The official President Biden thread.

[carpetmonster]

2 hours ago, BFTD said:

Where does it all go? Advertising?

Seeing as how Republicans are usually outspent by Democrats (I believe), is that why they hate the evil MainStream Media so much now?

In Caruso’s case I think a fair whack of it was his own money. I’m not sure if the DNC/RNC *do* fund mayoral candidates and I can’t find anything to tell me otherwise. I know Lightfoot’s spent a lot of time in CA wooing donors for her re-election bid. Also Caruso ran as Dem in this one (although nobody really believed him) so it’s interesting as Karen Bass would have been the party preference. It could be they don’t - one of the reasons it took Trump so long to declare for 2024 is once he announces his candidacy is then the RNC can’t pay his bills any longer - it’d be showing preference to a candidate, which they can’t do, even if he turned out to be the only candidate. Ronna McDaniel now has to stop shoveling cash at him until he becomes officially the nominee. 
 

It is mostly advertising tho. 

[Detournement]

On 18/02/2022 at 06:18, carpetmonster said:

That's Sam Brinton. They have two degrees in nuclear engineering from MIT and have run their own company consulting in nuclear reactor development and nuclear waste disposal for the last 10 years. They are *immensely* qualified for the gig. 

 

https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/sam-brinton

They also have a compulsion to steal women's suitcases from airports. 

[carpetmonster]

4 hours ago, Detournement said:

They also have a compulsion to steal women's suitcases from airports. 

Digging out a 10 month old post to comment on 3 week old news because it hit neo-fash Twitter yesterday. Quality stuff. 

[Detournement]

2 hours ago, carpetmonster said:

Digging out a 10 month old post to comment on 3 week old news because it hit neo-fash Twitter yesterday. Quality stuff. 

Just a wee search. 

Boring jobs should be done by boring people. 

[ICTChris]

 

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/12/sam-brintons-story-always-good-true/
 

 

[Granny Danger]

I read this as SCOTUS making the law rather than ensuring it’s proper interpretation.  It’s not their job and with the exception of Neil Gorsuch it was a straight nut-job v ‘Liberals’ vote.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64103825

The Title 42 policy - applied about 2.5 million times since March 2020 - was originally due to expire on 21 December but, two days before the deadline, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts blocked its termination. 

The court's decision was in response to an emergency appeal from some Republican-led states who had asked for the policy to remain in place. 

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to extend the temporary stay ordered by Justice Roberts while the case moved forward. 

 

 

[Granny Danger]

Joe Biden, the gift that keeps on giving.  To his opponents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-64248626

OK there are differences between this and the Trump situation but it’s still a joke and will give the republicans all the (ahem) ammunition they need.

[MazzyStar]

So true Joe. 

[MazzyStar]

On 30/11/2022 at 12:25, MazzyStar said:

 

 

 

 

 

[GNU_Linux]

Ooops

Joe Biden has broken his silence on unknown aerial objects shot down over North America during the past week, assessing that they were “most likely” operated by private companies or research institutions rather than China.

The US president’s tentative conclusion is likely to fuel criticism that his orders to take down the objects were an overreaction amid political pressure over the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that transited much of the country.

Biden spoke for eight minutes at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Thursday after Republicans and some Democrats expressed concerns that his unwillingness to comment on the issue could allow conspiracy theories to thrive.

“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from any other country,” the president told reporters, against a backdrop of flags and the presidential seal.

“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”

Earlier this month an American fighter jet downed a balloon sent by the Chinese government off the coast of South Carolina. The incident prompted accusations from Republicans that Biden had been too slow to react and should have shot it down before it passed over the continental US.

When three additional unidentified objects were spotted on Friday off the coast of Alaska, on Saturday over Canada and on Sunday over Lake Huron, Biden was quick to order that they be taken down.

But on Thursday, with efforts to relocate the wreckage hampered by weather, he acknowledged that many objects are sent up by countries, companies and research organisations for reasons that are “not nefarious”, including legitimate scientific research.

“I want to be clear,” Biden said. “We don’t have any evidence that there has been a sudden increase in the number of objects in the sky. We’re now just seeing more of them partially because the steps we’ve taken to increase our radars.”

The president, who has directed national security adviser Jake Sullivan to lead an “interagency team” to review procedures, said the US is developing “sharper rules” to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.

These rules would help “distinguish between those that are likely to pose safety and security risks that necessitate action and those that do not,” he added. “Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people I will take it down.”

The downing of the Chinese surveillance craft was the first known peacetime shoot down of an unauthorised object in US airspace and continues to send out diplomatic ripples.

The White House national security council has said the balloon had the ability to collect communications and that China has previously flown similar surveillance balloons over dozens of countries on multiple continents, including some of the US’s closest allies.

The US blacklisted six Chinese entities it said were linked to Beijing’s aerospace programmes.

China has denied that the balloon was a surveillance airship. Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a press conference that the balloon’s entry into US airspace was “an unintended, unexpected and isolated event”, adding: “China has repeatedly communicated this to the US side, yet the US overreacted by abusing the use of force and escalating the situation.

“It also used the incident as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions over Chinese companies and institutions. China is strongly opposed to this and will take countermeasures in accordance with law against relevant US entities that have undermined China’s sovereignty and security to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests.”

US relations with China have been tested over the last year due to tensions over cybersecurity, competition in the technology sector, the looming threat to Taiwan and China’s failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday Biden criticised China’s surveillance programme, saying the “violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable,” but said he looks to maintain open lines of communication with Beijing. “We’re not looking for a new cold war.”

Secretary of state Antony Blinken postponed his first planned trip to China as the balloon was flying over the US and a new meeting with his Chinese counterpart has yet to be scheduled.

“I expect to be speaking with President Xi and I hope we can get to the bottom of this,” Biden said. “But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”

Senators from both sides of the aisle have complained about being denied detailed information. John Cornyn, a Republican senator for Texas, told the Politico website that the White House was “creating a bigger problem for themselves by the lack of transparency because people’s minds, their imaginations begin to run wild. I think they’re behind the curve on this and they really need to be more transparent.”

On Monday, just to be sure, the White House felt compelled to announce that there was no indication of “aliens or extraterrestrial activity”.

[Zetterlund]

Minter.

 

[GNU_Linux]

Pro-lifers showing they really care about women

In a few weeks, a Florida couple will have to bid farewell to their child shortly after the baby is delivered, a gut-wrenching reality created by the US supreme court’s elimination of nationwide abortion rights last year.

Because of a new Florida law that bans abortion after 15 weeks except under certain circumstances, Deborah Dorbert has become one of many women having difficulty accessing necessary abortion procedures after the supreme court overturned the rights granted by the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision.

A report by the Washington Post chronicles how Dorbert and her husband, Lee Dorbert, are expecting their second child and have been told by doctors that the baby has been diagnosed with a fatal fetal abnormality known as Potter syndrome. But, they have said, the doctors could not perform an abortion because of their interpretation of a Florida law that took effect after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade.

Potter syndrome is a rare condition related to a fetus’s development in the uterus. The syndrome is a result of abnormal kidney growth and function, which affects how much amniotic fluid surrounds the fetus during pregnancy.

It has been deemed a “doubly lethal diagnosis” because babies with malfunctioning kidneys can’t remove deadly toxins from their bodies and can in turn experience renal failure. Additionally, the absence of amniotic fluid in a womb causes a baby to be born without the ability to breathe.

According to Florida’s Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality law, which was implemented last July, abortions are prohibited after 15 weeks of gestation, with a few exceptions, including one that would allow for a later abortion “if two physicians certify in writing that the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality and has not reached viability”.

Last November, when the couple’s baby was diagnosed with the syndrome, a maternal fetal medicine specialist told the Dorberts that some parents choose to continue to full term while others opt to terminate the pregnancy through surgery or preterm labor.

The doctor added that he would consult with health system administrators regarding the new law, the Washington Post reports. The Dorberts eventually decided that they would like to terminate the pregnancy as early as they could because babies with the syndrome often die before they are born or end up suffocating within minutes or hours after their delivery.

Deborah Dorbert told the outlet that she recalled the specialist saying that the termination might be possible – but not until between 28 and 32 weeks.

Then, after the specialist consulted with health system administrators regarding the new law, the couple was told that they would have to wait to terminate the pregnancy until the 37th week of gestation – or near full term.

According to a text message Deborah Dorbert received from the coordinator at a maternal fetal medicine office that she visits often, the specialist made his determination after having legal administrators “look at the new law and the way it’s written”, the Washington Post reported.

“It’s horribly written,” the message added.

Despite the specialist telling the couple that other states had fewer restrictions on abortion access, the Dorberts told the Post that they were overwhelmed by travel costs and had only left their state a few times.

The couple, who have not learned the baby’s sex because its legs were crossed or the umbilical cord was in the way during each scan, eventually opted to provide palliative care to their child after the baby is born.

“That’s been very important to us, understanding that we do have that control back at least in some of these decisions,” Lee Dorbert told the Washington Post.

Nevertheless, the new law – which punishes physicians who violate it with penalties including license revocation, hefty fines and five years or more of jail time – has left the couple angry and frustrated.

“It makes me angry, for politicians to decide what’s best for my health,” Deborah Dorbert told the Washington Post. “We would do anything to have this baby.”

“We have never really understood,” Lee Dorbert said, adding: “We were told there was an exception … Obviously, [it’s] not enough of an exception in some cases.”

Despite the pain that the Dorberts and couples in similar situations are experiencing, the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has maintained a staunch anti-abortion stance.

Earlier this month, DeSantis said that he would sign a six-week abortion ban if one passed.

“We’re for pro-life,” DeSantis said. “I urge the legislature to work, produce good stuff, and we will sign. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

[welshbairn]

 

[Brother Blades]

3 hours ago, welshbairn said:

 

And we think our politics is fucked! How do these imbeciles get voted in? L

[ScotiaNostra]

I really cant understand it, shes clearly unhinged

[Anonapersona]

23 minutes ago, ScotiaNostra said:

I really cant understand it, shes clearly unhinged

Me and my boss were just talking about that.

Right wing politics have spiraled out of control.

[Savage Henry]

4 hours ago, welshbairn said:

 

She’s either playing 4D chess, or she’s an imbecile of the highest magnitude.  

[TxRover]

On 13/12/2022 at 06:06, BFTD said:

Where does it all go? Advertising?

Seeing as how Republicans are usually outspent by Democrats (I believe), is that why they hate the evil MainStream Media so much now?

Not nearly. In 2022 the figures were $4.8 Billion; 55.83% Republican, 42.46% Democratic, 1.71% Independent. In 2020 the D’s spent more than the R’s, but in 2018, 2016 and 2014, R spending was higher.

As for hatred of the MM, that goes back to Reagan. The fairness doctrine was a policy that required equal time on the air for both sides (really, all sides, but in the U.S. there are effectively just two), and was abolished in 1987. This allowed the rise of political talk radio, something effectively not possible while the fairness doctrine was in place. With Shrub Sr. in office the gestation of political radio was slow and low profile, but it became supercharged under Clinton.

Programs such as Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy’s Radio Free D.C. pandered to the extremists on the Republican side, accusing the Administration of murder and coverups. These fringe programs made bank accusing the MM of hiding stories and covering up for the D’s. When Shrub Jr. took over, the conspiracies had to get deeper and darker to make an impact and keep the listeners that the advertisers were paying for, and then Obama arrived like a gift of manna from heaven. Trump then weaponized these conspiracy theories and all the plots and tales, QAnon and all that, each of which accused the media of covering stuff up.

NewsMax popped up to the right of FoxNews…then OAN popped up to the right of NewsMax, etc. And once again, it was all predicated upon telling people the media is lying to you. The appeal of these programs is that often people of lower education levels can listen to them and believe they are getting inside knowledge without realizing the people peddling this shite are complete grifters and basically making this up as they go. The people buy it because now they see through the lies the MM is telling to protect the rich…you see how this goes.

[TxRover]

On 21/02/2023 at 13:37, Savage Henry said:

She’s either playing 4D chess, or she’s an imbecile of the highest magnitude.  

Hint, there are 12 words in that sentence, six we can assume anyone can spell, of the rest she probably can’t spell more than three or four of. Basically she “ran” daddy’s company until a paper dug into it and saw she did nothing, then sold out and was a CrossFit instructor and gym owner until she started reading conspiracy theories and got involved. She chose a district with no incumbent that was 77+% white and 57+% blue collar, and has a R+22 lean. No Democrat has received more than 30% of the vote in Georgia 14 since the early 90’s. Basically you could elect a potted plant from G-14 as long as it had a “R” after its name.

[Savage Henry]

3 minutes ago, TxRover said:

Hint, there are 12 words in that sentence, six we can assume anyone can spell, of the rest she probably can’t spell more than three or four of. Basically she “ran” daddy’s company until a paper dug into it and saw she did nothing, then sold out and was a CrossFit instructor and gym owner until she started reading conspiracy theories and got involved. She chose a district with no incumbent that was 77+% white and 57+% blue collar, and has a R+22 lean. No Democrat has received more than 30% of the vote in Georgia 14 since the early 90’s. Basically you could elect a potted plant from G-14 as long as it had a “R” after its name.

The potted plant would have done a more effective job.