[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.

Don’t forget their massive unofficial navy of “fishermen” who travel in huge groups and are willing to do what it takes to achieve China’s goals especially in the South China Sea”

Jonman wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Chinese Envoy wrote:

"In the eyes of the Westerners, our diplomacy is on the offensive and aggressive, but the truth is, it is them who are on the offensive and aggressive."

China, the ultimate gaslighter.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Really?

You think our diplomacy, backed as it is by the world's largest military, ISN'T offensive and aggressive?

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)

Like, I really should be over being surprised at the bald-faced, obvious, deafening hypocrisy, but still:

After Trump’s flattery, GOP hits Biden as weak on Russia

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Biden had given Putin a “pass” at their summit in Switzerland Wednesday, while Trump said the U.S. “didn’t get anything” from the meeting. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a potential 2024 contender, declared, “America today is weaker than it was on the world stage just 48 hours ago.”

It’s a curious line of attack from a party that largely turned a blind eye as Trump spent four years praising the Russian strongman, including stunning comments at a 2018 joint press conference in Helsinki during which Trump sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia had meddled in the 2016 U.S. to help elect Trump.

And it comes as Republicans have struggled to drag down Biden’s approval ratings, which have been buoyed by praise of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“President Biden should have used yesterday’s summit to show that the United States will hold Russia accountable for its long list of transgressions, Instead, he gave Vladimir Putin a pass,” McCarthy tweeted. “We need real leadership that puts the American people first again.”

It's one thing to hear "don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining," it's another thing to have one of the two major political parties in your country literally adopting it as a normal part of their discourse.

Prederick wrote:
“President Biden should have used yesterday’s summit to show that the United States will hold Russia accountable for its long list of transgressions, Instead, he gave Vladimir Putin a pass,” McCarthy tweeted.

Why would you want us to hold them accountable for a "long list of transgressions" that you keep denying ever happened?

Apropos of nothing, I am SO excited to see capitalism attempt to co-op Juneteenth (which Charlie Kirk is pissy about, because of course). It is going to be.... uh... bumpy at the beginning for some people, and I am going to laugh my ass off.

Actually, I have live video of Popeye's HQ as they try to think about what to do for Juneteenth:

IMAGE(https://media3.giphy.com/media/3oz8xLlw6GHVfokaNW/200.gif)

Reaper81 wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Yeah, the Chinese aren't particularly benevolent, but the African nations that receive their aid are not naïve either. Given the choice of cooperating with Western nations like the US or Colonialist Europeans and an emerging China, the Chinese option has consistently proven to be at least marginally superior and, in many cases, tremendously so.

Chinese aid and loans tend to come with fewer strings attached and the strings they do come with tend to be of little inconvenience (e.g.: isolating Taiwan). China also lacks a blue water navy and the Chinese people in general have a pretty low tolerance for foreign military adventures. In sharp contrast, the US and Europe have a pretty well established track record of backing unfriendly coups and utilizing the IMF to implement "austerity" as a weapon of mass destruction.

Perhaps the entry of China as a global competitor will have the effect of improving our own behavior. Gods I hope so. But until we do, I can't fault Africans from telling us to go f*ck ourselves.

China is actively expanding their blue water capabilities with carriers and navalized 4th and 5th generation fighter variants very far into development.

Additionally, they continue to rapidly expand the number of airfields and military installations domestically and globally.

It's an impressive feat given where they were even 20 years ago.

They have two "carriers" which amount to nothing more than testbed ships for trying to understand navair ops. The Liaoning is a decommed Ukrainian hunk of junk. The Shandung is basically a prototype. Neither of them are combat ready and it would really surprise me if they would be able to make the trip over blue water to Africa. The blue water assets they do have aren't hugely impressive either.

They are definitely working toward expanded capability, but they are nowhere near being able to project meaningful military power beyond their own region. Anything they send more than 1000 miles from shore is going to have a tough time dealing with first world opposition.

If Taiwan's their target, the PRC doesn't need to project naval power that far.

Paleocon wrote:
Reaper81 wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Yeah, the Chinese aren't particularly benevolent, but the African nations that receive their aid are not naïve either. Given the choice of cooperating with Western nations like the US or Colonialist Europeans and an emerging China, the Chinese option has consistently proven to be at least marginally superior and, in many cases, tremendously so.

Chinese aid and loans tend to come with fewer strings attached and the strings they do come with tend to be of little inconvenience (e.g.: isolating Taiwan). China also lacks a blue water navy and the Chinese people in general have a pretty low tolerance for foreign military adventures. In sharp contrast, the US and Europe have a pretty well established track record of backing unfriendly coups and utilizing the IMF to implement "austerity" as a weapon of mass destruction.

Perhaps the entry of China as a global competitor will have the effect of improving our own behavior. Gods I hope so. But until we do, I can't fault Africans from telling us to go f*ck ourselves.

China is actively expanding their blue water capabilities with carriers and navalized 4th and 5th generation fighter variants very far into development.

Additionally, they continue to rapidly expand the number of airfields and military installations domestically and globally.

It's an impressive feat given where they were even 20 years ago.

They have two "carriers" which amount to nothing more than testbed ships for trying to understand navair ops. The Liaoning is a decommed Ukrainian hunk of junk. The Shandung is basically a prototype. Neither of them are combat ready and it would really surprise me if they would be able to make the trip over blue water to Africa. The blue water assets they do have aren't hugely impressive either.

They are definitely working toward expanded capability, but they are nowhere near being able to project meaningful military power beyond their own region. Anything they send more than 1000 miles from shore is going to have a tough time dealing with first world opposition.

All of this is accurate.

Counterpoint. The US Navy can't stop crashing into other boats.

Rat Boy wrote:

If Taiwan's their target, the PRC doesn't need to project naval power that far.

I was living in Taiwan when the Chinese bought that derelict "aircraft carrier". I was also there when they decided to do a bunch of missile tests over disputed waters. They made all manner of noise about "modernizing" their naval capabilities and put on a big show of doing naval exercises in the Taiwan Strait. It was during the presidential elections and there was a decent chance that a Taiwanese nationalist was going to take office. The newspapers were all about the hysteria.

The Clinton Administration response was a wordless one. They tipped off to the press that it would be in their interests to show up at or near a grid square in the middle of the Strait at a precise time. They did not knowing what would be next. At the appointed time and out of nowhere, a 688i hard breached sending a column of water 30' in the air. It cruised on the surface for approximately 30 seconds and then disappeared beneath the waves and broke sonar contact within minutes. Given the order, that single sub would have easily sent the entire Chinese fleet to the bottom in less than an hour.

Don't have a link but I do recall reading an analysis that pointed out how China has to spend an inordinate amount of energy/money/resources (in 18th century terms, "treasure") on suppressing dissent.

All authoritarian regimes do. They are rarely (ever?) the lean, agile adversaries they claim to be.

Top_Shelf wrote:

Don't have a link but I do recall reading an analysis that pointed out how China has to spend an inordinate amount of energy/money/resources (in 18th century terms, "treasure") on suppressing dissent.

All authoritarian regimes do. They are rarely (ever?) the lean, agile adversaries they claim to be.

And, somehow they manage not to incarcerate anywhere near as large a percentage of their population as we do here in the "land of the free".

Paleocon wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

If Taiwan's their target, the PRC doesn't need to project naval power that far.

I was living in Taiwan when the Chinese bought that derelict "aircraft carrier". I was also there when they decided to do a bunch of missile tests over disputed waters. They made all manner of noise about "modernizing" their naval capabilities and put on a big show of doing naval exercises in the Taiwan Strait. It was during the presidential elections and there was a decent chance that a Taiwanese nationalist was going to take office. The newspapers were all about the hysteria.

The Clinton Administration response was a wordless one. They tipped off to the press that it would be in their interests to show up at or near a grid square in the middle of the Strait at a precise time. They did not knowing what would be next. At the appointed time and out of nowhere, a 688i hard breached sending a column of water 30' in the air. It cruised on the surface for approximately 30 seconds and then disappeared beneath the waves and broke sonar contact within minutes. Given the order, that single sub would have easily sent the entire Chinese fleet to the bottom in less than an hour.

The last 688 hull commissioned was in 1996. If it was a person it would be kicked off their parents health insurance this year because it was too old. About half of the 60-odd hulls of the Los Angeles-class that were built have already been retired from service.

We only have three next-gen Seawolf attack submarines--which were actually designed in the early 80s--because they cost well over $3 billion to build (more like $5 billion in today's dollars).

Meanwhile just five years ago a Chinese submarine stalked the carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Sea of Japan for over half a day and back in 2006 a Chinese Type 039 improved diesel-electric sub surfaced within five miles of the USS Kitty Hawk.

Each US carrier group has two Los Angeles or Seawolf attack submarines assigned to it. Their only job is to prevent another navy's submarines from getting anywhere near the carrier.

Then there's China's DF-21D ballistic anti-ship missile. The variant was specifically designed to target US carriers up to 1,500+ miles from their mobile launcher. But don't forget about China's even newer YJ-12 missile. It's a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile that has about triple the range (and speed) of the Navy' venerable Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The biggest cause for the concern about this new missile seems to be that it packs a sensor package that enables it to detect incoming missiles that are trying to destroy it as well as the ability to perform violent maneuvering to avoid getting hit by said incoming missiles.

The point is that China's going to own the waters near them just like we own the waters near us. Any carrier force we deploy there is going to be within striking distance of a sh*t ton of land, sea, and air based missiles that have a pretty damned good chance of completely f*cking up one of our very limited number of--and very, very expensive--carriers. China's also producing more--and better--nuclear attack submarines as well as the sleeper next-gen diesel electric submarines who's acoustic performance puts the 688 to shame.

We will always be trying to project power into an operational space that China controls, if only because of its proximity. China will continue to develop and deploy weapons systems that target our ability to project power--our carriers--and that arms race will always give them the advantage because, at the end of the day, only one Chinese missile needs to leak through the US's anti-missile systems.

Paleocon wrote:
Top_Shelf wrote:

Don't have a link but I do recall reading an analysis that pointed out how China has to spend an inordinate amount of energy/money/resources (in 18th century terms, "treasure") on suppressing dissent.

All authoritarian regimes do. They are rarely (ever?) the lean, agile adversaries they claim to be.

And, somehow they manage not to incarcerate anywhere near as large a percentage of their population as we do here in the "land of the free".

Incarnating dissidents is way more expensive than gunning them down in the streets.

The US has a for-profit prison system consisting of publicly traded corporations. Shareholders want to see increased profits. The easiest way for the prisons to do that is to incarcerate more citizens. This earns the prisons more government grant money (which comes from our taxes), and gives them more bodies for their slave labor practices.

Edit
My point is that I think these two things are mutually exclusive from one another. Not that one is better than the other.

Dozens of Portland police officers resign from team that responds to protests after member is indicted

Of course reading it they didn't resign from the department just from that special task force. I hate bait and switch headlines. It isn't like Portland is going to not have dozens of police. It is that Portland won't have a special goon squad to go attack protesters.

How should they have phrased the headline? "Dozens of Portland police officers resign from team that responds to protests, but not from the department itself, let us be absolutely clear that they are still police officers, we cool? okay good. ...after member is indicted."?

"Police re-assign themselves after team member is indicted"

"Officers quit task force after team member indicted"

“Violent gang members once again choose to side with criminal over public.”

Officers quit goon-squad but want to remain employed by the Portland PD. Goon-Squad deemed to be overtly racist. White police officers wish to remain vaguely racist in order to avoid public scrutiny.

White police officers wish to remain vaguely racist in order to avoid public scrutiny

There's your headline!

The Supreme Court’s Newest Justices Produce Some Unexpected Results

In the term so far, including two major decisions on Thursday, the court’s expanded conservative majority is fractured and its liberals are often on the winning side.
Mixolyde wrote:

"Police re-assign themselves after team member is indicted"

polypusher wrote:

"Officers quit task force after team member indicted"

ruhk wrote:

“Violent gang members once again choose to side with criminal over public.”

"There's a sale at Penny's!"

I got that reference!.gif

Just read it and was going to post it as well.

It always amazes me how much amplification of sh*tty ideas there is from some bullsh*t named conservative think tank that only exists because a bunch of billionaires cobbled together a couple mil in donations from their own foundations to pay pay guys like Rufo maybe $200K to write academic-esque articles whose cherry-picked arguments are eagerly repeated on conservative media and used by other conservative think tanks to draft legislation.

I mean the latest tax filing of the Manhattan Institute shows it ekes by on $15 million a year in donations, well over $10 million of that goes to salaries. And Rufo's been sucking at those teats for years: Heritage Foundation, Discovery Institute, etc.

Last summer, Rufo published several more pieces for City Journal, and, on September 2nd, he appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Rufo had prepared a three-minute monologue, to be uploaded to a teleprompter at a Seattle studio, and he had practiced carefully enough that when a teleprompter wasn’t available he still remembered what to say. On air, set against the deep-blue background of Fox News, he told Carlson, “It’s absolutely astonishing how critical race theory”—he said those three words slowly, for emphasis—“has pervaded every aspect of the federal government.” Carlson’s face retracted into a familiar pinched squint while Rufo recounted several of his articles. Then he said what he’d come to say: “Conservatives need to wake up. This is an existential threat to the United States. And the bureaucracy, even under Trump, is being weaponized against core American values. And I’d like to make it explicit: The President and the White House—it’s within their authority to immediately issue an executive order to abolish critical-race-theory training from the federal government. And I call on the President to immediately issue this executive order—to stamp out this destructive, divisive, pseudoscientific ideology.”

The next morning, Rufo was home with his wife and two sons when he got a phone call from a 202 area code. The man on the other end, Rufo recalled, said, “ ‘Chris, this is Mark Meadows, chief of staff, reaching out on behalf of the President. He saw your segment on ‘Tucker’ last night, and he’s instructed me to take action.” Soon after, Rufo flew to Washington, D.C., to assist in drafting an executive order, issued by the White House in late September, that limited how contractors providing federal diversity seminars could talk about race. “This entire movement came from nothing,” Rufo wrote to me recently, as the conservative campaign against critical race theory consumed Twitter each morning and Fox News each night. But the truth is more specific than that. Really, it came from him.

Fox News making policy for the GOP. Just insane.

I mean, that tail's been wagging the dog for a while now. Throughout the Trump presidency, he was more concerned with the opinion of Carlson/Ingraham/Hannity than any policy advisor.

An insult to dogs and tails.

The spasming asshole that makes the dog and tail twitch?

Stele wrote:

Fox News making policy for the GOP. Just insane.

The article omits that Rufo was a Visiting Fellow for Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation just a few months ago when CRT really started popping off among the right wing.

Heritage Foundation paid him to write a report: Critical Race Theory Would Not Solve Racial Inequality: It Would Deepen It.

Up until about March of this year Rufo was the director of the Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty where he'd been writing op-eds about CRT since last summer. Before that he was being paid to write about the evils of homelessness, how COVID was killing the economy, scary ANTIFA and BLM riots, defunding the police, and other standard conservative bogeymen.

So it's a bit more that conservative billionaires are paying lackeys a couple hundred grand to cook up right-wing horror stories that are then eagerly promoted by conservative media icons who are making (tens of) millions.

This, of course, was best expressed in the unaired Carlson interview with Dutch historian Rutger Bregman a few years back where Bregman pointed out that ole Tucker was just a "millionaire funded by billionaires" because he had been a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute (founded and funded by the Kochs) for years and was cashing checks written by Rupert Murdoch at Fox.