I think you all know where I stand in the next election. But let me take the alternative viewpoint for a moment.
Let's say you are a Republican and consider yourself a conservative. Let's say you believe that Trump wasn't good, but for Biden is worse. Or, perhaps you are just flat-out pro-Trump.
Consider that Trump, today, Tuesday 9 January 2024, sat in a court room where his attorney, operating on his behalf, at first gymnastically and then semi-directly, said that yes, Donald Trump can shoot someone on 5th avenue and get away with it. That yes, if the President does it it's not illegal. That the execution of law and justice actually has to be held to a "higher" standard -- that of the composure of the politics of the Senate.
This is the guy you're voting for. You're voting for someone that just made an argument that not just he himself, but his former and currently sought-after office, SHOULD have this right and ability. To do anything as long as the Senate doesn't remove him. Anything.
If you think I'm being hyperbolic, consider that the questions asked were "can he order Seal Team 6 to murder an opponent," "can he sell state secrets" and "pardons," and similar tyrannical, fascist, completely illegal, unethical, and immoral acts? And the John Sauer's answer, albeit with many hastily-spat words, was yes.
Don't vote for this. And don't throw your vote away by voting for a write-in or third party.
Yes, I'm making this election a "single-issue" election, because this issue is literally every issue forever for the United States.
Democracy. Where America stands in the world. Abortion. Women's rights. Trans rights. Gay rights. Human rights. The concept of rights in general. Fossil fuels. Climate change. Tax breaks for the wealthy.
I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR ISSUE OR STANCE IS, DO NOT VOTE FOR THE GUY WHO OPENLY ARGUES FOR ABSOLUTE ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY LEGALLY, EVER, AND WITHOUT REVIEW.
Our Mastodon friend Steve Genco (@sjgenco) offers some excellent ideas on how we might move forward into a better world. ...
Here are the assumptions to start from. If you don’t agree, there is no point in reading any further. You are not operating in the same universe of evidence and facts that I am.
⚠️ It’s going to get hotter, at least 2.0°C above preindustrial temps, possibly 3.0°C or more.
⚠️ The weather is going to get more unpredictable and extreme.
⚠️ Natural disasters are going to arrive at greater and greater frequency.
⚠️ Economic inequality (income and wealth) is going to get worse.
⚠️ We will continue depleting the natural world.
⚠️ The effects of climate change will be unevenly distributed around the planet.
⚠️ Fossil fuels will become financially and energetically unprofitable, ending our temporary Age of Oil sometime in the middle of this century.
What our leaders’ current vision of the future does not include — indeed, what it loudly denies — is the reality of over-consumption and overshoot in the wealthy Global North. In other words, the dominant mental model that rules our imaginations today denies that our rapacious capitalist appropriation of the planet’s natural resources is unsustainable. It denies that overshoot is real, and that it can only end in resource depletion, product and food shortages, out-of-control inflation, rationing, and eventually, a total collapse of our carbon-powered consumption and waste-driven world economy.
Clearly, a vision/mental model that denies the reality of the damage it inflicts on our planet can provide no viable first steps for how to move beyond the pain it produces. Indeed, it denies that any such steps are necessary. Instead, it offers Business As Usual with some tinkering around the edges — a few EVs here, a wind farm there, “green growth”, and promises to clean it all up with magical carbon capture technologies sometime later in the century.
Most politicians operating in the Global North today could never embrace an alternative to economic growth. Even the most passionate climate-focused politicians, like Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State, are still wedded to the idea that any pro-environmental policies must allow for — indeed, stimulate — the continuation of economic growth.
This is a fundamental assumption underlying the “Green New Deal” concept promoted by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others. It also underlies every other “Green Growth” initiative. “Growth” is even in the name.
I really hope you will take the time to read and think about what Steve is suggesting. Those of us who can see that our modern industrial society is in danger of collapse are often criticized for not offering any solutions. That's not true, of course. We have many important and constructive ideas. Let's spread the word.
It’s incredibly dangerous how the richest man in the world — deluded by paranoia, narcissism, and far-right conspiracies — can get arms of the state to go after his perceived enemies instead of holding him to account as they should be doing.
"As conflation and confusion abound after 7 October, we need clear thinking about antisemitism"
by:
David Feldman, director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism,
Brendan McGeever, senior lecturer at the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, who teaches at the University of #Haifa, #israelPalestine, explained the paradox: “One can detest Jews and love Israelis, because Israelis somehow are not Jews. Israelis are colonial fighters and settlers, just like Afrikaners. They are tough and resilient. They know how to dominate. Jews are different. They are, among other qualities, gentle, non-physical, often passive, intellectual. So one can go on disliking Jews while admiring the Israelis.”
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
The chaos will continue, much to the delight of the #HardRight of the #GOP who are uninterested in governing and more engaged by theatrical media appearence.
This is what it means to support #Trump's #Republican Party. It has been remade in his image, increasing populated with chaos monkies
The news flow appears to be quickening on multiple fronts, If #Meadows is now testifying against #DonaldTrump, there will be little place for the former president to hide
One drama has ended with the election of Mike Johnson. The question is whether he will be able to manage his fractious caucus and legislate
Where will Johnson stand on the #Ukraine War funding effort? Initially he was supportive of the war, now like make of his party, he is making reluctance noises. Will things change now that he has the #Speaker's gavel?
Yesterday's polling results for the #DemocraticParty provided a relieving counterweight to the recent polling of next year's expected #Trump - #Biden showdown
Clearly it was a good night for the Democrats, but will the results of an off-year election carry forward to #Election2024?
Is polling conducted primarily by phone still a reliable indicator of public sentiment? In an age of caller id, who is answering these polling phone calls?
It seems to me that #Election2024 will be a campaign of thirds. One third of the country loves #Trump and another third loathes him.If both of these voting blocks turn out in force, they will cancel each other out.
That leaves the middle third who can swing either way. Will they be encouraged to fall in line on the back of increased hatre speech?
Lets be clear here. the GOP congressional concern on the security of the #SouthernBorder is simply a convenient blocking deflection
Congressional #Republicans are busy tugging their forelocks before #DonaldTrump. Republican Senators don't care about geopolitical stability, they just want to keep #Trump happy who in turn wants to keep his friend #Putin happy, so no funding from the US for the #UkraineWar
Oh dear, file this one under when bad things happen to bad people.
Naturally this will be appealed and recent news articles indicate the #RudyGiuliani’s personal finances are in poor shape. Bankruptcy looms as part of the final humiliation for #NYC’s former mayor
At stake is whether #Trump has presidential immunity. Should the court rule against the former President, he will likely request a ruling from a full panel of the DC Circuit Court
Trump’s strategy is to slow down the legal process hoping that electoral victory will enable him to avoid prosecution