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Texas has no personal income tax...handy when you are a multi-billionaire
Poopscoop
Full MemberHow the hell did Trump manage to find another guy that’s as much of an utter &£#@##£#£&&@#££?++#&&##£##£###£##… as he is?
He didn't find him, he pretty much created him. Vance was a relatively moderate republican of the old school, saying "Im a Never Trump guy", called him an idiot, said he could be America's Hitler, said he was unfit for the office. And "I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place. I think there’s a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton.”
And then he found himself out in the wilderness as the party went full cultist, and made the tactical decision to fake it and join them. Not quickly, mind you, he just stayed out of sight for a couple of years til he realised that there was no quick way back for the GOP and that if he wanted to be a part of it he had to be as mental as all the other MAGAs. It's almost worse for people like this, he's not crazy, he didn't believe this stuff, he just fakes it.
(though maybe he'll end up actually believing it like a lot of the other nutters; plenty of people around Trump started out doing it tactically, but accidentally gaslit themselves and end up forgetting what's real and not)
MSP
Full MemberI wouldn’t be surprised if Musk’s announcement about moving x and space x from California to Texas yesterday was to start the campaign against Newsome in case he gets the nod.
Musk likes Texas, they're pretty desperate to improve their economy on the tech side so they've pretty much waived environmental restrictions for boca chica, he's been free to blow up rockets, set fire to a wilderness reserve, pour water runoff into endangered habitats in the nature reserve he was inexplicably allowed to built a space launch station in, and got permission for it on the basis of being a commercial launch site for Falcons then turned it into an experimental site for exploding Starships.
The irony of course is that Spacex (like other tech companies) have brought loads of highly educated, upper middle class tech professionals into texas, all of whom vote blue and demand better infrastrcuture, schools and lifestyles than republican Texas likes, accelerating Texas's general division and overall march leftwards.
When's Trump going to take that plaster off, he was only shot in the head.
It’s far more likely that every single lunatic in the audience in Milwaukee tonight will be accessorising their red MAGA baseball cap with a big plaster on their ear, than it is for trump to take his off
https://Twitter.com/stevelane100/status/1813840616519811545?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
Looks like it's absolutely untenable for Biden now but the damage has been done. Unless enough Americans vote to actively keep Trump out it seems like a lost cause.
Never thought I'd see America in the state it is now with the MAGA cult. Never thought I'd see the UK dragged down so far either, mind you.
Texas has no personal income tax…handy when you are a multi-billionaire
Damn, so rather than offshoring you can just off-county, or off state?
No Wonder the Texans are getting a bit tetchy!
One thing that’s going to be interesting is the enquiry into the failure by the USSS, (US Secret Service). Their main job, as I understand it, is to protect the President, so how come they screwed the pooch in such a spectacular fashion?
However, they didn't find that the Trump Rally shooter had any particular ideology. He left behind no manifesto, and nobody interviewed said that Crooks ever talked politics. Reportedly, investigators also found a second cellphone. They're in the process of investigating more there.
On the day of the Trump Rally shooting, Crooks' parents were concerned for their son. He didn't return home that afternoon, so his father contacted local authorities. He thought his son was a shooting range. Instead, Crooks was at the rally where he climbed onto a roof and opened fire on the crowd, injuring several and killing one.
The Secret Service has come under scrutiny for not anticipating the threat prior to the attack. "The buck stops with me," said United States Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheatle
"The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion," she said. "Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded. By the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president."
No one was posted on the roof. She said, "That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there. That we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside."
However, the director is refusing to step down from her position despite criticism from the public.
So, here’s the problem, the pitch of the roof was very shallow, a five year old, but not necessarily dTrumph, could have walked up it. The Sherriff’s Office snipers were on a roof with a much steeper pitch, at least 15-20°, and they were managing without fancy PPE like climbing harnesses, their rifle tripods were ready and set up with one long leg on the side away from the stage, facing roughly in the direction of the roof in question, the other two on the side where the snipers were situated. Members of the public spotted the shooter on the roof, they videoed him, even showed him standing up and moving forward, so if the building was secured, how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
Also: “On the day of the Trump Rally shooting, Crooks' parents were concerned for their son. He didn't return home that afternoon, so his father contacted local authorities. He thought his son was a shooting range.”
The kid was a remarkably good shot, with a regular AR-15; at around 450ft, he was 1cm from taking the side off of Trump’s skull: if Trump hadn’t turned his head to the right, the bullet would have gone right through the back of his head! The shooter had clearly been practicing shooting at a serious distance, which shows clear commitment.*
Now, I’ve been on this site/forum for a long time, and one thing I’ve spent time doing is debunking ‘fake news stories’ QAnon and the whole conspiracy theory crap! I practically grind my teeth flat at the gullibility of people who fall for such bullshit, but honestly, there’s something not quite right with this picture! I’m really looking forward to the results of this enquiry.
If it gets published.
*I’ve just checked the effective range of an AR-15 with a 16” barrel, the most common civilian (Ha!) version, with a 55grain 5.56 calibre NATO bullet, is about 500 yards/1500 ft, the shooter was 150 yards/450 feet away from the stage, so not beyond the bounds of possibility, with some dedication to practicing.
Also, footage from the ground clearly shows the sniper teams were actually facing towards the building the shooter was on! As a wise man once said, go figure.
I have a feeling that there are more than a few people who are going to be feeling some real heat around their nether regions after this fiasco.
This RNC Convention is like watching America’s Got No Talent, what the actual **** am I watching, that utter dick Dana White, owner of UFC and beloved hero of the “bro science Rogan cult” is on stage bigging up Trump.
I’ve seen enough.
There's clearly members here who are very invested and spen a lot of time studying American politics here. Somafunk watching the convention at 4am in the morning!
Why? And I'm genuinely interested in this fascination, not trolling or looking to start an argument.
The US - about to fall into the abyss.
I can't see how they could recover from another trump presidency.
They even spelt the poor blokes name wrong.
how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
I think context is key here: In the context of hundreds of MAGA loons yelling weird ,inflammatory, sensationalist, nonsense about everything, in every direction, how do you filter all that out and hear or see a credible report for what it actually is. How do you distinguish a real threat with a backpack and range finder in the crowd from all the weirdo cosplay gravy seals. Signal to noise ratio and all that.
how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
At least one version of the story I've heard is that the snipers were aware, indeed were already turned and aiming in that direction (they 'located, engaged, and neutralised' the would-be assassin very quickly after he fired). But the issue was that where the roof he was on was in the second ring of secure, it was the remit of local law enforcement, and so reports of a man on the roof with a rifle were being checked and rechecked. Might it be a local LE bod up there? What's the fall out of shooting someone from the local sheriff's office in response to a sketchy report. Once it became clear he was a bad guy, the situation was resolved in seconds.
Seems very plausible that was the breakdown, not that no-one reacted at all.
There’s clearly members here who are very invested and spen a lot of time studying American politics here. Somafunk watching the convention at 4am in the morning!
Why? And I’m genuinely interested in this fascination, not trolling or looking to start an argument.
A combination of spms and curiosity as to just how ****ing batshit this convention will be, being stuck in my reclining chair as I can't stand up to get to bed/my muscles are so rigid.
Better now, I managed to reach my sativex and took 15 sprays and eventually made it to bed at 5.30am where I passed out, woke up at 10am and now sat munching banana honey wheat loaf and a double/double/double espresso (bowel opener)
🙂
double/double/double espresso
Expecting lots and lots of posts around about now then!
Peak ‘Merica - Hulk Hogan speaking at the RNC in favour of Trump
https://twitter.com/rustyrockets/status/1814113542775415272?
in retaliation, Bidens team are reported to have hired the undertaker.
Sorry, an undertaker
Kimberly Gilfoyle at the "when you can't call a Nazi at a Nazi Convention"
"It's no wonder that the heroes who stormed the beaches at Normandy and faced down Communism say they do not recognise our county any more"
Their main job, as I understand it, is to protect the President
But he’s not the President.
Biden’s only hope now is to have somebody attempt to assassinate him but take out his nose or a couple of fingers or something.
Yep - he could then dress as a mummy, he already walks like one.
When Biden was doing his "calm down, calm down" bit on TV it did look like he was a partially animated ventriloquists dummy. Nothing moved apart from his mouth and even then only just. They've walked right into a trap trump didn't even know he'd set.
Post shooting poll from Reuters/Ipsos. Plenty of catchy sentences in there for you.
But 80% of voters - including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans - said they agreed with a statement that "the country is spiraling out of the control."
I tried to put this on the truss thread but it won't load
Mad
https://twitter.com/bmay/status/1814371534678393344?t=J9G6c7LyPrcDG8W-w6-E_Q&s=19
^^ I have to remind myself. She lead this country's government.
She lead this country's government.
Shit on a stick. :/
“It’s no wonder that the heroes who stormed the beaches at Normandy and faced down Communism say they do not recognise our county any more”
I must go and rewatch Saving Private Ryan as I really don't remember the commies being on the beaches!
The MAGA lot really are attempting to rewrite history aren't they?
But he’s not the President.
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security with the purpose of conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government.
The Secret Service was, until 2003, part of the Department of the Treasury, due to their initial mandate of combatting counterfeiting of U.S. currency.
The agency has protected U.S. presidents and presidential candidates since 1901.
But he’s not the President.
Remember America still calls folk by their titles for life, all former presidents are referred to that way as are generals, admirals etc.
I must go and rewatch Saving Private Ryan as I really don’t remember the commies being on the beaches!
The MAGA lot really are attempting to rewrite history aren’t they?
BUt NAZ1s Wer Soshalyst,!!!1!
I must go and rewatch Saving Private Ryan as I really don’t remember the commies being on the beaches!
The MAGA lot really are attempting to rewrite history aren’t they?
I'd hope that her statement spans a decade or two, otherwise heroes who stormed the beaches at Normandy and faced down Communism will say they do not recognise our history any more
The MAGA lot really are attempting to rewrite history aren’t they?
She's right though, the US must face down authoritarians... https://snyder.substack.com/p/how-to-stop-fascism
That Liz Truss clip? Dear god!
Isn’t Braverman out there too? Along with Boris, Farage and Russel Brand? We really are exporting our finest minds, aren’t we?
Can we cancel all the return flights?
Can we cancel all the return flights?
maybe that was the reason the computer outages yesterday!
But in more amusing news Hunter Bidens team have used the same excuse of special council illegitimacy to get his cases dropped.
Legal translation of Judge Cannon said so!
That Liz Truss clip? Dear god! Isn’t Braverman out there too? Along with Boris, Farage and Russel Brand?
Trump isn't always wrong:
When Britain sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.
A glint of hope?
Biden gone!!!
Game on Donny my old son, game on
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1e5xpdzkd8o
He has previously said only the "Lord Almighty" could make him withdraw
Ah, I see the mysterious hand of God at play again.
Truly America is God's chosen land. And Israel.
American Democracy gets one last roll of the dice.
Hard to believe the statement Trump has put out following Biden’s withdrawal can be seen as anything other than reprehensible.
So, a perfectly normal Trump statement then.
Does anyone else find this thread a little depressing now? By which, I mean the whole inevitability of Trump getting in. I know Biden stepping aside is a glimmer of hope, but it is only a glimmer, given the craven stupidity of vast swathes of the "merican" public. This thread used to be a laugh a few years ago, but now, jeez, can this be really happening?
I remain optimistic
Even with all of Biden's gaffes, high inflation etc, he was only 4pts behind, although its those key swing states that trumps campaign have been targeting where hes doing better that matter.
BUT their campaign focused on Biden being old, with that out of the way they will have to swing on to something else and for example a VP pick from one of those swing states could be a very smart move for Harris
Also, all of a sudden Vance is looking like a bit of a wild pick for Trumps VP, he was picked to keep the right wing crazies happy , now the fight will be for those dissafected Dems...
some thoughts here
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/trump-campaign-biden-dropping-out/679183/
Joe Mancin's very gracefully ruled out being Harris's runningmate, in a statement that also pretty much completely rules out him running at all amd sticks the boot in on old dudes in general. I don't think he was ever a very realistic candidate but there were pretty persistent rumours that he might reregister as democrat and go for the big seat.
kimbers
Full MemberBUT their campaign focused on Biden being old, with that out of the way they will have to swing on to something else and for example a VP pick from one of those swing states could be a very smart move for Harris
Yep, I still think 100% they should have made the switch sooner, but if you're going to do it late, doing it basically a day after the GOP convention which was entirely "TRUMP CAVEMAN STRONG!", built from the ground up to attack Biden, with a maximum MAGA VP pick and ****in Hulk Hogan, is a pretty hilarious and brilliant move. Pretty much every possible candidate is going to be delighted to be against an old caveman with a VP that provides no widening of interest.
Trump <today> is still campaigning against Biden. I mean, it's pretty terrifying that right now the democrats barely have a campaign but equally the trump campaign is at full power and pointing in 180 degrees the wrong direction.
High inflation? It’s 2.97%.
Does anyone else find this thread a little depressing now? By which, I mean the whole inevitability of Trump getting in.
Try the Biden thread, now it's morphing into the Harris thread.
Anyone catch any of the head of the Secret Service squirming in front of Congress? Painful to listen to, sounded like she was trying to avoid admitting to any of the facts that have come out so far.
High inflation? It’s 2.97%.
Now but the prices are still a lot higher than they used to be and some stuff which isnt included in the inflation stats are really hurting people.
Whilst the democrats have generally done a good job recovering there is no doubt a lot of people are still hurting and not seeing an improvement.
Contrary to Steele’s quip on social media, Harris will not be able to spend the $5,000 on her 2024 presidential campaign, should she secure the Democratic nomination. As the Sacramento Bee reported in 2020, she gave away the entire $6,000 he had given her as she began her run for the US Senate, bequeathing it to a civil rights non-profit working in Central America.
Awkward( for trump)... Oh well... anyway... ;-D
Does anyone else find this thread a little depressing now? By which, I mean the whole inevitability of Trump getting in.
I think there is a real chance of Harris beating Trump, I really do. Given the right running mate, she could well unite the never trumpers and Dem voters. I'm feeling fairly positive about things now.
Vance is a poor public speaker
He also has some absolutely batshit policies in his head that will be a hard sell to the non MAGA cultists. 🙂
https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1815483642753528073
Trump won't debate Harris, says King.
I see Vance has described Harris as an old cat lady who's sad because she hasn't got kids. As someone on Twitter drily observed, that'll work really strong with female voters....
The least Clooney can do now is go on the nomination as Veep.
Fun fact, as a teenager I snogged Clonneys (now) wife. I suspect she often ponders the opportunity she missed.
Fun fact, as a teenager I snogged Clonneys (now) wife.
Depending upon who Clonney's wife is, that might not be a boast! 🙂
Ooft
Trump won't like this
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1815509563522920918?t=yS85gP1KBXSKhkkFAfrqSA&s=19
Ooft
Trump won’t like this
oof, indeed, shots fired! I'm starting to think she's gonna do well.
I dunno what polls are most accurate, but currently there only seems to be a 2-3% difference in favour of the republicans, it's pretty much in margin of error territory for statistics, so it will be very interesting to see what Kamalas effect will have on that over the coming weeks.
That is fabulous and is gonna make him mad as hell.
No way can he match that level of cleverness and rhetoric. His level is playground insults.
His level is playground insults.
I'm looking forward to the enevitable diatribe, it's only a matter of time...
He won't be able to help himself.
I know - and its just going to look pathetic in comparison.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiit she swung and definitely did not miss.
And unlike Trumps playground insults and innuendo it's all, very easily, verifiably true.
Its good to see !
Harris has a honeymoon period right now , in comparison to Biden shes a blast of fresh air, but still a huge mountain to climb and Trump & his campaign will have to pivot to attacking her & her record, especially on immigration. And the (hearing on) the assassination attempt is going to play into his favour.
Trump is still the favourite and Harris needs to get organised ASAP and get a VP in place.
He will have to debate her at somepoint too.
I think Trumps big worry is that his pick for VP will be a bad one, Vance is an oddball and if Harris were to start leading in the polls, Trump will lash out at those nearest, Vance will need to be careful.
interesting times
Yes Vance is an interesting character - trying to sell himself as a self-made man from a hillbilly background, but comes across as a extreme right-wing Walton who rose to the rank of corporal in the army.
Vance's entire public character is fake, he's had to basically recreate himself to get the job- he was an outright never-trumper just a couple of years ago. And it doesn't stand up to any scrutiny- all his past positions are on record, in office and in his book, so like Trump just about everything he says has a rebuttal from Past Vance. Not something trumpers care about but the VP's entire job in the campaign is to broaden support not be exactly the same.
If you want the measure of the man though, check out how he talks about his mum. She got addicted to prescription painkillers, like so many americans. And in the past that's shaped his thinking and his politics, he was one of the rare republicans really hammering the pharmaceutical industry. But now he's seamlessly pivoted to blaming mexicans and using it to attack democrats on the wall.
Sometimes with the MAGA crowd you don't know if they believe it or not, and even the ones that started out moderate you can see sometimes have basically gaslit themselves. And then you get the "whatever I think is true and if I change my mind that's now true too" crowd, Trump most of all of course. But Vance knows it's horseshit and he knows it's wrong and he does it anyway and I think a lot of people are going to see that.
Now the democrats get to pick their counter, it'll be hilarious if they go with Mark Kelly, he's absolute kryptonite to Vance.
As one of only a handful of women here, I’m dreading the bald, leering, sex pest getting a second term as president of America.
Could someone please give me an idea of what chances. C. Harris has of winning the election, with only a few months to go?
Omg...the Republicans are demanding "proof of life" from Joe Biden. They're convinced he's dead, that his signature was forged on the document about his withdrawl. Led by loon-in-chief Lauren Boebart.
Could someone please give me an idea of what chances. C. Harris has of winning the election, with only a few months to go?
Zero. Absolutely nil.
K. Harris might though. I reckon about 60:40 against, currently but with the right VP and depending how badly Trump does, well, being Donald, that could close. The unknown for me is the electoral college system and consequently how hard it is to win certain states irrespective of the merits and flaws.
Could someone please give me an idea of what chances. C. Harris has of winning the election, with only a few months to go?
Right now impossible to say, but probably greater than Biden's (were)
Could someone please give me an idea of what chances. C. Harris has of winning the election, with only a few months to go?
I'd say it's about 50/50 right now but it will take a few weeks for the dust to settle to see any kind of trajectory/trend I think.
I put a £20 bet on her winning last night, potential return £55. Same bet today will only return £50, so from that you could say her chances have increaced in the last18 hours or so.
Deleted...missed the "joke"
Rubbish
Read the post and the reply again, slowly this time 😀
The unknown for me is the electoral college system and consequently how hard it is to win certain states irrespective of the merits and flaws.
Its basically a FPTP system with each state as a constituency. Most states its pretty clear which way they will go. Effectively its down to swing voters in 6-10 states swing states who is president. Its also got a built in republican advantage which is why H.clinton won the popular vote but lost the electoral college.
It makes our shit system look democratic
Its basically a FPTP system with each state as a constituency.
Not quite, each state has multiple constituencies, in some states they split their vote for the higher offices according to the percentage of constituencies won by each party, but in most the party with most constituencies take all the votes, so many voters get zero representation. It is worse that the UK's version of FPTP by some margin. If you tried to design a "pretend" democracy that actively disenfranchises voters it would be hard to beat the college system.
iirc it wasn't envisaged to be that way when the constitution was written, they expected states to split their votes accordingly. However I don't think they saw how it could be abused so didn't specify enough detail in the constitution. So now they operate a corruption of what the writers of the constitution actually wanted, and use constitutional zealotry as an excuse.
Although I think theotherjon, probably meant how it would play out this time rather than a technical description of the system.
Bit of both TBH
The mad thing is that not all states are "winner takes all", Maine and Nebraska have a sort of proportional division, the winner in each of their congressional districts gets 1 vote and then they allocate 2 for the overall winner. It still strongly favours the overall winner- it's pretty rare for them to split, but it at least gives a little power back.
But Maine and Nebraska are like 4 and 5 votes anyway so it's barely relevant, meanwhile California is 54 and winner takes all. Which the founding fathers definitely didn't see coming, since california didn't become a state til 1850
the orange shitgibbon has said he wants to debate Harris
She'll eat him for breakfast, surely?
I think I read they shut the mics off now when it's the others turn to talk so there's no interruptions.. Dunno if anyone can verify that..