American Politics from 2019 on

[macdoc]

‪Jorts (and Jean)‬ ‪@jortsthecat.bsky.social‬
·
8h
I sincerely don’t know why people aren’t physically stopping those dorks. Move shit. Lock doors. Lose the keys. Everyone switch seats. Turn off all the lights. Switch the signs on the elevator lobby. Make the settings all silly. Use a different language. Wear costumes. Fill rooms with balloons

grassroots chaos

[JimC]

Because they'll get fired...

[Sean Hayden]

A kind of paralyzing comfort, the history books might say that America arrived riding its recliners.

[Tero]

Any election fraud will not be investigated federally. States can investigate.

[Tero]

We were thinking technology and modern life and freedoms was enough to keep us stable and on the previous course. It did not.

With the clarity and brilliance that made their first book, How Democracies Die, a global bestseller, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer a coherent framework for understanding these volatile times. They draw on a wealth of examples—from 1930s France to present-day Thailand—to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy. They then show how our Constitution makes us uniquely vulnerable to attacks from within: It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Most modern democracies—from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand—have eliminated outdated institutions like elite upper chambers, indirect elections, and lifetime tenure for judges. The United States lags dangerously behind.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW5FZT42/re ... k_detail_0

[macdoc]

[Tero]

Conspiracy theories in politics: fun shared hobby to "blame the liberals and elites"
https://esapolitics.blogspot.com/2025/0 ... s-fun.html

[L'Emmerdeur]

Here come the leopards.

'Latino evangelical churches gear up to face possible immigration enforcement in churches'

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 20 said the president’s executive order will empower officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to enforce immigration laws and that “criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.”

Agustin Quiles, a spokesperson for the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Councils and Evangelical Institutions, said community members, including many who supported Donald Trump in the last election cycle, now feel devastated and abandoned.

“The messaging appears to be that anyone who is undocumented is a criminal,” he said. “Latino evangelicals for the most part voted Republican and hold conservative views on issues like abortion. We want to ask the president to reconsider because these actions are causing pain and trauma to so many families in and beyond our churches. Their suffering is great, and the church is suffering with them.”

Quiles said his organization will lobby legislators in Washington and Florida to reinstate laws that protected sensitive spaces like houses of worship.

“Our main focus is the unity of families and the many children who will be impacted or left behind without their parents,” he said.

Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who advised President Trump on immigration during his first term, says he has been assured on multiple occasions “by those in the know” that houses of worship have nothing to fear.

“There should be zero angst as it pertains to churches because no one is going to come into a church with or without guns blazing,” he said. “That is never going to happen.”

'Those in the know' presumably being Trump administration insiders; a demographic heavily larded with inveterate liars. We'll see how that works out for Rodriguez and his fellow Hispanic Trumpists.

[Tero]

Seth will be so happy in his trailer in Colorado. Nanny state soon gone. No more sucking on the teat.

[pErvinalia]

Seth is probably medically bankrupt by now.

[Tero]

Seniors and poor limpkng to their 6PM to 10PM fast food shift:

Senator Kennedy on his push to add a work requirement to Medicaid: For some people, the best way to get back on your feet is to get off your ass
https://www.threads.net/@barbaraj.sobel ... 1B9PzMklng

The ones in the nursing home will be doing two hour shifts emptying each others' bed pans.

[Joe]

Seth is probably medically bankrupt by now.

If he's still working at his job as a reporter, he at least has medical, dental, and vision insurance, though reporters don't make great money. I see his byline from time to time when my local paper picks up one of his columns.

[Tero]

Red states will all do this:
According to new data from health policy research non-profit the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Texas leads the nation in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) disenrollments, with over 1.7 million people having had their coverage terminated between March 2023 and October 2024.

While some individuals may transition to employer-sponsored plans or the Affordable Care Act marketplace, health advocates have warned that many—especially children and low-income families—could be deprived of insurance altogether.
(Newsweek)

[pErvinalia]

Vote red, FAFO..

[JimC]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-08/ ... /104908708

Mr Trump's cost-cutting tzar, the world's richest man Elon Musk, has said "USAID is a criminal organisation" and "USAID must die," foreshadowing a major overhaul of an organisation that distributes $US72 billion ($115 billion) of American government money around the world each year.

Highly visible US aid programs in 3rd world countries are disappearing. Disliked in many parts of the world for its arrogance, the US probably had offset much of this dislike in the past by solid aid work all over the world. There is nothing now to dissuade much of the world's population from viewing the US as the Evil Empire...