[Malcolm Armsteen]

I wish we as a nation, stopped paying so much attention to the internal affairs of the good ol' USA . I'm as guilty of this as anyone but in reality, it makes zero difference to me what people in Texas or Idaho think about abortion, guns, Mexicans, religion etc.

Because
viewtopic.php?p=45046#p45046

[Yug]

It's a failed state. And it's not all down to the Republicans.

I know America is inherently right-wing. The average Democrat is not much further Left than John Major was.

@Rosvanian

We keep a close eye on the USA because a watered-down version of the shit that happens over there often ends being peddled over here. And we currently have a government who are actively trying to make some of that shit happen over here.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

This is long and complex, but instructive:

[Oboogie]

This is long and complex, but instructive:

It's also apparently unavailable. Could you tell us what it's about and what it's called so we can look it up please?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Sorry.

It's titled "THIS Is Why Americans Are So Obsessed With Guns (It's not what you expect)"
by Leeja Miller
'

'

A good, reasoned explanation of how the Constitution became a cult, the Supreme Court supports it and the traits of American character that make it inevitable (with the help of the NRA)

[Tubby Isaacs]

Indeed.

Whether it's Biden personally or his team makes no difference. The Republicans have got much less out of this than people thought they would. Lots of people on the left said Biden was delusional if he thought he could get deals from Republicans. (I don't actually mind the left voting against this deal, it passed easily, and they can decide if they want to endorse it or not).

[Spoonman]

"We want to ban books in schools that could be read by children which contain violence and possible adult themes" (quiet bit - "We want to ban 'woke' books")

School district in Utah - "Okay, let's ban the bible. It's full of it!"

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children.

And the Book of Mormon could be next.

The 72,000-student Davis School District north of Salt Lake City removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools while keeping it in high schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to a parental complaint. The district has removed other titles, including Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” following a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes “sensitive material.”

https://apnews.com/article/book-ban-sch ... ee1899608a

Always be careful just what you ask for, 'cos you might just get something you never intended.

[The Weeping Angel]

Indeed.

Whether it's Biden personally or his team makes no difference. The Republicans have got much less out of this than people thought they would. Lots of people on the left said Biden was delusional if he thought he could get deals from Republicans. (I don't actually mind the left voting against this deal, it passed easily, and they can decide if they want to endorse it or not).

On that note here's a funny cartoon on Biden and his negotiating with the Republicans

[Tubby Isaacs]

"We want to ban books in schools that could be read by children which contain violence and possible adult themes" (quiet bit - "We want to ban 'woke' books")

School district in Utah - "Okay, let's ban the bible. It's full of it!"

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah after a parent frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools convinced a suburban district that some Bible verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children.

And the Book of Mormon could be next.

The 72,000-student Davis School District north of Salt Lake City removed the Bible from its elementary and middle schools while keeping it in high schools after a committee reviewed the scripture in response to a parental complaint. The district has removed other titles, including Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” following a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes “sensitive material.”

https://apnews.com/article/book-ban-sch ... ee1899608a

Always be careful just what you ask for, 'cos you might just get something you never intended.

That's quite amusing, but the people doing this don't care about being consistent. Books are banned because they say so. And the Bible isn't banned because they say so.

[Crabcakes]

Pence has thrown his hat in the ring to run for President. He’s got about as much chance of winning the nomination as he has being the first person to walk on the surface of Mars, but he might at least let a few things slip that’ll damage Trump.

[Youngian]

High expectations in Chris Christie giving Trump a rotten time on the campaign trail.

[The Weeping Angel]

He's going to roll pver and endorse him this time next year.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sunak's not going to be discussing a US trade deal while he's there. America's much more protectionist than it was, so not expecting much for the foreseeable.

[Crabcakes]

Only thing I’m surprised at is that the dam hasn’t broken yet. If DeSantis (or indeed any of them) is serious, at some point he has to turn on Trump. At the moment he’s still playing lapdog and trying to make out this is a Biden hit job, and outside of the most insane MAGA types no one is buying that.

Either way, I think there’s an inevitable civil war brewing that could tank the GOP much like the infighting in the Tories here. Which shows why electing a self-centred, sociopathic bullshitting populist and falling meekly in line when they start weeding out anyone who isn’t an obsequious yes man/woman only works in the short term. Because at some point, you need rid of them - only now your base is polarised and ready to tear chunks out of each other.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ronald Reagan called Princess Diana "Princess David". Donald Trump called Tim Cook "Tim Apple".

I'm not necessarily all in on the Biden protectionist stuff, but it's clearly a big political achievement, especially with a tied Senate.

[Samanfur]

DeSantis has already turned:

DeSantis Campaign Ad Features AI Fakes Of Trump Hugging Fauci

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) presidential campaign used fake, seemingly AI-produced images of former President Donald Trump hugging former COVID adviser Anthony Fauci in a campaign ad on Thursday — a potentially troubling escalation of the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising.

The ad, which dings Trump for not firing Fauci when he was president, includes fake images showing Trump hugging the medical adviser — which AFP and The Verge noted bore the signs of artificial intelligence-generated images, such as strange blurring and nonsensical text beneath the White House logo.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

We're going to have to update the fascism checklist...

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's something of a paradox that Trump while obviously mad, could also appeal beyond his base to Independents who liked his core messages on trade, the border etc. "Fire Fauci" is minority Freedom Caucus and beyond stuff. It's not going to beat Trump, even just among Republican Primary voters.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Life comes at you fast.

Donald Trump took classified documents including information on nuclear weapons in the US and secret plans to attack a foreign country, according to a 49-page federal indictment unsealed Friday afternoon.

The former US president, alongside a military valet, now faces a sweeping 37-count felony indictment related to the mishandling of classified documents.

Here are five of the most shocking revelations in the indictment, according to my colleague Maya Yang.

[Crabcakes]

Yeah, stop leaking things to destroy Trump’s character. Convicted sex offender and impeached disgraced former president Trump can do that all by himself!