America

[Mikey Brown]

Have you come across "Project 2025" before? It's a dedicated plan of action for the first year of a Trump administration, written up by a bunch of libertarian/theocratic/fascist government nerds, about how various loopholes, obscure presidential powers, and bureaucratic rules can be leveraged to completely and irrevocably change how America works. Highlights include placing the Department of Justice under the direct control of the President, allowing the deployment of the American military on American soil to round up and deport immigrants, removing all legal protections against discrimination for protected characteristics, and reclassifying thousands of people in skills-based roles in government departments as "Political Appointments", then firing them all because of a change of administration, and replacing them with true believers, who have already been picked out, vetted, and pre-approved. So, the EPA will no longer talk about climate change, because it'll be run and staffed by climate deniers at the highest level, the Department of Education will no longer talk about evolution because it'll be run and staffed by Christian fundamentalists, and the FTC won't worry about antitrust and mergers because it'll be run and staffed by people who are doing very well out of oligarchy.

The worst part is that it's using every back alley in the levers of government, so none of it will require getting through Congress or winning votes or requiring funding - it can just be done by fiat, without anything other than the Presidency. It is insanely well prepared and thought out and planned and it's absolutely terrifying.

Puja

Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before but this project 2025 stuff seems to have really kicked up a gear, even just in the last few days. I'm seeing it everywhere now and it seems quite open. It'll be amazing if women can still even vote in a few years time.

[Puja]

Have you come across "Project 2025" before? It's a dedicated plan of action for the first year of a Trump administration, written up by a bunch of libertarian/theocratic/fascist government nerds, about how various loopholes, obscure presidential powers, and bureaucratic rules can be leveraged to completely and irrevocably change how America works. Highlights include placing the Department of Justice under the direct control of the President, allowing the deployment of the American military on American soil to round up and deport immigrants, removing all legal protections against discrimination for protected characteristics, and reclassifying thousands of people in skills-based roles in government departments as "Political Appointments", then firing them all because of a change of administration, and replacing them with true believers, who have already been picked out, vetted, and pre-approved. So, the EPA will no longer talk about climate change, because it'll be run and staffed by climate deniers at the highest level, the Department of Education will no longer talk about evolution because it'll be run and staffed by Christian fundamentalists, and the FTC won't worry about antitrust and mergers because it'll be run and staffed by people who are doing very well out of oligarchy.

The worst part is that it's using every back alley in the levers of government, so none of it will require getting through Congress or winning votes or requiring funding - it can just be done by fiat, without anything other than the Presidency. It is insanely well prepared and thought out and planned and it's absolutely terrifying.

Puja

Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before but this project 2025 stuff seems to have really kicked up a gear, even just in the last few days. I'm seeing it everywhere now and it seems quite open. It'll be amazing if women can still even vote in a few years time.

It's preparation for government, given their win in the election has just been signed and sealed .

Puja

[Which Tyler]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/con ... -111358368

Conservative-backed group is creating a list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans

An outside group is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the conservative policies promised by Republican Donald Trump

...

Tom Jones and his American Accountability Foundation are digging into the backgrounds, social media posts and commentary of key high-ranking government employees, starting with the Department of Homeland Security. They're relying in part on tips from his network of conservative contacts, including workers. In a move that alarms some, they're preparing to publish the findings online.

With a $100,000 grant from the Heritage Foundation, the goal is to post 100 names of government workers to a website this summer to show a potential new administration who might be standing in the way of a second-term Trump agenda — and ripe for scrutiny, reclassifications, reassignments or firings.

...

[Sandydragon]

Have you come across "Project 2025" before? It's a dedicated plan of action for the first year of a Trump administration, written up by a bunch of libertarian/theocratic/fascist government nerds, about how various loopholes, obscure presidential powers, and bureaucratic rules can be leveraged to completely and irrevocably change how America works. Highlights include placing the Department of Justice under the direct control of the President, allowing the deployment of the American military on American soil to round up and deport immigrants, removing all legal protections against discrimination for protected characteristics, and reclassifying thousands of people in skills-based roles in government departments as "Political Appointments", then firing them all because of a change of administration, and replacing them with true believers, who have already been picked out, vetted, and pre-approved. So, the EPA will no longer talk about climate change, because it'll be run and staffed by climate deniers at the highest level, the Department of Education will no longer talk about evolution because it'll be run and staffed by Christian fundamentalists, and the FTC won't worry about antitrust and mergers because it'll be run and staffed by people who are doing very well out of oligarchy.

The worst part is that it's using every back alley in the levers of government, so none of it will require getting through Congress or winning votes or requiring funding - it can just be done by fiat, without anything other than the Presidency. It is insanely well prepared and thought out and planned and it's absolutely terrifying.

Puja

Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before but this project 2025 stuff seems to have really kicked up a gear, even just in the last few days. I'm seeing it everywhere now and it seems quite open. It'll be amazing if women can still even vote in a few years time.

The Dems have to make a big thing out of this. Its one of the few cards they might have left, full on project fear of what a Trump presidency might mean.

[morepork]

Pretty soon it will be so that the church is the only safe haven for clandestine same-sex relationships.

[Mikey Brown]

Have you come across "Project 2025" before? It's a dedicated plan of action for the first year of a Trump administration, written up by a bunch of libertarian/theocratic/fascist government nerds, about how various loopholes, obscure presidential powers, and bureaucratic rules can be leveraged to completely and irrevocably change how America works. Highlights include placing the Department of Justice under the direct control of the President, allowing the deployment of the American military on American soil to round up and deport immigrants, removing all legal protections against discrimination for protected characteristics, and reclassifying thousands of people in skills-based roles in government departments as "Political Appointments", then firing them all because of a change of administration, and replacing them with true believers, who have already been picked out, vetted, and pre-approved. So, the EPA will no longer talk about climate change, because it'll be run and staffed by climate deniers at the highest level, the Department of Education will no longer talk about evolution because it'll be run and staffed by Christian fundamentalists, and the FTC won't worry about antitrust and mergers because it'll be run and staffed by people who are doing very well out of oligarchy.

The worst part is that it's using every back alley in the levers of government, so none of it will require getting through Congress or winning votes or requiring funding - it can just be done by fiat, without anything other than the Presidency. It is insanely well prepared and thought out and planned and it's absolutely terrifying.

Puja

Maybe I just hadn't noticed it before but this project 2025 stuff seems to have really kicked up a gear, even just in the last few days. I'm seeing it everywhere now and it seems quite open. It'll be amazing if women can still even vote in a few years time.

The Dems have to make a big thing out of this. Its one of the few cards they might have left, full on project fear of what a Trump presidency might mean.

True. That really looks like their only hope.

Project Fear is a pretty funny counter to Project Radical Christian Fundamentalism though. Fitting really.

[paddy no 11]

Polling has biden -9 points

The dems will jump ship

[Puja]

Polling has biden -9 points

The dems will jump ship

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

[Sandydragon]

Polling has biden -9 points

The dems will jump ship

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

With the huge caveat that I dont see the American election publicity, it does feel that the Republicans are trying not to provoke a change. None of the opinion poll suggest a candidate that would easily beat Trump, which is a concern, but minus 9 is a sizeable margin and needs radical action.

I als oread somewhere that there is a problem if they dump Biden then the war chest they have built up cant transfer to any other candidate bar Harris, who is less popular than Biden.

Sadly its all looking very ominous and everything seems to be going Trumps way at the moment.

[paddy no 11]

Polling has biden -9 points

The dems will jump ship

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

He needs to be +4 to beat the electoral college, democracy in the U.S. be toast unless they change

The decisions this week from the supreme court are going to give the dems a look into their apocalyptic future and pennies will be dropping everywhere

Apparently monies raised for biden can't be transferred...... which is a problem I suppose

[Puja]

Polling has biden -9 points

The dems will jump ship

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

He needs to be +4 to beat the electoral college, democracy in the U.S. be toast unless they change

The decisions this week from the supreme court are going to give the dems a look into their apocalyptic future and pennies will be dropping everywhere

Apparently monies raised for biden can't be transferred...... which is a problem I suppose

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/only-michel ... biden-2024

Polling coming out today that none of the other Dem names would do better than Biden against Trump (aside from the fantasy pick of Michelle Obama). It's bullshit, because the reason they're not polling well is because they've had no national exposure, no campaign, and half of America doesn't know who the likes of Gavin Newsom are so there's no name recognition (see also M.Obama polling ridiculously highly, despite her not wanting it and having few of the bona fides), but the fact that it's been released and publicised shows that Biden intends to fight on and the Dems won't resist because, "the numbers show no-one else would do better."

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

I just pray that Obama has seen sense and is having a word with him. Biden and his family have to cut their losses - he was President - there's no shame in standing down.

[Son of Mathonwy]

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

He needs to be +4 to beat the electoral college, democracy in the U.S. be toast unless they change

The decisions this week from the supreme court are going to give the dems a look into their apocalyptic future and pennies will be dropping everywhere

Apparently monies raised for biden can't be transferred...... which is a problem I suppose

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/only-michel ... biden-2024

Polling coming out today that none of the other Dem names would do better than Biden against Trump (aside from the fantasy pick of Michelle Obama). It's bullshit, because the reason they're not polling well is because they've had no national exposure, no campaign, and half of America doesn't know who the likes of Gavin Newsom are so there's no name recognition (see also M.Obama polling ridiculously highly, despite her not wanting it and having few of the bona fides), but the fact that it's been released and publicised shows that Biden intends to fight on and the Dems won't resist because, "the numbers show no-one else would do better."

Puja

Exactly. The page shows that other than Harris (and Obama), the alternative candidates are unknown to big chunks of the US population. They just need exposure.

(Shame Obama doesn't want to run though . . . she could always win it then stand down.)

[Mikey Brown]

Honestly the only honourable thing for Biden to do is arrange his own assassination and try to pin it on the Republicans.

Nobody stepping in at this stage is going to be able to do it with any credibility. He’s totally and utterly fucked it.

[paddy no 11]

Step forward Taylor swift

[Sandydragon]

There is something fundamentally wrong with American political parties where the candidates seem to own them rather than represent them.

[Son of Mathonwy]

There is something fundamentally wrong with American political parties where the candidates seem to own them rather than represent them.

Yep. Not the only fundamental problem with US politics though.

[Mikey Brown]

Step forward Taylor swift

This might actually be the most realistic solution I've heard. I don't think she would even need to state any sort of policy.

[Sandydragon]

There is something fundamentally wrong with American political parties where the candidates seem to own them rather than represent them.

Yep. Not the only fundamental problem with US politics though.

Agreed. Its fucked. I dont entirely blame the republicans for it, its been a slow erosion over decades. But the thought that they are about to elect a dictator (by Trumps own words) with immunity, is terrifying. The only hope is that people hold their nose and vote Biden.

[Sandydragon]

They won't. Biden holds enough sway in the DNC and will keep insisting that he's done a good job and is owed loyalty and that he beat Trump in 2020 so it'll happen again in 2024, and he'll keep going right the way to the end and fuck it up for everybody because he fails to see that it is utterly irrelevant if he is still competent, it is utterly irrelevant if he's done a good job, it is utterly irrelevant if he's underappreciated for what he's accomplished - the only thing that is relevant is that the perception has taken hold in the US populace that he is a doddering, senile old fool and there is literally nothing that can be done to dispel that from here.

What is most notable during this period is how incredibly quiet Trump and the Trumpettes have been. They don't want a change in the Democratic candidate, not one bit. The campaign must've confiscated the Orange Man's phone to stop him from tweeting, cause you know full well that he wants to be crowing and mocking and bullying right now, but they've somehow kept him quiet.

Puja

He needs to be +4 to beat the electoral college, democracy in the U.S. be toast unless they change

The decisions this week from the supreme court are going to give the dems a look into their apocalyptic future and pennies will be dropping everywhere

Apparently monies raised for biden can't be transferred...... which is a problem I suppose

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/only-michel ... biden-2024

Polling coming out today that none of the other Dem names would do better than Biden against Trump (aside from the fantasy pick of Michelle Obama). It's bullshit, because the reason they're not polling well is because they've had no national exposure, no campaign, and half of America doesn't know who the likes of Gavin Newsom are so there's no name recognition (see also M.Obama polling ridiculously highly, despite her not wanting it and having few of the bona fides), but the fact that it's been released and publicised shows that Biden intends to fight on and the Dems won't resist because, "the numbers show no-one else would do better."

Puja

ALthough its a reasonable point to raise given the lack of time before the election. Someone like Newsom would have to be very quick out of the blocks to raise money and get some support. Harris would be the alternative candidate with the most legitimacy, but she too isnt likely to be seen that well.

[Puja]

He needs to be +4 to beat the electoral college, democracy in the U.S. be toast unless they change

The decisions this week from the supreme court are going to give the dems a look into their apocalyptic future and pennies will be dropping everywhere

Apparently monies raised for biden can't be transferred...... which is a problem I suppose

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/only-michel ... biden-2024

Polling coming out today that none of the other Dem names would do better than Biden against Trump (aside from the fantasy pick of Michelle Obama). It's bullshit, because the reason they're not polling well is because they've had no national exposure, no campaign, and half of America doesn't know who the likes of Gavin Newsom are so there's no name recognition (see also M.Obama polling ridiculously highly, despite her not wanting it and having few of the bona fides), but the fact that it's been released and publicised shows that Biden intends to fight on and the Dems won't resist because, "the numbers show no-one else would do better."

Puja

ALthough its a reasonable point to raise given the lack of time before the election. Someone like Newsom would have to be very quick out of the blocks to raise money and get some support. Harris would be the alternative candidate with the most legitimacy, but she too isnt likely to be seen that well.

Not as though a new Democrat candidate who was the only realistic opponent to Trump would have to work particularly hard to get funding or airtime though.

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

There is something fundamentally wrong with American political parties where the candidates seem to own them rather than represent them.

Yep. Not the only fundamental problem with US politics though.

Agreed. Its fucked. I dont entirely blame the republicans for it, its been a slow erosion over decades. But the thought that they are about to elect a dictator (by Trumps own words) with immunity, is terrifying. The only hope is that people hold their nose and vote Biden.

The Dems haven't tried hard enough to fix things (ie most of them have been too accepting of the status quo) but it's the Republicans who've been pushing the envelope . . . all the way to dictatorship it seems.

I'm still hoping that Biden will be convinced to stand down. Obama needs to tell him straight - he's got nothing to gain or lose. If there's a slow buildup of calls from Democrats and bad polls then the penny might drop.

[morepork]

Step forward Taylor swift

Don't even joke man.

[morepork]

He has to step aside. Attempt the try from the end of the world rather than the endless fruitless maul.

[paddy no 11]

Seems biden is going on a 72hr charge and also waiting on Polling in swing states, he could be gone early next week