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I doubt that Clarence Thomas ever made any explicit deal to favour any of his friends
Maybe maybe not, but like Brett Kavanaugh his appointment was almost derailed by accusations of sexual assault, I'd imagine some favours were probably called in in the very narrow vote that appointed him and his wife certainly has though, and like Thomas' owner, she's neck deep in ultra-conservative politics. These people aren't neutral, and make no attempt to hide their partisanship.
These people aren’t neutral, and make no attempt to hide their partisanship.
All judges in the U.S. are partisan in that they need to join a party in order to be elected or appointed. If you want to be appointed by a Democrat president, you need solid liberal credential. If you want to be appointed by a Republican, you need solid conservative credentials. That in itself doesn't make them crooked. I disagree with John Roberts on jurisprudence, but I think he's pretty honest, he genuinely believes that he's doing the right thing and isn't in it for money. I think that Clarence Thomas is a disgrace but I don't think he's making any deals or anything, he's just been trapped in a right-wing bubble for decades and doesn't realize how his behavior looks.
Merry christmas and all that from donny; the all caps truth social post from christmas eve is a real belter - a christmas cracker.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/26/politics/trump-christmas-rant/index.html
It very, very obviously is.
Oh well if some guy on the internet says it's a piece of piss I'll ignore the professors and academics of US constitutional law I heard on my incredibly boring and earnest law podcast then! lol
The SC. has to decide if presidents have absolute immunity (which is what Trump is claiming) or not. Also if Trump acted outside of his presidential responsibilities by trying to change the result of a free and fair election.
On point 1 - the constitution seems to be designed to avoid having kings or dictators in charge.
Point 2 seems hardly worth even discussing.
Judging by this current SC, who knows 🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
The SC. has to decide if presidents have absolute immunity
If ex-presidents have immunity, why did Gerald Ford pardon Richard Nixon and why did Nixon accept it?
If ex-presidents have immunity, why did Gerald Ford pardon Richard Nixon and why did Nixon accept it?
To avoid the SC getting involved and setting a precedent they may not have wanted.
Christ, this is sad. TBF, it's not Trump doing the scamming this time.
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1741776296017805437
I looked at that article and then the ads for the trump bucks. It's not even well done and even though it says that there is no monetary value you can cash them in. It does tell you they are effectively worthless yet people still think they'll make millions.
yet people still think they’ll make millions.
cf: The Iraqi Dinar re-valuation scam and the NESARA conspiracy. Some folks are willing to suspend their disbelief if they think they're going to get rich quick, that many of them also appear to be MAGA/Trump supporters is entirely co-incidental...Probably
It's sad but logical, if I was going to do a low-effort super-obvious fraud then Trump fans are probably one of the best groups in history to target, you had to be easily fooled to even start down that route and by 2024 you've got really, really good at ignoring reality and believing in fairytales, so it's just one more. And the more cults the better- are you christian nationalist, gun nut, flat earther, lost cause of the confederacy, 9/11 truther, anti-vax? Fantastic, you are my perfect target audience for these million dollar jelly beans
the star!
It's quite a flippant headline - but - it's entirely right. We're facing our own election (coincidently a 3/4s of the world's democracies have general and presidential elections this year) and the the most pressing question we should be asking anyone who seeks to lead us is - what are you going to do the day Trump gets elected? And we should be asking that now and hearing answers now. The 6th of November is not the time to start thinking about it. All around the world people should be asking their leaders - 'what is our country's stance faced with that prospect?'
Could the Ukrainians bump him off and get away with it?
Could the Ukrainians bump him off and get away with it?
My money is on a Slovenian
If I was American I'd have voted for Trump both times, not because of any great love of Trump but because I think Clinton and Biden were both worse in their own way. It's going to be a sad a state of affairs if it ends up being Trump v Biden 2024. The most powerful country in the world and it's a choice between a failed businessman/reality TV star and an OAP who's lost his marbles.
Wishing the guy gets murdered seems a bit much, there's lots of people I dislike but I wouldn't wish them dead.
failed businessman/reality TV star and an OAP who’s lost his marbles.
What about Biden?
You may disagree with Trump but at least he still has his mental faculties, such as they are. Biden on the other hand should be in a home, the guy doesn't know what day of the week it is. I feel sorry for him.
If I was American I’d have voted for Trump both times, not because of any great love of Trump but because I think Clinton and Biden were both worse in their own way.<br /><br />
Biden has had a lifetime of public service in political office and understands how important the position of president is
Trump is a ****
Yeah….i can totally see where you’re coming from………
Biden on the other hand should be in a home, the guy doesn’t know what day of the week it is. I feel sorry for him.
I spend quite a lot of time in an home and I don't see as much spoon feeding as I'm reading in those two sentances.
You may disagree with Trump but at least he still has his mental faculties, such as they are.
He does? This is the person who boasted about passing a difficult mental test which turned out to be a basic dementia test.
The one advantage he has over Biden is Biden has some mental faculty to lose whereas Trump has been baselining for many years now.
Indeed he did, very stupid move. I'm not trying to defend everything Trump has ever done, we'd be here all day and I'd still lose.
Biden is clearly past it and I feel bad pointing out his mental degeneration but it's 100% a thing. He's not fit to hold any public office and definitely not pres. Go look at his many gaffs on youtube, it's endless.
He’s not fit to hold any public office and definitely not pres. Go look at his many gaffs on youtube, it’s endless.
uh huh vs the zero gaffes from Trump?
I do think Biden really should stand down but saying you would vote Trump is insane. He is an unfit lump of lard (can you imagine him riding a bike like Biden) whose mental faculties are below those of Biden.
I could sort of agree with someone choosing not to vote for either of them but saying you would vote for Trump because Biden has lost his marbles makes me think you have lost yours.
When I say gaffs I mean shaking hands with invisible people, getting lost leaving the stage, falling down stairs, talking about people long dead like they're still with us etc. I completely understand the dislike of Trump and while he might say stupid things he's at least still with it.
you fact check all these i guess, or are you taking fox clipped version ?
It's amazing in the Same sentence Hanity had Joe as both late stage Dementia and a Criminal mastermind. Yep he's an old guy but glitchy trump is no spring chicken.
more of your fox nonsense debunked here
Even Trump is saying Joe is the evil head of a crime family planning to steal 2024 he's even published the evidence on truth social (well a pdf referencing other peoples debunked supposition and conjecture). So which is it Criminal mastermind or Brain Addled dumb dumb ?
You may disagree with Trump but at least he still has his mental faculties,
I have concerns about the mental faculties of both, but one appears infinitely more dangerous than the other if they have a senior moment, and it isn't Biden.
IMHO if Trump gets in again he won’t ever leave, it’ll be a lifetime presidency.
IMHO if Trump gets in again he won’t ever leave, it’ll be a lifetime presidency.
It'll be like one of those crazy African countries! He'll rip up the rule book so badly and wreck the court system.. He's had a bloody good go at that already... Or like Russia where the opposition mysteriously get thrown jail or murdered.
Winning with 120% of the vote! nothing to see here!
Theres a fairly simple strategy behind all this. Trump's campaign know that the polarisation they've created- (going down the Gingrich route of 'your either MAGA or a traitor' rather than the more embracing Reagan 'we don't have any enemies, only opponents') means they are in no position to win more votes than they already have. It's not a successful strategy to gain popular support if you describe potential new voters as 'vermin'. Their use of that language celebrates that fact.
The votes they've got are the only votes they can hope to get. Their campaigning is very effective at squeezing money out of the supporters they have but it has no ambition to gain new support.
Conversely Biden is a very well positioned candidate to gain new votes from disenfranchised republicans - policy wise he's very much to the right of the Democratic Party so much so both he and Obama could just as easily spent their political life as republicans as did democratic. 'Obama care'... was recycled a Republican policy. Biden has left Trump's immigration policies pretty much untouched.
So to win this next election Trunps reliant not on more people voting for him but on hoping enough democrats don't go out and vote - they can try to achieve that through gerrymandering, which they're well versed in, the can do that via 'Eagle AI' (which Trump announced as a demand for Republican Governors to 'Pull out of ERIC' which I'm sure is third favourite son was relieved about) as a means of fouling up the voter registration system and fuel distrust in the result, gum up the whole election process before and after the vote in legal challenges. And so on.
But much more subtly they can do that with a narrative about Biden's age because a large portion of democratic voters are young. It doesn't matter that Trump is more or less the same age because Trumps core support are generally pretty elderly too. A few slips of the tongue or a stumble are neither here nor there in real terms other than them being a tool that can be used to leverage prejudice. Its prejudice thats extremely wide spread unfortunately and probably the most effective tool at Trumps disposal.
bit rude
As long as the US economy avoids recession I think the old adage "It's the Economy Stupid" will win through on the profiviso that Joe public sees the benefit (lower gas prices etc (US oil production is up on Trumps tenure)) and the encumbant rarely loses (unless you **** up covid 😉 ). It's going to be interesting though, Democrats would really really like Gavin Newsom ticket and I think Joe would probably go for that but it not an easy fix for them. Will Trump do debates ? he can't use the same bollox he's used with the republican primaries...
https://bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67899435
SCOTUS agrees to hear Trumps appeal (on February 8th) against being stuck off ballot in Colorado and ruling will apply nationwide.
Mark you diaries....
Yeah Trump is a complete loon, and as such is not the type of person you wanting command of the US military. But it seems that republican supporters are complete loons also, mainly due thanks to the US system of 'them and us' where they'll only vote republican no matter who the candidate is.
Any sort of criticism is met with whataboutary. They dont seem capable of critical thinking or judging their own party from its failings.
Perhaps for their sins the US deserve Trump in charge. At least when it goes wrong they've nobody to blame but themselves*
.
*After they've blamed each separate country in the middle east, East Asia, middle and southern African states, Europe and South America.
Perhaps for their sins the US deserve Trump in charge. At least when it goes wrong they’ve nobody to blame but themselves*
nah remember the voting system is rigged in their favour (trump lost both overall votes but the uneven weighting and voter suppression let him in) and they also have the same problem of toxic press that we do.
If I was American I’d have voted for Trump both times, not because of any great love of Trump but because I think Clinton and Biden were both worse in their own way.
No, they aren't. They have their flaws but there is no way in which they are worse than Trump. Pretty much every criticism that MAGA world have of Biden is actually a projection of Trump's flaws, they are just trying to deflect attention from how utterly awful Trump is by claiming (without any evidence) that Biden has the same flaws.
Oh lord, how does anything think Trump is fit for office?
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1743463970621862227
And who could possibly disagree with this.
https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1743424735583916510
I'm glad he can be bothered to wear pants, very reassuring in the Leader of the Free World.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1743471630326911017
Wishing the guy gets murdered seems a bit much, there’s lots of people I dislike but I wouldn’t wish them dead.
Like trump says you could just move on and get over it 😕
https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1743404326658437557
trump, during his Iowa rally,spent time mocking Biden's stutter and getting cheap laughs from (some of?) the audience for it.
He really is loathsome.
TBH that last one isn't that big of a deal, it's just that he went to "move on" too quickly. Day after a school shooting you're supposed to say "too soon to talk about it", "move on" doesn't come until after that. But the result is exactly the same, it's all just saying "we approve the killing of children because we like owning guns" and I don't care how anyone says that, it's equally shit. How dare he tactlessly approve of the murder of kids, you're supposed to do it tactfully!
you’re supposed to do it tactfully!
Suck it up Snowflake ?
Channel 4 news did a piece from Iowa last night. It was terrifying!
It’s full of evangelical Christian’s, who for some unfathomable reason have come to the conclusion that Trump is doing gods work.
How the hell has this happened? I can’t think of a less suitable candidate for gods representative on earth than the orange man-baby, so they must be easily pleased
Really worrying.
Biden is not the man to take him on, I fear.
Biden is not the man to take him on, I fear.
It isn't "just" Biden, the whole idea of staving off the right wing populists by moving to the right and ignoring the fundamental economic inequality that just keeps growing is just blatantly never going to work.
I still think there will be enough opposition to trump to stop him winning the election, but by not dealing with the inequality there is a clear danger that the normally disenfranchised non voters who actually came out to stop him last time, just don't vote again as they still feel ignored and economically oppressed.
Hopefully a wake up call to people who wouldn’t normally bother to vote.
Hopefully a wake up call to people who wouldn’t normally bother to vote.
You would hope Trump getting elected in the first place would have been a wake up call to stop adopting policies and putting up candidates that mean people don't bother to vote but that wasn't the case, was it?
R4 this morning.
Iowan "he's doing God's work",
Presenter" wait you mean literally doing God's work. As in God's plan, God made him to do this?" (Paraphrasing)
Iowan "yes"
I actually feel sorry for the average American voter
Imagine if our upcoming general election was a re-run of the last one and we were faced with the choice of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn?
It’s truly staggering to think that 5 years down the line this is still the best that the 2 parties in the states can come up with.
Biden is not the man to take him on, I fear.
Quite terrifying that a country of 335 million people can't find someone better than Biden to take on Trump.
If Trump wins the election I imagine that America will be more like Gilead than America in five years time when the next election rolls around.
Hopefully he'll be in prison by then. Game over and Nikki Haley steps up.
If they wanted him in prison they should've had it buttoned up before the election started.
Worlds just ****ed isnt it
How have we reached a point of all this.
Christ it's depressing
Hopefully he’ll be in prison by then. Game over and Nikki Haley steps up.
Nikki Haley is more likely to win the election IMO, Trump on the ballot still motivates many to oppose him, I don't think that would be the case with Haley. So while Trump maybe batshit mental, Haley is equally as dangerous in being more likely to keep implementing ever more extreme neoliberalism with better PR. As stated, it really is a choice of what bread should be used for your shit sandwich.
Imagine if our upcoming general election was a re-run of the last one and we were faced with the choice of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn?
And Johnson was a convicted criminal.
"A poll of likely Republican caucus voters published ahead of the vote found that 61% said their support of Trump would not be affected by a potential criminal conviction before the general election."
But then, in 2019 my neighbour said they'd vote for Johnson after scowling at my SNP poster - when I asked did they trust him, they laughed and said "of course not".
What do they put in their drinks?
We do have to remember this is registered Republican voters, not the electorate.
But if the opposition offer little or no hope, then the electorate may once again gamble on false hope.
Imagine if our upcoming general election was a re-run of the last one and we were faced with the choice of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn?
Is it more like the point where the Tory members starting looking at Liz Truss and thought "yep, that's our election winner right there" ?
It's no wonder the tin foil hat brigade, of all types, have a field day over there.
Trump, the foulest of humans, looks to be riding to power again, opposed by a barely animated shell of a care home escapee.
I mean, they both have to be puppets of someone shirley??
It's inexplicably dire. Like Scotland having the choice of Douglas Ross or Lorna Slater, take it or leave it. *shudder*
Proof if ever it was needed that democracy is really not a great idea when so many people are thick as mince
I’ve long thought each persons vote should weighted differently. Obviously based on criteria set by me.
Ready for the grave and about to shaft the next generation - your vote is worth 0.25
Religious nut job - vote worth 0.10
Can’t be arsed to actually check the party manifesto - 0.25
Get all of your news from Facebook - 0.01
I can't believe how stupid Americans are.....
The guy is an egomaniacal lunatic - the rest of the sane world can see this, why can't they???
The very fact that if he's convicted of anything yet still allowed to stand is wrong, and then if he wins he can pardon himself?
Let's face it Communism seems like a better choice than Trump......
We do have to remember this is registered Republican voters, not the electorate.
This is a very important point. Trump got just over 50% support from registered Republicans. That's pretty weak for a guys who has been the party leader for the last eight years. It will only take a few percent of those non-Trump supporting Republicans to stay home or vote for Biden to make it an easy win for Biden.
I think people often underestimate Biden. I do wish that there was someone younger, but there isn't. He's a centrist politician who has decades of experience getting bipartisan support for policies by understanding where the center is. For example, he was in favour of gay marriage before Obama was - he realized that society had changed and most people were quite accepting of it. He didn't survive this long in politics by being a lousy politician.
Thing is, Biden's numbers are currently about as bad as they will get. Once Trump locks up the Republican nomination, polling voters on whether they support Biden turns into a question of which candidate they prefer, not a question of whether Biden matches up to their dream candidate. U.S. economic numbers are extremely robust, unemployment is low, there have been solid wage gains, and inflation seems to be under control. In another six months people will have gotten used to the new price levels so the grumbling about inflation should ease.
Not saying that it'll be a cake walk, but I don't think the picture is as gloomy as many people believe.
51% among Iowa republicans does not equate to a national election win. Ted Cruz won the Republican caucus in 2016, Biden was a distant third or fourth in Iowa for the Democrats last time around.
Hopefully it will wake up more moderate republicans to turn out for other candidates in New Hampshire or beyond.
If I understand this correctly, this is among registered Republicans. That's a number that should really worry Trump and encourage Democrats.
https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1747064551432974627
I think additional polling also showed that many of those Republicans who didn't vote for Trump also said they'd rather abstain or vote for Biden before ever voting for Trump.
Hopefully it will wake up more moderate republicans to turn out for other candidates in New Hampshire or beyond.
Who are they turning out for now that Chris Christie is gone now. The rest of the candidates are pretty much either banking on the Trump vote if he winds up in jail / chokes on a cheeseburger or auditioning to be his VP (in the hope that he winds up in jail or chokes on a cheeseburger further down the line)
The only moderate menu of the menu is Biden really.
You know Biden lost the Iowa Caucus in 2020? In fact since 1976, only two Iowa winners have gone onto win the Presidency, Obama in 2008 and Bush Jnr. in 2000. It's not an indicator of anything other than impolite things about Iowans.
What I don't understand is why the democrats don't put up a better candidate. Biden was the right person last time but clearly is not now - they don't need a steady hand - they need a leader to inspire
Agree TJ. Surely there must be someone better suited to the task and more likely to beat trump. It’s unfathomable.
it’s not as if Biden would lose face by pulling out. He’s ancient and could just claim 1 term is enough for someone his age.
Too late now. It just looks like you're running scared.
What I don’t understand is why the democrats don’t put up a better candidate.
Serious question - who do you think would be a better candidate? Replacing an incumbent President as your candidate is a very serious decision, the incumbent has a huge advantage in the U.S. political system. Kamala Harris just hasn't come across as a strong alternative. It's easy to say they should replace Biden with someone better, it's much harder to find someone better than people assume.
All the Democrat options don't work for 2024, or are vulnerable in the current poisonous political climate.
Best guess for 2028? Gavin Newsom vs Gretchen Whitmer, I guess.
surely there is someone? Is the talent pool that shallow?