Political Randomness

[GreenGoo]

Some good news - looks like the opposition party in Poland has won the election there, defeating the right wing authoritarian party that has governed Poland since 2015.

Still possible for the ruling party to try to use shenanigans to hold on, but good news for now.

excellent news. Poland was worrying.

[Pyperkub]

It is already established that the police do not have any duty to protect. They should just start waiting until the crimes are over before showing up.

Incorrect. They protect money and power and each other well.

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[Isgrimnur]

Is new kids’ show Chip Chilla a ‘blatant Bluey knock-off’ for conservatives?

The Daily Wire, the US conservative media brand founded by political commentator Ben Shapiro and film-maker Jeremy Boreing, has branched out into kids’ entertainment with a new subscription streaming app called Bentkey. Their aim is to get ’em while they’re young, claw back some ground from “the left” and counter Disney’s stranglehold. “We have to challenge the left every single place that it lives,” Boreing declared last year, when the Daily Wire announced it was investing US$100m into creating a children’s platform.

One of Bentkey’s four original series is Chip Chilla: an animated show about a family of chinchillas who are homeschooled by their parents, voiced by embattled former-Broadway actor Laura Osnes, and actor and culture war warrior Rob Schneider. The pastel colour palette bears a resemblance to a certain beloved Australian animated preschool series, and the three kids and parents in the series engage in elaborate role play.
...
As one commentator on X noted: “The first Daily Wire cartoon show looks like it will finally answer the question ‘What if Bluey sucked?’”

[El Guapo]

Exciting news - Trump finally learned how to spell "us".

[Zaxxon]

I love how he inserted a quip about how 'they' will never say the thing he literally just came up with right now.

[Daehawk]

I posted a sarcastic remark. Knowing Trump and his team they will take it as fact and use it to promote themselves.

[Daehawk]

Sshaking the hand of a leader that mind fucks his citizens then lies and holds them back. Come on dems. Listen to Melania..be better.

[Isgrimnur]

Sshaking the hand of a leader that mind fucks his citizens then lies and holds them back. Come on dems.

We export $150B of goods per year to them and import $536B of goods per year. The imports account for over 16% of the total for the US. Of that $536B, $145B lands in California.

Until we decouple our economy from China, we have to play nice.

[GreenGoo]

This is how international diplomacy works. I had no idea (Dem/Rep/President of France/etc) who that was shaking Xi's hand, and had zero outrage.

Even if it had been Biden and Putin, I would have been fine with it, assuming Biden was there to advocate and negotiate for a guarantee of no nukes in Ukraine or similar.

Bad things happen when we stop talking to each other, as for example in American politics.

[hepcat]

Come on dems. Listen to Melania..be better.

I really hope this was sarcasm. Otherwise....

[Holman]

Weird development out of Argentina:

They recently had an election where extremist Libertarian "mini-Trump" Javier Milei was considered the favorite. In the final tally, he came in second to a center-left candidate, so now there will be a run-off.

But in an interview last night, well... You don't even have to speak Spanish to get the gist.

[El Guapo]

Maybe the really sad thing is - if Trump did this, his campaign wouldn't be over, right? At least there's a decent chance that it wouldn't be, at a minimum?

[GreenGoo]

Maybe the really sad thing is - if Trump did this, his campaign wouldn't be over, right? At least there's a decent chance that it wouldn't be, at a minimum?

He's arguably already doing similar. It seems to be helping him.

[Daehawk]

Why are we such a bad country filled with so many bad people these days? I dont remember the USA being like this or this bad 4 decades ago.

I honestly think if WW2 vets could see the world the US is now they wouldn't be so proud of it and might even rethink fighting for it.

The vets I knew like my grandfather would be ashamed of it. And I know my WW2 vet father in law hated so much about the way it was going.

[Blackhawk]

Why are we such a bad country filled with so many bad people these days? I dont remember the USA being like this or this bad 4 decades ago.

Because we'd temporarily shamed the people responsible back into their holes, making their attitudes socially unacceptable. And many of us (like myself) ended up with the mistaken belief that because they weren't visible anymore, they were gone.

And, FWIW, you hit the perfect time frame: Go back any further than 40 years, and the terrible was out there for everyone to see, just like it is now. It was just considered more acceptable. And even 40 years ago wasn't much better for some of the targets of today's hatred - it was a scary time to be gay, for instance. And many WWII vets would have been marching right alongside the racists. They wouldn't have accepted the pro-Nazi or pro-Russia veneer, but a lot would have agreed with the sentiment.

Who, after all, were all of the white men spreading fear in 50s and 60s?

[Daehawk]

Ya it really seemed like the country was moving forward and becoming an accepting place and an understanding peoples. Gay marriage abortion race...those and many other things were finally being recognized and accepted publicly. Schools taught science and facts. It was looking like the future that should be...but then we stumbled. Let the deadheads rise back up into power positions. Gave them platforms for the wrongness.

I hope its just a stumble and not a fall. That they are trying their last breath at hating and hurting and it will pass and we will pick ourselves up and move forward and onward.

I hate this world..I hate what I see..i shouldn't but I do not like what I see others doing to others who do nothing to them. Its rhyme without reason. Id love to see a world like that of say Star Trek where petty/evil/stupid was behind us and we as a species prospered more for it. I wish I lived in that world.

[Blackhawk]

.but then we stumbled

We didn't stumble. We let ourselves be fooled. We were like children without a sense of object permanence - put the toy behind your back where they can't see it, and they don't think the toy exists anymore. The assholes took a step back and we forgot they were there.

[Unagi]

I just want to point out that "children" develop object permanence around 8 months of age.

[Carpet_pissr]

Weird development out of Argentina:

They recently had an election where extremist Libertarian "mini-Trump" Javier Milei was considered the favorite. In the final tally, he came in second to a center-left candidate, so now there will be a run-off.

But in an interview last night, well... You don't even have to speak Spanish to get the gist.

Wow, I missed that interview, thanks for posting this. Guy is obviously, seriously mentally ill, or perhaps having a break (from the pressure of the campaign/election) right there on camera.

Literally keeps complaining about ‘the voices’ and you can see the poor bastard across from him trying to be as…diplomatic as possible given the circumstances. Wow.

Trump is more of a gibberish monster, this is a different, obviously mental issue kind of thing. I WISH Trump would have this kind of interview, bc it would be the immediate end of his current front runner status.

Of course his most loyal cultists would still adhere, but you don’t do this on air and win a general election.

[Blackhawk]

I just want to point out that "children" develop object permanence around 8 months of age.

And yet we (the straight, white portion of 'we') forgot that the bigots still existed when we stopped seeing them.

[malchior]

.but then we stumbled

We didn't stumble. We let ourselves be fooled. We were like children without a sense of object permanence - put the toy behind your back where they can't see it, and they don't think the toy exists anymore. The assholes took a step back and we forgot they were there.

I disagree a little on causation here. What happened was that they spun up alternative news and slowly normalized the underlying ideas in acceptable at the time policy frameworks that were all designed to be reactionary. Then as they turned the screws slowly on them they bent back into the familiar form but lots of people were allowed to discuss them as "normal" ideas. They also transformed how the lever of powers worked to undermine popular policy especially through the courts.

For example, on civil rights. People might not remember it in detail but the election of Obama came with a lot of "racism" is over talk. Ten years later we have most of the measures from the 1960s designed to combat racism eliminated through judicial tyranny.

[Blackhawk]

.but then we stumbled

We didn't stumble. We let ourselves be fooled. We were like children without a sense of object permanence - put the toy behind your back where they can't see it, and they don't think the toy exists anymore. The assholes took a step back and we forgot they were there.

I disagree a little on causation here. What happened was that they spun up alternative news and slowly normalized the underlying ideas in acceptable at the time policy frameworks that were all designed to be reactionary. Then as they turned the screws slowly on them they bent back into the familiar form but lots of people were allowed to discuss them as "normal" ideas. They also transformed how the lever of powers worked to undermine popular policy especially through the courts.

For example, on civil rights. People might not remember it in detail but the election of Obama came with a lot of "racism" is over talk. Ten years later we have most of the measures from the 1960s designed to combat racism eliminated through judicial tyranny.

It sounds like we aren't disagreeing at all. I was talking about how we let our guard down and stopped watching for it. You're pointing out how they took advantage of our complacency. We let our frog-selves get boiled because we stopped believing that the problems were still out there, so we didn't recognize when they started to work wedges into the cracks.

[malchior]

.but then we stumbled

We didn't stumble. We let ourselves be fooled. We were like children without a sense of object permanence - put the toy behind your back where they can't see it, and they don't think the toy exists anymore. The assholes took a step back and we forgot they were there.

I disagree a little on causation here. What happened was that they spun up alternative news and slowly normalized the underlying ideas in acceptable at the time policy frameworks that were all designed to be reactionary. Then as they turned the screws slowly on them they bent back into the familiar form but lots of people were allowed to discuss them as "normal" ideas. They also transformed how the lever of powers worked to undermine popular policy especially through the courts.

For example, on civil rights. People might not remember it in detail but the election of Obama came with a lot of "racism" is over talk. Ten years later we have most of the measures from the 1960s designed to combat racism eliminated through judicial tyranny.

It sounds like we aren't disagreeing at all. I was talking about how we let our guard down and stopped watching for it.

Hmm. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I don't think we stopped looking for it. People were pointing it out all along.

I'm saying they got very good at camouflaging all this regressive stuff in the range of "normal politics". When people pointed out what they were really doing they were told by very serious people it wasn't happening or they were overreacting. Also, along the way they got very good at manipulating the wider media as GOP politicians became proficient at repeating talking points. They realized the media would pretty much label anything they said as "news" and just amplify it.

[Daehawk]

[Unagi]

I just want to point out that "children" develop object permanence around 8 months of age.

And yet we (the straight, white portion of 'we') forgot that the bigots still existed when we stopped seeing them.

I agree. Well, I don't think we forgot they existed, so much as I think we thought they were properly dismissed and just smoldering in the background.

Anyhow, I was just being pedantic about object permanence and wanting you to have said 'babies' instead of 'children'. Which is a total distraction, and not worth much time - and I'm almost ashamed I even said it.

[LordMortis]

I agree. Well, I don't think we forgot they existed, so much as I think we thought they were properly dismissed and just smoldering in the background.

So very very very much this. I was soooo wrong and so shocked to see how demonstrably wrong I was.

[Holman]

I was a convinced suburban-Southern Evangelical Reagan Youth in the mid 1980s. I remember believing that racism had basically been cured by MLK jr and that it no longer mattered, even though there were maybe still a few racists out there and that Washington politics around race were, well, complicated.

What strikes me now is that in the 1980s we all (even Evangelical white kids in the economically booming South) knew that racism was bad and that its eradication was a good thing. Nowadays, those same kids are being indoctrinated to believe that any talk of "racism" is CRT and Marxism and anti-MAGA.

[GreenGoo]

I agree. Well, I don't think we forgot they existed, so much as I think we thought they were properly dismissed and just smoldering in the background.

So very very very much this. I was soooo wrong and so shocked to see how demonstrably wrong I was.

+1.

Although I began to realize how wrong I had been when people started treating drumpf as a serious candidate and supported him.

[Zaxxon]

Maybe the really sad thing is - if Trump did this, his campaign wouldn't be over, right? At least there's a decent chance that it wouldn't be, at a minimum?

I think there is literally nothing that Trump could do that would dislodge his hordes at this point.

[YellowKing]

I was 100% convinced that even if Trump won, his insanity would be held on a short leash with cooler heads prevailing. I figured he'd thrash and scream and try all kinds of stupid stuff but Congress would keep him in check. Never in my wildest nightmares did I think he'd turn everyone around him into mirror images of himself. I still can't wrap my brain around how once sensible (even if I didn't agree with their policies) people suddenly turned into brainwashed kooks.

[Smoove_B]

It has to be intoxicating to see someone doing and saying the horrific things you feel and not suffering for it in any measurable or obvious way - arguably the opposite, becoming more popular.

[Blackhawk]

I agree. Well, I don't think we forgot they existed, so much as I think we thought they were properly dismissed and just smoldering in the background.

So very very very much this. I was soooo wrong and so shocked to see how demonstrably wrong I was.

+1.

Although I began to realize how wrong I had been when people started treating drumpf as a serious candidate and supported him.

I started to wake up about halfway through Obama's first term.

/edit - wow, I really screwed up the formatting on that one...

[LawBeefaroni]

I was 100% convinced that even if Trump won, his insanity would be held on a short leash with cooler heads prevailing. I figured he'd thrash and scream and try all kinds of stupid stuff but Congress would keep him in check. Never in my wildest nightmares did I think he'd turn everyone around him into mirror images of himself. I still can't wrap my brain around how once sensible (even if I didn't agree with their policies) people suddenly turned into brainwashed kooks.

Sensible people are routinely undone by their own greed and selfishness. See althe decades-long trail of victims in the wake of Trump. And they're still lining up.

The meltdown...I wouldn’t say I saw it coming but it definitely crossed my mind often.

[malchior]

All those stores closing because of crime? One analyst thinks this "explosion" of theft is being exaggerated. Why? Covering bad strategy or to try to get the government to shovel money their way.

Retailers say theft is exploding, and some data from retailers along with numerous videos of violent store robberies and looting seem to support the claim.

But some retail analysts and researchers, bolstered by local crime statistics, say stores may be over-stating the extent and impact of theft. Why? It’s a useful deflection, camouflaging weak demand, mismanagement and other issues denting business right now. And it forces lawmakers to respond.

Across the country, the “actual increase in rates of theft” at stores does not “correspond to the increase in company commentary and actions” on theft, according to a new report by retail analysts at William Blair. “Retailers are increasingly vocal on the subject, in part to draw out government action,” the analysts wrote.

[Pyperkub]

Psst. It isn't just 'one' analyst who believes this.

Anyone with eyes knows that retail is contracting and anyone who reads knows that there is money to be made in blaming politics for it if there is juicy video

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[Apollo]

I'm starting to be just a bit hopeful that, when Trump's political run is finally over, he will not be immediately followed by another Far-Right clone as I had originally feared. It doesn't seem that any of the other GOP hopefuls can truly unite and inspire the MAGA crowd the way Trump can, despite some reaaally trying. Maybe he's just a once in a generation asshole, which makes me somewhat optimistic for the future once he's in jail.

[Octavious]

I don't see how you could be hopeful. He's dominating in the primary polls and leading in some of the 2024 polls. I don't hold much weight on the 2024 polls, but with all the shit he pulled he should be polling single digits. There's every chance all these court cases aren't resolved by the election and that he wins. And then we'll be pretty much done. They will tear the place apart. I have to remember to take the day after the election off and just turn off all the news. I can't deal with this crap anymore.

[LordMortis]

I read that as he loses in 2024 and that this will effectively no longer be the party leader. I am also hopeful that he loses. But being only at hope, it's pretty bad. Recently, reading here that the Arabic block will withhold from Biden in 2024 is disconcerting. The Arabic and Muslim population in Michigan is more than 3%, I think. And protests against our support for Israel's offensive goes beyond the Arabic and Muslim communities.

While others are fearing a Kennedy run pulling from Biden support, I feat that stuff like this is going to see Biden voters staying at home

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1143017

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -americans

What is hope, should be a no brainer.

[El Guapo]

Finally signs of push back against Tuberville's military promotion blockade. We'll see what comes of it.

[GreenGoo]

I hope someone throws a chair at him. Or beats him with their cane.