The Many Faces of US Politics...

[whitey]

Do you have issues with reading comprehension or do you have a learning disability of some sort?

The DA herself said that's why she changed the law? Not me-the DA said it

And I also saiid that I don't disagree with her

[J70]

She is trying to redress the proportionately harsh treatment black people receive from the justice system compared to white people. That doesn't mean that they're getting more favourable treatment or getting away with shit just because they're black. Some white lad who gets in a bar fight will get the same leniency, whereas previously, he'd probably get off while the black guy in a similar fight gets arrested, prosecuted and a record.
And the directive is for default. Which means it can be waived if the circumstances warrant it. You can argue the merits of which charges are included and whether the threshold should be higher in some or all cases, but is that any worse than some lad ended up in prison for decades or life for piddly shit due to repeat offenses or harsh minimum sentences?

Doesn't matter what her motivation is

The FACT is that the policy is  directly and intentionally designed to NOT prosecute persons of color in an effort to right prior wrongs

(I don't necessarily disagree with her reasoning, but it is what it is)

Fair enough.

[screenexile]

Biden's Economic Performance Has Proved Unbeatable!!

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-20/president-biden-s-economic-performance-has-proved-unbeatable

[whitey]

Biden's Economic Performance Has Proved Unbeatable!!

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-20/president-biden-s-economic-performance-has-proved-unbeatable

Economy is doing great for those in the middle and the top

Those at the bottom getting hosed

It's all a mirage though-they've pumped so much liquidity into the system it would be almost impossible not to have a good economy

[Wildweasel74]

So Trump gets booster but encourages supporters not to wear masks or bother with vaccination, they are strange bedfellows.

[Muck Savage]

Biden's Economic Performance Has Proved Unbeatable!!

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-20/president-biden-s-economic-performance-has-proved-unbeatable

I normally stay out of tread but this is a real case of give me a set of statistics and I can paint a picture either way. Which of the other presidents on there had a pandemic preceding their entry into office? Coming from a place where the economy was shut down last year due to Covid, millions were laid off, market tanked, etc. When the economy starts to get opened up post vaccine then of course the numbers will look good.

There is so much to be concerned about here right now. Its a very divided country where you are either completely with one side or completely against, there is no middle ground anymore. The media are completely biased in one direction or the other and to be honest are fanning the hate in the country today because its good for ratings, at what point are they, the media, culpable for this? The above piece is a prime example of this, he's doing a great job while another source will show how low his rating are. There is no balanced news here.  I live in an area where I can't speak freely or I'm accused of being a privileged white middle aged male even though I have voted democratic for the majority of the time I have lived here.

Manchin is a Saint or a Villain depending on which media outlet you look at, a complete flip of where John McCain was a Villain or a Saint on the same networks when he cast the "51st vote" on Obamacare repeal.   

Right now there are more Senators/House Reps from both parties that are closer in views than they are to the extremists from their own party. There is a huge void in the middle that could be filled with a new party and break the two party system. The republicans are being driven by a racist element while the dems are being driven by a socialist element.

[J70]

Muck Savage, why would you not be able to speak freely? We all have to hold our tongue in certain situations. My in-laws are from the rural west. I don't head out there every summer and sit talking shit about Trump and the GOP at the back yard bbq. I live in a fairly conservative part of Queens. I similarly keep my political thoughts mostly to myself to avoid conflict and to be neighbourly. Similarly I work with loads of blue collar white guys and don't go spouting off there. I'm there to work, not to be unprofessional and mouth off.

Agree with some of what you say on the division, but the right wing has gone completely off the reservation. And while there is certainly a socialist element in the Democratic Party (unavoidable given that they are the liberal party in a two-party system), the Democratic Party is far from socialist. If it was, Bernie would have been the candidate the last two times, not Hillary and especially not Biden. Bernie was there as a very viable choice, but the Democratic electorate didn't want him, partly out of electoral pragmatism, but also based on policy. In fact, are there any socialist governors out there, never mind presidents? Are there any socialist senators apart from Bernie, part of whose appeal is his historic and continuing independence?

On Manchin, I've stated here before that the left of the Democratic Party needs to wake up. They've a razor-thin majority in both chambers, and without allowing room for the likes of Manchin or Tester and so on, they'll never have a majority in the Senate for the next generation. Its either Manchin, or its Mr. SuckTrumpsDick von StopTheSteal, Junior Senator from West Virginia. There is simply no way around that. Even the current majority is being enjoyed partly because Trump basically threw the Georgia senate races purely for his own vanity.

They need to sit these guys down, figure out what they CAN support, and proceed from there. Pass what they can and get out and explain how it will help people, instead of heading down the route of massive, transformative legislation that Fox News can demogogue and demonize for the next year.

[Muck Savage]

Muck Savage, why would you not be able to speak freely? We all have to hold our tongue in certain situations. My in-laws are from the rural west. I don't head out there every summer and sit talking shit about Trump and the GOP at the back yard bbq. I live in a fairly conservative part of Queens. I similarly keep my political thoughts mostly to myself to avoid conflict and to be neighbourly. Similarly I work with loads of blue collar white guys and don't go spouting off there. I'm there to work, not to be unprofessional and mouth off.

You answer most of your question in the 2nd part of your paragraph, however in this area if you don't agree with folks you're a racist, white privileged and your opinion does not count. I choose not to engage.

Agree with some of what you say on the division, but the right wing has gone completely off the reservation. And while there is certainly a socialist element in the Democratic Party (unavoidable given that they are the liberal party in a two-party system), the Democratic Party is far from socialist. If it was, Bernie would have been the candidate the last two times, not Hillary and especially not Biden. Bernie was there as a very viable choice, but the Democratic electorate didn't want him, partly out of electoral pragmatism, but also based on policy. In fact, are there any socialist governors out there, never mind presidents? Are there any socialist senators apart from Bernie, part of whose appeal is his historic and continuing independence?

Please go back and read my original post, I did not say the Democratic part was socialist. What I said was both parties are being driven by the far side of their parties. There is a Socialist section of the Dems "Progressive Left" that are trying to dictate what happens and similar on the Reps side with the Trump crew. Thankfully there are enough in the middle with sense to get a plan like the Infrastructure Bill through without needing the extreme side.

You point out that the right wing have gone completely off the reservation (this is probably offending someone in this day and age) but to many in the red states the Left wing have gone completely off the same piece of land. The problem is no one wants to look at the problems from the other persons view point in a effort to solve a problem.

[J70]

I get that the Dems look like crazy people to those on the right, but at least part of that is down to their own extremism and the filter through which the Dems are presented to them.

The Dems are a mainstream centrist, social democratic party on any western scale. Yes, they have extremists, but those extremists don't dominate. They can get elected locally or to a House seat, but that's it.

Whereas the GOP is now completely dedicated to the veneration of Trump and all the logical and legal gymnastics that dedication demands. If you don't accept the election was stolen and our "freedoms" are under dire threat, you're done as a Republican representative in most of the country. In a few liberal areas, a moderate Republican CAN get elected statewide, but you're not getting elected in a red state without publicly buying into the personality cult. Then throw in Covid - apparently Trump himself was shaken this past weekend when he himself was jeered for finally urging his followers to get vaccinated and boosted - and all the Q-Anon and other conspiracy shit they give explicit and tacit approval to..

Believe me, I wish the US could get back to ten years ago, when the debate was over real stuff like taxes and jobs and environmental policy, and not on "solutions" to imagined thefts of elections and the big bad government and other shadowy phantoms coming for you and yours.

I'm all for looking at issues from the opposite perspective, but there has to be a common acceptance of basic, real facts and principles first.

[whitey]

I get that the Dems look like crazy people to those on the right, but at least part of that is down to their own extremism and the filter through which the Dems are presented to them.

The Dems are a mainstream centrist, social democratic party on any western scale. Yes, they have extremists, but those extremists don't dominate. They can get elected locally or to a House seat, but that's it.

Whereas the GOP is now completely dedicated to the veneration of Trump and all the logical and legal gymnastics that dedication demands. If you don't accept the election was stolen and our "freedoms" are under dire threat, you're done as a Republican representative in most of the country. In a few liberal areas, a moderate Republican CAN get elected statewide, but you're not getting elected in a red state without publicly buying into the personality cult. Then throw in Covid - apparently Trump himself was shaken this past weekend when he himself was jeered for finally urging his followers to get vaccinated and boosted - and all the Q-Anon and other conspiracy shit they give explicit and tacit approval to..

Believe me, I wish the US could get back to ten years ago, when the debate was over real stuff like taxes and jobs and environmental policy, and not on "solutions" to imagined thefts of elections and the big bad government and other shadowy phantoms coming for you and yours.

I'm all for looking at issues from the opposite perspective, but there has to be a common acceptance of basic, real facts and principles first.

J70

Just to go back to Rittenhouse for a moment

The reality was that the people he shot were not the typical people you'd see at a BLM protest

They were Antifa/Anarchist/Anti police types who were just there to cause trouble and mayhem

FFS they burned  down a  car dealership owned by a person of color-if you count the Muslim fella who testified. How does that advance the cause of BLM?

Anyways, when he got found not guilty I saw him broadly labeled in the left wing media as a racist-how is a white guy shooting 3 other white people racist?

Joy Reid said that Elon Musk was a racist for calling Granny Warren a "Karen" because he culturally appropriated the term from African Americans

At this point, many sensible people I know are getting completely fed up with the Democrats and the media to the points that Trump actually has a good shot at getting re elected in 2024

[J70]

I get that the Dems look like crazy people to those on the right, but at least part of that is down to their own extremism and the filter through which the Dems are presented to them.

The Dems are a mainstream centrist, social democratic party on any western scale. Yes, they have extremists, but those extremists don't dominate. They can get elected locally or to a House seat, but that's it.

Whereas the GOP is now completely dedicated to the veneration of Trump and all the logical and legal gymnastics that dedication demands. If you don't accept the election was stolen and our "freedoms" are under dire threat, you're done as a Republican representative in most of the country. In a few liberal areas, a moderate Republican CAN get elected statewide, but you're not getting elected in a red state without publicly buying into the personality cult. Then throw in Covid - apparently Trump himself was shaken this past weekend when he himself was jeered for finally urging his followers to get vaccinated and boosted - and all the Q-Anon and other conspiracy shit they give explicit and tacit approval to..

Believe me, I wish the US could get back to ten years ago, when the debate was over real stuff like taxes and jobs and environmental policy, and not on "solutions" to imagined thefts of elections and the big bad government and other shadowy phantoms coming for you and yours.

I'm all for looking at issues from the opposite perspective, but there has to be a common acceptance of basic, real facts and principles first.

J70

Just to go back to Rittenhouse for a moment

The reality was that the people he shot were not the typical people you'd see at a BLM protest

They were Antifa/Anarchist/Anti police types who were just there to cause trouble and mayhem

FFS they burned  down a  car dealership owned by a person of color-if you count the Muslim fella who testified. How does that advance the cause of BLM?

Anyways, when he got found not guilty I saw him broadly labeled in the left wing media as a racist-how is a white guy shooting 3 other white people racist?

Joy Reid said that Elon Musk was a racist for calling Granny Warren a "Karen" because he culturally appropriated the term from African Americans

At this point, many sensible people I know are getting completely fed up with the Democrats and the media to the points that Trump actually has a good shot at getting re elected in 2024

But you're not justifying their voting for Trump.

You're just pointing out that their biases and information sources align them more with his side anyway.

Otherwise why would fuckwits on Twitter or a cable news personality sway them so much, when you have the actual GOP party itself, all the way up to their corrupt, amoral leader espousing racism and conspiracy theories on a daily basis?

Its basically "I hate political correctness and wokeness far more than I hate an anti-democratic, conspiratorial political movement completely in the grip of a narcissistic, corrupt, wannabe dictator".

[whitey]

I get that the Dems look like crazy people to those on the right, but at least part of that is down to their own extremism and the filter through which the Dems are presented to them.

The Dems are a mainstream centrist, social democratic party on any western scale. Yes, they have extremists, but those extremists don't dominate. They can get elected locally or to a House seat, but that's it.

Whereas the GOP is now completely dedicated to the veneration of Trump and all the logical and legal gymnastics that dedication demands. If you don't accept the election was stolen and our "freedoms" are under dire threat, you're done as a Republican representative in most of the country. In a few liberal areas, a moderate Republican CAN get elected statewide, but you're not getting elected in a red state without publicly buying into the personality cult. Then throw in Covid - apparently Trump himself was shaken this past weekend when he himself was jeered for finally urging his followers to get vaccinated and boosted - and all the Q-Anon and other conspiracy shit they give explicit and tacit approval to..

Believe me, I wish the US could get back to ten years ago, when the debate was over real stuff like taxes and jobs and environmental policy, and not on "solutions" to imagined thefts of elections and the big bad government and other shadowy phantoms coming for you and yours.

I'm all for looking at issues from the opposite perspective, but there has to be a common acceptance of basic, real facts and principles first.

J70

Just to go back to Rittenhouse for a moment

The reality was that the people he shot were not the typical people you'd see at a BLM protest

They were Antifa/Anarchist/Anti police types who were just there to cause trouble and mayhem

FFS they burned  down a  car dealership owned by a person of color-if you count the Muslim fella who testified. How does that advance the cause of BLM?

Anyways, when he got found not guilty I saw him broadly labeled in the left wing media as a racist-how is a white guy shooting 3 other white people racist?

Joy Reid said that Elon Musk was a racist for calling Granny Warren a "Karen" because he culturally appropriated the term from African Americans

At this point, many sensible people I know are getting completely fed up with the Democrats and the media to the points that Trump actually has a good shot at getting re elected in 2024

But you're not justifying their voting for Trump.

You're just pointing out that their biases and information sources align them more with his side anyway.

Otherwise why would fuckwits on Twitter or a cable news personality sway them so much, when you have the actual GOP party itself, all the way up to their corrupt, amoral leader espousing racism and conspiracy theories on a daily basis?

Its basically "I hate political correctness and wokeness far more than I hate an anti-democratic, conspiratorial political movement completely in the grip of a narcissistic, corrupt, wannabe dictator".

Not at all

People who didn't vote for him are getting bloody well fed up of being called racists/bigots because they don't agree with every item in the woke/pc agenda.

Say that Rittenhouse was not guilty-racist

Say that trans swimmer shouldn't be competing against female swimmers-transphobe

Agree with Elon Musk regarding Warren-racist and misogynist.

Agree with Manchin about BBB-all of the above

[J70]

That would be all very well if the "woke agenda" etc was the Dem party platform.

It's not.

If someone is for the GOP/Trump anti-democratic movement, they should just man up and admit it and spare us the bullshit excuses. The GOP are proudly and defiantly legislating and preaching this stuff.

And the poor craytur who is so offended by Joy Reid, where are they on, say, Tucker Carlson? He is way more influential than her and just did a special on Jan 6 that was so repugnant that a couple of arch conservative pundits left their gigs as Fox News pundits. And that's just one single example.

[whitey]

That would be all very well if the "woke agenda" etc was the Dem party platform.

It's not.

If someone is for the GOP/Trump anti-democratic movement, they should just man up and admit it and spare us the bullshit excuses. The GOP are proudly and defiantly legislating and preaching this stuff.

And the poor craytur who is so offended by Joy Reid, where are they on, say, Tucker Carlson? He is way more influential than her and just did a special on Jan 6 that was so repugnant that a couple of arch conservative pundits left their gigs as Fox News pundits. And that's just one single example.

If someone isn't on board with the agenda they're going to get primaried by the squad

If you can be accused of being a racist for calling someone a Karen, that's borderline insane and as offensive as anything Tucker has to say

[Gmac]

US congress rep Mary scanlon carjacked and robbed in south Philly , a big defund the police and bail reform head .
I'm sure she's delighted to see her policy in action.
Hope she got a good close up look at it in action.