US Politics Thread 2021-24

[Jimbuna]

As if matters weren't already serious enough.

US on high alert for 'inevitable' Iranian revenge attack on Israel within days

As the war raging in Gaza intensifies, the US is reportedly on high alert and bracing itself for what could be a "significant" attack on Israeli and American assets in the region by Iran in the next week.

News of the escalating tensions between the countries comes after Israel reportedly killed several top Iranian commanders in a strike in Damascus, Syria, last week, a senior administration official in the US government told CNN.

Both senior American and Israeli intelligence officials shared with the outlet that an attack is "inevitable", with the US official stating that both governments are working as hard as possible to prepare for the attack and get ahead of what might come. No one is reportedly safe, the official said, as everyone in the region allied with Israel is now a target.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...d624e8ba&ei=28

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Key take aways from that video are…

“Deprioritizing the Middle East and investing the money in energy transition” WTF?

The Titanic’s builders saved a great deal on cut rate rivets and shed weight by reducing the number of lifeboats. The press lauded an “unsinkable ship”, & “marvel of the age”. In retrospect, neither proved wise. If you’re looking for a fitting analogy for the Biden administration’s foreign policy, that might be it.

“It wasn’t us”. But I bet Biden & Co knew beforehand. They knew two weeks before Putin invaded and sounded the alarm. They knew a terrorist attack would happen in Moscow and sounded the alarm. Then nothing but crickets chirping before Israel wacked Iran’s embassy.

“the Biden administration doesn’t have the appetite, the desire, to be dragged into a regional conflict”.

Also explains why he drags his heels on military equipment support to Ukraine too. Oh and before anyone goes half cocked and blames it congress not passing H.R. 815. I read the bill and nowhere in it does it say Ukraine gets 60 billion but I know where the money goes and I also know Jake & Co. still had close to 6 billion U.S. and executive draw down authority they refuse to use.

The Whitehouse is full of weaklings.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “bought into” idea that Russia could use nuclear weapons if the U.S. provides Ukraine with “too many” weapons, Head of U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, said in an interview with Puck News on April

“Jake Sullivan is too cautious. He is very timid,” he said.

“And he has bought into the idea that if we give them (Ukraine) too much, Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons against us. Most of the intelligence I’ve seen suggests that they won’t. Because that would be a game changer for everybody.”

The whole point of nuclear deterrence is not so much having them, but more importantly making damn sure everyone in the world knows if they use them we will cause all holy hell to rain down upon them in response. Biden & Co is doing absolutely nothing as they watche the world burn. And why is the world burning? Why are our troops in the region under fire again? Why are there still American hostages being taken? Because our enemies knew full well that Biden, a man deemed too incompetent to stand trial, will not do a damn thing about it. The world went from 4 years of relative peace and strength to all hell breaking lose in a matter of months.


And in case you’re wondering why OPEC isn’t increasing production to keep your gas prices down? In truth not only does the global economy suck. You can also thank that incompetent bunch in the Whitehouse when they removed the Houthis from the terrorist watch list. Then put an end to American support for Saudi led offensive operations against the Houthis, including a freeze on arms sales to the Kingdom. A lot a good that did huh? Now not only are the Saudis ticked off and gas prices going up, the Houthis are targeting our warships and commercial shipping with drones and rockets too!

[Gerald]

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6350411890112

[Jimbuna]

Donald Trump vows to become 'modern day Nelson Mandela' if he ends up in prison over gag order

In his latest unhinged rant on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump likened himself to a "modern day Nelson Mandela" as he stated that being imprisoned for violating his gag order in the hush money case would be his "GREAT HONOUR".

Taking to his social media platform on Saturday, Trump shared a three-part mega-rant that mentioned or slammed not only Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan but also President Joe Biden, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan and Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron.

The gag order, which was issued ahead of the hush money trial — one of four criminal indictments the former president faces — seemed to be the main focus of the rant, with Trump slamming "Crooked Judge Juan Merchan" for issuing it as he said it's "taking away [his] First Amendment Rights", all because he said Merchan "doesn't want the FACTS behind the Gag to come out".

Trump stated in part three of his tirade: "Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk, thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once. It is so bad what he is trying to get away with - How was he even chosen for this case???"

He continued: "I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOUR." Mandela became the first president of South Africa after a long prison stint incurred by his campaign against apartheid in the country.

In the hush money trial, Trump stands accused of paying off pornstar Stormy Daniels to silence her claims that she had sex with the businessman before he was elected to the presidency in 2016. It is argued that the claims were seen as detrimental to the real estate mogul's campaign — which he won, anyway — and so he and his team wanted her to stop making what they called false accusations.

Trump and his former lawyer turned arch-enemy Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 (£103,000). Trump has consistently denied the accusations that he had sexual relations with her in Nevada in 2006, and he and his legal team have argued that the payment was in relation to legal fees.

Merchan issued the gag order against the former president amid his other unhinged rants against the people involved in his other cases, arguing that similar rants against those involved in the hush money trial could damage the integrity of the case. It applies to everyone involved in the suit, save for the judge himself and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought forth the case.

In the first part of the rant, which was posted just after 1pm EDT, Trump stated: "How many Corrupt, Biased, Crooked Joe Biden-'Protection Agency' New York Judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in?"

He went off on Kaplan, who was the judge overseeing the $83.3 million (£65.9million) defamation suit brought forth by writer and columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused the former president of raping her in a high-end Manhattan department store in 1996, then defaming her when she came forward with the claims during his presidency.

"I had New York Federal Judge, Lewis Kaplan, with a woman who I never knew, and had nothing to do with, until she sued me for 'defamation.' She did not know what day, month, or year the supposed 'incident' took place - She knew nothing," Trump wrote, referencing E. Jean Carroll, whom he doesn't name.

He continued: "Kaplan, a Hillary friend, wouldn’t even let my lawyers put on a proper case, made it two cases instead of one, took away my American Right to defend myself, and was a Crazed Bully as his wife and friends sat in the Courthouse, every day in their little roped off section, and prodded him on in awe. This mysterious lady, who said rape is sexy, got $91 Million Dollars."

In the second part of his rant, he went after Engoron, who oversaw the civil fraud trial brought forth by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accused the former reality TV star of grossly inflating his net worth and the worth of his properties across the state and in other cities in order to secure better business deals and loans.

Trump was ultimately ordered to pay $454 million (£359million) in fines for the violations, a total that was later reduced to around $174 million (£138million).

The businessman wrote: "Then, of course, we have Arthur Engoron, a total lunatic, whack job, who ruled that I should pay an almost $500 Million Dollar 'fine' for having done nothing wrong (No Victims, No Damages, Ironclad Disclaimer, ONLY SUCCESS!), in fact, he was the one who committed fraud when he purposely, at the direction of Racist, Corrupt A.G. Letitia James, undervalued Mar-a-Lago at $18 Million Dollars [£14million]."

Trump, who is now the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency as he vies for re-election in November against Biden, a Democrat, concluded by writing: "We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as Prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause. We are a Failing Nation, but on November 5th, we will become a Great Nation again. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

This isn't the first time Trump has compared himself to a key historical figure seen by many as a saviour — he recently compared himself to Jesus as he slammed the civil fraud trial in another set of unhinged rants.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...194cfbaa&ei=24

[August]

A Disinformation October Surprise Is Coming

Will the press be ready if, for the third election in a row, our national-security state meddles?

Two of the most interesting things ever to happen in American politics happened in the past few years. A Democratic presidential campaign, representing the incumbent party, fabricated evidence that its Republican opponent and the eventual president-elect was a Russian agent, and the in-power party’s FBI legitimated the evidence in the eyes of the media so it would be widely reported and believed by the public. To make sure it was believed, top intelligence officials of the outgoing administration went on cable television to call the new president a Russian mole and Vladimir Putin his case officer.

When the formerly incumbent party’s candidate was seeking to reclaim the White House four years later, the same former officials concocted a new lie to cover up embarrassing information about the candidate’s family. These highly connected former officials had five days to check things out before claiming Hunter Biden’s laptop had “classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The New York Post included a receipt showing the FBI had already been in possession of the data for 10 months. Its story documented how the Post acquired the same data. Specific, dated and verifiable events and messages weren’t denied by the Bidens, etc.
Obama intelligence officials James Clapper and John Brennan, and their 49 colleagues, lie today when they say they weren’t lying then.
These realties have been acknowledged on these pages, in a few other papers around the country, on Fox News and at some partisan websites. They might as well never have happened as far as most of the press is concerned.

New York Times resident chin-stroker Thomas Edsall, in the Trump era, has devoted 380 articles, many of them 3,000 words or longer, to raking over voter surveys and long quotes from political scientists psychoanalyzing the U.S. electorate. Not one examined the effect of these glaring events on voters or even acknowledged that they happened.
Democratic and anti-Trump Republican political spinmeisters, from David Axelrod to Mike Murphy to Bill Kristol, spend a hours a week on TV and in podcasts holding forth on politics, talking endlessly about Donald Trump, yet leave the collusion episodes unanalyzed as if they never occurred.
After years, the press finally acknowledges that pollsters find Trump voters every bit as concerned about democracy as Biden voters. “The two men are essentially tied on the issue of protecting democracy, with 43% of voters preferring Biden and 41% picking Trump,” says NBC. Unasked is why.
You might assume a utilitarian motive—Mr. Trump would benefit politically if the truth were acknowledged. Unless correlation has no relation to causation, unless participants in a thousand focus groups are lying, the opposite is true. The dishonesty of his opponents remains Mr. Trump’s great legitimizer, helping him past Jan. 6 and on the road to the White House again.


The real motive for the press silence is fear and shame over acts that are close to treasonous.

Mr. Trump’s many demerits don’t need to be enumerated here, but, after nine years, the tone of cable coverage has become more like primate gibbering than reasoned commentary. If it stops, even for a moment, other truths might come up for air. Plainly false campaign memes—he called neo-Nazis fine people, he advised drinking bleach—usually have their season and disappear. The anti-Trump tropes never get a day off, constantly dunning viewers with Mr. Trump’s unique iniquity as if to rationalize his enemies’ behavior.
If the simple truth were admitted, Hillary Clinton would be a pariah. Adam Schiff would never appear on another ballot again. I’m not forgetting the complicity of the press, whose normal role is to take an interest in matters that are, you know, interesting. If it’s true that cowards die a thousand deaths, our media will bankrupt the fisc with all the end-of-life care it’s going to consume.
Mr. Trump turns out to be less of a danger to our institutions than they are to themselves. Worry about a future leader with President Obama’s gifts not Donald Trump’s—while remembering that the collusion hoaxes were promoted by official U.S. agencies in exactly the manner of Mr. Putin’s Russia.
All this is possibly going to matter a great deal this fall. Mr. Trump will tell his lies and tall tales and make his fabulous claims and the media will have to deal with it.
There’s also a significant likelihood that 2024 will see lies manufactured by agents and veterans of the national-security state, as in 2016 and 2020. Then the press will get a third opportunity. Those reporters and editors who are still capable of participating in the media business in good faith need to start thinking now about how they will deal with this if it happens again.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-octo...nion_lead_pos9

[Buddahaid]

Here's the jury instructions and questionnaire for the NY election interference case against Trump starting on the 15th and still on schedule. This will be another anonymous jury but for the first criminal case Trump faces.
https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...naire-20240408

[mapuc]

^
If I get it correct-The Supreme Court has with 9-0 decided that Trump can't be removed from the ballot AND voters can put their vote on an inmate.

Which must mean that even if he get a sentence before the election-He can still be elected.

Or is there something I've missed ?

Markus

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Now who poked Gorpet? Fess up!

John Kerry: Kerry's wealth comes from his marriage to heiress Teresa Heinz. Well he is the Wounded soldier who threw every good soldier's metals over the white house fence but his.Hey it is what it was.
Now fast forward this piece of chit.Is now the big cheese of climate control.How in the frig does a swift boat coward who paid for his purple hearts.End up flying around the Planet spewing carbon at 40,000 feet, right up on the thin layer of our only protection with the rest of the worlds elite doing the same thing.

And they will tell me, I have to give up my California certified 4 cylinder Toyota Corolla.Yea John Kerry and all those wealthy who can have the greatest times at 40,000 feet.But i and my family will have to buy their approved rickshaws.By 2025. I want these low IQ Politicians who can't tell you what 1/8 th of a inch is on a working mans ruler.

Yet they are at war, Even though none of them have ever smelled copper. Anywho Buddahaid the elite poke me.

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Trump warns of 'bloodbath' if he loses presidential election

Your a funny guy Jim.Hillary Clinton told your BBC.It will not matter who runs,they will lose In the next election. And all these years i respected you and your wisdom and now you. Quote without verifying what he actually said when he said it and the context of his speech. A"bloodbath" is coming if he loses.I'm really disappointed Jimbuna.Do you really think there will be a bloodbath ?

I think you should look closer to home.Your Island is a Bloodbath in waiting. You will surrender to your Immigrants or face gorilla warfare. And how in the hell can your Government fight a Immigrant uprising and fight Russia at the same time.And provide for your natural born.? Yes Bloodbaths are coming. Across this Planet.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Gorpet

you and your wisdom.

You mistake me with somebody else surely.

Originally Posted by Gorpet

Do you really think there will be a bloodbath ?

In light of what happened January 6, 2021 I believe it not beyond the realms of possibility.

[August]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

In light of what happened January 6, 2021 I believe it not beyond the realms of possibility.

There wasn't a "bloodbath" on Jan 6th. Quit making it out to be another storming of the Bastille.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by August

There wasn't a "bloodbath" on Jan 6th. Quit making it out to be another storming of the Bastille.

British tabloid news at its finest.

Only a few days ago SECDEF made public statements before congress concerning H.R. 815. What’s in it, and where the money goes and this is the best garbage British state run tabloid news can come with! Wth? I’ve said once let me say it again it is NOT a 60 billion nor is it a 95 billion Ukraine spending package. Try again.

Mr Biden has presented a $95bn (£75bn) Ukraine spending package to Congress but has been unable to pass it amid opposition from Republicans in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

https://archive.ph/vugN8

The one thing the U.S. appreciated about our special relationship with the U.K. was while they were in the E.U. they could influence E.U. politics. That’s gone since brexit, now they’re scrambling to build a navy again in the attempt to remain a global somebody. But the way their economy is that probably won’t last long either.

“The MoD also needs to get a firmer grip on the future costs of carrier strike. By failing to understand their full extent, it risks adding to the financial strain on a defense budget that is already unaffordable.”

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/20...-strike-group/

They’re on the fast track of becoming irrelevant to the point the only thing they can do these days is to talk about Trump and troll with more Steele dossier type garbage.

[em2nought]

Fine new citizens the democrat cartel has added to our nation. They're chanting

DEATH TO AMERICA!

in Michigan.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other...ct/ar-BB1lex7i

...and Biden bows to them letting them direct the policies of the USA.

[Rockstar]

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. now believes a major wave of missile and drone strikes by Iran and its proxies against Israel “is now imminent”. https://archive.ph/1S4I1

But let us remember when in October 2023 we heard democrats proclaim ‘The Middle East Region Is Quieter Today Than It Has Been in Two Decades’ - Biden’s Boy Wonder Jake Sullivan.

It WAS until those two clowns took office, Thanks Joe & Jake!

[Rockstar]

The consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 3.5% in March, higher than expectations and marking an acceleration for inflation.

Shelter and energy costs drove the increase. Energy rose 1.1% after increasing 2.3% in February, while shelter costs were higher by 0.4% on the month and up 5.7% from a year ago.

Following the report, traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September, according to CME Group calculations.


LIFE IS GOOD, Thanks Joe for letting the Houthis close down shipping lanes and shoot rockets at our warships and commercial shipping and taking a dump on the Saudis who could be increasing oil production to help out. Love the new cost of living and rising gas prices!