I would basically never leave the WH

TheGameguru wrote:

If I was Biden or Harris I would basically never leave the WH

It’s the lower level officials, elected and appointed, that I’m much more worried about- someone just doing their job but gets killed because they:

-draw ire for trampling on “freedom” with something as benign and necessary as a mask mandate or certifying election results or
- randomly got embroiled in a crazy “deep state” baby killing conspiracy theory or
- were just randomly targeted to be made an example of by someone hoping to trigger the purge or boogaloo or whatever

They didn’t sign up for the risks like Biden and Harris and they certainly don’t remotely have the level of protection.