nodynasty4us - Tumblr blog

[nodynasty4us]

Quote of the Day

“The 2024 election’s in full swing and yes, age is an issue. I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.”

Joseph R. Biden

[nodynasty4us]

OP is a tweet from @ mrbenwexler:

the whole "if a president doesn't have absolute immunity, then every president will just get prosecuted the minute he leaves office" argument kinda falls apart when you remember THIS NEVER HAPPENED FOR THE FIRST 240 YEARS

The first non-politician with zero public office experience is begging for unlimited immunity.

Then his trial gets slow-walked by the SCOTUS judges he appointed? It's their version of 'catch and kill' to help a candidate.

[nodynasty4us]

A new CNN poll showed Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden by a whopping six-point margin in a head-to-head matchup.

The poll, conducted by SSRS, showed Trump holding 49% of the vote, with Biden at 43%, and other/unsure receiving 8%. That 6 point lead is, by far, Trump’s biggest in any major nationwide poll taken in the month of April — according to RealClearPolitics.

The poll showed Trump furthering the gap with Biden, despite the fact that Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial on criminal charges. CNN reported:

And in the coming rematch, opinions about the first term of each man vying for a second four years in the White House now appear to work in Trump’s favor, with most Americans saying that, looking back, Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure. … Republicans now are more unified around the idea that Trump’s presidency was a success than Democrats are that Biden’s has been one. Overall, 92% of Republicans call Trump’s time in office a success, while just 73% of Democrats say Biden’s has been a success so far. Among independents, 51% say Trump’s presidency was successful, while only 37% see Biden’s as a success.

[nodynasty4us]

All Sides rates Politico as left-center (not left).

Ad Fontes Media rates Politico as lean left and high factuality.

Media Bias/Fact Check rates Politico as lean left and high factuality.

If you are thinking about an extreme left outlet with low factuality, maybe you're thinking of Occupy Democrats. I never quote them here.

From the March 13, 2024 article:

But now, thanks to an unforced error, Trump has effectively opened the 2024 general election campaign with a return to the third rail he sought to abandon almost a decade ago. Asked in a CNBC interview Monday whether he’d changed his outlook on how to handle entitlements, Trump argued in a word salad-heavy answer that “there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting and also the theft and the bad management of entitlements.”

It’s not obvious from his answer whether he’s had a material change of heart on Social Security, because it’s not obvious what he means at all. In early 2020 he made a similar comment that he quickly walked back, that he would “at some point” look at cutting entitlements; nothing came of it. But this time, his campaign immediately recognized he had stepped on a land mine. A campaign spokesperson tried some cleanup on Monday, arguing that Trump will “continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term.”

By then, though, it was too late. Trump suddenly found himself on the defensive, in the position so many prior GOP nominees have been in. He had given up the tactical advantage he had used to swamp his GOP rivals in the 2016 primary, back when he recognized that, when it came to entitlement reform, the only winning move is not to play.

[nodynasty4us]

From the April 27, 2024 article:

Randall Terry won the Constitution Party’s presidential nomination.

...

The Constitution Party is on the ballot in twelve states and is petitioning, or about to petition, in additional states.

Terry is the founder of the anti-abortion organization Project Rescue.

[nodynasty4us]

It would be funny, but it can't happen.

LiveJournal couldn't purchase TikTok because the new law prohibits app stores from distributing apps controlled by Russia, North Korea, and Iran as well as China. LiveJournal's owners are in Russia. If I understand correctly, their app will have to be pulled from Apple and Android app stores as well, but users in the US will still be able to access the site via a web browser.

An explainer about the new law requiring TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the app to someone else.

[nodynasty4us]

From the April 26, 2024 opinion piece by Brynn Tannehill:

The conservatives on the Supreme Court have also exposed their hubris, willful ignorance, and foolishness to the entire world in stark terms, and it will cost them and the nation dearly in the long run. They somehow presume that if Trump is elected and goes full dictator, that the power of the court, and their reputation, will save them. The truth is, Trump’s relationships with everyone he meets are completely transactional. If the court ever stops being useful to him, he will terminate it with prejudice if he thinks he can get away with it, and this court is doing everything it can to make him think he can get away with it. These justices’ foolishness lies in their lack of foresight as to what happens if Trump wins in 2024. In the justice’s efforts to ensure that they are the most powerful branch of government, they are about to make it the weakest. They are creating a win-win situation for Trump, and a lose-lose for themselves. When Trump is president again, he is likely to believe that he has the option of “removing” any member of the Supreme Court who defies him. As long as the court doesn’t rule against him, they’re fine. From the justices’ perspective, they either end up neutered lap dogs of a despot, who do whatever they’re told out of fear, or they defy him and end up somewhere … unpleasant (at best). Taking a dirt nap at worst. After all, if Trump can rub out a political opponent, can’t he do the same to an uncooperative jurist?

[nodynasty4us]

How long can an extreme ultra-capitalist nation survive without becoming an authoritarian dystopia?

I’ve been pondering that today, but it’s occurred to me that it’s worth noting this extremist capitalist society called the United States did start out as an authoritarian dystopia.

I had originally typed “for a massive number of people living within it” to the end of the sentence above, but I’ve erased it because that’s what all dystopias are. They are never horrific dictatorships to everyone. There is always an in-group that lives in relative comfort with relative freedom that simply does not consider the suffering of others to be relevant to their lives.

The US was built by a wealthy merchant class to be that dystopia where those merchants and landowners were the in-group, replacing the king and his appointees. The country shifted toward freedom for all, toward democracy over time, not away from it. The right to vote was first held only by male landowners of the upper class, it was not designed to be egalitarian for all. The notion that it was ever meant to be for all people is a lie we tell ourselves so we can feel special about our country’s founding, but it’s still a lie, and it’s a dangerous one.

Accepting this history, and considering it, changes the question. It becomes:

How long can an extreme ultra-capitalist nation survive without returning to an authoritarian dystopia?

That’s a more tangible premise to consider. It shifts the argument from an inevitable economic condition in the hands of capital, to a political one in the hands of people. Extreme capitalist oligarchy has always been in direct opposition to full democracy, because under democracy, capital’s power can be overruled by the will of the people. When the needs of the people cannot override the interests of wealth, then democracy is no longer functioning; an oligarchy has control. Maintaining that control in the face of increasing hardship for people inevitably requires more power. This premise leads us to look at how oligarchy may strengthen its grip.

We can look right now and see precisely which elected politicians are arguing that the US is not (and should not be) a democracy, but a republic. We can see exactly who is arguing for a return to constitutional principles, while suggesting we suspend the Constitution. We can see exactly who preaches “Law & Order” while ignoring the law. We can see exactly who claims that some votes should count more than others, and that their candidate is “the real winner.” We can also listen and learn exactly who is paying them to do that. We can then gauge their support and the support for their ideas to see how much time we have left before we empower people to undo the past century of incomplete social progress.

An oddity of today is that the US is hurtling in two directions at once. One is toward a more empowered people, with unions rising, differences celebrated and enjoyed, and a support for struggling individuals. The other is accelerating wealth inequality, indifference to suffering, and desperation driving down wages while increasing profits. Both are happening, both are accelerating. That’s not sustainable.

The highly dedicated people pushing hard in both of those directions often see the other side as a destabilizing anti-American force, determined to upend whatever greatness we have. And they’re both right about that, it’s just that one sees America as a fully-formed sacred ideal that’s been lost, and the other sees it as a process for building a more perfect Union. This is the divide that the nation was born with, and the same divide that led to the Civil War.

I’m not shy about which side I’m on. We have to keep pushing for stronger democracy and a happier people.

The other side, the one that sees America as built by prophets, that wants to ban history so their prophets won’t be questioned, that unrealistically imagines themselves to be the in-group the founders intended, will return us to their authoritarian dystopia. That is where all of their arguments originate, and where all of their arguments lead.

That’s why MAGA uses the word “again.” They mean to return us to a time they thought was great, where the in-group was clear and life was miserable for everyone else, because they genuinely believe they’ll be the new in-group. They won’t, they all can’t, but they will take us there quickly as soon as they can.

[nodynasty4us]

If your argument against antisemetism is: "don't be mean to Jews cause they'll move to Israel and give it legitimacy 🥺" that's a problem.

You shouldn't need a motive to not be a bigot.

[nodynasty4us]

Congrats Kristi Noem on guaranteeing the most disgusting thing in her bio is *not* sex w/Corey Lewandowski. -John Fugelsang

[nodynasty4us]

From the April 26, 2024 opinion piece by Susan Rinkunas:

Alito, on the other hand, keeps to the stealthy shadows, attempting to advance arguments that promote fetal personhood while simultaneously insisting that this unprecedented expansion of personhood rights won’t come at the expense of women’s lives and autonomy. It’s a deception of the highest order and onlookers might be left to conclude that he either thinks we’re all too dumb to notice—or that he knows nothing can stop the 6-3 court from doing what it wants. (The latter attitude was quite evident in Thursday’s arguments over whether former President Donald Trump can claim immunity for allegedly orchestrating the January 6 insurrection.)

[nodynasty4us]

Do remember everybody: if a president asks you to wear a mask during a pandemic, or forgives some college loans, the Supreme Court thinks that that’s a gross abuse of presidential power. Ordering the assassination of a political opponent? The Court isn’t sure whether that’s okay or not.

[nodynasty4us]

If the Supreme Court gives Trump partial immunity, which seems very likely, he'll say he was given "absolute immunity." He'll say this over and over again, often in all caps, the way he used to repeat "no collusion," and at least 45% of the country will believe it's true.

Steve M. — Bluesky

[nodynasty4us]

Can we be clear about a few things? Protesting this slaughter is not expressing antisemitism. It is not engaging in hate speech. It is not endangering Jewish students. It is doing what should be done on a college campus — taking a stand against a perceived wrong, at least provoking discussion and debate.

[nodynasty4us]

From the April 25, 2024 opinion piece:

Most people who have turned Columbia into a national lightning rod couldn’t care less about the human beings who live and work there or the very real challenges of making everyone on campus feel safe, heard, and free. They are heaping scorn on the encampment not because they oppose civil disobedience but because the protestors represent the leading edge of a generational change in attitudes about Israel. And I can guarantee that most critics calling for the heads of Columbia students for the terrible crime of camping out on their own university’s lawn were enthusiastically in favor of, for example, trucker convoys laying siege to major cities in 2021 to protest vaccine mandates. The bottom line is that to forestall the coming reckoning with 40 years of failed, unjust policy, Israel’s defenders want to criminalize it, to cast Palestinians out of the public sphere and hound them until—despairing of the impact of their activism on their life and career prospects—they give up.

[nodynasty4us]

Post from @ petridishes:

love to listen to Supreme Court oral arguments about fun hypotheticals like "if you have a womb is it possible you aren't a person" and "should we have a king"

The conservative justices have caused the court to hear cases it never would otherwise.

Vote for Biden. He will have to do something with the court.