2026 Political Thread

[bjdeming]

These are scary times. The flip side of this new era of AI is… not only can fake evidence be fabricated, but no one will be convinced by real evidence for the same reason.

As Larry the Cat says, January has been a long year. But there are helpers.

I'm trying to finish a kind of challenging volcano post for the blog and so haven't gotten into all this as much, but here are two encouraging posts I found just now on X.

• Two former judges, of opposite parties in Cleveland setting forth a plan to meet further government abuse with the Rule of Law. This needn't be limited to Cleveland.
• Not all heroes wear capes.

Threats to the Rule of Law should concern us all: Maureen O’Connor and Michael P. Donnelly

Waiting until constitutional violations are undeniable and irreversible is not prudence; it is abdication. Preparedness in defense of lawful governance is not radical. It is responsible citizenship, write guest columnists Maureen O'Connor, retired former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice, and...

www.cleveland.com

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

This newest wave of files being released is the most sickening, vile and unbelievable s*** I’ve seen in my life. Removing Trump as soon as physically possible needs to happen and people need to be behind bars and investigated now. Nixon was removed for far less.

What's the worst thing in them? I'm too lazy to sift through the most popular ones, especially as 99% don't contain anything important.

 

[slenker]

What's the worst thing in them? I'm too lazy to sift through the most popular ones, especially as 99% don't contain anything important.

Very extreme allegations against Donald and Eric Trump, along others, regarding pedophilia and threats, Epstein having a “draft email” (sent it to himself) of him blackmailing Bill Gates w/ info about him cheating on his wife and hiding an STD from her (and dosing her secretly with antibiotics in an attempt to have her not find out), and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick being shown to have explicitly contacted Epstein to get to his island in 2012, despite his claims that he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. In the email, he also explicitly describes the ages of his children and it insinuates he brought them with him to the island. Also a bunch of Elon Musk stuff, him explicitly asking to go multiple times, although there is a fake image of Musk explicitly discussing the young women on the island, so don’t fall for that one. However, this newest batch of files proves pretty much beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kash Patel lied under oath, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already. Also, the Trump allegations come with discussion of underage girls being murdered and supposedly buried at the golf course there. This is also what they’re willing to share with the world, so I’m betting 10,000 to one that the truth is far uglier than this.

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

Very extreme allegations against Donald and Eric Trump, along others, regarding pedophilia and threats, Epstein having a “draft email” (sent it to himself) of him blackmailing Bill Gates w/ info about him cheating on his wife and hiding an STD from her (and dosing her secretly with antibiotics in an attempt to have her not find out), and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick being shown to have explicitly contacted Epstein to get to his island in 2012, despite his claims that he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. In the email, he also explicitly describes the ages of his children and it insinuates he brought them with him to the island. Also a bunch of Elon Musk stuff, him explicitly asking to go multiple times, although there is a fake image of Musk explicitly discussing the young women on the island, so don’t fall for that one. However, this newest batch of files proves pretty much beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kash Patel lied under oath, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already. Also, the Trump allegations come with discussion of underage girls being murdered and supposedly buried at the golf course there. This is also what they’re willing to share with the world, so I’m betting 10,000 to one that the truth is far uglier than this.

Is there a link to the last one? I can't find anything on it but absolutely want to look more into it, because that's an extremely alarming thing if true. I also found this, although I question WION's reliablility.

 

[slenker]

Is there a link to the last one? I can't find anything on it but absolutely want to look more into it, because that's an extremely alarming thing if true. I also found this, although I question WION's reliablility.

I’m trying to DM you the images I have but for some reason it isn’t allowing me to on mobile. Let me try on my computer in a moment.

 

[andyhb]

Dems just flipped a Trump +17 seat in the Texas state senate by a 15 point margin (32 point swing) in Tarrant County (Fort Worth), one of the largest red counties in the country and a stronghold for Christian nationalism. Results like that continuing would mean a massive blue wave in the midterms.

 

[TH2002]

I know I've been making a lot of political posts on this site lately, and let me just reiterate that my support lies with neither party. I'm not left-wing, I'm not right-wing, not Democrat, not Republican.

I'm heavily critical of both Trump and Newsom, with one being my president, the other being my governor.

As much as I'd like to say I'm excited for a 'blue wave' these midterms - I'm not, and Newsom's disastrous tenure as California governor steers me away from supporting Democrats this November.

With that said, I can and have supported moderate candidates from both parties (Rand Paul, Laura Kelly, etc).

Unfortunately, the Libertarian Party is just as much of a joke as the two major parties. My political loyalty is with one thing only, and that's the Constitution of the United States of America.

 

[UncleJuJu98]

Republicans are going to get swept in the polls if they dont change something with there immigration policy not to mention other things, I'm wondering if Republicans are feeling the pressure now

 

[Central Ohio Wx]

Republicans are going to get swept in the polls if they dont change something with there immigration policy not to mention other things, I'm wondering if Republicans are feeling the pressure now

Who knew that people weren’t happy with citizens being abducted and murdered on the streets!

 

[bjdeming]

Very extreme allegations against Donald and Eric Trump, along others, regarding pedophilia and threats, Epstein having a “draft email” (sent it to himself) of him blackmailing Bill Gates w/ info about him cheating on his wife and hiding an STD from her (and dosing her secretly with antibiotics in an attempt to have her not find out), and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick being shown to have explicitly contacted Epstein to get to his island in 2012, despite his claims that he cut ties with Epstein in 2005. In the email, he also explicitly describes the ages of his children and it insinuates he brought them with him to the island. Also a bunch of Elon Musk stuff, him explicitly asking to go multiple times, although there is a fake image of Musk explicitly discussing the young women on the island, so don’t fall for that one. However, this newest batch of files proves pretty much beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kash Patel lied under oath, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already. Also, the Trump allegations come with discussion of underage girls being murdered and supposedly buried at the golf course there. This is also what they’re willing to share with the world, so I’m betting 10,000 to one that the truth is far uglier than this.

A view from the 1970s: This would have stunned the nation, and the public reaction would have been nuclear in grade -- Slovakia, where an Epstein client in government has resigned, but a few orders of magnitude bigger.

America at the end of the SD&R era: not so much. It's all about containment and shocked words, but no outrage after decades of graphic entertainment, confirmation after confirmation of how America sucks and how rotten everything is and yet it's apparently eternal and not to be resisted, dehumanization of The Other, and so on.

DOJ:

...He said victims of Epstein’s sex abuse “want to be made whole,” but that “doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or that we can just kind of come up with a case that isn’t there.”

Containment. There is a class, an international class, membership in which confers immunity, whether you're OJ Simpson, a Kennedy, or one of the after-party Epstein clientele currently in this administration.

And everybody is afraid to condemn them.

So many times it seems to me I hear a ghostly voice from my parents' generation wafting on the breeze: "We told you so."

 

[bjdeming]

Meanwhile, in Russia (Sen. Wyden hasn't tweeted anything new yet about his investigations into shady Russian dealings linked to Epstein):

...
Asked if Trump was positive or negative for Russia and about unproven speculation that Trump was some sort of Russian agent, Medvedev said the American people had chosen Trump and that Moscow respected that decision.

Medvedev lauded Trump's courage in resisting the U.S. establishment and said the U.S. president's sometimes "brash" style was "effective"...

-- Reuters

It isn't "just" about broken lives, I suspect.

And DOJ still hasn't complied with Congress's directive to release all the files.

One thing I'm sure of: this is something that the whole Turkey Party wants to hide, not just one wing or another.

It isn't so much about a blue sweep or a red sweep this fall: six of one, half a dozen of the other.

It's about getting some clean, young faces and minds in there (and maybe Hercules armed with a navigable river).

 

[UncleJuJu98]

Man I've been listening to videos covering the details of the latest Epstein files, man some of the stuff in it is WILD. I honestly feel like we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg with some of this stuff, I imagine either some documents are destroyed or will never be released so that some people will be protected. I'm glad that politicians have been pushing for the realese of some of this stuff although I don't think we will ever get the complete truth with everything.

 

[andyhb]

I know I've been making a lot of political posts on this site lately, and let me just reiterate that my support lies with neither party. I'm not left-wing, I'm not right-wing, not Democrat, not Republican.

I'm heavily critical of both Trump and Newsom, with one being my president, the other being my governor.

As much as I'd like to say I'm excited for a 'blue wave' these midterms - I'm not, and Newsom's disastrous tenure as California governor steers me away from supporting Democrats this November.

With that said, I can and have supported moderate candidates from both parties (Rand Paul, Laura Kelly, etc).

Unfortunately, the Libertarian Party is just as much of a joke as the two major parties. My political loyalty is with one thing only, and that's the Constitution of the United States of America.

Speaking of the constitution!

 

[TH2002]

Speaking of the constitution!

I'll give Trump one thing - at least he's upfront and honest about his complete disregard for the Constitution.

GOP politicians in general are also quite upfront that their policies are intended to benefit corporations and billionaires.

At this point, it's basically a choice between supporting Democrats who believe "we need big government, and your rights should be restricted for the greater good" vs Republicans who say "we need big government, but we won't trample on your rights... just trust us!"

Certainly a far cry from Reagan's words: "I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!"

 

[andyhb]

I'll give Trump one thing - at least he's upfront and honest about his complete disregard for the Constitution.

GOP politicians in general are also quite upfront that their policies are intended to benefit corporations and billionaires.

At this point, it's basically a choice between supporting Democrats who believe "we need big government, and your rights should be restricted for the greater good" vs Republicans who say "we need big government, but we won't trample on your rights... just trust us!"

Certainly a far cry from Reagan's words: "I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!"

I don't see at all why this deserves credit.

 

[thundersnow]

I don't see at all why this deserves credit.

Pretty sure that was sarcasm. ;-)

 

[TH2002]

I don't see at all why this deserves credit.

Honesty. You gotta give it to them that they're not even trying to lie about their true intentions. Take the Texas gerrymander - the GOP there explained plainly and clearly that their motivation was 100% political and the whole point is to benefit their own party in the midterms. California Democrats put up a façade that their gerrymander (which required bypassing the Citizens Redistricting Commission with a de facto sham election they knew they'd win anyway) back home is about "protecting democracy".

It's like comparing two war criminals being tried for the same charges: one openly admits their guilt, while the other fights the charges.

Or you can compare it to a scammer who openly admits they're scamming you, whatever analogy you wish to use.

Pretty sure that was sarcasm. ;-)

Nope

 

[thundersnow]

Nope

‍

Fine- you’re on your own.

Have it your way.

 

[TH2002]

‍

Fine- you’re on your own.

Have it your way.

I remember when that was Burger King's slogan. Good times.

 

[andyhb]

Honesty. You gotta give it to them that they're not even trying to lie about their true intentions. Take the Texas gerrymander - the GOP there explained plainly and clearly that their motivation was 100% political and the whole point is to benefit their own party in the midterms. California Democrats put up a façade that their gerrymander (which required bypassing the Citizens Redistricting Commission with a de facto sham election they knew they'd win anyway) back home is about "protecting democracy".

It's like comparing two war criminals being tried for the same charges: one openly admits their guilt, while the other fights the charges.

Or you can compare it to a scammer who openly admits they're scamming you, whatever analogy you wish to use.


Nope

I'm not going to do this both sides silliness in here after the things that have been going on as of late. Not having it, ever again. I don't like Newsom either, but this is not the same.