[The Soup Nazi]

This truly is the megathread you've all been waiting for. From Biden to Boris; from the small headlines to the systemic horrors; from Anytown, USA to Sana'a, Yemen; from John Maynard Keynes to magical fucking tax cuts - this here is your joint!

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

[...] From Biden to Boris [...]

Um, sorry for having put them in the same sentence...

[The Soup Nazi]

A sign of things changing, even if you consider this to be only symbolical for now (hopefully sanctions will be pursued):

Biden national security advisor calls for Russia to immediately release detained Putin critic Alexei Navalny

When Navalny was in Germany recovering from his horrible Putin-ordered poisoning, Vlad said, "Who needs him". Well, you're keeping him in one of your cages, so apparently you do, asshole.

More: https://news.google.com/stories/CAAq...S&ceid=US%3Aen

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Um, sorry for having put them in the same sentence...

you're right, "from biden to bibi" sounds better xD

anyway who here is trying to figure out the merkel succession?

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

anyway who here is trying to figure out the merkel succession?

Interesting question. According to that book on Barack Obama's final days in office, right after the last time he saw Angela Merkel as president he mentioned, "She's alone now" - much like Nancy Pelosi, she had said, "As long as he [Agent Orange] is here, I'm here", but with whom? The UK, a shitshow; Macron, knee-deep in domestic crap; Italy, a permanent parliamentary chaos; etc. Trump on one side, Putin on the other, the rise of Alternative für Dipshits: that was some SERIOUS heavy lifting. Now that she'll feel (I presume) that she can leave the job to someone else, I haven't checked the candidates, but stepping in those shoes... yikes.

[The Soup Nazi]

In other crap news we haven't discussed, Pompeio declared Iran "a home base of Al Qaeda". That's... just... I mean, it doesn't have anything to do with anything - it's one of the biggest bullshit statements about the Middle East I've heard since "Iraq's got WMDs". Unfortunately, it wasn't just a statement; it was an official U.S. policy move, in good part designed to fuck with any Biden attempt to go back to something resembling the JCPOA. I hope it can be swiftly eliminated.

[!@#$%!]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals...ts-11611073318

tldr: trumpy's atempts at dismantling obama's environmental protections are now moot

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals...ts-11611073318

tldr: trumpy's atempts at dismantling obama's environmental protections are now moot

All right, progress already...

[The Soup Nazi]

This is one for the ages. If you thought you knew how crazy these fuckos are, you don't know the half of it. (Literally, I can't even copy->paste half of the article here because it's seriously extensive, so just click on the damn link.)

An Epic Timeline of QAnon Delusions, From Election Day to Inauguration Day

Incidentally, although I don't play videogames this seems interesting: a new one called Conspiracy!, which shits on the stupidity examined above. Here's an interview with its creator.

[demonrail666]

I know it's a big topic but there are now literally 10 politics-related threads on this page alone (12 if you include the COVID threads). Pretty much anything posted in one will relate to the others so can we not just keep everything here?

[!@#$%!]

no becuz

[Skuj]

Look what this lyin' bitch is doing:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...n-for-governor

(She'll win, won't she?)

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by Skuj

Look what this lyin' bitch is doing:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...n-for-governor

(She'll win, won't she?)

 

[The Soup Nazi]

Feel the Bërn:

 

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[The Soup Nazi]

The MOR way out. Whatchagon'do, huh. From NBC News:

Senators consider censure as alternative to impeachment trial in view of likely Trump acquittal

A censure resolution requires only a simple majority vote. One senator said it could prevent Trump from holding future office.

Two U.S. senators, a Democrat and a Republican, are working to attract support for a vote to censure former President Donald Trump now that it appears the Senate is unlikely to convict him on the House impeachment article.

While a majority of the Senate voted this week to proceed with a trial, the 55-45 vote was well short of the two-thirds that would be required to convict. That prompted Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, to propose a vote to censure the former president as an alternative punishment.

Kaine said adoption of the censure resolution could prevent Trump from holding future office, but legal scholars aren't so sure.

A censure by either or both houses of Congress has no force of law if the person being censured is not a member of Congress. The Constitution explicitly gives Congress authority only to punish its own members, except for the power of impeachment. A vote to censure someone in the executive or legislative branch, therefore, would express only the nonbinding "sense of" Congress.

The notion that a censure could block Trump from holding future federal office is based on how Kaine and his supporters are reading Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same."

Strange as it may seem [YEAH, NO SHIT], said professor Steve Vladeck of the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, there is a continuing legal question about whether the president is, in fact, "an officer of the United States." That phrase appears often in the law, but the courts have yet to nail down the meaning when it comes to the person at the top of the executive branch.

Assuming the phrase does apply to the president, if the Senate passed a censure resolution declaring that Trump engaged in insurrection, that might trigger a state to block him from the ballot if he decided to run in 2024. Trump could then sue, and the courts would have to decide the issue.

Alternatively, Trump could be allowed on the ballot in a state, and an opponent could sue to get him thrown off, which would also get the issue into the courts.

Vladeck suggests that because there are so many unknowns, the most prudent course would be for both houses of Congress to approve a censure resolution, to give it extra heft.

Unlike a vote to convict Trump in an impeachment trial, a vote to censure him would require only a simple majority, which is another reason some senators might find it more likely to succeed. But for now, the Senate's majority leader, Chuck Schumer, is focused on the House impeachment article.

"There will be a trial," the New York Democrat said, "And the evidence against the former president will be presented in living color for the nation and every one of us to see once again."

[The Soup Nazi]

From Demand Progress:

Former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai just stepped down after four awful years at the helm of the Federal Communications Commission, which began when Trump installed him as chair.

This is potentially huge news for net neutrality and reestablishing critical FCC authority over broadband. But even as Pai departs, strong open internet rules are blocked for the time being because of a 2–2 stalemate at the FCC. The internet needs President Biden to immediately nominate a 5th commissioner to break the tie and reinstate strong rules.

A return to net neutrality and strong open internet protections can’t come soon enough.

After the pandemic sent us all home for work and school, to rely entirely on high-speed internet, Comcast announced data caps on some of its home internet services. (1)

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how Big Cable companies have taken advantage since Trump and Pai took over the FCC and pushed through a repeal of the open internet order that took effect in 2018. Verizon throttled a fire department during a wildfire, and AT&T said it would exclude its own streaming service from data caps that they would apply to rivals’ services. (2,3)

Perhaps the worst effect so far is that the repeal included shifting responsibility for Big Cable’s misdeeds from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission—which has little capacity for broadband issues. (4) So when consumers make complaints about the ISPs, these issues are likely to go unaddressed.

It’s critical that Biden nominates a 5th member to the FCC who will be a full-on champion for net neutrality and an open internet, but the ISPs have extraordinary power over our political system—and politicians in both parties—so there is no guarantee here.

Demand Progress has been a leader in the fight for an open internet, and now we’re going to leverage our grassroots power to make sure Biden chooses a FCC commissioner who will return these protections to the country.

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

DONATE

Sources:

1. Ars Technica, "Comcast data cap blasted by lawmakers as it expands into 12 more states," January 5, 2021
2. Public Knowledge, "Broadband Providers Are Quietly Taking Advantage of an Internet Without Net Neutrality Protections," January 29, 2019
3. The Verge, "HBO Max won’t hit AT&T data caps, but Netflix and Disney Plus will," June 2, 2020
4. Ars Technica, "How the FCC solves consumer problems—well, it doesn’t, really," November 13, 2019

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[Skuj]

Let's face it: USA Politics is almost boring these days, what with competent people running the show, in a respectful manner.

Boring is good. I like boring. Always be boring.

[tw2113]

I assume many of the GOP crazies are just in a huddle planning out their next crazies moves