Conservatives put money into what scares them. Libs put money into what they love.
Conservatives put money into what scares them. Libs put money into what they love.
I love that #1 was the Equalizer.
JD.
It is exactly what companies did during the pandemic. You raise your prices *every time* the blame will go elsewhere. It would be negligent not to.
It is blindingly obvious that members of the administration absolutely *do not care* about congress. As long as they please the king, there are no consequences.
The problem you are facing is not figuring out what people need, it is convincing voters to make concessions so that others can get what they need.
The thing about racists is they think everybody secretly agrees with them.
Elon finally found the waste, fraud and abuse. It’s always in the last place you look.
The federal government is not involved in setting curriculum in elementary schools.
No I meant an actual example, not one of your imaginary grievances.
But in poor areas where literacy rates are low, per pupil spending is less than the OECD average. What the US has is extraordinary expenditure disparities. Another big cost is how fragmented education spending is. The UK spends less and has better outcomes, but is centralised.
Do you have an example of this indoctrination?
I think a side effect of being surrounded by people too afraid to contradict you is that you start to think you are the only person capable of seeing the truth.
Brevity is a sign of a clear mind.
I’m sure he sees it as a sacrifice for the greater good. That good being Republican prosperity.
Thats what happens when you read about quantum mechanics while high.
I think it belies his view that they are scripted. That’s why they can’t see and act on fraud, only he and “real” people can.
You are absolutely right. The NPC talk is a giant indicator that he (like Trump) has an empathy problem. You cannot believe all the bullshit that hinges on other people being incapable if you have the empathy to imagine how they would act.
For Walmart to get supplies on shelves in time for Christmas, the latest they can order from Chinese suppliers is this month. So, great time to tell Walmart to take the hit. Of course by then his base will have something else to blame.
The people who think Climate Change is a hoax think Pascal’s Wager is a good bet.
There’s a reason conservatives don’t take the bible literally.
One of those two is a lot more profitable than the other.
They’re really also into originalism. Which is a lot of syllables for “whatever I can argue to the people who like what I’m saying”.
So no evidence of corruption. Well I guess the search continues.
Weird how I asked if you had evidence and you offered to explain bribery. I've heard the conservatives claim Clinton is corrupt for decades, and they never seem to have any evidence either.
That's an interesting argument. So you think the corporations paid her above a reasonable rate in the hopes that she would (1) be later elected to office and (2) would return the favour? And you have evidence of this? Because Republicans tried *very* hard to find some during her 2016 campaign.
I think you'd be surprised how many rich twats believe in Social Darwinism.
Except never while in office. Also public speaking is pretty lucrative if you are good at it.
You mean the calculated stunt to get attention and show that libs are oversensitive, paranoid, weak, neurotic, hysterical and that he is a manly tough guy? Definitely. Well, not me. 'cus I'm a lib.
How do you know?
What if your job depended on pissing off libs?
If only creatures capable of such thought had evolved by then.
This is the correct answer. There are other answers that sound plausible, but they are wrong.
So the consequences for Patel is being fired in four years? I would be shocked if he thought his term would be longer than that.
There’s a reason eugenics, trickle-down, low taxes, tariffs and isolationism appeal to the uneducated. It’s why we have schools.
The US decision not to criticize countries with “harsh prison conditions, government corruption and restrictions on participation”, “denying freedom of movement and peaceful assembly”, “retaining political prisoners without due process” will reverberate around the world. www.npr.org/2025/04/18/n...
Fair enough. I just think that the American President raped someone and half of the country is “so what” is kind of wild.
Kind of reductive but… ok yeah.
I do think MAGA wants women to die of preventable deaths. Half don’t like women and the other half thinks god doesn’t like them either.
Then I disagree about their *wants* and I think you mean *gets*. I think what they *want* is bigotry but I agree what they are going to *get* is immiseration.
Ok but MAGA don’t care that he’s a rapist. They just seem to be weirdly uncomfortable admitting that. So changing the terms may end the conversation but it doesn’t move it anywhere. I just wish they would be honest and the only explanation for why they aren’t is because the truth is bigotry.
But MAGA are disproportionately poorer so I don’t think you are claiming they are lying. So what’s the motivation for wanting that outcome?
I feel that if I asked any MAGA or Democrat they would object to that description.
What *is* the difference?
Perhaps you can explain what it is that they both want?
I get that but the distinction between convicted and adjudicated has more to do with the consequences than the facts. A court established that he raped Carroll. Therefore, it is a fact that he raped Carroll. It is just not a fact that he was convicted of rape.
You can just say rapist.
Isn’t that what the prosperity gospel is about?
This might sound trite, but when the president is a rapist this goes to the “see? they call everyone a rapist” defence.
Is this the standoff with SCOTUS the Trump administration has been looking for? A decision that puts the entire court at odds with their base and clearly on the liberal side? If they defy the court and survive congress, it would be a hell of a precedent.
If Americans truly believe in due process and the equal application of the law, they would want it applied it to everybody. Not just those in the club.
These are wedge issues. They are reinforcing the stereotype that liberals are soft and therefore all compassion and empathy is bad and weak while cruelty and harshness is virtuous and strong.
He is testing the media reaction to see what he can get away with next.
There is a strong sense that the two parties are kind of equal and the natural forces of equilibrium encourage that mindset. But they aren’t equal. One party is in favor of governance and one party is fundamentally against it. When it comes to actually runnning a government, that matters.
In a sense, this is an amazing opportunity to study how fascism grows in real time.
If you are going to impress your base with huge deportation numbers, you just don’t have time for due process or caution. Plus being cruel over immigrants really excites the base so it is just win win win for them.
“If America hasn’t broken your heart, you don’t love her enough.” — Sen. Booker
Studies show doctors are generally happier working in public healthcare. There is a wider difference in earnings between US states than between the US as a whole and Canada so it seems unlikely this would result in a push for privatization.
Like how people have to take off shoes at an airport, so many destructive changes in society are driven by how a particular group are scared of another particular group.
I use my real name so there’s no reason to get it wrong. And if you think this place *is* Twitter then good for you.
Argh. This isn’t Twitter. To save all of you: www.economist.com/leaders/2024...
The number of MAGA folk who tell me they don’t trust traditional news media, but they do trust Taibbi, says it all.
The death penalty is a blight on America’s character. Whipping it out to enthusiastically avenge the wealthy and powerful, even more so.
The people who believe in DOGE simply *do not* have empathy for people unlike themselves.
It doesn’t matter who it might happen to next. If Americans believe in equality under the law, in free speech and in due process, why only apply these ideals to citizens and not every person under American jurisdiction? Because if not, Americans *don’t really believe* in these ideals.
Last week the administration used Signal to avoid accountability. Next week the administration will use Signal to avoid accountability.
Reagan’s eponymous “drown government in the bathtub” resonated so hard with conservatives that to this day most of them would rather break it than make it better or help it do good.
The last line is a giveaway the intern didn’t tell GROK it was for a tweet.
Yes! The serious media has not caught up with the post-truth era. Every lie needs to be pointed out in real time. The next-day editorial is no longer an embarrassment.
I think it would delight the administration to get rid of all respectable news sources. There are plenty more Tim Pools waiting for whom being a Trump sycophant is an elevation.
Which is exactly why they won’t admit wrongdoing. They are using Signal specifically to avoid oversight, and they definitely don’t want to stop.
Why are we talking about whether or not they lied and not that using Signal was obviously to deny oversight on an operation that intentionally destroyed an apartment building occupied by civilians?
Let’s not forget that this operation targeted a residential apartment building known to have civilians at that time, killing at least 13. If not for the leak, almost every person on that chat could have claimed they knew nothing about a possible war crime.
I think deference to a leader of unquestionable morality is a perfect fit for both religious conservatism and fascism.
Claiming not to remember what country she was in was pretty special. Mocking oversight with a straight face.
I think there’s an even stronger reason not to admit error: the side effect of exposing the massive incompetency is exposing how they are trying to redefine the executive to avoid accountability.
It was just a mere seven years ago he accidentally told the Russian foreign minister about the Israeli intelligence operation. Who could have seen this coming?
I hope nobody ever again takes a Republican seriously when they talk about national security.
Does Homan not know what due process is? Or is he hoping his supporters don’t?
A small price to pay for Making Authoritarianism Great Again.
I’ve got some bad news for you about the courts.
He believes that because Twitter survived his reckless decimation, government will to. People like Musk fundamentally don’t believe in government, largely as an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Donald Trump writing an op-ed? Some things are beyond satire.
Omg an actual Russian bot. I thought you guys never left Twitter.
I have been reliably informed by more than one conservative that the real problem is liberals used the word “fascist” too early and now it has been worn out.
Good. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Has anybody considered the possibility that he isn’t actually a genius?
Mother Theresa taught that the luxury of a bed takes away from the virtue of suffering.
His “where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub” did enormous damage. It gave conservative politicians permission to destroy the very institution they were being elected to serve instead of actually doing good for the public.
I don’t. People underestimate the hatred for liberals in the USA. A homophobic xenophobic misogynist ham sandwich could win against an over-educated west-coast east-coast tax-raising socialist commie trans-loving America-hating lib.
Americans have effectively given up universal healthcare for military strength. That strength has allowed for strategic alliances around the world that are arguably the foundation for America’s prosperity and wealth today. But to give all that up for Putin is a kick in the face to all Americans.
A means to an end. And that end, as always, is tax cuts a deregulation.
It is nothing but a circus for a population that lives in fear.
For this to be meaningful, decide *not to purchase* on Friday. Don't postpone until the next day - just don't buy it. Companies are counting on no real financial impact.
Why would Palestinian-Americans be any less susceptible to Trump’s lies than the rest of MAGA?
Yes.
Trash web sites give you trash stories. Google those things.
Congress approves everything USAID does. What on *earth* would be the point of hiding anything? You would have to be dumb as a rock to think that.
Congress is often performative. If you think USAID funded a puppet opera in Peru, I have a bridge waiting for you. If any of these wild claims were true you would be able to show them.
