The worrying thing is how many Americans still support the regime
AOC posted about the latest execution on TwiX, and about half of the replies are still 'he had it coming'
According to the News Quiz yesterday lunchtime Trumps approval ratings after a year are the lowest for an American President ever recorded beating the previous lowest which were from his first term in office
In the next couple of elections I expect the fingers will be on the scales enough that the Republicans easily win a close contest, but don’t yet have the control or confidence to be completely blatant, Belarus or Georgia style. So the Dems have to win big or they’re never winning again. Last chance, pretty much.
Pam Bondi sent a letter to officials in Minnesota today saying ICE will be removed from the state if they turn over their voter rolls to Trump. This is very obviously an attempt from Trump to cheat in 2026.
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.
Smith is bad enough but Webb is even worse. Of course Sopel who got Trump 45's back up on more than one occasion was put out to pasture at LBC.
Didn’t Sopel leave the Beeb so he could do his podcast and make lots of money which he couldn’t while employed at the BBC?
Yes. After he came back from the USA. Sopel, Maitlis and Goodall left the Beeb to set up their tedious podcast which speaks to like minded people.
The worrying thing is how many Americans still support the regime
AOC posted about the latest execution on TwiX, and about half of the replies are still 'he had it coming'
It's the Dead Internet. Bots talking to Bots and ramping the owners views.
Either bots, or a small number of very online people spamming the system, largely with the exact same talking points.
Every political post by a Brit or English speaking Western European on X brings an immediate splurge of comments all with variations on the great replacement theory. Either Muslim invasion or African invasion.
I think it’s an interesting point that Trump and Musk may have become further radicalised by their own algos. Certainly I think true of many of their fellow Republicans. Even if you suspect you’re reading bots, its very hard not to feel subconsciously that the Twitter comments somehow represent public opinion.
I agree. I left twitter 18 months ago and do not miss it at all.
From what I see it is full of bots/people that make Leon seem intelligent and empathic.
On a lighter note, the video clip accompanying this (if you still use X) is quite amusing.
There’s an indie wrestler who goes by the name “Jesus,” and his entire gimmick is winning wrestling matches without ever laying a hand on his opponents https://x.com/luireigns/status/2014875441987784884
I’m sure Labour won’t be happy the morning rounds today are dominated by Andy Burnham speculation. Stopping them from getting over any policy issues just talking about themselves
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.
Smith is bad enough but Webb is even worse. Of course Sopel who got Trump 45's back up on more than one occasion was put out to pasture at LBC.
Didn’t Sopel leave the Beeb so he could do his podcast and make lots of money which he couldn’t while employed at the BBC?
I was on the QM2 for a week with Sopel and got to know him a bit, as like me he had his dog in the ship's kennels. He's a nice, decent, guy, and a good storyteller, but I often find his journalism frustrating as he tends to focus on describing what's happened, which we already know, without a great deal of depth or analysis or insight beneath. It was the same talking to him, and attending the lecture series he gave on the ship - he had lots of interesting anecdotes to tell, some of which shed a bit more light on things as a bit of info from 'behind the scenes', but we didn't really come away understanding things any better or deeper, or with any new insight as to how things might develop. It was clear however that he'd spent a lot of time mixing with very wealthy and powerful people around DC, including in his leisure time, and I suspect he's just a little bit addicted to the lifestyle of those rich east coast folks, hence the desire to cash in at Global.
Pam Bondi sent a letter to officials in Minnesota today saying ICE will be removed from the state if they turn over their voter rolls to Trump. This is very obviously an attempt from Trump to cheat in 2026.
They'd have to do some cheating to win in Minnestota this year, after recent events!
US is very segregated, ethnically. That is people of origin X tend, very strongly to live in areas Y etc.
So, once you have control of the election system, you make it much harder to vote in certain areas - close polling stations for example.
Add in ICE arresting people in the queues (caused by lack of polling stations). And fraudulently throwing out ballots. And fraudulently removing voters from the rolls…
If you look at the electoral map of Minnisota, it is a red state with a large blue city (as are most "blue states") so voter suppression is only needed in MSP to win that state.
I’m sure Labour won’t be happy the morning rounds today are dominated by Andy Burnham speculation. Stopping them from getting over any policy issues just talking about themselves
Good mornimg
It was inevitable and a story that is going to run and run
The thread has rightly been almost entirely about Trump and his horrific presidency, but running through it all is the utter frustration of what to do about it and more worryingly, when
On a lighter note, the video clip accompanying this (if you still use X) is quite amusing.
There’s an indie wrestler who goes by the name “Jesus,” and his entire gimmick is winning wrestling matches without ever laying a hand on his opponents https://x.com/luireigns/status/2014875441987784884
Never seen that one before. That’s cracking. Love the guy who executes a choke slam on himself.
However, this from a few years back. The power of hypnotism.
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.
Smith is bad enough but Webb is even worse. Of course Sopel who got Trump 45's back up on more than one occasion was put out to pasture at LBC.
Didn’t Sopel leave the Beeb so he could do his podcast and make lots of money which he couldn’t while employed at the BBC?
Yes. After he came back from the USA. Sopel, Maitlis and Goodall left the Beeb to set up their tedious podcast which speaks to like minded people.
The News Agents on LBC. Both Maitlis and Goodall left the BBC after run ins with Gibb and Davie.
It would seem people who agree with Gibb like Neil are allowed to ride two horses whilst those who don't, can't.
Have you seen the News Agents? It's very good. Emily has just returned from the US and has been critical of Starmer's Trump normalisation.
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.
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.
I think we're probably around early February 1933 on the parallel historical timeline, just after the Nazis came to power. In the US thanks to ICE we're now seeing in embryo the unchecked state sanctioned violence of that period, the same compliant politicians across the right who could have checked the dictator but chose to go along with him, and a Supreme Court which has been about as effective as the pliant Hindenburg as a check to date.
The next stage was the blatant rigging of the March 1933 elections that was followed by the Enabling Act, duly signed off by Hindenburg. The fixed timetable means that things won't proceed so quickly in the US in electoral terms, but it's clear that the plans are well in hand to rig the November mid-terms and given the free rein given to ICE expect too to see a parallel escalation of violent federal-led supression as those elections take place.
The best option is to let Burnham stand. Blocking him will lead to a major meltdown in the party .
I think that is their only choice but either way this is the last thing Starmer needs and if May goes as badly as expected I think Starmer may well be replaced later this year
Recent research from Kyoto University reveals that female dogs actively assess human competence—while male dogs do not.
Female dogs clearly prefer approaching humans who successfully complete tasks, such as opening food containers, over those who fail. In contrast, male dogs show no preference and treat both competent and incompetent humans equally... https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2015105016747728996
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.
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.
There's no real equivalent to the infamous Article 48 in the US Constitution.
The problem really is the complacency of the Senate coupled with the corruption of the Supreme Court (whom I note have still not ruled on tariffs, which if the immunity farce is anything to go by suggests a majority are looking for sophistic ways of ruling Trump's crimes to be legal). If either institution had done its job properly in the last five years the US would not be in this mess.
Yes, the more time that passes the more likely the delay is about Roberts trying to figure out a way to back his more Trumpian colleagues whilst preserving his internal self image as not being a hack. He's probably got an eye in the future so is figuring out ways to cover the others, whilst one of the others just cannot go that far this time and will dissent.
The worrying thing is how many Americans still support the regime
AOC posted about the latest execution on TwiX, and about half of the replies are still 'he had it coming'
It's the Dead Internet. Bots talking to Bots and ramping the owners views.
Either bots, or a small number of very online people spamming the system, largely with the exact same talking points.
Every political post by a Brit or English speaking Western European on X brings an immediate splurge of comments all with variations on the great replacement theory. Either Muslim invasion or African invasion.
I think it’s an interesting point that Trump and Musk may have become further radicalised by their own algos. Certainly I think true of many of their fellow Republicans. Even if you suspect you’re reading bots, its very hard not to feel subconsciously that the Twitter comments somehow represent public opinion.
I agree. I left twitter 18 months ago and do not miss it at all.
From what I see it is full of bots/people that make Leon seem intelligent and empathic.
I’m still on twitter. It’s fine. Lots of classic TV, wrestling, investing. I guess you get out what you put in.
It has the added bonus most Lib Dem MPs have left.
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.
Smith is bad enough but Webb is even worse. Of course Sopel who got Trump 45's back up on more than one occasion was put out to pasture at LBC.
Didn’t Sopel leave the Beeb so he could do his podcast and make lots of money which he couldn’t while employed at the BBC?
I was on the QM2 for a week with Sopel and got to know him a bit, as like me he had his dog in the ship's kennels. He's a nice, decent, guy, and a good storyteller, but I often find his journalism frustrating as he tends to focus on describing what's happened, which we already know, without a great deal of depth or analysis or insight beneath. It was the same talking to him, and attending the lecture series he gave on the ship - he had lots of interesting anecdotes to tell, some of which shed a bit more light on things as a bit of info from 'behind the scenes', but we didn't really come away understanding things any better or deeper, or with any new insight as to how things might develop. It was clear however that he'd spent a lot of time mixing with very wealthy and powerful people around DC, including in his leisure time, and I suspect he's just a little bit addicted to the lifestyle of those rich east coast folks, hence the desire to cash in at Global.
I am not convinced that Starmer wants to stop Burnham, and I think Burnhams statement that he intends to support Starmer is also genuine.
Both Starmer and Burnham are Labour to their cores and know that a controlled transition to Burnham a bit further down the line in 2028 is Labour's best chance of advoiding wipeout.
It gets even worse . The victim was legally carrying a fire arm , in the tussle his gun was taken by a member of ICE who is seen walking away with it and then they executed him .
The defensive shots line from the scum surrounding Trump is a total lie .
The one thing that gives me optimism that democracy will continue after 2028 is that the administration seems to be determined to alienate everyone you might need for a successful coup d'etat. They've been doing everything they can to upset the military and now apparently they're trying to cancel the rights of gun owners.
You can't lie to gun owners about something involving a gun, if there's something involving a gun in the media they'll spend the next week obsessing over possible every detail of it.
I thought the elections would be held but compromised in 2026 and 2028. I think it is most likely they won't be held as the Insurrection Act will have been invoked for both events. They are not playing around this time.
IIUC the Insurrection Act isn't a magic thing that cancels elections. It allows them to sent the military to places to support law enforcement. They still have the same legal constraints that police do and they still have to obey the courts. If you can tell the military to act illegally to stop people voting then that might be relevant, but that's where you need the support of the military.
There are no legal constraints left. Mark Kelly will be prosecuted/ court martialed ( he has already had his pension cut and been recalled to service to invoke a court martial) for imploring military personnel to ignore ILLEGAL orders from the Commander in Chief.
What's happening here is that the administration is constantly doing illegal thing, getting told to stop by the courts, and then, grudgingly, stopping. They keep bringing prosecutions against political enemies and the courts keep throwing them out.
By stopping, do you mean - moving on to do something else illegal? I don't see much evidence of illegal activity reducing...
Well, we can only speculate on whether they'd be doing the second illegal thing if the court hadn't prohibited them from doing the first. But on the question "are there still legal constraints on what they're doing" the answer is, "yes".
I think administration is doing illegal thing, is getting away with it (e.g. ICE people who shot civilians aren't going to be prosecuted/investigated) and then they carry on doing it.
There are court orders all over the place that are getting ignored. The fact that they choose to comply with some doesn't mean they are constrained.
plus even in the highly likely event of an ice agent getting charged and convicted, orange or vance will just pardon them
If they are charged and convicted of a state crime, a federal pardon will not work.
The real issue is the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution
Under that a federal officer is immune from state prosecution only if:
1. The agent was acting within the scope of their federal authority, and 2. The agent’s actions were necessary and proper to carry out their federal duties.
Which is why the gaslighting about the ICE agent’s killings being necessary started immediately after each one.
Add in MAGA control of the federal courts (some of them anyway - anything will be appealed to the Supreme Court)
IIRC courts have basically said that if a federal officer did not realise they were violating constitutional rights then that's sufficient defence to them as a person, essentially weaponising that ignorance of the law is an excuse.
Given ICE appears to have a memo stating that their view is an executive order trumps, ahem, the 4th amendment, they may well be instructing all their agents they can basically do anything.
The worrying thing is how many Americans still support the regime
AOC posted about the latest execution on TwiX, and about half of the replies are still 'he had it coming'
According to the News Quiz yesterday lunchtime Trumps approval ratings after a year are the lowest for an American President ever recorded beating the previous lowest which were from his first term in office
And yet he was still re-elected after a gap. What a country.
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.
Smith is bad enough but Webb is even worse. Of course Sopel who got Trump 45's back up on more than one occasion was put out to pasture at LBC.
Didn’t Sopel leave the Beeb so he could do his podcast and make lots of money which he couldn’t while employed at the BBC?
Yes. After he came back from the USA. Sopel, Maitlis and Goodall left the Beeb to set up their tedious podcast which speaks to like minded people.
The News Agents on LBC. Both Maitlis and Goodall left the BBC after run ins with Gibb and Davie.
It would seem people who agree with Gibb like Neil are allowed to ride two horses whilst those who don't, can't.
Have you seen the News Agents? It's very good. Emily has just returned from the US and has been critical of Starmer's Trump normalisation.
News Agents is a Global product, like LBC.
I’ve caught bits of it. I find them a bit smug. I’m not really interested in anything, wherever it sits on the political spectrum, just presenting one view. A centrist version of GB News. Which I have only ever seen three times. Twice to see what the production standards were like and once to watch a financial commentator talking about bonds.
The worrying thing is how many Americans still support the regime
AOC posted about the latest execution on TwiX, and about half of the replies are still 'he had it coming'
According to the News Quiz yesterday lunchtime Trumps approval ratings after a year are the lowest for an American President ever recorded beating the previous lowest which were from his first term in office
Considering he was elected a second time, it doesn’t seem those ratings are that useful
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.
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.
There's no real equivalent to the infamous Article 48 in the US Constitution.
The problem really is the complacency of the Senate coupled with the corruption of the Supreme Court (whom I note have still not ruled on tariffs, which if the immunity farce is anything to go by suggests a majority are looking for sophistic ways of ruling Trump's crimes to be legal). If either institution had done its job properly in the last five years the US would not be in this mess.
Not sure “complacency” is the right word. Some of them are cowards and others complicit
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.
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.
There's no real equivalent to the infamous Article 48 in the US Constitution.
The problem really is the complacency of the Senate coupled with the corruption of the Supreme Court (whom I note have still not ruled on tariffs, which if the immunity farce is anything to go by suggests a majority are looking for sophistic ways of ruling Trump's crimes to be legal). If either institution had done its job properly in the last five years the US would not be in this mess.
Not sure “complacency” is the right word. Some of them are cowards and others complicit
Comments
Fingers crossed Trump’s not yet learned from the election fiddling GOAT: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10651024/
From what I see it is full of bots/people that make Leon seem intelligent and empathic.
There’s an indie wrestler who goes by the name “Jesus,” and his entire gimmick is winning wrestling matches without ever laying a hand on his opponents
https://x.com/luireigns/status/2014875441987784884
It was inevitable and a story that is going to run and run
The thread has rightly been almost entirely about Trump and his horrific presidency, but running through it all is the utter frustration of what to do about it and more worryingly, when
However, this from a few years back. The power of hypnotism.
https://youtu.be/ejQFkSFDpn8?si=K7cWTfjcXb0ydJJy
It would seem people who agree with Gibb like Neil are allowed to ride two horses whilst those who don't, can't.
Have you seen the News Agents? It's very good. Emily has just returned from the US and has been critical of Starmer's Trump normalisation.
The next stage was the blatant rigging of the March 1933 elections that was followed by the Enabling Act, duly signed off by Hindenburg. The fixed timetable means that things won't proceed so quickly in the US in electoral terms, but it's clear that the plans are well in hand to rig the November mid-terms and given the free rein given to ICE expect too to see a parallel escalation of violent federal-led supression as those elections take place.
Recent research from Kyoto University reveals that female dogs actively assess human competence—while male dogs do not.
Female dogs clearly prefer approaching humans who successfully complete tasks, such as opening food containers, over those who fail. In contrast, male dogs show no preference and treat both competent and incompetent humans equally...
https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2015105016747728996
"Davos was divided between those who want to enslave all of humanity and those who are smart enough to realise that would include them"
https://www.normalisland.co.uk/p/2026-the-year-the-world-economic
NEW THREAD
It has the added bonus most Lib Dem MPs have left.
Both Starmer and Burnham are Labour to their cores and know that a controlled transition to Burnham a bit further down the line in 2028 is Labour's best chance of advoiding wipeout.
Given ICE appears to have a memo stating that their view is an executive order trumps, ahem, the 4th amendment, they may well be instructing all their agents they can basically do anything.
I’ve caught bits of it. I find them a bit smug. I’m not really interested in anything, wherever it sits on the political spectrum, just presenting one view. A centrist version of GB News. Which I have only ever seen three times. Twice to see what the production standards were like and once to watch a financial commentator talking about bonds.