Boddhisatva

@Boddhisatva@lemmy.world

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Boddhisatva ,

Imagine how much differently the pandemic would have played out with Bernie at the helm. He wouldn't have thrown away the existing pandemic response plan that the Obama administration had left behind. He wouldn't have delayed the response to the emerging pandemic because it was primarily hitting areas governed by a different political party. He wouldn't have had the federal government seizing PPE equipment from states and businesses in order to redistribute it where it would do him the most good politically.

Millions of people would be alive today if Trump hadn't been in charge when the pandemic hit.

Boddhisatva ,

Trump’s energy in the meeting was also noticeably subdued, according to two people who were in the room. At no time during his remarks was there any noticeable applause for Trump, two attendees told CNBC.

This was in contrast to Trump’s meeting earlier in the day with House Republicans on Capitol Hill. Attendees at that meeting told CNBC that the former president was animated and engaged and that Trump received several rounds of applause in separate meetings Thursday with both House and Senate Republicans.

Guess the Adderall wore off and they didn't want to give him any more so near bed time.

Boddhisatva ,

Chevron deference <------- Non-ELI5

Not a law-talker type here, but essentially, when the legislature creates an agency like the FDA, it delegates powers to them to make rulings on certain matters but does not specifically legislate every decision that agency has to make. It says that the FDA can make rulings about drug safety, but it doesn't say explicitly what drugs the FDA can make decisions about.

In this particular case, the FDA has said that a drug, mifepristone, is safe and doctors can prescribe it to patients. The law suit claimed that the FDA overstepped it's authority because the legislature never explicitly gave the FDA the power to do that. This is a flawed argument because SCOTUS already decided, in the linked case above, that it was inappropriate for the court to substitute its own interpretation of a rule on an issue like this where the legislature gave an agency an implicit power to make such a decision as long as the agency's decision is reasonable.

That is the Chevron Deference. It means that the courts should defer to agency rulings when those rulings are reasonable even if the power to make the ruling is only implicitly granted to the agency.

I may not be dead on the mark here, but I think I'm fairly close. If not, I'm sure some real law-talker type will be along to correct me.

Boddhisatva ,

Maybe, but only until a power failure turns them into embryo mass murderers and bankrupts them.

Boddhisatva ,

Of course you have a dog in this fight, or you will at some point. Sooner or later these people will go after some right that you value personally.

Boddhisatva ,

That's a given, as far as I'm concerned. When someone tells me they think sexual orientation is a choice, I ask them, "When did you decide to be straight? Because if you chose to be straight, then you must have felt some attraction to the opposite sex. If not, then there was never a choice to be made."

Boddhisatva ,

If it applied to President, it would include Trump, unless I'm reading it wrong. Trump just turned 78, he will turn 81 in 2027, the year prior to the end of the term for which he'd be running.

Boddhisatva ,

Well that's going to stick in the craw of certain state legislatures when they try to overrule the will of the voters in the upcoming election.

Boddhisatva ,

I assume because he's a drug user that owns a gun and is thus guilty of the same crime.

Boddhisatva ,

It's peak Poe's Law or a variant maybe. No Onion article is so outlandish that it can't be mistaken for a legitimate story.

Boddhisatva ,

But congratulations FloridaTransman!

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    Boddhisatva ,

    While I would like to see this happen, this is not the place to post it. Rule 1: Post only links to articles

    Boddhisatva ,

    Yes, probably. But a larger military means more money piped into the military budget, even in peacetime, if there ever is such a thing again. And a larger budget means more money funneled into the military industrial teat for the GOP and their donors to suckle off of.

    Boddhisatva ,

    “Students don’t lose their free speech rights the moment they walk into a school building,” Cortman added. “The government cannot silence any speaker just because it disapproves of what they say.”

    Tell that to the Bong Hits for Jesus kid.

    Boddhisatva ,

    More time wasting from the Republicans. They've already got the transcripts. They just want the audio so they can look for sound bites to take out of context.

    Boddhisatva ,

    If there is a file that lists of all the people compromised by Epstein that could be released, you can bet there would be at least a few major Dem players on it along with the names we know, or at least strongly suspect are on it. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans nor any party in any other nation wants that information released.

    Freedom’s Just Another Word for Not Paying Taxes ( www.nytimes.com )

    Why would billionaires support Trump? It’s not as if they’ve done badly under President Biden. Stock prices — which Trump predicted would crash if he lost in 2020 — have soared. High interest rates, which are a burden on many Americans, are if anything a net positive for wealthy people with money to invest. And I doubt...

    Boddhisatva ,

    Power is surely a factor, but I think money is still a major driving force. When a person gets to a certain level of wealth, they seem to develop a mental illness. It's like an addiction that compels them to constantly try to get more. There is no level of wealth that is enough to satisfy them.

    Boddhisatva ,

    So the clown that brought his loaded gun to airport, and who got cited for tailgating, speeding, driving with a suspended license, when he rear-ended a Florida State trooper is now an honorary county sheriff and is excited to serve in this powerless role that requires him to do nothing. I wonder how much he bribed the sheriff's office for that trinket?

    Boddhisatva ,

    Violent crime has been dropping since we stopped using lead in most gasoline.

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/6826b4c4-cb8e-401c-83b9-b6d7c2fdd60a.gif

    This is mostly just a continuation of this trend.

    Boddhisatva ,

    "You can help prevent ozone pollution by sharing a ride, walking, riding a bicycle, taking your lunch to work, avoiding drive through lanes, conserving energy and keeping your vehicle properly tuned."

    Oh, and stop rolling coal you dumb fucking rednecks!

    Boddhisatva ,

    Plus, riding your bike while the air quality is at "concerning" levels just doesn't seem like the ideal solution. You screw up your lungs to make a teaspoon of a difference while every factory in the area keeps churning out buckets of pollution.

    Boddhisatva ,

    "Ozone air pollution can cause respiratory health problems, including trouble breathing, asthma attacks, and lung damage.

    So get out there and ride your bikes, everybody!

    Remarks by President Biden on Securing Our Border ( www.whitehouse.gov )

    Four months ago, after weeks of intense negotiation between my staff and Democrats and Republicans, we came to a clear — clear bipartisan deal that was the strongest border security agreement in decades. But then Republicans in Congress — not all, but — walked away from it. Why? Because Donald Trump told them to. He told...

    Boddhisatva ,

    Absolutely true.

    The followers must feel humiliated by the ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies. When I was a boy I was taught to think of Englishmen as the five-meal people. They ate more frequently than the poor but sober Italians. Jews are rich and help each other through a secret web of mutual assistance. However, the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak. - Umberto Eco, Ur Fascism, 1995

    They are doing the same thing with Biden. Watch out! The Biden is getting away with massive crimes and using the deep state to take over the country, but at the same time, Biden is a doddering old fool who is too senile to accomplish anything.

    Boddhisatva ,

    And our inflation is driven by structural factors in supply chains, housing, and aggressive pricing by companies.

    Don't blame Biden when most of the inflation is driven by companies padding their bottom lines

    Since the trough of the COVID-19 recession in the second quarter of 2020, overall prices in the NFC [non-financial corporate] sector have risen at an annualized rate of 6.1%—a pronounced acceleration over the 1.8% price growth that characterized the pre-pandemic business cycle of 2007–2019. Strikingly, over half of this increase (53.9%) can be attributed to fatter profit margins, with labor costs contributing less than 8% of this increase. This is not normal. From 1979 to 2019, profits only contributed about 11% to price growth and labor costs over 60%

    Corporations are making record profits while they jack up prices on everything, but sure, blame Biden.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Damn, I'd never heard the Aladdin thing before. I really didn't believe that I could think less of this clown, but there you go. Making fun of a little kid at a music recital. There's just no evil too petty for these people to indulge in.

    We're called Proud Boys because I went to one of my kids' music recitals and some ponce got up there and while everyone's playing the piano and the violin and doing stuff they tried, he gets up and he goes, "Proud of your boy, I'll make you proud of your boy." It's some song from "Aladdin." And I was looking around for the dad because I thought there's no way this dad is proud of his boy, and of course, he was the child of a single mom...duh! His mother told him, yes sing a song, that's a talent, and there was no dad to say no you're not, play the piano for christ's sakes.

    Boddhisatva ,

    As ProPublica previously reported, in 2019, Thomas flew to Indonesia on Crow’s private jet for an extended island cruise on Crow’s superyacht. If Thomas had chartered the plane and the yacht himself, it could have cost more than half a million dollars.

    ...

    Thomas received undisclosed vacations from Crow and other wealthy benefactors virtually every year for more than two decades.

    There's no way he could afford to pay back all that value without taking a lot more bribes gifts.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Maybe if he stayed awake longer he might have noticed a smile.

    Boddhisatva ,

    The CEO [Devin Nunes] asked the Nasdaq to "fulsomely cooperate with any and all congressional or other investigations into these firms

    Fulsomely? Really? He wants them to cooperate in a way that expresses a lot of admiration or praise for someone, often too much, in a way that does not sound sincere?

    Some people simply cannot open their mouths without actually proving how stupid they really are. It's remarkable how often such people are drawn to Trump's orbit too.

    Boddhisatva ,

    It's supposed to be a secret?

    Boddhisatva ,

    They are going through proper channels. What he is doing is signing an Executive Order allowing him to close those channels when the border is overwhelmed. This is a complicated situation and I don't think this is generally a good move. I would rather see more resources put towards processing immigrants so that the border doesn't get overwhelmed in the first place.

    Honestly, I think that this is a purely political maneuver to make the Republicans look like fools, not that they need help with that. They have constantly been screeching about the border crisis and invasions, and such nonsense, then they bowed to their orange lord and tanked the bipartisan immigration bill in the house. I suspect that Biden is taking this step so that every time they squeal about the border, he can point out that while they do nothing but block solutions, he is actually doing something. Just signing the order is enough. He never even has to implement it.

    Boddhisatva ,

    The message to Colorado Republicans was headlined with an image reading “God Hates Flags,” a nod to the anti-gay slur on the picket signs of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church.

    So the article acknowledges that the GOP is clearly hinting that they agree with the loons at Westboro Baptist but fails to draw the obvious conclusion. If they are starting with God Hates Flags and ending with Burn Pride Flags, this is clearly a call for violence against LGBTQ+ people. If you know any LGBTQ+ folk in the area, keep an eye on them. Some red-hat loons will potentially respond to this not so subtle call to action.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Republicans continually have their head up their ass and can’t figure out how to actually use the power that the people gave us

    Exactly what power did the American people give the republicans? They have a slight majority in the House of Representatives. That's it. They are in the minority in the Senate and they don't control the White House. If they did manage to impeach Biden in the House, it's not like the Senate would vote to convict. And honestly, the only reason the Republicans have the slim majority in the House that they do is because of the absurd levels of gerrymandering they've pulled off in red states. Frankly, if it weren't for all the gerrymandering, I'm pretty sure the Dems would have control of the House too.

    So again, what power did the American people give the Republicans?

    Boddhisatva ,

    A republican accused of beating his wife? Surely this cannot be true!

    Boddhisatva ,

    ...and criminally falsified business records to claim those payments were legitimate business expanses. Everyone keeps forgetting the crime part of his crimes regarding his convictions.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Even if they do have 90% of the guns, they still only own about 30% of the trigger fingers. A guy with a garage full of guns can only shoot one at a time.

    Boddhisatva ,

    a few hours of community service

    Please, please, please, just let me see video of Trump serving and cleaning tables in a soup kitchen in Harlem.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Yeah, actually I think they are.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Hoping for 40 hours of community service working in a soup kitchen.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Steady improvement is not enough! I demand perfection right now or I will vote Republican and watch this world burn!

    Boddhisatva ,

    Testing the boundaries?! No, he is blatantly violating corruption laws. He is asking for a quid pro quo, you do this for me and I'll do that for you.

    John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the USA defined corruption as "a contribution to a particular candidate in exchange for his agreeing to do a particular act within his official duties."

    Boddhisatva ,

    Don't just follow state legislature races, vote in them! And local level elections as well. Vote in every election at every level. The reason the Republicans have the power that they do right now is because they have focused on taking over state legislatures for the last 20+ years with the intent of gaining control of the redistricting process in every state they can. They have been horrifyingly successful.

    In 2009, Republicans controlled both chambers in just 14 state legislatures. Six years later, they had total control in more than double that number. And that's not even the full, bad story for Democrats. Look at their numbers. In 2009, Democrats had full control in 27 state legislatures; by 2015 that number was down to 11, the lowest ebb for total Democratic control since, at least, 1978.

    With control of those maps, the Republicans have all but election proofed their control in many states. In Ohio, for example, Trump won with 54% of the vote but the Republicans won 79% of the Senate seats in 2022. In Wisconsin, a Democrat won the Governor's mansion with 51.2% of the vote but Republicans still took 65% of the state senate legislature.

    In Arizona, the Republican legislature is trying to make themselves the sole authority in appointing presidential electors. This could allow them to claim fraud in the next election and tie the results up in court with the same lies they used in 2020. Then, when the deadline for for certification comes up, they could declare their own slate of electors to send to DC rather than the slate that the voters chose.

    For the last couple cycles, the Republicans, particularly the more extreme branches, have been focused on local level races trying to take over school boards, city councils, and elected law enforcement positions. We as a society cannot let that happen. These people only seek to line their own pockets and accumulate power for themselves and their allies.

    Vote in every election as if your life, or at least your livelihood, depends on it. Because someday it just may.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Okay... so we should vote for the guy who thinks Israel is right and needs to "finish the job."

    “I don’t know why they released wartime shots like that. I guess it makes them look tough. But to me, it doesn’t make them look tough,” Trump continued. “They’re losing the PR war. They’re losing it big. But they’ve got to finish what they started, and they’ve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life.”

    You can vote for the guy who isn't doing enough to stop the atrocities in Gaza, or you can vote for the guy who just wants Israel to hurry up. There is no other option.

    Boddhisatva ,

    It's about the only time you see GOP politicians actually diverting any funds to the working class.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Why would you ask an LLM, that is known for lying, a question about medical risks? You have no way of knowing how much of that information is just made up or scraped from some old Reddit post.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Raped twice. Once by some asshole, and again by a legislature full of them.

    Boddhisatva ,

    It is time to protect Ohio’s elections by outlawing foreign campaign contributions

    So you won't be allowing the NRA to spend money supporting campaigns in Ohio? Right?

    “With every twist and turn, the story only gets worse for the NRA. After months of dodging questions, the NRA has admitted it took money from one of Putin’s top allies, who is reportedly under FBI investigation.

    Boddhisatva ,

    Glad to hear it. Re-posting something that I posted 9 days ago when this first came out.

    This was clearly a request for a quid pro quo arrangement. Pay me this and I'll do that for you. Very illegal. In case there's any doubt about that...

    In 1976, announcing the Supreme Court's landmark Buckley v. Valeo decision, Chief Justice Warren Burger set this standard for corruption: "the reality & appearance of improper influence stemming from the dependence of candidates on large campaign contributions."

    The current chief justice, John Roberts, had led an effort to tighten that broad language. Roberts, delivering the McCutcheon v. FEC ruling last year, defined corruption as "a contribution to a particular candidate in exchange for his agreeing to do a particular act within his official duties."

    He was describing a quid pro quo – the donor's money in explicit exchange for the politician's official favor. It's a felony.

    Just to be clear, John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the USA defined corruption as "a contribution to a particular candidate in exchange for his agreeing to do a particular act within his official duties."

    Boddhisatva ,

    I'm surprised he didn't just start typing the law on his cell phone and finish it by repeatedly selecting the middle option in the phone's predictive text.

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