2025 Political Thread

[bjdeming]

Meanwhile, regarding one of the two current tinderboxes, a view not through the lens of US politics.



Ukraine AND Europe...

Backbone.

Edit: More on this from Reuters.

 

[bjdeming]

Also, a surprise Hitler reference from an unexpected source:

 

[bjdeming]

Senator Wyden does not represent a lot of my views, but I like his principled and somewhat open-minded approach. That's why I believe this liberal Portlander is laying it on the line in this tweet rather than playing games (BTW, contrary to our public image, many parts of Oregon are rural and conservative, something Trump 1.0 totally failed to exploit in 2020):



How are things in the South and other member places?

 

[andyhb]

The supply chains in this country are under threat of collapse with these exorbitant tariffs, especially on China. Shipping imports are shutting down and ports will see decreased activity. This will ultimately affect the trucking and rail industry as well. Prices will start rising quickly for everyday goods unless this is stopped.

What we can VERIFY about Port of Seattle 'ghost town' rumors

The port saw an 18.4% increase in volumes in March, partially driven by shippers moving cargo before anticipated tariffs.

www.king5.com

 

[bjdeming]

Prices will start rising quickly for everyday goods unless this is stopped.

It can be stopped, and some states are suing in order to do so. Hope they win, but it will take time to adjudicate, perhaps all the way up to the Supreme Court, and in the meantime, quite frankly, we're all screwed.

Articles of impeachment have been filed, which would be a quicker way to treat the problem by depowering the tariffs' source, but the filing was premature, I think. Still, the Trumpeteers must be worried -- just one provable slip and the whole country might support impeachment. This support can only rise along with the tariff-caused price jumps.

 

[bjdeming]

Having been so frustrated by press prostration and worship during Democrat regimes, it's hard to get strongly behind their outraged calls now.

But I decided to share this when the Guardian writer mentioned the Gulf of Mexico by its true international name and I realized more deeply the climate of fear that prevents our press from doing the same simple thing unless they're in a risk-taking mood and have both good lawyers and a budget to retain them.

It was the sort of feeling that never was supposed to happen in the US: fear and shock at how much freedom in ordinary life we have already lost.

 

[pr0t0genluvswEeather]

Senator Wyden does not represent a lot of my views, but I like his principled and somewhat open-minded approach. That's why I believe this liberal Portlander is laying it on the line in this tweet rather than playing games (BTW, contrary to our public image, many parts of Oregon are rural and conservative, something Trump 1.0 totally failed to exploit in 2020):



How are things in the South and other member places?

that post was deleted on BlueSky, just so you know.

 

[Evan]

that post was deleted on BlueSky, just so you know.

I can view it just fine. Why would it be deleted, anyway?

 

[Evan]

Maybe RFK Jr's brainworms are contagious. How can anyone defend such an obviously and verifiably false claim?

 

[bjdeming]

I'm also unexpectedly enjoying a few (just a few) of Senator Schiff's tweets :



Wyden also pushed hard for the tariff bill. The TOP found it hard going but they had Vance to break the tie.

 

[bjdeming]

First Wired and now Nature, coming up with scoops:

Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice,” according to an email seen by Nature.

The policy prevents the NSF, one of the world’s biggest supporters of basic research, from awarding new research grants and from supplying allotted funds for existing grants, such as those that receive yearly increments of money. The email does not provide a reason for the freeze and says that it will last “until further notice”.

Earlier this week, NSF leadership also introduced a new policy directing staff members to screen grant proposals for “topics or activities that may not be in alignment with agency priorities”. Proposals judged not “in alignment” must be returned to the applicants by NSF employees. The policy has not been made public but was described in documents seen by Nature.

An NSF staff member says that although good science can still be funded, the policy has the potential to be “Orwellian overreach”. Another staff member says, “They are butchering the gold standard merit review process that was established at NSF over decades”. One program officer says they are resigning because of the policy. Nature spoke with five NSF staffers for this story, all on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

An NSF spokesperson declined Nature’s request for comment....

-- Nature

Is America great yet? Because it doesn't seem as great as it used to.

 

[pr0t0genluvswEeather]

I can view it just fine. Why would it be deleted, anyway?

Ok, I just looked at it again and it's back on. Must be my school's adblocker.

 

[UpperLevelLOL]

 

[Atlantic]

And yet, so many “weather enthusiasts” voted for this nightmare despite the fact that this outcome was obvious from the get-go.

I was hoping to go into the weather front, but with all of this; it is ney impossible. I don't want to go into this only to get fired or not even make it in. I love weather, and I would NEVER vote away the NOAA adminstation.

 

[bjdeming]

Don't be discouraged. There will always be a need for meteorologists, and political weather, just like the stuff outside the windows, changes all the time.

 

[bjdeming]

This is just so weird, and I don't mean Germany:

Germany defends AfD extremist classification after Rubio slams 'tyranny in disguise'​

8 hours ago
Tiffany Wertheimer
BBC News, London
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Reuters
AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have received high-level support from Washington, including JD Vance and Elon Musk

Germany's Foreign Office has defended a decision to classify the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremist, after sharp criticism from the White House.

US Vice-President JD Vance accused "bureaucrats" of rebuilding the Berlin Wall, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the designation as "tyranny in disguise".

In an unusual move, the foreign office directly replied to Rubio on X, writing: "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped."

Have we learned it yet, or must we go through the terrible lesson ourselves?

 

[bjdeming]

Meanwhile, in the land of Vance and Rubio...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Friday that every American should be concerned about “chilling” suggestions from President Donald Trump’s top border adviser that he could be arrested over guidance the Democrat issued to state employees about what to do if confronted by federal immigration agents.

“I’m not afraid,” Evers said in the extraordinary video posted on YouTube. “I’ve never once been discouraged from doing the right thing and I will not start today.”

-- Source

A state governor says that. What about the rest of us?

I do wish I was gonna be around in 20-30 years (or if I am, then compos mentis), when it's safe to cover the corruption of our times in the past tense (hopefully, past tense). What are bullies doing right now to people they don't like who don't have clout or what's considered to be a worthy/safe news angle?

What's happening in the USA out of sight while Zaphod Beeblebrox and crew keep the spotlight focused on themselves?

Nothing much, I hope. But things are so weird now, I can't be as certain about that as I once was

 

[maroonedinhsv]

Any predictions on how large the swing to blue in Congress will be in ~1.5 years?

 

[thundersnow]

It appears another war is breaking out… India and Pakistan.

 

[andyhb]

Any predictions on how large the swing to blue in Congress will be in ~1.5 years?

I'm not ready to predict that when there's no guarantee of free and fair elections at that time.