The All Things Political Topic - Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence

[BruceVC]

9 minutes ago, Lexx said:

So Musk defeated all of his enemies and doesn't have to fear going to jail anymore, I guess.

I think he is leaving because the reality of DOGE and what it can achieve is different to his rhetoric and grandstanding and its hurting his private sector businesses

" Musk, who had clashed in private with some Trump cabinet-level officials, initially pledged to cut "at least $2 trillion" from the federal government budget, before halving this target, then reducing it to $150bn."

But it was never a good idea to have the worlds richest man so close and influential to the WH

Serious risk and perceptions of conflict of interest and Musk has also become the scapegoat for the failures and criticisms  of DOGE because Trump can "separate " himself from its objectives despite the fact Trump supported what Musk claimed he could achieve 

 

 

[uuuhhii]

chopping off few more chunk from the corpse of federal goverment are hardly difficult

there are 50 percent chance of it happening with each election

not like any amount of damage will convince rural voter to finally stop sabotage themself

[Malcador]

More time to enjoy Special K

[Gfted1]

Musk was specifically hired to work for 130 days (SGE / Special Government Employee).

[BruceVC]

2 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Musk was specifically hired to work for 130 days (SGE / Special Government Employee).

Sure but the contract could easily have been extended if he wanted to stay and Trump wanted that

I  dont  blame him for leaving, its perfectly understandable considering how he conflated and underestimated the difference between the Federal governments and private sector  restructuring that he did at several of his companies like Tesla and X

Restructuring in the private sector has less dependencies and is just about the company being sustainable and being able to be functional afterwards

 

Public sector is much more complex and restructuring can literally impact millions of citizens and there lives  

 

[Malcador]

President is supposed to be a King, right 

 

[Hurlshort]

Did everyone skip the lesson on balance of power in 8th grade?

[uuuhhii]

4 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

Did everyone skip the lesson on balance of power in 8th grade?

 

obviously they know what separation of power was and hated it

same way they know about the usa civil war and hated the north

with project 2025 the pretence can finally end

anyway the usa are now going through social media of visa applicant

truly couldn't make this up in terrible va fantasy

[BruceVC]

8 hours ago, Malcador said:

President is supposed to be a King, right 

 

The reality of the independence of the judiciary in  any Constitutional Democracy is the main reason why Im not concerned that Trumps presidency could or would lead to the collapse of  Democracy in the US 

Its often overlooked because we tend to focus on what politicians say and then its assumed " this is what is going to happen " but the judiciary  and courts provides an important bulwark around the actions  of any government to destroy  what Democracy represents and the interpretation  will be based on the Constitution which is equally important 

Thats also one of  the most significant differences between  any established  autocracy and any Constitutional Democracy, there is no judicial independence or challenge  of  new laws in a country like Russia. Putin can decide on any kind of legislation and the courts will rubberstamp it the next day

South Africa thankfully also has an independent judiciary and even though I complain about certain rulings they make I would  never want to see the independence of our judiciary undermined or controlled by the state 

Its easy to forget how important an independent judiciary is until you have  a presidency like Trumps around  some of his decisions  and then the difference between a real autocracy and Democracy becomes real 

The judiciary really becomes the last line of defence 

 

 

 

 

[Elerond]

4 hours ago, BruceVC said:

The reality of the independence of the judiciary in  any Constitutional Democracy is the main reason why Im not concerned that Trumps presidency could or would lead to the collapse of  Democracy in the US 

Its often overlooked because we tend to focus on what politicians say and then its assumed " this is what is going to happen " but the judiciary  and courts provides an important bulwark around the actions  of any government to destroy  what Democracy represents and the interpretation  will be based on the Constitution which is equally important 

Thats also one of  the most significant differences between  any established  autocracy and any Constitutional Democracy, there is no judicial independence or challenge  of  new laws in a country like Russia. Putin can decide on any kind of legislation and the courts will rubberstamp it the next day

South Africa thankfully also has an independent judiciary and even though I complain about certain rulings they make I would  never want to see the independence of our judiciary undermined or controlled by the state 

Its easy to forget how important an independent judiciary is until you have  a presidency like Trumps around  some of his decisions  and then the difference between a real autocracy and Democracy becomes real 

The judiciary really becomes the last line of defence 

 

Does it really? Single court may block something but as soon as that happens appeal court lifts the block and then supreme court may hear case year later or accept government position with shadow docket 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/us-court-blocks-trump-tariffs

[BruceVC]

43 minutes ago, Elerond said:

Does it really? Single court may block something but as soon as that happens appeal court lifts the block and then supreme court may hear case year later or accept government position with shadow docket 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/us-court-blocks-trump-tariffs

Yes, of course there is an appeal process and they often end up in the SC but the SC outcomes are not guaranteed because of the ideological  views of judges 

 

 Trump loses more cases in courts than he wins and he has lost on appeal

https://democracyforward.org/updates/trump-loses-93-percent-of-cases-we-know-because-we-win/

But thats not really the point Im making, the main point is the US has an independent judiciary and that's why any US president cant do anything they want or pass any  law\EO\bill  they want because they can and do get challenged. We cant predict the outcome of any case but thats the same as any Democracy with an independent judiciary. It wouldnt be called independent if we could guarantee court  outcomes

Elerond try not to believe that the US is about to become a dictatorship or an autocracy. The Constitution still matters and so do court rulings 

 

 

 

 

[rjshae]

White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report

Quote

Kennedy’s wide-ranging “Make America Healthy Again” report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist.

Perhaps AI hallucinations? Make AI Healthy Again. MAHAhahahaha...

[uuuhhii]

4 hours ago, rjshae said:

White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report

Perhaps AI hallucinations? Make AI Healthy Again. MAHAhahahaha...

 

once multiple medieval plague are sweeping across usa

the attempt to declare emergency will be easier to justify

the plague doesn't end after that of course

[rjshae]

Hallucinating AI report confirmed:

The AI Slop Scandal Around the MAHA Report Is Getting Worse

Well at least it's consistent with the rest of the MAGA party's conspiracy theory mindset. I suppose after enough beers it even starts to make sense.

[uuuhhii]

2 hours ago, rjshae said:

Hallucinating AI report confirmed:

The AI Slop Scandal Around the MAHA Report Is Getting Worse

Well at least it's consistent with the rest of the MAGA party's conspiracy theory mindset. I suppose after enough beers it even starts to make sense.

 

some believe internet will soon be filled with so much ai generated garbage it would no longer be useful 

then people will be forced to go back to pre internet age and read newspaper

that is entirely too optimistic

also usa threaten to raise more steel tariff

wonder how many week this one is going to last

Edited May 31 by uuuhhii

[rjshae]

New poll shows who Dems want in 2028 — and it’s not Kamala Harris

It's Pete Buttigieg. Surprise. But other polls put Harris in first, so who knows at this point? Supposedly Harris is considering a run for governor of California. Not sure if that suggests Gavin Newsome is planning a run for Prez. His approval ratings in California have sunk below 50% in most areas.

[uuuhhii]

6 hours ago, rjshae said:

New poll shows who Dems want in 2028 — and it’s not Kamala Harris

It's Pete Buttigieg. Surprise. But other polls put Harris in first, so who knows at this point? Supposedly Harris is considering a run for governor of California. Not sure if that suggests Gavin Newsome is planning a run for Prez. His approval ratings in California have sunk below 50% in most areas.

 

that would be worse than harris

hilarious how easy the entire system can be bought by megacorp

 

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, rjshae said:

New poll shows who Dems want in 2028 — and it’s not Kamala Harris

It's Pete Buttigieg. Surprise. But other polls put Harris in first, so who knows at this point? Supposedly Harris is considering a run for governor of California. Not sure if that suggests Gavin Newsome is planning a run for Prez. His approval ratings in California have sunk below 50% in most areas.

Again its disappointing how out of touch the Dem strategists are, its almost like they want to hand another presidential victory to the GOP

They need a candidate who is not so associated with Biden, Harris is seen as Biden v2

Surly there must be someone new who doesn't have previous baggage that the Dems can get behind?

Newsome is the type of candidate Im talking about 

And I see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the second most popular candidate in this poll, you got to be joking 

 

Edited June 1 by BruceVC

[rjshae]

13 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Again its disappointing how out of touch the Dem strategists are, its almost like they want to hand another presidential victory to the GOP

They need a candidate who is not so associated with Biden, Harris is seen as Biden v2

Surly there must be someone new who doesn't have previous baggage that the Dems can get behind?

Newsome is the type of candidate Im talking about 

And I see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the second most popular candidate in this poll, you got to be joking 

My political hat suggested that Josh Shapiro would be a decent Democratic candidate, since he hails from the critical state of Pennsylvannia. However, he has three strikes against him: he's white, he's male, and he was raised Jewish. He just doesn't check enough Democrat party dogma boxes. Buttigeig is at least gay. Check. But he comes from a smaller state. His being intelligent and having served in Afghanistan probably doesn't help much in the primaries.

[Zoraptor]

Eh, the Democrats last two primaried candidates (well, kind of in 2024) were Biden. Who was white, male, and while not jewish was an avowed Zionist. 

[Pidesco]

15 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Again its disappointing how out of touch the Dem strategists are, its almost like they want to hand another presidential victory to the GOP

They need a candidate who is not so associated with Biden, Harris is seen as Biden v2

Surly there must be someone new who doesn't have previous baggage that the Dems can get behind?

Newsome is the type of candidate Im talking about 

And I see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the second most popular candidate in this poll, you got to be joking 

 

Is this a poll of strategists, or just Dem voters?

 

It makes perfect sense that voters would go for someone like Buttigieg or AOC. They want a break with the establishment, that people like Biden, Harris or Newsom represent. Electability is an entirely different question, of course, but what voters want is someone who would actually represent their views. Someone like AOC would be that. 

[Zoraptor]

The poll is this one. If you want to see the data (it's on p64) you'll have to download it from there, I can't link the pdf itself. Too Lazy, Didn't Download: it's the polled registered democrats.

The results for Agreement with criticisms leveled at Democrats are absolutely brutal; +74 (ie 85: 11) on them having a leadership crisis.

The really interesting thing is that there's one current politician they polled about who has a net positive from the full polling set, and it is... AOC. The only two other 'candidates' with net positives are Barack and Michelle Obama, though Buttigieg isn't an option in that particular poll Newcomb is and at -27 he's 29 points behind AOC. There is, of course, the possibility of gaming the results (ie R voters having a positive view of AOC as a tactic because they think she's unelectable and v/v for Newcomb)- I imagine if you pay for the results you get a breakdown of those numbers by affiliation.

Politically of course it's seen as being far more important to appeal to people who don't vote for you as a candidate (but might) than to The Base, because you can take The Base for granted. 

[BruceVC]

12 hours ago, Pidesco said:

Is this a poll of strategists, or just Dem voters?

 

It makes perfect sense that voters would go for someone like Buttigieg or AOC. They want a break with the establishment, that people like Biden, Harris or Newsom represent. Electability is an entirely different question, of course, but what voters want is someone who would actually represent their views. Someone like AOC would be that. 

Yes any candidate  in any Democracy needs to align with what there voters think but in the US you need more than that as a serious presidential candidate 

You must be able to influence  the important undecided voters, 14-18% of registered voters, or you need to run in a political era where is there is problem that most voters feel strongly about 

Look at Obamas success in 2008 and how war fatigued most Americans were 

AOC is considered one of the progressive Dems and a member of the  "squad " and this is  seen as "socialist " which many Americans will immediately reject outside of the expected Democrat base 

There is lots of legitimate and exaggerated criticism towards her and things she has said or done 

During the DNC when the Dems elect there candidate this will become very apparent and Conservative media will have a field day with her

And this will only become worse if she is the presidential candidate. Harris was and is more likely to win than AOC

It will be  almost impossible to believe  or take seriously  that AOC will ever win the DNC or the US election?

@rjshae

Yes, Shapiro is a good choice. I have listened to him before and he makes sense on issues 

 But he does fail several Dem checkboxes but thats one of the things the Dem strategists  need to update  if they want to change there political misfortunes and voting losses 

They need to accept thats it okay to be a white male as the candidate. Biden won in 2020 so its not like it should be that difficult to accept?

Thats why we have the DNC, let the supporters decide on the right candidate 

 

 

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Eh, the Democrats last two primaried candidates (well, kind of in 2024) were Biden. Who was white, male, and while not jewish was an avowed Zionist. 

To boot, at present the number 1 democrat in Washington is Chuck Schumer, who is pretty much Shapiro if he was a generation or so older. The idea that dems are not gonna go for white guy jews (or zionists) falls in the face of who democrat politicians actually are.

14 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

The really interesting thing is that there's one current politician they polled about who has a net positive from the full polling set, and it is... AOC. The only two other 'candidates' with net positives are Barack and Michelle Obama, though Buttigieg isn't an option in that particular poll Newcomb is and at -27 he's 29 points behind AOC. There is, of course, the possibility of gaming the results (ie R voters having a positive view of AOC as a tactic because they think she's unelectable and v/v for Newcomb)- I imagine if you pay for the results you get a breakdown of those numbers by affiliation.

It's also worth noting that out of all the options in that poll, she's the least "national" politician besides Newsom as the rest are ranking members of congress, presidents and vice presidents, and Michelle Obama. I think a big part of it is that she has a relatively small tab in the "don't know" section, likely due to an outsized focus from Republicans and "Radical Centrists" who have been infuriated and infatuated with her for years, so you know who she is. Combine this with her perceived distance from the democrat's leadership when said leadership's performance is viewed as being underwater and I can't say it's particularly surprising.

However, my bet is that AOC tries to primary Schumer instead of making at go at president.

[uuuhhii]

california are cutting healthcare now

seem like the collapse are accelerating