@BarackObama · 1h The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.
Tim Walz and his fraudster friends are trying to stoke a civil war, that’s why the media focus is on Minnesota.
You're going to have to do better than an unsourced/unliked graphic from a person whose pinned Tweet begins with.
DEMOCRATS IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OPENED THE BORDERS FOR POLITICAL GAINS
THEY PUT THESE IMMIGRANTS THROUGH FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL, SEXUAL AND EMOTIONAL TORTURE BY CARTELS
JOE BIDEN, KAMALA HARRIS & ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS
The journey through the dense, unforgiving jungles of the Darién Gap for millions of Latin American migrants seeking refuge in America during the Biden administration was a descent into chaos, where every step courted death. Families from Venezuela, Honduras, and beyond, fleeing economic collapse and violence, embarked on this perilous trek, often starting with overcrowded buses or boats that dumped them at the jungle's edge. The physical ordeals began immediately: navigating swollen rivers that could sweep away the unwary, trudging through mud-slick trails infested with venomous snakes and insects carrying deadly diseases like malaria. Exhaustion set in quickly, with migrants carrying heavy packs under relentless rain, their feet blistering and rotting from constant wetness. Many succumbed to dehydration, starvation, or injuries from falls into ravines, their bodies left behind as grim markers for those who followed.
I’ll start with Newsweek then, who say that 23.2% of all ICE detentions are in Texas, with Florida in second place.
DuckDuckGo AI, quoting the Prison Policy Initiative:
ICE Detentions by State in 2025 Overview of Detention Numbers In 2025, the number of individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) varied significantly across different states. The following table summarizes the states with the highest number of ICE detainees: STATE NUMBER OF DETAINEES Texas 9,657 California 5,000 Florida 4,500 New York 3,200 Arizona 1,592 Key Points Texas consistently held the largest number of detainees, with over 9,600 individuals in ICE custody. California and Florida followed, with significant numbers reflecting their large immigrant populations. New York and Arizona also had notable detainee counts, indicating active ICE operations in these states.
That statistic is absolutely meaningless unless we know how many actual illegal immigrants there are in each state.
Most of them will be in states that border Mexico or ones with easy access to the sea. So that is where most arrests will happen. Minnesota is neither.
And given your claims about Somalian fraud turned out to be essentially a mad MAGA conspiracy theory I don't think you're on very strong ground with arguing Minnesota is a hotbed of illegal immigration.
CBS News: the charges and convictions of the many fraud schemes in Minnesota
This summer, state officials shut down a fairly new program designed to help seniors and people with disabilities find housing after discovering "large-scale fraud." A month later, federal prosecutors charged eight people with defrauding the program, which was run through the state's Medicaid service, by enrolling as providers and submitting millions in "fake and inflated bills." Another five people were charged with bilking the housing program in mid-December — including two Pennsylvanians with no clear connections to Minnesota who allegedly traveled there in what prosecutors described as "fraud tourism." Prosecutors said the housing stabilization program was susceptible to fraud because it intentionally had "low barriers to entry" and few record-keeping requirements. They also noted that spending on the program had ballooned to more than $100 million last year, despite initial estimates that it would cost around $2.6 million a year.
NY Post: Minnesota welfare fraud masterminded interviewed from prison
The convicted mastermind of the staggering $250 million welfare fraud scam in Minnesota has moaned in a jailhouse interview about having “lost everything” as she faces up to 33 years in prison.
As the head of the infamous nonprofit Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, 45, splurged millions of federal dollars intended to support hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic on luxury cars, designer handbags, and properties worldwide.
Bock oversaw a network of fraudsters — almost all Somali and East African — that took advantage of a bill co-signed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) waiving some requirements for school meal programs during the pandemic.
Prosecutors Say Minnesota’s Fraud Scandal Goes Further Than Previously Known Federal prosecutors said they were now investigating fraud worth billions of dollars in 14 social services programs in the state.
Yes, the federal prosecutors trying to prosecute Smith for daring to prosecute the fat old Paedo Protector say that it goes much further than previously claimed. Of course. That's conclusive.
The reality is there was fraud. As there was in every state. Most notably, of course, in Florida. It was not as widespread or as serious in Minnesota as MAGA are claiming because it's essentially a highly personal smear campaign against Tim Walz, building on the really nasty false allegations they made against him in the campaign.
No wonder he's had enough and is quitting politics.
Edit - there's a detailed analysis here if you're interested in analysis rather than MAGA tinhattery:
There’s an estimated $9bn in NGO fraud in Minnesota.
Surely, as an educator, you had a laugh at the story of the “Quality Learing Center”(sic), which had no kids but a turnover of $3m a year?
So good that you are getting interested in financial irregularities, Sandpit. May I draw your attention to Trumpcoin? Perhaps it passed you by. It will shock you to your sandals.
Trumpcoin? No idea I’m afraid, something cryptocurrency?
Goodness, no. https://realtrumpcoins.com/ (Go on, don't be coy, you've got one of the solid gold ones, haven't you?)
Well if you bought gold a year ago, you’re about 77% up. It could go over $5,000 tomorrow.
Gold goes up during times of insecurity... and who is most responsible for this recent increase in insecurity? Oh, yes, Donald Trump, your hero.
You all keep missing the numourous critisisms.
I don’t like the guy, I don’t like his type of politics, I don’t like that he insulted British soldiers, I wish he’d send thousands of missiles to Ukraine, and I think he’s causing a lot of the instability around the world right now.
I just don’t think he’s Hitler.
Sandpit, love you lots, I have agreed with many of your historic posts and you agree with many of mine but I worry that you are doing the thing where you agree with a microcosm of something that isn’t popular and the. Go down the route of defending everything else they do because if you don’t it might feel that your belief in the small thing is undone by everything else being clearly wrong.
I can accept that I hoped that there might be benefits from Trumpism but they are massively outweighed by the wrong. I accept that hope and tiny wins are less important than the bigger picture.
Trump and his administration are beyond wrong. I admire your understandable desire to defend the few things you believe are ok and correct but it ultimately needs you to buy in to the rest of the shit.
There is absolutely nothing good about the Trump regime/movement. You don’t need to contort to defend. Just relax and accept it’s fucked and hope for a new US gov who get the old republican/small gov world if that is what you want - I do. But don’t accept this absolute abortion of government this is.
This is from someone who thinks that we are generally in agreement on life, we both live in small tax, interesting places where it comes to gov and finances but there is really no defence of the current US administration.
It is not for you to take Sandpit to one side and tell him what he's allowed to think. Piss off.
There's a huge political battle going on in the USA, in which a sizeable minority support the Trump administration. Most of us would prefer to think that's just because they're less well-informed than us here on PB on events in their own country, but it's valuable for those of us who actually like to engage the odd brain cell to have access to the alternative viewpoint that Sandpit brings.
And it’s not for you to tell me what to say to Sandpit who I like and was just expressing a view. Piss off.
I clearly appreciate alternative viewpoints and would hate this place to be a hive-mind but also it’s fair to then express to someone here that I disagree with their current view - you and I have disagreed and agreed on multiple issues.
I absolutely support Sandpit having a different view and agree with him and disagree on various points.
Of all the posts in the argument, your chummy patronisation was to me the most egregious.
However, you are right, free speech for all.
And yet it wasn’t “chummy patronisation”, it was a genuine post where I was corresponding with someone where we largely agree on things - in a private conversation it would not remotely come across as chummy patronisation but on a public forum and in writing you might interpret it so but it was far from that.
Clearly it was a response from someone who can understand the mindset but also finds that they disagree for various reasons.
I don’t think Sandpit needs a knight in shining armour to defend him from me.
@BarackObama · 1h The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.
Tim Walz and his fraudster friends are trying to stoke a civil war, that’s why the media focus is on Minnesota.
You're going to have to do better than an unsourced/unliked graphic from a person whose pinned Tweet begins with.
DEMOCRATS IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OPENED THE BORDERS FOR POLITICAL GAINS
THEY PUT THESE IMMIGRANTS THROUGH FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL, SEXUAL AND EMOTIONAL TORTURE BY CARTELS
JOE BIDEN, KAMALA HARRIS & ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS
The journey through the dense, unforgiving jungles of the Darién Gap for millions of Latin American migrants seeking refuge in America during the Biden administration was a descent into chaos, where every step courted death. Families from Venezuela, Honduras, and beyond, fleeing economic collapse and violence, embarked on this perilous trek, often starting with overcrowded buses or boats that dumped them at the jungle's edge. The physical ordeals began immediately: navigating swollen rivers that could sweep away the unwary, trudging through mud-slick trails infested with venomous snakes and insects carrying deadly diseases like malaria. Exhaustion set in quickly, with migrants carrying heavy packs under relentless rain, their feet blistering and rotting from constant wetness. Many succumbed to dehydration, starvation, or injuries from falls into ravines, their bodies left behind as grim markers for those who followed.
I’ll start with Newsweek then, who say that 23.2% of all ICE detentions are in Texas, with Florida in second place.
DuckDuckGo AI, quoting the Prison Policy Initiative:
ICE Detentions by State in 2025 Overview of Detention Numbers In 2025, the number of individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) varied significantly across different states. The following table summarizes the states with the highest number of ICE detainees: STATE NUMBER OF DETAINEES Texas 9,657 California 5,000 Florida 4,500 New York 3,200 Arizona 1,592 Key Points Texas consistently held the largest number of detainees, with over 9,600 individuals in ICE custody. California and Florida followed, with significant numbers reflecting their large immigrant populations. New York and Arizona also had notable detainee counts, indicating active ICE operations in these states.
That statistic is absolutely meaningless unless we know how many actual illegal immigrants there are in each state.
Most of them will be in states that border Mexico or ones with easy access to the sea. So that is where most arrests will happen. Minnesota is neither.
And given your claims about Somalian fraud turned out to be essentially a mad MAGA conspiracy theory I don't think you're on very strong ground with arguing Minnesota is a hotbed of illegal immigration.
CBS News: the charges and convictions of the many fraud schemes in Minnesota
This summer, state officials shut down a fairly new program designed to help seniors and people with disabilities find housing after discovering "large-scale fraud." A month later, federal prosecutors charged eight people with defrauding the program, which was run through the state's Medicaid service, by enrolling as providers and submitting millions in "fake and inflated bills." Another five people were charged with bilking the housing program in mid-December — including two Pennsylvanians with no clear connections to Minnesota who allegedly traveled there in what prosecutors described as "fraud tourism." Prosecutors said the housing stabilization program was susceptible to fraud because it intentionally had "low barriers to entry" and few record-keeping requirements. They also noted that spending on the program had ballooned to more than $100 million last year, despite initial estimates that it would cost around $2.6 million a year.
NY Post: Minnesota welfare fraud masterminded interviewed from prison
The convicted mastermind of the staggering $250 million welfare fraud scam in Minnesota has moaned in a jailhouse interview about having “lost everything” as she faces up to 33 years in prison.
As the head of the infamous nonprofit Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, 45, splurged millions of federal dollars intended to support hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic on luxury cars, designer handbags, and properties worldwide.
Bock oversaw a network of fraudsters — almost all Somali and East African — that took advantage of a bill co-signed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) waiving some requirements for school meal programs during the pandemic.
Prosecutors Say Minnesota’s Fraud Scandal Goes Further Than Previously Known Federal prosecutors said they were now investigating fraud worth billions of dollars in 14 social services programs in the state.
Yes, the federal prosecutors trying to prosecute Smith for daring to prosecute the fat old Paedo Protector say that it goes much further than previously claimed. Of course. That's conclusive.
The reality is there was fraud. As there was in every state. Most notably, of course, in Florida. It was not as widespread or as serious in Minnesota as MAGA are claiming because it's essentially a highly personal smear campaign against Tim Walz, building on the really nasty false allegations they made against him in the campaign.
No wonder he's had enough and is quitting politics.
Edit - there's a detailed analysis here if you're interested in analysis rather than MAGA tinhattery:
Not my circus, not my monkeys, but it's possible that Andy is showing why he's not the man.
(and grim as it is for Labour to admit it, risking the GM mayorality to save one Westminster seat is a rubbish gamble.)
That's why the NEC told him no by 9:1 He left the HoC to be Manc Mayor because he thought Labour were out of the running nationally, others hung on in there. He could have stood down in '24 and looked for a constituency then but didn't. It's just personal opportunism.
If Labour lose the by election though, Burnham can now say 'told you so' and apply for Gorton again before the next GE. Given his Mayoral term expires in May 2028 if he does not run again the NEC could then hardly block him a second time
They probably wouldn't block in 2029 as the next mayoral election would be happening anyway. Thats the whole point.
Can we lay off the pile on on Sandpit please? 1) He's been on the site for fucking ages; I find it vanishingly unlikely he's being paid to make pro-Trump noises. 2) I've rarely heard him make pro-Trump noises. Not thinking Trump = Hitler does not equal pro-Trump. 3) As it happens, I do think Trump roughly equals Hitler. But I am very interested in the views of a seemingly intelligent poster who does not hold that view. Why wouldn't you be?
It's ridiculous to fall into the trap of 'poster x does not hate politician y as much as I do - therefore poster x loves politician y.' We saw this with Boris too.
It seems fair to defend Trump [and the administration] on some levels - many things are arguable. TDS is still a thing.
But justifying the shooting of someone in the street who is protesting peacefully would seem a different matter.
The phrase TDS is often trotted out by trump apologists who don't want to see the whole picture.
I certainly wouldn't apologise for him but what I would take it to mean is not taking each specific action on its own merits.
He might accidentally do something right. Increasingly long odds on that, perhaps.
DS applies to all politicians, including Starmer, who also manages to blunder into doing the right thing sometimes, having announced the wrong thing first.
We were assured he was going to invade Greenland a couple of days ago. That he was a deranged dementia patient who had lost the capacity to reason, and therefore he'd as happily soak Greenland in European blood as eat his morning cornflakes.
Except it has now all been wrapped up diplomatically, he seems to have got everything he asked for, and he now says force was never on the agenda. Yet no embarrassed climb down from our resident Trump experts, just on to the next civilisation-ending outrage and hope nobody will notice.
No one thought he’d actually invade Greenland. And he didn’t get what he wanted . I see you omitted his trashing of NATO troops who died supporting the USA . He’s now given immunity to ICE to execute anyone they see fit and you’re still trying to sanewash his actions . He might not be mad but he is true evil .
Literally nothing has been agreed regarding Greenland anyway so once again Luckyguy is just wrong
Not my circus, not my monkeys, but it's possible that Andy is showing why he's not the man.
(and grim as it is for Labour to admit it, risking the GM mayorality to save one Westminster seat is a rubbish gamble.)
That's why the NEC told him no by 9:1 He left the HoC to be Manc Mayor because he thought Labour were out of the running nationally, others hung on in there. He could have stood down in '24 and looked for a constituency then but didn't. It's just personal opportunism.
If Labour lose the by election though, Burnham can now say 'told you so' and apply for Gorton again before the next GE. Given his Mayoral term expires in May 2028 if he does not run again the NEC could then hardly block him a second time
They probably wouldn't block in 2029 as the next mayoral election would be happening anyway. Thats the whole point.
It is due in 2028 giving Burnham plenty of time to get a seat lined up for the next GE before it is called and hand over the Mayoralty to his successor
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
I have already said that this was murder plain and simple but the fact that it is okay for people to attend protests with a concealed fire arm is surely at least a part of the problem. The ICE and Border service seem to be a group of thugs but it is hardly surprising in these circumstances that they are more than a bit twitchy. Americans are nuts.
Well indeed, as many Democrats have argued for decades. But for now they lost that argument, and Minnesota is a right to carry state.
But it's IMO absurd to say " that's part of the problem", when there is no evidence of any protestors threatening agents with guns. Putting it quite simply, ICE do not need to be on the streets of Minneapolis.
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Not my circus, not my monkeys, but it's possible that Andy is showing why he's not the man.
(and grim as it is for Labour to admit it, risking the GM mayorality to save one Westminster seat is a rubbish gamble.)
That's why the NEC told him no by 9:1 He left the HoC to be Manc Mayor because he thought Labour were out of the running nationally, others hung on in there. He could have stood down in '24 and looked for a constituency then but didn't. It's just personal opportunism.
If Labour lose the by election though, Burnham can now say 'told you so' and apply for Gorton again before the next GE. Given his Mayoral term expires in May 2028 if he does not run again the NEC could then hardly block him a second time
They probably wouldn't block in 2029 as the next mayoral election would be happening anyway. Thats the whole point.
It is due in 2028 giving Burnham plenty of time to get a seat lined up for the next GE before it is called and hand over the Mayoralty to his successor
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
Police forces in England and Wales will be told to respond to emergency calls within strict time limits as part of plans to be announced on Monday.
Officers will be expected to arrive at crime scenes within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in the countryside while attending serious crimes, the Home Office said.
The new time limits will apply if there is a danger to life, an immediate threat of violence or the possibility of a serious injury or damage to property, or if a crime is in progress.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is preparing to announce a full package of changes that the Home Office claims to be the biggest overhaul in two centuries.
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
Police forces in England and Wales will be told to respond to emergency calls within strict time limits as part of plans to be announced on Monday.
Officers will be expected to arrive at crime scenes within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in the countryside while attending serious crimes, the Home Office said.
The new time limits will apply if there is a danger to life, an immediate threat of violence or the possibility of a serious injury or damage to property, or if a crime is in progress.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is preparing to announce a full package of changes that the Home Office claims to be the biggest overhaul in two centuries.
The 20 minutes thing will backfire because you'll end up with very bored officers sat in the middle of Snowdonia waiting for something to happen. We have the same issue with armed response in Scotland. - though, to be fair, that might have been useful for the rampage on Skye.
@AndrewDesiderio NEW — Senate GOP leaders pushing ahead with funding package despite Dem opposition.
GOP leadership aide: “Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shut down. We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us.”
Can we lay off the pile on on Sandpit please? 1) He's been on the site for fucking ages; I find it vanishingly unlikely he's being paid to make pro-Trump noises. 2) I've rarely heard him make pro-Trump noises. Not thinking Trump = Hitler does not equal pro-Trump. 3) As it happens, I do think Trump roughly equals Hitler. But I am very interested in the views of a seemingly intelligent poster who does not hold that view. Why wouldn't you be?
It's ridiculous to fall into the trap of 'poster x does not hate politician y as much as I do - therefore poster x loves politician y.' We saw this with Boris too.
It seems fair to defend Trump [and the administration] on some levels - many things are arguable. TDS is still a thing.
But justifying the shooting of someone in the street who is protesting peacefully would seem a different matter.
The phrase TDS is often trotted out by trump apologists who don't want to see the whole picture.
I certainly wouldn't apologise for him but what I would take it to mean is not taking each specific action on its own merits.
He might accidentally do something right. Increasingly long odds on that, perhaps.
DS applies to all politicians, including Starmer, who also manages to blunder into doing the right thing sometimes, having announced the wrong thing first.
We were assured he was going to invade Greenland a couple of days ago. That he was a deranged dementia patient who had lost the capacity to reason, and therefore he'd as happily soak Greenland in European blood as eat his morning cornflakes.
Except it has now all been wrapped up diplomatically, he seems to have got everything he asked for, and he now says force was never on the agenda. Yet no embarrassed climb down from our resident Trump experts, just on to the next civilisation-ending outrage and hope nobody will notice.
No one thought he’d actually invade Greenland. And he didn’t get what he wanted . I see you omitted his trashing of NATO troops who died supporting the USA . He’s now given immunity to ICE to execute anyone they see fit and you’re still trying to sanewash his actions . He might not be mad but he is true evil .
Literally nothing has been agreed regarding Greenland anyway so once again Luckyguy is just wrong
His consistency is valuable thought. I fully expect there to be several more rounds of Greenland until Trump get's fixated on something else. Tariffs interspersed with Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine etc for the next 3 years, it will be exhausting and costly.
Non-crime hate incidents are to be scrapped in their current form because they have distracted police from fighting everyday crime, Shabana Mahmood has said.
This must be the 87th time they have been scrapped.
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
It was, if you read the actual statements, diaries etc of the politicians at the time, a case of politicians selling something to themselves they wanted.
The American politicians of the time were really, really un-keen on a standing army. Which was seen (apart from the whole redcoat thing) as being an opening for a Cromwell style dictator. {Napoleon then enters the chat}
One of the myths of the Revolution was the Minuteman - a farmer taking his "long rifle" hunting gun and laying waste to the redcoats. In fact it took Washington (and others) issuing muskets (much faster loading) and drilling a professional style army to win battles.
But politically, the Minuteman Myth was great - no standing army, just call up the Staunch Yeoman, who knew how to load and shoot their own, specially accurate weapons. Which would cost the state nothing, and meant no standing army for a Man On A White Horse to muck around with.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
Would one actually be forced immediately though ?
Boris was an MP and mayor of London for over a year I think.
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
The Constitution was considerably after the War of Independence ended, so nothing to do with a threat from the British.
Non-crime hate incidents are to be scrapped in their current form because they have distracted police from fighting everyday crime, Shabana Mahmood has said.
This must be the 87th time they have been scrapped.
Has Chief Constable Sir Ronald Savage (OBE, DiPsHit) stopped arresting black people for ordering their coffee black, yet?
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
The Constitution was considerably after the War of Independence ended, so nothing to do with a threat from the British.
I really suggest you read some of the actual, academic histories on the subject.
Police forces in England and Wales will be told to respond to emergency calls within strict time limits as part of plans to be announced on Monday.
Officers will be expected to arrive at crime scenes within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in the countryside while attending serious crimes, the Home Office said.
The new time limits will apply if there is a danger to life, an immediate threat of violence or the possibility of a serious injury or damage to property, or if a crime is in progress.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is preparing to announce a full package of changes that the Home Office claims to be the biggest overhaul in two centuries.
The 20 minutes thing will backfire because you'll end up with very bored officers sat in the middle of Snowdonia waiting for something to happen. We have the same issue with armed response in Scotland. - though, to be fair, that might have been useful for the rampage on Skye.
According to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, there is major split in both the Trump Administration and among U.S. allies in the Middle East regarding a potential attack against Iran. Those in favor of strikes against Iran are said to include:
- Vice President JD Vance - Secretary of State Marco Rubio - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth - Britain - Israel - United Arab Emirates
Those opposed:
- Special Envoy Jared Kushner - Special Envoy Steve Witkoff - Turkey - Saudi Arabia - Qatar
I don't see why we are even getting involved in this one. There's enough out there without chasing this as well.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
It was, if you read the actual statements, diaries etc of the politicians at the time, a case of politicians selling something to themselves they wanted.
The American politicians of the time were really, really un-keen on a standing army. Which was seen (apart from the whole redcoat thing) as being an opening for a Cromwell style dictator. {Napoleon then enters the chat}
One of the myths of the Revolution was the Minuteman - a farmer taking his "long rifle" hunting gun and laying waste to the redcoats. In fact it took Washington (and others) issuing muskets (much faster loading) and drilling a professional style army to win battles.
But politically, the Minuteman Myth was great - no standing army, just call up the Staunch Yeoman, who knew how to load and shoot their own, specially accurate weapons. Which would cost the state nothing, and meant no standing army for a Man On A White Horse to muck around with.
The right to bear arms was considered so usual in both Britain and the Colonies that it hardly merited comment. It had been enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights and then reinforced in the 1757 British Militia Act. The right to bear arms in England is mentioned in Blackstones Commentaries on the Laws of England as one of the five subordinate rights alongside the powers and privileges of Parliament, the limitation of the king’s prerogative, the right to apply to the courts for redress of injuries and the right to petition the king, or either House of Parliament, for the redress of grievances.
One idea I have read is that the framers of the 1791 amendments were directly copying Blackstone and that it is for that reason that the right to bear arms was enshrined in the Constitution.
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
The Constitution was considerably after the War of Independence ended, so nothing to do with a threat from the British.
I'm not about to weigh in on what the motivations of the Founding Fathers was when drafting specific things, I don't know enough about it, but on its face I'd have thought it pretty likely that anything drafted within a generation of the epochal event that was American Independence would have at least some kind of relation to the major threats they had faced off at that time. Seems reasonable to assume it would have been pretty fresh in the mind, even if just at the level of what rights were most critical as a result. Plus their ideas did not form out of the aether, they took inspiration from various historical examples.
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Hopefully Congress will tell him to go fuck himself.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
That is true. Although there would be an awful lot of jeopardy to Labour if they had run the Mayoralty without Burnham until 2028.
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
"I have received Lord Ashcroft's latest data but, as far as I can see, without percentages expressed. After an enjoyable Sunday lunch I have calculated the percentages as:-
It's been 14 mins and Andy Burnham still hasn't published part II, this is why he isn't fit to be an MP and the NEC were right to block him.
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me.
Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years.
I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way. 💪🏻
Translation: I expect Reform to win and I will dump all the blame on Kier Starmer when it happens.
Great 12D chess I am sure. But it just makes Burnham look like a Jenrickian tw@t.
It is basically Burnham to blame for Starmer being a blank firing bollock
I am not and haven't been defending Starmer all weekend. Burnham should have been allowed to stand and then hopefully crushed in Gorton and Denton.
Burnham was humbled in September. In the last 24 hours he's humbled himself and Starmer.
I think the word is humilated
OK.
Burnham was humiliated in September. In the last 24 hours he's humiliated himself and Starmer.
Yeah that works for me.
Why have a couple of angry PB Tories been beating up on @Mexicanbastard because he's been nasty to Andy Burnham? It doesn't make sense.
Well, BJO is horrible to everyone, so I don't think you should take that personally. I think it comes of being a disciple of the kinder, gentler politics Corbyn espoused. In fact, given what he posted on the last thread about the reasons for Burnham being barred (which is alarming on more levels than TSE's elevator) you should probably wear it as a badge of honour.
It's the PB Tories flying the flag for Burnham that confuses me.
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Donald Trump should stop killing his own people! Thank you for your attention to this matter!
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Hopefully Congress will tell him to go fuck himself.
That bunch? They seem petrified at the idea of holding the executive branch to account.
According to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, there is major split in both the Trump Administration and among U.S. allies in the Middle East regarding a potential attack against Iran. Those in favor of strikes against Iran are said to include:
- Vice President JD Vance - Secretary of State Marco Rubio - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth - Britain - Israel - United Arab Emirates
Those opposed:
- Special Envoy Jared Kushner - Special Envoy Steve Witkoff - Turkey - Saudi Arabia - Qatar
I don't see why we are even getting involved in this one. There's enough out there without chasing this as well.
It's OK, we sent just one soldier to Greenland, maybe we'll just send one officer to Iran?
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
That is true. Although there would be an awful lot of jeopardy to Labour if they had run the Mayoralty without Burnham until 2028.
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
I said that politicians who were egging on protesters to interfere with ICE were making incidents like that inevitable. That remains true even if the actions of officers in individual incidents are wrong.
Scott Bessent is probably the best advocate for the Trump administration at the moment:
"I have received Lord Ashcroft's latest data but, as far as I can see, without percentages expressed. After an enjoyable Sunday lunch I have calculated the percentages as:-
It's been 14 mins and Andy Burnham still hasn't published part II, this is why he isn't fit to be an MP and the NEC were right to block him.
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me.
Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years.
I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way. 💪🏻
Translation: I expect Reform to win and I will dump all the blame on Kier Starmer when it happens.
Great 12D chess I am sure. But it just makes Burnham look like a Jenrickian tw@t.
It is basically Burnham to blame for Starmer being a blank firing bollock
I am not and haven't been defending Starmer all weekend. Burnham should have been allowed to stand and then hopefully crushed in Gorton and Denton.
Burnham was humbled in September. In the last 24 hours he's humbled himself and Starmer.
I think the word is humilated
OK.
Burnham was humiliated in September. In the last 24 hours he's humiliated himself and Starmer.
Yeah that works for me.
Why have a couple of angry PB Tories been beating up on @Mexicanbastard because he's been nasty to Andy Burnham? It doesn't make sense.
Well, BJO is horrible to everyone, so I don't think you should take that personally. I think it comes of being a disciple of the kinder, gentler politics Corbyn espoused. In fact, given what he posted on the last thread about the reasons for Burnham being barred (which is alarming on more levels than TSE's elevator) you should probably wear it as a badge of honour.
It's the PB Tories flying the flag for Burnham that confuses me.
Perhaps posters are individuals who have complex views which can't be neatly pigeonholed?
"I have received Lord Ashcroft's latest data but, as far as I can see, without percentages expressed. After an enjoyable Sunday lunch I have calculated the percentages as:-
It's been 14 mins and Andy Burnham still hasn't published part II, this is why he isn't fit to be an MP and the NEC were right to block him.
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me.
Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years.
I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way. 💪🏻
Translation: I expect Reform to win and I will dump all the blame on Kier Starmer when it happens.
Great 12D chess I am sure. But it just makes Burnham look like a Jenrickian tw@t.
It is basically Burnham to blame for Starmer being a blank firing bollock
I am not and haven't been defending Starmer all weekend. Burnham should have been allowed to stand and then hopefully crushed in Gorton and Denton.
Burnham was humbled in September. In the last 24 hours he's humbled himself and Starmer.
I think the word is humilated
OK.
Burnham was humiliated in September. In the last 24 hours he's humiliated himself and Starmer.
Yeah that works for me.
Why have a couple of angry PB Tories been beating up on @Mexicanbastard because he's been nasty to Andy Burnham? It doesn't make sense.
Well, BJO is horrible to everyone, so I don't think you should take that personally. I think it comes of being a disciple of the kinder, gentler politics Corbyn espoused. In fact, given what he posted on the last thread about the reasons for Burnham being barred (which is alarming on more levels than TSE's elevator) you should probably wear it as a badge of honour.
It's the PB Tories flying the flag for Burnham that confuses me.
Perhaps posters are individuals who have complex views which can't be neatly pigeonholed?
That may be the way the Cookie crumbles, but otherwise is pretty rare.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
Would the election be fought on FPTP or with preferences?
FBI Director Kash Patel: “You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence.” The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus says he's "completely incorrect on Minnesota law." https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2015517145996874224
These are the same people who defended Rittenhouse bringing an assault rifle to a protest and killing two innocent people.
And the victim in Minnesota never even touched his gun.
What do you say, Sandpit ?
Weirdly, the name Kyle Rittenhouse springs to mind.
It’s not just Rittenhouse, it’s the whole batshit “we need to be armed to resist a tyrannical government” and their moment has come and tumbleweed.
That's because by and large they aren't really freedom-loving patriots but a bunch of bootlicking idiots who own firearms for a whole bunch of different psychological deficiencies.
The right to bear arms was actually a holdover from our own bill of rights. The Founding Fathers were keen to keep it for two main reasons after independence: so that frontiersmen could push into Native American lands and secondly in order to be able to supress slave revolts.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Um wasn’t the right to bear arms more about the protection of every man in the new country to keep their own weapons to ensure that should the British or any other foreign entity try and invade that there would be plentiful armed men for militia, and preferably within a militia, armed and ready.
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
I think @Foxy 's "links to" is different from "equate".
In modern times as I see it, gun rights was one of a cluster of political issues used to solidify what has been the "Christian Right". From the 1970s we have individualism, anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality, nuclear family, the vision of the USA as "a city on a hill" (cf Book of Revelation), USA exceptionalism and various others. Some of the people who built the movement to boost Reagan around Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson etc have been active in building the movement around Trump.
There are plenty of links going much further back into white supremacism, 1950s McCarthy, 1920s/30s America First, then KKK and Jim Crow. Of course that links into the movement around the Confederate Flag, 10 Commandments in Public buildings more recently, and eg the Southern Baptists who were founded to defend slavery, and did not publicly resile from their history until the 1990s.
One example of the white supremacism links is the Bob Jones Christian University, which has provided a platform for prominent Republican Politicians for decades since the 60s/70s. Yet they had a "no interracial dating amongst students" policy, which they claimed to be based on the Bible, until 2000. That policy started around 1950, and the former identity "Bob Jones College" did not aiui have it codified.
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Does enforcing the Laws include shooting unarmed people in the back? Or not?
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
Does enforcing the Laws include shooting unarmed people in the back? Or not?
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
That is true. Although there would be an awful lot of jeopardy to Labour if they had run the Mayoralty without Burnham until 2028.
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
I said that politicians who were egging on protesters to interfere with ICE were making incidents like that inevitable. That remains true even if the actions of officers in individual incidents are wrong.
Scott Bessent is probably the best advocate for the Trump administration at the moment:
I haven't heard Bessant's commentary on the ICE slaying. His performance in Davos however was dangerous, disingenuous nonsense. Same goes for Lutnick.
With regards to the assassination of Mr Preddi, Trump, Miller, Bondi, Noem and Govino have told us not to believe what we have seen with our own eyes. They are gaslighting and I believe your justification for the killings is too.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
Would the election be fought on FPTP or with preferences?
FPTP. The law has not been changed yet to go to PR.
The people who run his social media are absolutely shit.
They have also been trying to get social media influencer to join him on trips to give him good PR and a couple of videos I have seen basically the influencer say the team aren't very good. One guy they invited on India trip and it was just weird.
The people who run his social media are absolutely shit.
They have also been trying to get social media influencer to join him on trips to give him good PR and a couple of videos I have seen basically the influencer say the team aren't very good. One guy they invited on India trip and it was just weird.
It’s cringe, he surely has a pic of himself in Scotland?
"Garry Kasparov's startling warning to America: 'I saw Putin's rise first-hand and Trump is using the same playbook… he's passed the point when he feels he can afford to lose power. It's a perilous moment'"
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
That is true. Although there would be an awful lot of jeopardy to Labour if they had run the Mayoralty without Burnham until 2028.
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
I said that politicians who were egging on protesters to interfere with ICE were making incidents like that inevitable. That remains true even if the actions of officers in individual incidents are wrong.
Scott Bessent is probably the best advocate for the Trump administration at the moment:
I haven't heard Bessant's commentary on the ICE slaying. His performance in Davos however was dangerous, disingenuous nonsense. Same goes for Lutnick.
With regards to the assassination of Mr Preddi, Trump, Miller, Bondi, Noem and Govino have told us not to believe what we have seen with our own eyes. They are gaslighting and I believe your justification for the killings is too.
It's in the video, and is entirely a misrepresentation. The video is on the Tweet. The text:
I was out there two weeks ago, Governor Walz DECLINED to provide a security detail for me to go into the Minnesota Capitol with the state police! So he is FOMENTING CHAOS because there is substantial waste, fraud, and abuse!" 🔥🔥
"My job as Treasury Secretary is to investigate that. And I think that this chaos is going out there!"
"And again, I am sorry that this gentleman is dead, but he did bring a 9 millimeter semi-automatic weapon with two cartridges to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest."
"I think that there are a lot of PAID agitators who are ginning things up, and the governor has not done a good job of tamping this down!"
What happened was that he filmed ICE , which is his Constitutional Right. They attacked him, pepper-sprayed him, about 5 of them mobbed him, then they shot him.
Which Democrat do we think has the best chance of winning the next presidential election?
It depends how scared they are. Newsom has the social media game, has the poll support with the Dems, so if they are looking for comfort food they'll go for him. I think they'll lose with him, but the Dem bureaucracy don't care about that. Buttigieg is trapped in mediocrity: he's not bad by any stretch, but he's never been great. I want Andy Beshear - a Dem who can win in the Confederacy - but they don't. I don't know about Shapiro. I would admire them if they went for AOC - a throw-over-the-table candidate if ever there was one - but they won't.
This is a time of crisis. This is the point at which a Dem candidate should emerge as a leader, establishing opposition, stating the case. Who is there? Tim Walz? Fatally compromised as the man too mediocre to be Veep. So I'm a bit frustrated. I think the only chance the Dems have is if the Reps field a similarly mediocre candidate - Vance? Cruz? Rubio is beginning to shine thru simple aggregation of posts - he can work the bureaucracy. So the Reps have a plausible candidate in Rubio, and I'm not sure the Dems have.
Which Democrat do we think has the best chance of winning the next presidential election?
It depends how scared they are. Newsom has the social media game, has the poll support with the Dems, so if they are looking for comfort food they'll go for him. I think they'll lose with him, but the Dem bureaucracy don't care about that. Buttigieg is trapped in mediocrity: he's not bad by any stretch, but he's never been great. I want Andy Beshear - a Dem who can win in the Confederacy - but they don't. I don't know about Shapiro. I would admire them if they went for AOC - a throw-over-the-table candidate if ever there was one - but they won't.
This is a time of crisis. This is the point at which a Dem candidate should emerge as a leader, establishing opposition, stating the case. Who is there? Tim Walz? Fatally compromised as the man too mediocre to be Veep. So I'm a bit frustrated. I think the only chance the Dems have is if the Reps field a similarly mediocre candidate - Vance? Cruz? Rubio is beginning to shine thru simple aggregation of posts - he can work the bureaucracy. So the Reps have a plausible candidate in Rubio, and I'm not sure the Dems have.
Tim Walz is a gonna, he has announced he isn't running for reelection. The Family Learing Centre stuff might not be $27 quint-trillion, but it is sizable ane he has basically retired himself.
"I have received Lord Ashcroft's latest data but, as far as I can see, without percentages expressed. After an enjoyable Sunday lunch I have calculated the percentages as:-
It's been 14 mins and Andy Burnham still hasn't published part II, this is why he isn't fit to be an MP and the NEC were right to block him.
I am disappointed by today’s NEC decision and concerned about its potential impact on the important elections ahead of us.
To whoever is Labour’s candidate and to our members in Manchester and Tameside: you will have my full support and I will be there whenever you need me.
Tomorrow I return with full focus to my role as Mayor of GM, defending everything we have built in our city-region over many years.
I decided to put myself forward to prevent the divisive politics of Reform from damaging that. We are stronger together and let’s stay that way. 💪🏻
Translation: I expect Reform to win and I will dump all the blame on Kier Starmer when it happens.
Great 12D chess I am sure. But it just makes Burnham look like a Jenrickian tw@t.
It is basically Burnham to blame for Starmer being a blank firing bollock
I am not and haven't been defending Starmer all weekend. Burnham should have been allowed to stand and then hopefully crushed in Gorton and Denton.
Burnham was humbled in September. In the last 24 hours he's humbled himself and Starmer.
I think the word is humilated
OK.
Burnham was humiliated in September. In the last 24 hours he's humiliated himself and Starmer.
Yeah that works for me.
Why have a couple of angry PB Tories been beating up on @Mexicanbastard because he's been nasty to Andy Burnham? It doesn't make sense.
Well, BJO is horrible to everyone, so I don't think you should take that personally. I think it comes of being a disciple of the kinder, gentler politics Corbyn espoused. In fact, given what he posted on the last thread about the reasons for Burnham being barred (which is alarming on more levels than TSE's elevator) you should probably wear it as a badge of honour.
It's the PB Tories flying the flag for Burnham that confuses me.
Perhaps posters are individuals who have complex views which can't be neatly pigeonholed?
It's true, you can be a Conservative but also totally want to be helpful to the Labour Party. I'm sure that's what we're seeing here.
Which Democrat do we think has the best chance of winning the next presidential election?
I think clearly Newsom, firstly because he's clearly actually running which is the hurdle that will eliminate most of them, and secondly because he's getting some social media traction and polling well. But it's still wide open, he's not a 32% shot.
That one I'd be watching whose odds are pretty long right now is Pritzker.
On Minnesota this is a really information-packed and also quite inspiring interview with Will Stancil (mainly famous for arguing with dumb leftists a lot on social media) on what's happening there and what the community networks are doing.
I don't suppose the people who want to think it's just a law enforcement operation and people who get shot had it coming will listen to it but hopefully some of the people here who have gone into full doomer mode about the prospects for defeating Trump will.
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
So why didn't Burnham understand the jeopardy, or does he worry about FoN's peculiar methodology and think the figure you quote to be unlikely?
I believe there was no legal requirement to hold a mayoral election. His deputy could just take over until the end of the term.
That is true. Although there would be an awful lot of jeopardy to Labour if they had run the Mayoralty without Burnham until 2028.
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
I said that politicians who were egging on protesters to interfere with ICE were making incidents like that inevitable. That remains true even if the actions of officers in individual incidents are wrong.
Scott Bessent is probably the best advocate for the Trump administration at the moment:
I haven't heard Bessant's commentary on the ICE slaying. His performance in Davos however was dangerous, disingenuous nonsense. Same goes for Lutnick.
With regards to the assassination of Mr Preddi, Trump, Miller, Bondi, Noem and Govino have told us not to believe what we have seen with our own eyes. They are gaslighting and I believe your justification for the killings is too.
William's position appears to be that an exercise of first amendment rights to protest makes state murder inevitable under Trump. And is surprised that we say the administration is becoming fascist.
A reminder that claims ICE are "enforcing the laws" are extremely dubious.
Hundreds of judges reject Trump’s mandatory detention policy, with no end in sight
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/05/trump-administration-immigrants-mandatory-detention-00709494 Federal judges are increasingly exasperated by the Trump administration’s effort to lock up nearly everyone facing deportation proceedings — a draconian expansion of decades-old policies that hundreds of courts have rejected as illegal or unconstitutional. More than 300 federal judges, including appointees of every president since Ronald Reagan, have now rebuffed the administration’s six-month-old effort to expand its so-called “mandatory detention” policy, according to a POLITICO analysis of court dockets from across the country. Those judges have ordered immigrants’ release or the opportunity for bond hearings in more than 1,600 cases..
..Despite the overwhelming legal consensus, there has been no successful nationwide block on the policy. That’s partly because most of the cases are filed on an emergency basis by individuals in the hours after they’re arrested — with little time to assemble large groups that could mount a broad challenge. In recent weeks, the judges’ conclusions have become increasingly urgent, describing shocking mistreatment and inhumanity as thousands of people — the majority not charged with any crime — are abruptly ripped from family members and locked up in squalid detention centers, even if they have lived in the country for decades. Many have been arrested while attending required immigration court proceedings or check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they had attended for decades.
BASH: You said he wanted to 'massacre law enforcement.' What evidence do you have that he wanted to 'massacre law enforcemeant'? It doesn't like like that
BOVINO: I believe the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have prevented any specific, ahhh, shootings of law enforcement. So good job by our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that https://x.com/atrupar/status/2015427978931359875
The guy in charge of ICE says the well trained agents did exactly what they were supposed to do. "Good job".
Find Out Now have Reform on 36% across Greater Manchester, to 24% for Labour. That makes it very reasonable for the NEC to say they don’t want a Mayoral by election,
Would the election be fought on FPTP or with preferences?
FPTP. The law has not been changed yet to go to PR.
Can we lay off the pile on on Sandpit please? 1) He's been on the site for fucking ages; I find it vanishingly unlikely he's being paid to make pro-Trump noises. 2) I've rarely heard him make pro-Trump noises. Not thinking Trump = Hitler does not equal pro-Trump. 3) As it happens, I do think Trump roughly equals Hitler. But I am very interested in the views of a seemingly intelligent poster who does not hold that view. Why wouldn't you be?
It's ridiculous to fall into the trap of 'poster x does not hate politician y as much as I do - therefore poster x loves politician y.' We saw this with Boris too.
That isn’t the issue here. The issue is that he’s quoting as fact social media reports supporting Trump’s agenda that are entirely made up, and refusing to recant even when it’s demonstrated to him that they are forgeries.
BASH: You said he wanted to 'massacre law enforcement.' What evidence do you have that he wanted to 'massacre law enforcemeant'? It doesn't like like that
BOVINO: I believe the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have prevented any specific, ahhh, shootings of law enforcement. So good job by our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that https://x.com/atrupar/status/2015427978931359875
The guy in charge of ICE says the well trained agents did exactly what they were supposed to do. "Good job".
Just "enforcing the laws".
I'm sorry but this is what fascism looks like and anyone who says otherwise is being wilfully blind.
The people who run his social media are absolutely shit.
They have also been trying to get social media influencer to join him on trips to give him good PR and a couple of videos I have seen basically the influencer say the team aren't very good. One guy they invited on India trip and it was just weird.
It’s cringe, he surely has a pic of himself in Scotland?
It's an attempt at an irreverent in-joke that in Starmer's hands becomes an insult. Does he think that's a Burns Supper? Is that the sum of his knowledge of Scottish cuisine? Is it a comment about lifestyles? Did his team try to find someone to deep-fry a mars bar and this was the next best thing?
The people who run his social media are absolutely shit.
They have also been trying to get social media influencer to join him on trips to give him good PR and a couple of videos I have seen basically the influencer say the team aren't very good. One guy they invited on India trip and it was just weird.
It’s cringe, he surely has a pic of himself in Scotland?
It's an attempt at an irreverent in-joke that in Starmer's hands becomes an insult. Does he think that's a Burns Supper? Is that the sum of his knowledge of Scottish cuisine? Is it a comment about lifestyles? Did his team try to find someone to deep-fry a mars bar and this was the next best thing?
Which Democrat do we think has the best chance of winning the next presidential election?
I think clearly Newsom, firstly because he's clearly actually running which is the hurdle that will eliminate most of them, and secondly because he's getting some social media traction and polling well. But it's still wide open, he's not a 32% shot.
That one I'd be watching whose odds are pretty long right now is Pritzker.
AOC is on a journey from firebrand lefty to more considered and measured centrist, in Democrat terms.
She may not get the nomination but she has a role to play.
Can we lay off the pile on on Sandpit please? 1) He's been on the site for fucking ages; I find it vanishingly unlikely he's being paid to make pro-Trump noises. 2) I've rarely heard him make pro-Trump noises. Not thinking Trump = Hitler does not equal pro-Trump. 3) As it happens, I do think Trump roughly equals Hitler. But I am very interested in the views of a seemingly intelligent poster who does not hold that view. Why wouldn't you be?
It's ridiculous to fall into the trap of 'poster x does not hate politician y as much as I do - therefore poster x loves politician y.' We saw this with Boris too.
It seems fair to defend Trump [and the administration] on some levels - many things are arguable. TDS is still a thing.
But justifying the shooting of someone in the street who is protesting peacefully would seem a different matter.
Sure, but the abuse of Sandpit personally has gone OTT IMO.
Absolutely it has. It’s deeply unpleasant. It’s not just about challenging someone’s views it goes much further than that.
But then he was hounded from the site before for failing @JosiasJessop purity test on Ukraine even though he has a personal stake in it.
I couldn’t be bothered with PB last night when I stopped by. Not that this will bother anyone 😃. It was all rather unpleasant and crossed the line into bullying. I think PB would be happy to have a core group of posters repeating their shared viewpoints to each other while boarding the outrage bus.
Can we lay off the pile on on Sandpit please? 1) He's been on the site for fucking ages; I find it vanishingly unlikely he's being paid to make pro-Trump noises. 2) I've rarely heard him make pro-Trump noises. Not thinking Trump = Hitler does not equal pro-Trump. 3) As it happens, I do think Trump roughly equals Hitler. But I am very interested in the views of a seemingly intelligent poster who does not hold that view. Why wouldn't you be?
It's ridiculous to fall into the trap of 'poster x does not hate politician y as much as I do - therefore poster x loves politician y.' We saw this with Boris too.
It seems fair to defend Trump [and the administration] on some levels - many things are arguable. TDS is still a thing.
But justifying the shooting of someone in the street who is protesting peacefully would seem a different matter.
The phrase TDS is often trotted out by trump apologists who don't want to see the whole picture.
I certainly wouldn't apologise for him but what I would take it to mean is not taking each specific action on its own merits.
He might accidentally do something right. Increasingly long odds on that, perhaps.
DS applies to all politicians, including Starmer, who also manages to blunder into doing the right thing sometimes, having announced the wrong thing first.
We were assured he was going to invade Greenland a couple of days ago. That he was a deranged dementia patient who had lost the capacity to reason, and therefore he'd as happily soak Greenland in European blood as eat his morning cornflakes.
Except it has now all been wrapped up diplomatically, he seems to have got everything he asked for, and he now says force was never on the agenda. Yet no embarrassed climb down from our resident Trump experts, just on to the next civilisation-ending outrage and hope nobody will notice.
No one thought he’d actually invade Greenland. And he didn’t get what he wanted . I see you omitted his trashing of NATO troops who died supporting the USA . He’s now given immunity to ICE to execute anyone they see fit and you’re still trying to sanewash his actions . He might not be mad but he is true evil .
Lucky is just telling us who he is.
Bore off.
This is not a moral defence of Trump, it is simply a statement of fact that he and his team have a foreign policy agenda - not one we may agree with, but an agenda nonetheless. At present we don't discuss this because it is a PB article of faith that he and his team are mad, drunk, senile, Nazis, or a combination of all of the above, so there can be no logical pattern behind their actions. To suggest otherwise is to imperil PB morale - hence if I do it I am 'telling us who he is'.
Comments
Clearly it was a response from someone who can understand the mindset but also finds that they disagree for various reasons.
I don’t think Sandpit needs a knight in shining armour to defend him from me.
But for now they lost that argument, and Minnesota is a right to carry state.
But it's IMO absurd to say " that's part of the problem", when there is no evidence of any protestors threatening agents with guns.
Putting it quite simply, ICE do not need to be on the streets of Minneapolis.
Gun possession has pretty strong links to white supremacism, hence why the NRA is noticeably quiet about the recent ICE murders.
Officers will be expected to arrive at crime scenes within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in the countryside while attending serious crimes, the Home Office said.
The new time limits will apply if there is a danger to life, an immediate threat of violence or the possibility of a serious injury or damage to property, or if a crime is in progress.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is preparing to announce a full package of changes that the Home Office claims to be the biggest overhaul in two centuries.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/25/police-in-england-and-wales-to-get-new-strict-emergency-response-time-limits
I have never read, in any serious studies, that it was about pushing into Native American lands or suppressing slave revolts - the relationships with native Americans were complex at the time with alliances for the new US, the UK and the French so it was always something they had to be wary of before the constitution and slave revolts weren’t really a big thing until Haiti made it a fear in American minds.
So whilst it’s warming to equate it with White Supremacism it was really just a vaguely sensible plan for a new and vulnerable country to allow its citizens to be armed to the teeth.
NEW — Senate GOP leaders pushing ahead with funding package despite Dem opposition.
GOP leadership aide: “Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shut down. We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us.”
I fully expect there to be several more rounds of Greenland until Trump get's fixated on something else.
Tariffs interspersed with Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine etc for the next 3 years, it will be exhausting and costly.
This must be the 87th time they have been scrapped.
The American politicians of the time were really, really un-keen on a standing army. Which was seen (apart from the whole redcoat thing) as being an opening for a Cromwell style dictator. {Napoleon then enters the chat}
One of the myths of the Revolution was the Minuteman - a farmer taking his "long rifle" hunting gun and laying waste to the redcoats. In fact it took Washington (and others) issuing muskets (much faster loading) and drilling a professional style army to win battles.
But politically, the Minuteman Myth was great - no standing army, just call up the Staunch Yeoman, who knew how to load and shoot their own, specially accurate weapons. Which would cost the state nothing, and meant no standing army for a Man On A White Horse to muck around with.
Boris was an MP and mayor of London for over a year I think.
I am surprised the good doctor has never hear of this war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812
Or even this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__uFnEMJqjg
Is Trump still planning to invade Minnesota with his Arctic troops based in Alaska?
I note it happens to be on the way to Greenland ...
https://findoutnow.co.uk/blog/greater-manchester-polling/
Thought it might be a subsample, but no, a proper poll!
One idea I have read is that the framers of the 1791 amendments were directly copying Blackstone and that it is for that reason that the right to bear arms was enshrined in the Constitution.
https://x.com/PressSec/status/2015555649719984483
I am hereby calling on the United States Congress to immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities, which is the root cause of all of these problems. American Cities should be Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY, not Illegal Alien Criminals who broke our Nation’s Laws.
https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2015560630212723109
President Donald J. Trump calls on Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, and every Democratic governor and mayor in the United States to cooperate with the Trump admin to enforce our nation’s laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of division, chaos, and violence
As an aside have you seen the ICE agent applauding after his buddies take ten kill shots at Alex Preddi? You justified the shooting of Renee Nicole Good as self defence, and fair enough. Can you justify this one as self defence?
Scott Bessent is probably the best advocate for the Trump administration at the moment:
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2015450668916498625
In modern times as I see it, gun rights was one of a cluster of political issues used to solidify what has been the "Christian Right". From the 1970s we have individualism, anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality, nuclear family, the vision of the USA as "a city on a hill" (cf Book of Revelation), USA exceptionalism and various others. Some of the people who built the movement to boost Reagan around Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson etc have been active in building the movement around Trump.
There are plenty of links going much further back into white supremacism, 1950s McCarthy, 1920s/30s America First, then KKK and Jim Crow. Of course that links into the movement around the Confederate Flag, 10 Commandments in Public buildings more recently, and eg the Southern Baptists who were founded to defend slavery, and did not publicly resile from their history until the 1990s.
One example of the white supremacism links is the Bob Jones Christian University, which has provided a platform for prominent Republican Politicians for decades since the 60s/70s. Yet they had a "no interracial dating amongst students" policy, which they claimed to be based on the Bible, until 2000. That policy started around 1950, and the former identity "Bob Jones College" did not aiui have it codified.
Or not?
https://marineindustrynews.co.uk/the-italian-sea-group-sues-mike-lynchs-widow-after-bayesian-sinking/
Three people were arrested this weekend as the Home Office moved the first 27 migrants into the former army camp, which could house up to 540" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/thousands-protest-new-asylum-seeker-camp-crowborough-arrests-7sgw60zh5
With regards to the assassination of Mr Preddi, Trump, Miller, Bondi, Noem and Govino have told us not to believe what we have seen with our own eyes. They are gaslighting and I believe your justification for the killings is too.
They have also been trying to get social media influencer to join him on trips to give him good PR and a couple of videos I have seen basically the influencer say the team aren't very good. One guy they invited on India trip and it was just weird.
Nano Banana generated 1 billion images in 53 days.
Won't somebody think of the polar bears.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15496949/Garry-Kasparov-warning-America-Putin-Trump.html
I was out there two weeks ago, Governor Walz DECLINED to provide a security detail for me to go into the Minnesota Capitol with the state police! So he is FOMENTING CHAOS because there is substantial waste, fraud, and abuse!" 🔥🔥
"My job as Treasury Secretary is to investigate that. And I think that this chaos is going out there!"
"And again, I am sorry that this gentleman is dead, but he did bring a 9 millimeter semi-automatic weapon with two cartridges to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest."
"I think that there are a lot of PAID agitators who are ginning things up, and the governor has not done a good job of tamping this down!"
What happened was that he filmed ICE , which is his Constitutional Right. They attacked him, pepper-sprayed him, about 5 of them mobbed him, then they shot him.
Video of the incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkLd-6i8u70
This is a time of crisis. This is the point at which a Dem candidate should emerge as a leader, establishing opposition, stating the case. Who is there? Tim Walz? Fatally compromised as the man too mediocre to be Veep. So I'm a bit frustrated. I think the only chance the Dems have is if the Reps field a similarly mediocre candidate - Vance? Cruz? Rubio is beginning to shine thru simple aggregation of posts - he can work the bureaucracy. So the Reps have a plausible candidate in Rubio, and I'm not sure the Dems have.
That one I'd be watching whose odds are pretty long right now is Pritzker.
I don't suppose the people who want to think it's just a law enforcement operation and people who get shot had it coming will listen to it but hopefully some of the people here who have gone into full doomer mode about the prospects for defeating Trump will.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-resist-ice-ft-will-stancil/id1390384827?i=1000745708253
And is surprised that we say the administration is becoming fascist.
Hundreds of judges reject Trump’s mandatory detention policy, with no end in sight
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/05/trump-administration-immigrants-mandatory-detention-00709494
Federal judges are increasingly exasperated by the Trump administration’s effort to lock up nearly everyone facing deportation proceedings — a draconian expansion of decades-old policies that hundreds of courts have rejected as illegal or unconstitutional.
More than 300 federal judges, including appointees of every president since Ronald Reagan, have now rebuffed the administration’s six-month-old effort to expand its so-called “mandatory detention” policy, according to a POLITICO analysis of court dockets from across the country. Those judges have ordered immigrants’ release or the opportunity for bond hearings in more than 1,600 cases..
..Despite the overwhelming legal consensus, there has been no successful nationwide block on the policy. That’s partly because most of the cases are filed on an emergency basis by individuals in the hours after they’re arrested — with little time to assemble large groups that could mount a broad challenge.
In recent weeks, the judges’ conclusions have become increasingly urgent, describing shocking mistreatment and inhumanity as thousands of people — the majority not charged with any crime — are abruptly ripped from family members and locked up in squalid detention centers, even if they have lived in the country for decades. Many have been arrested while attending required immigration court proceedings or check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they had attended for decades.
BOVINO: I believe the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have prevented any specific, ahhh, shootings of law enforcement. So good job by our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that
https://x.com/atrupar/status/2015427978931359875
The guy in charge of ICE says the well trained agents did exactly what they were supposed to do.
"Good job".
Just "enforcing the laws".
https://time.com/7357635/more-than-30000-killed-in-iran-say-senior-officials/
That is being pushed back on, and it should be.
F1: the secret, private, behind-closed-doors-with-definitely-no-leaks first test begins today. Except for Williams, whose car isn't ready...
She may not get the nomination but she has a role to play.
But then he was hounded from the site before for failing @JosiasJessop purity test on Ukraine even though he has a personal stake in it.
I couldn’t be bothered with PB last night when I stopped by. Not that this will bother anyone 😃. It was all rather unpleasant and crossed the line into bullying. I think PB would be happy to have a core group of posters repeating their shared viewpoints to each other while boarding the outrage bus.
This is not a moral defence of Trump, it is simply a statement of fact that he and his team have a foreign policy agenda - not one we may agree with, but an agenda nonetheless. At present we don't discuss this because it is a PB article of faith that he and his team are mad, drunk, senile, Nazis, or a combination of all of the above, so there can be no logical pattern behind their actions. To suggest otherwise is to imperil PB morale - hence if I do it I am 'telling us who he is'.