US Politics: Biden vs. Ron DeCardassian in the Delta quadrant

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Arakan said:

As the US are back on top of the world with regards to COVID cases and deaths, I have to say that the Republican Party is a menace to the world. They are not anti-science, no, they are anti-intelligence. Seeing people like DeSantis in his glorious dumbness and stupidity I get violent fantasies. These stupid, totally ignorant, incompetent and arrogant Republicans are 100% responsible for the current COVID escalation. One can call the current Democrats a lot, spineless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, hypocrites, pretentious, you name it, but at least they are not Republicans. 

The whole point of what we call stupid by the govs of Florida, Texas, et al. is to make things so bad for Biden with covid, and now Afghanistan, that they can scream about it non-stop and Biden won't be re-elected, but one of Them will be POTUS instead, to reign over the stinkin' rubble, but hey at least it will be white stinkin' rubble, and reigned over. Yes, They are doing all this on purpose.  They have A Plan and They are sticking to it.

 

[Fez]

SCOTUS just ended the eviction moratorium. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/21a23_ap6c.pdf

Not on constitutional grounds at least, but simply that the CDC does not have the legal authority without an act of Congress. Which is the same stance the Biden administration had as well when the moratorium last expired, but then the CDC tried to reimpose it anyway after Congress wasn't able to come to an extension agreement.

Personally, I think this is one of those "but outcome, but good process" decisions, even though the liberals dissented. The CDC's legal theory here was essentially that they can do literally anything at all if they claim the goal is to prevent disease. And it's not hard to see how that might easily be abused if it was allowed to stand. Especially in a situation like this, where the connection between the moratorium and disease prevention is pretty tenuous at this point; pretty much everyone who supports the moratorium does so on economic grounds, to prevent hardship. Which is a perfectly fine policy goal to have; but really does require Congress giving authorization to keep going.

[ThinkerX]

I think there's a word or phrase for this sort of thing....dang drat it, what is it?

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/south-dakota-ag-gets-fines-no-jail-time-in-pedestrian-death?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

 

[Altherion]

31 minutes ago, Fez said:

SCOTUS just ended the eviction moratorium. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/21a23_ap6c.pdf

Not on constitutional grounds at least, but simply that the CDC does not have the legal authority without an act of Congress. Which is the same stance the Biden administration had as well when the moratorium last expired, but then the CDC tried to reimpose it anyway after Congress wasn't able to come to an extension agreement.

I think pretty much everyone knew this was coming, it was only a question of when. The idea was to use the time from the lawsuits to distribute the relief funds so that the rent was paid and there would no longer be any grounds for eviction. I wonder how far they managed to get with this -- the distribution has been surprisingly slow thus far.

[Arakan]

2 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

I think there's a word or phrase for this sort of thing....dang drat it, what is it?

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/south-dakota-ag-gets-fines-no-jail-time-in-pedestrian-death?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email

 

This is fucked up. Fucked up beyond believe, especially as he fled the accident scene. Obviously I do not know US law but in Germany that’s a big No No, even if you think it’s „just“ a deer. And I am quite sure that excuse wouldn’t fly here as by law you have to assure yourself what you hit. Those things happen, but at least he should have lost his driver‘s license and be convicted on prohibition. 

Killing a human being, albeit without malice and by accident, and just getting a farcical fine of a few bucks. That’s not a „just“ justice system.

[Gorn]

Burn of the day:

Quote

But the coup de grâce of Wednesday’s great public truthout was U.S. District Judge Linda Parker’s 110-page ruling against the all-star team of lawyers that sought to overturn Michigan’s 2020 election. Following a July hearing at which Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and other luminaries of the Kraken bar tried to explain why they should not be sanctioned for their efforts to set aside the Michigan election results and install electors for Donald Trump, Parker handed down a beatdown of an opinion. Parker ordered the lawyers to pay the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit’s attorneys fees for defending the suit and to complete continuing legal education (in the subjects of pleading standards and election law) and to report back on what they learned. She then ordered that a copy of her decision be sent to state disciplinary boards for the possible suspension or disbarment of the nine attorneys involved in the litigation. Parker both opened and closed with the admonition that the attorneys abused not just the truth but had also taken part in a “historic and profound” abuse of the judicial process itself.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/sidney-powell-sanctions-jan-6-insurrection.html

[Fragile Bird]

I see Republican Jim Banks is reported as saying that if the Republicans take back the House they have a moral duty to punish those investigating the events of January 6th.

Let that one sink in.

[HoodedCrow]

At least they tell us in advance. 

[Varysblackfyre321]

26 minutes ago, L'oiseau français said:

I see Republican Jim Banks is reported as saying that if the Republicans take back the House they have a moral duty to punish those investigating the events of January 6th.

Let that one sink in.

I fully expect that the Republican platform will explicitly include an end to liberal democracy in their platform.

20 minutes ago, HoodedCrow said:

At least they tell us in advance. 

Yeah so it’s really dumb for some moderate democrats to continue act republicans won’t go full authoritarian when they get back in power.

[Fez]

29 minutes ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Yeah so it’s really dumb for some moderate democrats to continue act republicans won’t go full authoritarian when they get back in power.

It's frog boiling. Republicans have said crazy things for a long time now, but it gets a little bit crazier every year and a slightly larger number of Republicans are saying it each year. Too many people have failed to notice just how crazy or numerous its gotten.

But it's not just moderate Democrats, there's plenty of liberal Democrats missing the dangers too. They do want to make structural changes that may help some, but many of them want those changes so they can enact and protect liberal policy preferences, not to prevent a coup.

There's very few elected Democrats pushing for the kinds of things that would actually help; like pushing Biden to fire Garland and nominate an actual hardball AG who will pursue real investigations and arrests, or trying to strike a deal with moderate Senate Republican about protecting the integrity of the electoral college and vote counting and doing literally nothing about voting rights that would make them back away, or mass donations and focus on state legislative elections next year (or Virginia this year; Democrats will probably win, but it's being treated as business as usual), and so on.

[Paladin of Ice]

14 hours ago, Arakan said:

This is fucked up. Fucked up beyond believe, especially as he fled the accident scene. Obviously I do not know US law but in Germany that’s a big No No, even if you think it’s „just“ a deer. And I am quite sure that excuse wouldn’t fly here as by law you have to assure yourself what you hit. Those things happen, but at least he should have lost his driver‘s license and be convicted on prohibition. 

Killing a human being, albeit without malice and by accident, and just getting a farcical fine of a few bucks. That’s not a „just“ justice system.

In some left wing circles, it’s become popular to say this about the US courts and laws: “It’s a legal system, but it’s definitely not a justice system“.

[Arakan]

In the longterm I could easily see the Republicans transmorph into something radical like the Taliban, they just have to continue their chosen path for the next 20-30 years (which is nothing). You already got Qanon followers, albeit still a small minority, amongst members of Congress. And you already got a very strong anti-intellectual vibe among majority of Republicans (similar to Taliban) plus faux moral righteousness (similar to Taliban) plus warrior cult (similar to Taliban) plus general approval of violence (firearms) plus the same bogeyman (for all ill in the world just blame the godless leftists/marxists/communists). Very very similar. 

Only half joking. 

[Mindwalker]

55 minutes ago, Arakan said:

In the longterm I could easily see the Republicans transmorph into something radical like the Taliban, they just have to continue their chosen path for the next 20-30 years (which is nothing). You already got Qanon followers, albeit still a small minority, amongst members of Congress. And you already got a very strong anti-intellectual vibe among majority of Republicans (similar to Taliban) plus faux moral righteousness (similar to Taliban) plus warrior cult (similar to Taliban) plus general approval of violence (firearms) plus the same bogeyman (for all ill in the world just blame the godless leftists/marxists/communists). Very very similar. 

Only half joking. 

When almost ALL major politicians of a party have been pushing the election lie and arey sytematically eroding trust in democratic institutions, they already ARE a radical party.

[Fez]

More of a political footnote than anything else, but Sirhan Sirhan, who's been incarcerated since 1968 for assassinating RFK Jr. just got his parole finally approved on his 16th attempt. It was apparently not surprising to people paying attention (I certainly hadn't been), since one of RFK's sons spoke in favor of the parole and the prosecutors didn't even attend the hearing to oppose.

A reminder too I guess that the past isn't always that long ago.

ETA: Apparently in California the governor can block parole board decisions. With the recall coming up, and this starting to get press coverage, I do wonder if Newsom will decide it'll help himself to intervene.

[Fragile Bird]

Just heard on CNBC.

The market, specifically the S&P 500, has made new highs 10 times this month during the trading day (eta that’s called an intra-day high, the market doesn’t necessarily close at a new high). The last time it did that (in August) was in 1987.

The record was 11 times. That was set in 1929.

Hmmmmm.

[Arakan]

25 minutes ago, Fez said:

A reminder too I guess that the past isn't always that long ago.

Wise words. Add to that the typical human fallacy to extrapolate the past into the future. The Western World as a whole and the US especially had a good track record the last 60/70 years in terms of social, economic and political stability, all things considered. There is no godgiven law that it will continue like this. A significant minority of US and other Western societies is already radicalized beyond help and the pandemic really accelerated things. Things can turn ugly very fast. The complete lack of selfawareness among those „patriotic“ Republicans is shocking. They systematically erode trust in major institutions and the democratic process itself. How are they so blind and stupid? Do they actually want an autocracy with a dear leader on the top?  

[Week]

11 minutes ago, L'oiseau français said:

Just heard on CNBC.

The markets have made new highs 10 times this month during the trading day. The last time they did that (in August) was in 1987.

The record was 11 times. That was set in 1929.

Hmmmmm.

Fastest doubling of the S&P too ...

[Varysblackfyre321]

10 minutes ago, Arakan said:

Do they actually want an autocracy with a dear leader on the top?  

Yes.

Conservatism entails strict  hierarchy, democracy and any idea equality will typically be at odds the core philosophy of conservativism.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Mindwalker said:

When almost ALL major politicians of a party have been pushing the election lie and arey sytematically eroding trust in democratic institutions, they already ARE a radical party.

@Arakan's timeline of 20-30 years may be too generous. 2024 could serve as a test case if Biden wins reelection and Republicans control Congress.

[Arakan]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

@Arakan's timeline of 20-30 years may be too generous. 2024 could serve as a test case if Biden wins reelection and Republicans control Congress.

I very much doubt that Biden will be physically able to run again in 2024, he really looks his age now. Very tired, understandably so. I can only hope that the Democrats will be able to get enough people to vote in 2024. The next Republican President will likely be another populist demagogue, climate change denier, anti vaxxer, you name it. With such a base I see no chance for a „moderate“ Republican to get nominated. In the end, Europe needs the US to lead, especially with China in the background. After all you always were our young, dynamic brother who gave us a needed kick in the ass from time to time. 

At the moment I am quite hopeless. Of course life always goes on but I have the strong feeling the best years are over and now it’s about damage control. Maybe it’s the recency of the Afghanistan debacle speaking out of me right now.