Best Of

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This is at least more honest than a large number of news organisations.
The BBC's US editor has yet to be as honest.

Reuters North America editor Sally Buzbee on covering Trump's return: 'I don't think in those first few days we understood what an organized agenda they had.'
https://x.com/Reuters/status/2015122486384341196

Not entirely unreasonable, as Trump's first term was extremely chaotic and unfocused. I did have dinner with one of the principal architects of Project 2025 though and he scared the bejesus out of me. To be honest nothing Trump has done has surprised me. The goal of these people is total power, they carry a deep loathing for the coastal elites that comes from a place of intellectual insecurity and they want to destroy liberal America for ever. They won't stop until somebody stops them.

It ought to have been pretty obvious to any journalist doing their work that Trump's staff were a very different crew to the first time around.

And it's not as though his opponent hadn't described that agenda in some detail.

But I suppose it's fair to say the speed and extent of what they've done in a year might be a surprise - and Reuters deserve credit for acknowledging it out loud.

Meanwhile Smith and Webb cheerfully report it almost like business as usual.

Minnesota State officials (BCA) had a SIGNED warrant from an independent judge to investigate the shooting. DHS DENIED them access to the scene and said they would investigate themselves.

This is unconstitutional and any conclusion DHS comes to can’t be trusted.
https://x.com/RepJimmyGomez/status/2015178523648864646

It turns out the much-vaunted US Constitution is crucially dependent on the good chap theory and is a chocolate fireguard when faced with a less than good chap and his backers. Much like international law, come to think of it.

Another parallel with the Weimar Republic then.

A feature of the Nazi takeover in the early '30s was that the far right had captured much of the judiciary before they came to power, hence closing off the legal system as a check and balance, or route to redress, once the regime started to dismantle democracy. Consider, for example the number of left-wing activists prosecuted, and the severity of penalties they received, with the handful of SA and other far-right individuals done for acting violently outside the law.

This is at least more honest than a large number of news organisations.
The BBC's US editor has yet to be as honest.

Reuters North America editor Sally Buzbee on covering Trump's return: 'I don't think in those first few days we understood what an organized agenda they had.'
https://x.com/Reuters/status/2015122486384341196

Not entirely unreasonable, as Trump's first term was extremely chaotic and unfocused. I did have dinner with one of the principal architects of Project 2025 though and he scared the bejesus out of me. To be honest nothing Trump has done has surprised me. The goal of these people is total power, they carry a deep loathing for the coastal elites that comes from a place of intellectual insecurity and they want to destroy liberal America for ever. They won't stop until somebody stops them.

Any thought on what they want in it's place or is it just destroy anything in its path?

The answer to that is long and IANAE but it is fairly clear that the first thing they must have in its place is certainty that something as boring as elections or the house or the judicial system can't just stop it by taking away their power. WRT November elections and 2028, bet (or refrain from) accordingly.

And this is not mostly about Trump. It's about the whole gangster setup. Watch for the 'Reichstag fire' process between now and November.

I was talking to a second hand car dealer the other day. They were saying all this focus on the likes of pubs, their costs are absolutely through the roof due to the cummulative effect of so many tax changes. Absolutely eye watering and quite a few well known and respected dealers have gone busto recently as the monthly running costs.

oh no. not second hand car dealers. oh shit.

Tbf, it would be annoying if we couldn't buy or sell 2nd hand cars.

It would be quite funny to see WeBuyAnyCar go bust, though.

Owned by BCA so highly unlikely. The WBAC cheat code is bribe the valuer otherwise you are going to get fucked and will deserve it. Motorway are way worse!

Oddly, the one time I used Motorway I had an excellent experience. I got £600 more than they quoted, and I didn't get knocked down at all on price by the valuer which was a big help because I was very short of money at the time and needed that cash from my spare car.

Maybe I was just lucky though.

The last time I used motorway it was painful but the car was a wreck and had engine problems so it was just a matter of all information was provided when you bid so pay what you offered or head back home (and eventually they did pay).

Usually I just go to the local Evans Halshaw as they will offer £300 or so more than the WBAC / Motorway start price and sort the paperwork in a hour or so.

We have to assume Reform will ultimately be like the Republicans until they give us reason to doubt that they're more-or-less fully on board with the abhorrent MAGA agenda.

As I've said before, that means being willing to vote tactically for any of the other mainstream parties (including the Welsh and Scottish nationalist ones, where relevant) if Reform are the main challengers.

The maintenance of civil democracy is more important than policy positions.

You mean “maintaining democracy” as in: cancelling elections, abandoning jury trials, locking up people for tweets, and introducing blasphemy laws?

We must all vote against Reform so Labour can keep on doing all that? And more? Got it

No one, especially you, gives two shits about delaying local elections due to upcoming reforms.

The rest is irrelevant whataboutery. For example, even if you could point me to legislation on blasphemy laws (which you can't), there's nothing fundamentally anti-democratic about it (e.g. we used to have one decades ago, as much as I disagree with it).

I know you are fascist-curious, so the sight of lots of strong men in masks beating people up probably reminds you of some sexual experimenting you did in yours 20s, but for the rest of us it's quite a distance away from pushing back Kent county council local elections until 2027.

It’s cancelling elections for millions of people. Again

It’s the very same shit you bloviating lefty pin-heads rant on about re Trump. Endlessly

The hypocrisy is outstanding

The US regime are really testing the limits of gaslighting

Everybody can see the videos of masked goons shooting a man in the street

They are still trying to spin that he was a threat

It's insane

There is now very clear footage. The guy gets between ICE and a woman (they seem to particularly relish beating up women) both are pepper sprayed. The guy is taken down and pistol whipped by an ICE goon. His legally concealed weapon is removed. An ICE agent shoots him ( accidentally?). Several ICE agents panic and half a dozen shots are released.

Miller, Bovino, Bondi and Trump claim the win. This is the Wild West.

and sandpit and mr glenn blame the dems

And Leon thinks this is comparable to a delayed county council election. *

*which I agree is wrong but the worst example of whataboutery I've ever seen on PB. Even the Charlie Kirk comparison doesn't work because 1) he wasn't shot by the state 2) Obama didn't call him a terrorist 3) the guy who did it was arrested.

That Leon oscillates between being a troll and being a twat is hardly news.

This is at least more honest than a large number of news organisations.
The BBC's US editor has yet to be as honest.

Reuters North America editor Sally Buzbee on covering Trump's return: 'I don't think in those first few days we understood what an organized agenda they had.'
https://x.com/Reuters/status/2015122486384341196

Not entirely unreasonable, as Trump's first term was extremely chaotic and unfocused. I did have dinner with one of the principal architects of Project 2025 though and he scared the bejesus out of me. To be honest nothing Trump has done has surprised me. The goal of these people is total power, they carry a deep loathing for the coastal elites that comes from a place of intellectual insecurity and they want to destroy liberal America for ever. They won't stop until somebody stops them.

The US regime are really testing the limits of gaslighting

Everybody can see the videos of masked goons shooting a man in the street

They are still trying to spin that he was a threat

It's insane

There is now very clear footage. The guy gets between ICE and a woman (they seem to particularly relish beating up women) both are pepper sprayed. The guy is taken down and pistol whipped by an ICE goon. His legally concealed weapon is removed. An ICE agent shoots him ( accidentally?). Several ICE agents panic and half a dozen shots are released.

Miller, Bovino, Bondi and Trump claim the win. This is the Wild West.

I think the micro-analysis of what actually happened completely misses the point here. To be brutal, the murder of these two individuals is just another couple of additions to a long list of state violence in the US. Nothing special about that.

What's different is that in both cases all investigations have been blocked by the Federal Government, and that same government has labelled both victims "terrorists". The family of the first victim has been investigated by ICE and now some of the witnesses of the second have (apparently) had to go into hiding to avoid the same. We've passed the threshold into fascism I think.

This is at least more honest than a large number of news organisations.
The BBC's US editor has yet to be as honest.

Reuters North America editor Sally Buzbee on covering Trump's return: 'I don't think in those first few days we understood what an organized agenda they had.'
https://x.com/Reuters/status/2015122486384341196

Not entirely unreasonable, as Trump's first term was extremely chaotic and unfocused. I did have dinner with one of the principal architects of Project 2025 though and he scared the bejesus out of me. To be honest nothing Trump has done has surprised me. The goal of these people is total power, they carry a deep loathing for the coastal elites that comes from a place of intellectual insecurity and they want to destroy liberal America for ever. They won't stop until somebody stops them.

Any thought on what they want in it's place or is it just destroy anything in its path?

White supremacist religious nationalism. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025 for details.

Basically they want the Confederacy back

EDIT: Despite restoring confederate monuments claiming the US shouldn't scrub its heritage, yesterday they removed exhibits in Philadelphia explaining slavery