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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 9:05:47 GMT -8
Big shoutout to my fingers. I can always count on them.
Blame NATO
How the message has changed.
Right after Russia invaded Ukraine, TV talk show hosts here were confidently predicting that within days Russian troops would be marching through Kyiv.
That was nearly nine months ago.
This week the same presenters were grim faced as they announced the army's "difficult decision" to withdraw Russian forces from Kherson - the only Ukrainian regional capital Russia had managed to capture and occupy since invading Ukraine on 24 February. Just six weeks ago, President Putin had claimed to have annexed Kherson region, along with three other Ukrainian territories, insisting that they would be part of Russia forever.
"I wanted our flag to be flying in Kyiv in March," anchor man Vladimir Solovyov told viewers of his show Evening with Solovyov. "It was painful when our troops turned away from Kyiv and Chernihiv. But such are the laws of war…we are fighting Nato."
That's exactly how the Kremlin is trying to spin this: by blaming the West. The message from the Russian state media is that, in Ukraine, Russia is taking on the combined might of America, Britain, the EU and Nato. You name it, Russia's fighting it. In other words, setbacks on the battlefield are not the Kremlin's fault, but the handiwork of external enemies.
There's another message, too: don't criticise the Russian army or Russia's president for what's gone wrong in Ukraine. Instead, do your duty and rally round the flag.
It's advice which, for now, prominent and powerful Russian voices seem to be following. The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of mercenary group Wagner, have been vocal critics of Russia's military leadership. But on the withdrawal from Kherson, both have posted messages of support for the Russian Commander in Ukraine, General Surovikin, who had recommended the pull-back.
The same cannot be said of pro-war Russian military bloggers. They've been busy writing angry messages about the retreat, such as:
"I will never forget this murder of Russia hopes. This betrayal will be carved on my heart for centuries." ['Zastavny']
"This is a massive geopolitical defeat for Putin and Russia…the defence ministry lost the trust of society long ago…now trust in the president will disappear." [ 'Zloi Zhurnalist']
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 9:11:26 GMT -8
Vlad Want to Make Sure That He Screws Civilians As Much As Possible on the Way Out
Russian forces destroyed critical infrastructure in the southern city of Kherson before their withdrawal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, as Kyiv’s military retook control of the southeastern city.
“Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure: communications, water, heat, electricity,” Zelenskyy stated in a video address on Saturday.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 9:18:31 GMT -8
It's Simple Harry Enten: Biden isn't Popular, but the QOP and Their Terrible Candidates Are Even Less Popular
I went back through the record books. Since 1922, there have been three previous instances of the president’s party gaining (or losing no) Senate seats and losing fewer than 10 House seats in the president’s first midterm.
All of them – 1934, 1962 and 2002 – are thought to be monumental achievements for the president’s party and major exceptions to rule, which suggests the party controlling the White House usually loses seats in a midterm.
Democrats’ performance this year has funneled down to the state level as well. We already know, based on projected races, that this will be the first time since 1934 that the president’s party had a net gain of governorships in a president’s first midterm. (1986 is the only other post-1934 midterm, regardless of when it fell in a presidency, when the president’s party had a net gain of governorships, though Ronald Reagan’s GOP had massive losses in the Senate that year.)
The shocking thing about this year (assuming the current trends hold) is that Biden is quite unpopular. His approval rating was 44% in the exit polls. His favorable rating was 41%.
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By nominating Trumpist candidates, Republicans instantly threw away two governorships held by outgoing middle-of-the-road Republicans Charlie Baker in Massachusetts and Larry Hogan in Maryland. Maura Healey, Baker’s Democratic successor, and Wes Moore, the Democrat who will take over from Hogan, swept to victory by winning back the moderates and independents who had been quite happy to balance power in their very Democratic states with a Republican chief executive. These voters could not abide putting Trump apologists in charge.
Florida is Just Wierd
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 9:22:42 GMT -8
You Bought Him. You Own Him.
A unified party establishment is a powerful thing, and there’s real reason to think that Republican elites could muscle Trump out of his position if they committed to the aggressive, scorched-earth tactics it would take.
But there’s an issue. The idea that Republican elites could simply swap Trump for another candidate without incurring any serious damage rests on two assumptions: First, that Trump’s supporters are more committed to the Republican Party than they are to him, and second, that Trump himself will give up the fight if he isn’t able to win the party’s nomination.
I think these assumptions show a fundamental misunderstanding of the world Republican elites brought into being when they finally bent the knee to Trump in the summer and fall of 2016. Trump isn’t simply a popular (with Republicans) politician with an unusually enthusiastic group of supporters. No, he leads a cult of personality, in which he is an almost messianic figure, practically sent by God himself to purge the United States of liberals (and other assorted enemies) and restore the nation to greatness. He is practically worshiped by a large and politically influential group of Americans, who describe him as “anointed.”
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 9:56:49 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL), the first Gen Z candidate elected to Congress
The Democrats who will occupy the all-important Secretary of State races in battleground states Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and (likely) Nevada
President Biden, for being at the helm for the best midterm election results for a first-term Democrat in 40 years. Bonus: key report shows inflation is cooling
The pissed-off women (esp. of color) who turned out to vote, and those darn kids (the 18-29 demographic was the only one to swing more towards Dems than in 2020), helping prevent a red wave
South Dakota voters, for voting to expand Medicaid under the ACA, and voters in Maryland and Missouri for voting to legalize recreational marijuana
Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont, for explicitly codifying the right to abortion in their state constitutions
Fetterman, Kelly, and Cortez Masto!!!
The state houses where leadership flipped from red to blue control, including Michigan, where voters gave Democrats complete control of the state government for the first time in 40 years
Ukraine's military, as Russia waits 'til after our midterm elections before beating a chaotic retreat from the major city of Kherson
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 10:02:43 GMT -8
More Reasons, Why 51 is Better Than 50
With the race in Nevada now declared from Cortez Masto, we know that the Dems will keep the Senats (which is just so monumental on so many levels!). And as a result, there has already been a fair amount of chatter about why a Warnock win (and thus getting to 51 seats) would be a much better outcome for Democrats. Committee assignments, for example, would no longer have any kind of power sharing agreement. It would just be straight Dem majorities in all committees. Further, it frees up VP Harris to travel more, because she won’t be required to break all legislative ties. And it’s more insurance in case a Senator dies or resigns (which happens often enough every cycle).
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 10:37:50 GMT -8
Stable Genius Alert
A New York writer who accused Donald Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store is filing a new defamation suit against him based on his latest attacks on Truth Social.
A lawyer representing E. Jean Carroll, who alleges Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s, informed Manhattan U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the action in a letter on Thursday, reported Law and Crime.
Carroll filed a defamation suit against Trump in 2019 after he denied her accusation during a White House interview, deriding her as not “my type” and claiming she was just out to get publicity.
Trump last month repeated some of the same attacks in posts on Truth Social. He denounced her claim as a “complete con job” and a “hoax and a lie.” He again noted: “While I’m not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!”
Trump’s lawyers have tried to argue that whatever he said as president was protected from legal action. He had no such privilege last month as a private citizen and appeared to undermine his defense.
“Absolutely brilliant,” mocked conservative attorney George Conway on Twitter, addressing Trump after his posts. “You issue a BRAND NEW statement REPEATING all the earlier defamatory statements, but since you’re no longer POTUS, you NO LONGER HAVE [the] DEFENSE you’ve been pushing for years.”
Carroll’s attorney informed Kaplan that her client’s new defamation claim concerning the Truth Social posts would be filed in New York state court on Nov. 24. It will be part of a battery complaint against Trump under the Adult Survivors Act. The new state law allows a one-year window to bring sexual-assault claims that the statute of limitations would otherwise disallow.
Trump answered questions under oath about the case in a deposition in the initial case last month.
Kaplan last month rejected Trump’s request for yet another delay in the deposition, saying he couldn’t “run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong.”
His decision apparently provoked Trump’s latest screed against Carroll on Truth Social.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 11:08:31 GMT -8
Sometimes We Forget That Things Like This are Still Happening in the US
The Labor Department says a sanitation contractor employed dozens of children in dangerous roles at meatpacking plants in Nebraska and Minnesota.
The agency went to federal court on Wednesday seeking an injunction against Packer’s Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), alleging at least 31 kids had worked for the company in “oppressive child labor.” Officials say they ranged in age from 13 to 17, and their responsibilities included cleaning hazardous equipment during overnight shifts.
The Labor Department said in its filing that Packer’s violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by employing the minors, who allegedly worked at plants owned by meatpacking giant JBS and the poultry processor Turkey Valley Farms.
“The Labor Department also alleged that PSSI violated the law by “intimidating minor workers to stop them from cooperating with investigators."”
The agency has asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the company from employing minors while it continues to investigate.
“Investigators also learned that several minors employed by PSSI — including one 13-years-old — suffered caustic chemical burns and other injuries,” the Labor Department said in a press release.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 11:12:02 GMT -8
Colorado Says Rich Folks Can Treat Kids to Lunch
Colorado kids won’t have to go hungry in school thanks to voters who passed legislation this week that will give all public school students in the state free lunch.
Proposition FF passed with 56% of the vote in the state’s midterm election, creating the Healthy School Meals For All program.
The new program, beginning next year, will help schools pay for meals by raising $100 million a year through tax increases on those making more than $300,000 a year. Colorado’s wealthy will see their state tax deductions limited, increasing their taxable income, according to NPR.
The measure comes after the expiration of a federal program that gave universal free lunches to students across the country during the pandemic’s start.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 11:16:57 GMT -8
Bibi's Back
Israel's president officially tapped former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government on Sunday, opening the door for the likely return to power of the long-serving leader after a one-year hiatus. With Netanyahu comes what's expected to be Israel's most right-wing coalition ever.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 11:19:40 GMT -8
Last MAGA Standing
Kari Lake is the last election denier standing in swing state governor's races. Can she buck the trend?
Across the country last week, voters in swing states handed stinging rebukes to Republican gubernatorial candidates who embraced false claims about who won the presidency in 2020, electing their Democratic opponents instead.
As vote counting continues, Arizona could follow — or emerge as the lone exception.
Kari Lake, the former television news anchor turned Republican nominee for Arizona governor who has said she would not have certified the election two years ago and claimed "stealing going on" before her primary victory, was in a toss-up race with her Democratic opponent Katie Hobbs.
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,022
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Post by hasben on Nov 13, 2022 14:04:30 GMT -8
You Bought Him. You Own Him.
But there’s an issue. The idea that Republican elites could simply swap Trump for another candidate without incurring any serious damage...
Because of your comments, that I agree with, I'm copying what I posted on the blue board about this very topic:
Like Bernie, I'm still a little on the fence with this one.Bernie did say "probably" (good for trump to run) and I agree. I'd like to see DeSantis out of the picture if even temporarily, trump defeated again, and the gop unravel after his defeat. Fair to say that's all wishful thinking not certainty.
At the same time, and overlooking the slight possibility that trump "could" win, the consequences of another embarrassing defeat for him could be significant.
At that point he would most likely become totally unhinged, have nothing left to lose and likely go full nuclear for revenge. He really does control an alarming number of violent potential terrorists living in magaland, many hidden in dangerous places in our military and law enforcement, not to mention the civilian terrorists who showed up on Jan 6. Maybe it's better that they be called out of the shadows for full assault so that we could put them down, but there would be lots of bloodshed and they could do a huge amount of damage before being stopped. No doubt some good people (politicians) would lose their lives. So, is hoping trump runs and loses worth it? I don't know.
The safest of all scenarios would probably be for DeSantis AND trump to run, then have the gop give the nomination to DeSantis. That would focus trump's ire squarely on the gop and not our voting system. But either of those things happening are very unlikely. If DeSantis did run and then be soundly defeated like his cronies in the midterms we should be on safe ground for a while.
Due to the size of maga in the repub voter ranks I have zero faith that the mostly gutless gop would do the right thing and give the nomination to DeSantis should they both run no matter how much they would like to do so.
It's a dangerous game no matter what happens. Either a trump or a DeSantis nomination would pose a threat to the country. DeSantis because he could very well win the potus and be more effective than trump at moving us closer to autocracy, and trump, well I've already said it all there.
BTW every conserv I know, including TT and regardless of any indictments, will vote for trump again rather than vote for any Democrat.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2022 14:43:30 GMT -8
You Bought Him. You Own Him. But there’s an issue. The idea that Republican elites could simply swap Trump for another candidate without incurring any serious damage... Because of your comments, that I agree with, I'm copying what I posted on the blue board about this very topic: Like Bernie, I'm still a little on the fence with this one.Bernie did say "probably" (good for trump to run) and I agree. I'd like to see DeSantis out of the picture if even temporarily, trump defeated again, and the gop unravel after his defeat. Fair to say that's all wishful thinking not certainty. At the same time, and overlooking the slight possibility that trump "could" win, the consequences of another embarrassing defeat for him could be significant. At that point he would most likely become totally unhinged, have nothing left to lose and likely go full nuclear for revenge. He really does control an alarming number of violent potential terrorists living in magaland, many hidden in dangerous places in our military and law enforcement, not to mention the civilian terrorists who showed up on Jan 6. Maybe it's better that they be called out of the shadows for full assault so that we could put them down, but there would be lots of bloodshed and they could do a huge amount of damage before being stopped. No doubt some good people (politicians) would lose their lives. So, is hoping trump runs and loses worth it? I don't know. The safest of all scenarios would probably be for DeSantis AND trump to run, then have the gop give the nomination to DeSantis. That would focus trump's ire squarely on the gop and not our voting system. But either of those things happening are very unlikely. If DeSantis did run and then be soundly defeated like his cronies in the midterms we should be on safe ground for a while. Due to the size of maga in the repub voter ranks I have zero faith that the mostly gutless gop would do the right thing and give the nomination to DeSantis should they both run no matter how much they would like to do so. It's a dangerous game no matter what happens. Either a trump or a DeSantis nomination would pose a threat to the country. DeSantis because he could very well win the potus and be more effective than trump at moving us closer to autocracy, and trump, well I've already said it all there. BTW every conserv I know, including TT and regardless of any indictments, will vote for trump again rather than vote for any Democrat. Good analysis. I just have one thing to add. In 2016, everyone seemed to take it for granted that Jeb Bush would win the Republican nomination. He had the name recognition and all the big donors. He made it through the Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. I think it is way premature to think the DeSantis will get the nomination if Trump doesn't run. It's a long time until 2024. |
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