Right wing nuts thread (2 Viewers)

[DaveXA]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but we need a thread for the wing nuts. Lauren Boebert.

 

[TampaJoe]

Tariffs are the opposite of not paying more for less. If the goal of tariffs is to make those products here, there's already a reason we buy them from another country - it's cheaper. Tariffs raise the price of the cheaper overseas product and the price of a domestic product is already more expensive, which then goes up further because of increased demand. Lose - lose - lose. This isn't even an argument. It's fact and it's repeatedly failed.

Taking away reproductive rights is the government telling you how to live and think. Texas is already tracking women who leave the state for an abortion. Taking away protest rights from colleges, attacking the free press, removing LGBTQ programs, and the perception of forced patriotism and religion, are ways that MAGA is overstepping the role of government by telling people how to live and think. These are things that are the opposite of what you are talking about.

Open borders is a myth, by the way. Programs that brought immigrants in legally are being overturned by this administration. No one is going to argue about undocumented criminals being shipped out - everyone wants that, with due process. MAGA wants all poor non-white immigrants out because they typically vote blue, and the quicker the better, without due process. Productive, non-criminals are being shipped out without due process. The borders are secure. No one is letting in mass hordes with reckless abandon as some would want you to believe. It's a lie that's been told so much, that it's believed by dumb people. People are coming in for political asylum, not from insane asylums, no matter how much Trump says it.

As for why Biden/Harris lost, it's for two reasons. Joe came across as losing his faculties and there's probably some merit to that. Harris lost because she's a woman and an unliked woman at that. If Hilary couldn't beat Trump, there was no way the misogynists were going to vote for Kamala. It was a doomed campaign from the start. Trump barely won in 2024 because the middle ground wasn't inspired to vote for the democrat woman. Trump lost in 2020 because America was inspired by Biden and sick of Trump. I think the middle ground people see what's happening now and will make sure that the midterms flip the house and senate to mitigate the damage. We've seen this cycle before when one party gets too powerful.

There’s some merit to what you say. I am generally not a fan of tariffs. I tend to favor using other incentives to encourage the businesses we want to locate and/or remain here in the US. I think many agree that we need to “de-risk” our dependence for mission critical items from countries like China for national security reasons. I can see a limited use of tariffs in some of those circumstances. Many Republicans aren’t fans of the use of tariffs and at the same time many Democrats are. Ironic isn’t it.

I also was not in favor of overturning Roe. It wasn’t working precedent and I don’t think it did much either way. I understand both sides of the argument. IMO focusing on abortion is focusing on the symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. But people would rather fight over this than mitigate the problem.

Biden didn’t create border/immigration problems. He just made the multiple times worse. He then took 3 years to begin to address the problem in any meaningful way. The numbers tell the story. I doubt there is much we will agree on here but the public passed judgement on Biden/Harris border management in the last election.

That said, I would agree that laws need to be followed. If there are deportation orders, they need to be followed. The vast majority of asylum claims get denied. So let’s figure out a way to get folks the proper amount of due process and expedite how we handle these cases. It should not take months and years per migrant.

As for why Biden was removed, he shouldn’t have run. His policies were polling in the basement. He did come across as a man in cognitive decline. Harris lost IMO because she ran on his platform and didn’t or couldn’t distinguish/separate herself from an unpopular administration. I personally don’t believe that either her gender or her race was a defining factor. You may certainly disagree. If so she can always run in three years.

At the moment all the Democrats are offering is just being anti-Trump. Who knows. That may be all you need in 3 years. But I would recommend finding issues that appeal to more than the far left in your party and to find a candidate with broad appeal. Bring your A game. Give people something to vote for rather than expecting them to vote for your candidate as the default choice to whomever the GOP nominates.

And before you say it. We will have more elections. Democracy will survive. And Trump will not run again.

 

[SaintRob]

There’s some merit to what you say. I am generally not a fan of tariffs. I tend to favor using other incentives to encourage the businesses we want to locate and/or remain here in the US. I think many agree that we need to “de-risk” our dependence for mission critical items from countries like China for national security reasons. I can see a limited use of tariffs in some of those circumstances. Many Republicans aren’t fans of the use of tariffs and at the same time many Democrats are. Ironic isn’t it.

I also was not in favor of overturning Roe. It wasn’t working precedent and I don’t think it did much either way. I understand both sides of the argument. IMO focusing on abortion is focusing on the symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. But people would rather fight over this than mitigate the problem.

Biden didn’t create border/immigration problems. He just made the multiple times worse. He then took 3 years to begin to address the problem in any meaningful way. The numbers tell the story. I doubt there is much we will agree on here but the public passed judgement on Biden/Harris border management in the last election.

That said, I would agree that laws need to be followed. If there are deportation orders, they need to be followed. The vast majority of asylum claims get denied. So let’s figure out a way to get folks the proper amount of due process and expedite how we handle these cases. It should not take months and years per migrant.

As for why Biden was removed, he shouldn’t have run. His policies were polling in the basement. He did come across as a man in cognitive decline. Harris lost IMO because she ran on his platform and didn’t or couldn’t distinguish/separate herself from an unpopular administration. I personally don’t believe that either her gender or her race was a defining factor. You may certainly disagree. If so she can always run in three years.

At the moment all the Democrats are offering is just being anti-Trump. Who knows. That may be all you need in 3 years. But I would recommend finding issues that appeal to more than the far left in your party and to find a candidate with broad appeal. Bring your A game. Give people something to vote for rather than expecting them to vote for your candidate as the default choice to whomever the GOP nominates.

And before you say it. We will have more elections. Democracy will survive. And Trump will not run again.

Ok. We did find some middle ground. If anti-Trump/MAGA voting means that I'm voting to get tariffs reversed and Roe codified, and following established procedures, then I'm good with whatever my voting situation is called. I'm not backing down from Kamala losing because she's a not well liked woman. The vast majority of independent and non-MAGA republican men and women are not going to vote for a woman for president. I'm hoping that AOC doesn't get the nomination in 2028 because she will fail also. I mean, I'd vote for her, but I don't think she'd win. It's going to take Gavin Newsom or another strong male candidate to win over the US (not Tim Walz), maybe Rahm Emanuel, Cory Booker, or Josh Shapiro, but not Mayor Pete because the US won't elect a gay man for president either.

I also think that the prospect of no more elections is far fetched at best. I do think Trump will try to run again and while it's extremely unlikely, I hope he gets the opportunity because then Obama can run, who will bury Trump in a landslide and I'll get to right my wrong of not voting for him twice. If he's not planning on running, why does he taunt it and even make paraphernalia that suggests it? If you say it's to troll dems, then he's a real shirtbag of a person for acting that way and you should vote against him and all republicans to make a point. Why would anyone entertain crap like that with a vote for any republican?

 

[Booker]

I guess this can go here...

Joe Walsh says he’s becoming a Democrat

Joe Walsh, a former Republican member of Congress, said Tuesday he is becoming a Democrat, marking the end of his five-year streak as a political independent after leaving the GOP in 2020. Walsh announced his formal affiliation with the Democratic Party in a Tuesday Substack post, saying he made...

www.yahoo.com

“Let’s start with the obvious—a tyrant sits in the White House. The very thing our Founders feared most is here. Throw in the fact that one of our two major political parties is a real and direct threat to democracy and the rule of law. These are unprecedented, dangerous times in America. I know it. You know it. There are even Republicans who know it,” he continued.

“Without freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, America ceases to be. And currently, only the Democratic Party is on the side of all three of these core American values,” he wrote.

Walsh acknowledged some issues with the Democratic Party but said “for democracy and the rule of law to persevere, Democrats must succeed” — which necessitates becoming a “big tent” party and learning how to fight against Trump’s GOP.

“Donald Trump is the worst of us, and, sadly, the rest of the Republican Party emulates his cruelty, dishonesty, and authoritarianism,” he continued. “We’re better than what we’ve seen every day these past four months. America is better than this. As a former Republican, I know that cruelty sells. Well, it’s time for decency to sell.”

 

[TampaJoe]

Ok. We did find some middle ground. If anti-Trump/MAGA voting means that I'm voting to get tariffs reversed and Roe codified, and following established procedures, then I'm good with whatever my voting situation is called. I'm not backing down from Kamala losing because she's a not well liked woman. The vast majority of independent and non-MAGA republican men and women are not going to vote for a woman for president. I'm hoping that AOC doesn't get the nomination in 2028 because she will fail also. I mean, I'd vote for her, but I don't think she'd win. It's going to take Gavin Newsom or another strong male candidate to win over the US (not Tim Walz), maybe Rahm Emanuel, Cory Booker, or Josh Shapiro, but not Mayor Pete because the US won't elect a gay man for president either.

I also think that the prospect of no more elections is far fetched at best. I do think Trump will try to run again and while it's extremely unlikely, I hope he gets the opportunity because then Obama can run, who will bury Trump in a landslide and I'll get to right my wrong of not voting for him twice. If he's not planning on running, why does he taunt it and even make paraphernalia that suggests it? If you say it's to troll dems, then he's a real shirtbag of a person for acting that way and you should vote against him and all republicans to make a point. Why would anyone entertain crap like that with a vote for any republican?

I won’t debate Trumps character. I am not a fan of his. As for voting for a woman, I would have and still would consider voting for a Nikki Haley.

I’m not interested in Newsom or Harris. I don’t want to see the entire nation look like CA.

 

[MT15]

I won’t debate Trumps character. I am not a fan of his. As for voting for a woman, I would have and still would consider voting for a Nikki Haley.

I’m not interested in Newsom or Harris. I don’t want to see the entire nation look like CA.

Your state isn’t looking so hot right now either. Nobody wants the US to look like FL, lol.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has assembled a “rogues’ gallery of extremists, conspiracy theorists and C-team political operatives” to promote Donald Trump’s crackdown on non-government organisations (NGOs), a congressional watchdog has claimed.

The House of Representatives’ Delivering on Government Efficiency (Doge) subcommittee, chaired by Greene, is due to hold a hearing on Wednesday entitled “Public Funds, Private Agendas: NGOs Gone Wild”.

The subcommittee said in a press release that the hearing will “expose” the use of federal funds by NGOs to advance “radical” agendas such as “open borders and the Green New Deal scam”. It frames its work as an investigation of the alleged funneling of taxpayer dollars to politically motivated groups while “lining the pockets of their friends and allies”.


But a memo from the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP), obtained by the Guardian, condemns the hearing as “political theater”, “weaponized government oversight” and an exercise in hypocrisy, given the substantial federal funding received by Republican allies and rightwing groups.

While attacking civil society organisations for receiving federal grants, the memo says, “their own networks have systematically benefited from government contracts, subsidies, and loans worth billions of dollars”.

Wednesday’s hearing on Capitol Hill will feature witnesses Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies; Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power the Future; and Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center.

The CIP describes Greene’s line-up as “rogues’ gallery of extremists, conspiracy theorists and C-team political operatives masquerading as government watchdogs”.

It notes that the Center for Immigration Studies has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and regularly circulates content from “white nationalist and antisemitic writers”.

Krikorian has made statements including that Haiti’s problems stem from not being “colonised long enough”.


The memo adds that CIS received more than $700,000 in PPP loans and is now under investigation by the justice department for potentially lying to obtain at least one of them. “That’s right, Republicans chose as their star witness on government waste someone who may have committed fraud to secure government money for his organization.”…….

Marjorie Taylor Greene accused of assembling ‘rogues’ gallery’ to attack NGOs

Congressional Integrity Project calls Wednesday hearing led by Greene ‘political theater’ and exercise in hypocrisy

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Those close to President Donald Trump have reportedly grown irritated with Laura Loomer, the ultra-loyal Trump supporter whose apparent influence has led to the ousting of several administration officials.

Loomer, 32, has made a name for herself in Trumpworld as an unofficial, yet devoted, patron to the president – willing to publicly call out any person she believes has any ties to Trump criticisms.

In April, Loomer reportedly gave Trump a list of disloyal National Security Council staffers who were subsequently fired. In May, Loomer appeared to take some credit for pushing Trump to axe former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz after the Signal chat blunder.


“Trump likes Laura, and she obviously has some influence, but she runs the risk of overestimating her influence and blowing herself up if she's not more careful,” an unnamed source close to the White House told WIRED.……

Trump insiders are tired of Laura Loomer’s influence

Last month, Loomer appeared to take some credit for Trump ousting former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz

www.independent.co.uk

 

[TampaJoe]

Your state isn’t looking so hot right now either. Nobody wants the US to look like FL, lol.

Full disclosure. I like and enjoy living in FL although it is inexpensive place to live but my home state is TN. I have a hard time calling myself a Floridian. I still consider myself a Tennessee boy.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Interesting article
==============
Does Kristi Noem know what habeas corpus is? One thing we know for certain: She would very much like Americans to believe she does not.

On Tuesday, the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used a Senate hearing to insist the legal term means the opposite of its actual definition. "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their right to," Noem said through her unnervingly Botox-inflated lips.

She was interrupted by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who explained to a smug-looking Noem that, no, habeas corpus "requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people" and is the reason it's illegal for Donald Trump to round up immigrants and imprison them in foreign gulags without offering a legal reason why.

Was Noem legitimately confused? Jonathan Chait of the Atlantic thinks so, writing that Noem's "ignorance appears to be utterly genuine." After all, "habeas corpus" is a Latin term used by lawyers but not much by laypeople, especially those, like Noem, who got a college degree through online courses at age 40.

But I'm not so sure that Noem, who has been neck-deep in this debate about basic human rights for months, is as dumb as she seemed in that moment. Those who keep watching will notice that Noem doesn't act embarrassed when she's corrected, like normal people do when they get something so terribly wrong.

Instead, she insists that "the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not." In this lie, Noem admitted that Trump is trying to suspend habeas corpus, not uphold it. It suggests that she knows full well what the actual legal battle is about.

There was much mockery of Noem for being so dumb in mainstream and left-leaning media, but notably, neither Noem nor her allies have shown any shame or defensiveness about her alleged mistake.

Whether Noem comes by her confusion honestly or she was just play-acting, she's there to play the role of the proud MAGA bimbo, in the grand tradition of figures like Sarah Palin.

The MAGA bimbo isn't just ignorant. She's contemptuous of people who actually know what they're talking about, especially if those facts-laden human beings are fellow women.

In the world of MAGA, stupidity is a badge of honor for both sexes, but the heads of women need to be thoroughly empty. Book learning, in MAGA-land, is for lesbians and cat ladies. Intelligence gets in the way of the true duties of MAGA womanhood: keeping up your highly artificial appearance and, crucially, defending the man you serve with your whole heart and soul.

Especially if said man, in this case Donald Trump, is himself dumber than a box of rocks. It's so much easier to be a yes-woman for such a man if you turn your own brain off completely.

For decades in pop culture, the figure of the bimbo has boosted the egos of men who need women to be dumb to feel smart. Being dim means she's not threatening, which makes the bimbo sexy. The allegiance of the bimbo is assured. She has to be loyal to her man because she cannot survive without him.

But the bimbo was always more fantasy than reality. Marilyn Monroe could get laughs with her dumb bunny act. Yet, offscreen, she was an avid reader with strongly held leftist political views, who chose divorce when her husbands tried to limit her professional ambitions.

The 20th-century version of the "bimbo" was dim, but almost always good-hearted, exhibiting a childlike generosity to others. The innovation of the MAGA movement, however, is to make the bimbo a nasty figure, as cruel as she is dumb. In the past, what men wanted from a bimbo was someone with dog-like loyalty.

For the right-wing man of our time, the craving is more for an attack dog, someone who will charge in to fight your battles, unconstrained by intellectual concerns about whether doing so makes sense..................

Kristi Noem and the legacy of the proud MAGA bimbo

The GOP adores a woman who plays dumb to build up the man she's serving

www.salon.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[SFIDC3]

You keep addressing people who don’t agree with your both sides rhetoric as if they are Democrats. They are very often the independents you seem to think won’t support either side.

A lot of us aren’t life-long democrats. We are just horrified by what the GOP has become, which is a personality cult with no limits on what they will allow Trump to do.

At this point in our history it is incumbent on everyone to choose a side. We don’t have a viable 3rd party option. If you vote for the GOP, you are voting for Trump. For all his corruption, all his lawless behavior. There’s really no other way to see it.

I believe DaveXA would like a word.....

 

[DaveXA]

No doubt what it is. Completely disgusting.

 

[Optimus Prime]

No doubt what it is. Completely disgusting.

The funny thing is so many MAGA types say they know who Trump is, and recognize his faults, and don't like his faults (some posters here have said exactly that) then go on to say stuff like "It's not a cult", "it's not like people worship Trump" etc.

When so many clearly do

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people saying they don't do, they're just self aware enough to know how that looks and sounds and know enough to deny it

 

[MT15]

The president of the American Bar Association believes this administration is carrying out a vendetta against the rule of law.

 

[bird]

No doubt what it is. Completely disgusting.

And, sadly, unsurprising.

 

[MT15]

Maybe this is a good thread to use whenever Trump does something authoritarian in nature.

Here’s the latest:

Trump officials delayed farm trade report over deficit forecast — POLITICO

Administration officials blocked publication of written analysis that normally accompanies the report because they disliked what it said about the deficit.

stocks.apple.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Meghan McCain, who once chastised rap superstar Nikki Minaj for spreading “vaccine hesitancy” during the covid-19 pandemic, is now partnering with a fringe “wellness” company to promote a “detox” supplement for those who “regret taking the shot.”

The former host of The View hawking $90 bottles of the “Ultimate Spike Detox” prompted critics to call out the daughter of John McCain for going “full grift” and accuse her of selling out “to the crazies” after championing herself as a “voice of reason on the right” for years.

McCain, who now hosts a twice-weekly podcast, took to X Wednesday to announce that she was “thrilled to partner” with The Wellness Company, a business run by Canadian entrepreneur Foster Coulson that is “rooted in conspiracy theories” and employs “several doctors who have been accused of spreading medical misinformation.”

Coulson, who has paid accused rapist and mysogynistic influencer Andrew Tate to sell his products, says he is creating a “parallel economy” for “consumers who believe their freedom is under threat by censorious elites and corrupt scientists.” Other ventures he has backed include a dating site for unvaccinated singles and an “anti-woke” coffee brand.…..

Meghan McCain accused of going ‘full grift’ after promoting COVID vaccine ‘detox’

‘Grifters can only keep up a grift for so long,’ Meghan McCain ironically tweeted just a few months ago

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]