[Mentalist]

Orban is Putler-lite, propped up by Russian money.


Obviously it's in Russian interests to destabilize the US.

[Malankazooie]

"Putler" is a portmanteau of Putin and Hitler, yeah? I wasn't clear on that 100% but was pretty sure. Also, might be a useful explanation for members where english isn't their first language.

[Gorefest]

I'm pretty sure they are called Putin and Hitler in other languages too.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'"The coup is ongoing": Critics sound the alarm after Trump boosts message "advocating or predicting civil war"

[...]

Fox Nation propagandist and antisemitic conspiracy theorist [...] reposted a message from the right-wing "populist" President of El Salvador, that suggests the United States is "falling so fast" due to an "enemy" within.

A pro-Trump account on Trump's Truth Social platform then commented "Civil War."

Trump reposted that message.

"Nothing to see here. Just a former president of the United States sharing a social media post advocating or predicting civil war in the United States."

[...]

"After seeking to overturn his election defeat, the former president is now endorsing the claim that we are in a 'civil war.' Incredibly dangerous," wrote [...] a political scientist and professor at Dartmouth College. "How long until the next gunman takes him literally and/or seriously? What about the next time he or his party lose another election?"'

[...]

"4 days ago, all but ONE Republican voted AGAINST the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act

This weekend Orban called for a conservative takeover by "our troops"

Today Trump called for a civil war

The coup is ongoing. The insurrection never ended

Time for everyone to wake the F up"'

'The coup is ongoing': Critics sound the alarm after Trump boosts message 'advocating or predicting civil war'

''far-right "Stop the Steal" conspiracy theorist is hoping to run Michigan's elections

[...] Karamo is the Republican nominee for Michigan secretary of state [...] "Michigan's next election chief, in other words, might be one of its foremost election-conspiracy theorists. And what happens in this swing state in 2024 could tip the entire presidential outcome."

[...] "[...] Karamo has never backed down from her allegations of fraud, despite the State Senate investigation and multiple state-run election audits. She's said that Trump, not Biden, is the real winner of Michigan — and the election."'

[...] no doubt that Karamo, as Michigan secretary of state, would try to help Trump steal the 2024 election if he were the Republican nominee.'

This far-right 'Stop the Steal' conspiracy theorist is hoping to run Michigan's elections

[Briar King]

Briar King, on 18 August 2021 - 01:22 AM, said:

How are our citizens and allied citizens/refugees actually going to get out? News coming in that we may have 40K citizens alone in AF…

I fear we all may be in store for even grimmer headlines in the coming days.

How will this all emboldened Russia, China or NK? Are we fixing to hear more about Ukraine, Taiwan or missile test over Sea of Japan?

Shit is making me a nervous wreck.

I really don’t want to be 3 for 3. Grand Pappy Joe continues to make me a nervous wreck though. WH back in clean up mode after his gaffe machine ass promised our soldiers would fight for Taiwan.

[Gorefest]

Could be worse. You could still have Trump as your president.

[QuickTidal]

Gorefest, on 24 May 2022 - 06:43 AM, said:

Could be worse. You could still have Trump as your president.

Indeed.

A draft dodger who actively insulted those same soldiers.

[Malankazooie]

Words by Biden shouldn't be downplayed, but the biggest threat, and what should be a true reason for being a nervous wreck, is threats inside America. I worry more about Trump running (or a Trump analogue running) in 2024 and inciting their base to finish what was started on Jan. 6, 2021.

Also, how soon we forget bellicose Trump - "will be met by fire and fury if threats continue."

This post has been edited by Malankazooie: 24 May 2022 - 02:03 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

But Trump loyalists would never overturn the presidential election, because that would result in riots or civil war?... Trump's already publicly endorsing (or at least re-tweeting'truthing') 'Civil War'. Better than risking prison....

Mastriano wrote his Master's thesis for the Air Command Staff College about a Hitlerian putsch and civil war... in the United States (1).

If the states refuse to certify a Biden win, and the Republican legislature tries to give it to Trump... if Trump's Supreme Court sides with Biden, but the legislature refuses to comply, what will the military do? Or in the event the Supreme Court sides with Trump (we were one vote vote away this year from the Supreme Court ruling that state legislatures have absolute authority over federal elections, meaning they could disregard the vote---Barrett sided with the liberals (for now) (2); what could he promise her? a national ban on abortion? or more?) and Biden refuses to leave office.... If Trump loyalists rise up en masse, or (with the aid of Republican-dominated legislatures) try to attack the Capitol again... and a sizable percentage of police support them... the military may need to intervene. If the Speaker of the House is a Trump loyalist they may even try to assassinate Biden and Harris to make the Speaker president *before* the election to ensure the transition (they can even legally appoint Trump himself as Speaker of the House...).

1.

'Trump's "Civil War" Rhetoric Is a Growing Belief on Far Right

This kind of rhetoric isn't new on the far right, but the fact that Trump himself is elevating these messages is alarming, as convincing your side that you're already in a civil war is a good way to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[...] Right-wing discussion of a coming "civil war" has been building for years. And the types of people warning of it have grown increasingly powerful.

[...] Multiple local GOP officials spoke of civil war in the run-up to and aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection[...]

[...] shortly after Trump "re-truthed" this post [...] he "re-truthed" another post calling to "Free all January 6 political prisoners," which called the rioters patriots.'

Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Rhetoric Is a Growing Belief on Far Right

2.

'The court stepped back from the abyss, but the ensuing reprieve may not last for long.'

The Supreme Court is one vote away from blowing up federal elections


'It didn't work in 2020 because the legal and political structures to support it weren't in place at the time. Those pieces are being put into place [...]

[...] election deniers around the country are running for secretary of state and attorney general—vying to be swing states' top election officer and top cop, respectively. If successful, they can use this power to aggressively investigate bogus claims of voter fraud, attempt to nullify Democratic ballots, refuse to certify the true results, and even try to approve an "alternative" slate of electors for the loser. This is what Ginni Thomas was pushing two years ago, and what her husband [Clarence Thomas] has already deemed constitutionally permissible.

[...] it looks increasingly likely that the Supreme Court will decide this issue by 2024.'

Ginni and Clarence Thomas are telling us exactly how they'll steal the 2024 election

Jan. 6 prosecutors should be optimistic about convicting Trump

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 24 May 2022 - 03:03 PM

[QuickTidal]

Hey Americans. Your SCOTUS is hardcore compromised by Republican activists...not judges. How fast does America crumble under this type of Christo-fascist nonsense?

https://www.thedaily...e-is-not-enough

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Canadian national security task force fears the USA is "backsliding" into a "source of threat and instability"

[...]

According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), the government to the north is fearful of what that might mean for them. Former national security advisers and directors at the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned Canada that the U.S. could become a "source of threat and instability" in the coming years.

[...] Citing things like [...] Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow the government, and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, they have a growing list of anti-democratic warnings.

[...] Their data gathering comes from top-secret information and a briefed cabinet on emerging threats. It warns that Canada has been complacent [...]

[...]

"We believe that the threats are quite serious at the moment, that they do impact Canada," said former Canadian national security adviser Vincent Rigby, a co-author of the report. "We don't want it to take a crisis for [the] government of Canada to wake up."

[...]

"When we think about threats to Canada, we think about the Soviet military threat, we think about al-Qaeda [...] But so is the rising threat to Canada that the U.S. poses,"'

Canadian national security task force fears the USA is 'backsliding' into a 'source of threat and instability'

Canada should rethink relationship with U.S. as democratic 'backsliding' worsens: security experts | CBC News

[Abyss]

I wouldn't expect invasion any time soon.
The real threat the US poses to Canada is - as recently seen w the 'trucker protest' in Ottawa - where radical political elements provide support to their equivalents here and the local groups become more stupid i mean active. It's far more subtle than 'troops on the border' and arguably more dangerous.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'"It's going to be an army": Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections

[...] includes utilizing rules designed to provide political balance among poll workers to install party-trained volunteers prepared to challenge voters at Democratic-majority polling places, developing a website to connect those workers to local lawyers and establishing a network of party-friendly district attorneys who could intervene to block vote counts at certain precincts.

"Being a poll worker, you just have so many more rights and things you can do to stop something than [as] a poll challenger," [...]

[...]

"We're going to have more lawyers than we've ever recruited, because let's be honest, that's where it's going to be fought, right?" [...]

[...] equip poll workers with a hotline and website [...] which will allow them to live-chat with party attorneys on Election Day.

[...] would be bound to pick names from the list submitted by the party under a local law intended to ensure bipartisan representation and an unbiased team of precinct workers.

[...] "[... RNC staffer:] Your local district attorney, as we always say, is more powerful than your congressman," [...]

[... election watchdog:] "It looks like now the Trump forces are going directly after the legal system itself and that should concern everyone."

[...] expressed concern about the quick-strike networks of lawyers and DAs being created, suggesting that politically motivated poll workers could simply initiate a legal conflict at the polling place that disrupts voting and then use it as a vehicle for rejecting vote counts from that precinct.

[...] Installing party loyalists on the Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying the election, also appears to be part of the GOP strategy. In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Republicans nominated to their board a man who said he would not have certified the 2020 election.

[...] a domino effect that could sow doubts about the election even when there was no original infraction: A politically motivated poll worker connecting with a zealous local lawyer to disrupt voting, followed by a challenge to the Board of Canvassers that may have nothing to do with the underlying dispute but merely the level of disruption at the polling place.

[...] "It creates the potential for mucking things up at polling places and potentially leading to delays or disenfranchisement of voters," especially "if [the poll workers] come in with the attitude that something is crooked with how elections are run."

[...] what former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon, who's been urging listeners to his podcast to take on election leadership positions, calls "the precinct strategy."

[...] the election watchdog, believes the strategy is designed to create enough disputes to justify intervention by GOP-controlled state legislatures, who declined to take such steps in 2020.

"Come election day you create massive failure of certification" in Democratic precincts[...] "The real hope is that you can throw the choosing of electors to state legislatures."

[...] Eubanks, a Trump-endorsed state house candidate [...] "The election system is rigged, and who best to steal it but our clerks."

[...]

Michigan came the closest to throwing the 2020 election — and the nation — into a constitutional crisis. So many volunteer challengers overwhelmed Detroit's TCF Center, where votes were being counted, that police intervened because Covid safety protocols had been breached.

The poll watchers [...] falsely alleged "phony ballots" were smuggled into the center, helping lay the predicate for a weeks-long delay in certifying the state's electoral votes. [...]

"We're going to have lawyers that work to build relationships with different judges so that when that happens, we're going to have lawyers that have relationships with the police chiefs in the different areas, with the police officers in the different areas so that when that happens with preexisting relationships already established so that they can't lie," [...]

A GOP-led committee found no evidence of widespread fraud in Michigan's 2020 election and recommended the state's attorney general investigate those who made false claims "to raise money or publicity for their own ends." Numerous lawsuits were dismissed in court.

[...]

"There's little to no history of election inspectors challenging people" based on qualifications to vote, and if they create chaos, "that's just going to get them [the poll workers] thrown out."

[...] The first question in the Zoom chat: "How do we stop the counts if the person of authority doesn't respect the challenges made like at TCF in Detroit?" Another asked what to do if someone is "clearly" using a fake I.D. to vote. [...] said to "try challenging it."

[...]

The effort has been underway for months, and GOP officials are planning to use Aug. 2 primary elections in Detroit as a dry run, according [...]

"The early hours on election day Aug. 2 will tell the story about whether this is a legitimate operation or an attempt to slow the process to discourage voting,"'

‘It’s going to be an army’: Tapes reveal GOP plan to contest elections - POLITICO

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 01 June 2022 - 04:18 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Of course if the Michigan primary goes smoothly that's no guarantee that the general election will.

There will much more pressure to challenge people who look like Democratic voters in the general election.

And those who are only using voter challenges as a cynical ploy to disrupt or suppress Democratic turnout (for example, by lengthening already long lines in some places) may want to lull people into a false sense of security... and make the poll watchers seem legitimate and competent.

Even for those who truly believe they're only looking for actual voter fraud (... with their hyperactive imaginations and QAnon-trained paranoid misinterpretations), they may be careful to try to do things correctly and not overdo it in the primary, especially if they think relatively little is at stake... especially since 'Michigan does not hold primary elections for a number of down-ballot races, including the secretary of state — who oversees elections — and attorney general.' (For those they vote at the party conventions, and the Republican vote was won by Trump-endorsed 'Kristina [K.?] Karamo, [...] She has also said she doesn't believe evolution should be taught in schools. [...] Karamo[...] thinks the 2020 election was stolen. [...] She appeared at a QAnon-adjacent rally last year, and she has said she believes the conspiracy theory that left-wing activists were behind the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.'

'"It's like putting arsonists in charge of a fire department. It's like putting a bank robber in charge of a bank and giving them the keys to the vault," [...] "This is a choice between whether or not we'll have a democracy moving forward."'

Michigan GOP moves forward with election-denying candidates

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 01 June 2022 - 11:26 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

A twist in Michigan:

'Republican candidate for governor [...] lost a bid [...] to get placed on the primary ballot after a court ruled he used fraudulent signatures on a petition to qualify for the race.

[...] officials rejected his petition, claiming it was rife with fraud.

[...] The ruling will likely have an affect on four other [Republican] candidates who were also denied a ballot placement for the primary based on similar fraud findings. [...]

[...] "[...] unprecedented number of fraudulent petition sheets consistent of invalid signatures [...] the same fraudulent-petition circulators submitted petition sheets for many different candidates [...]" [...]

[...] signatures from voters who have not lived at the listed address, misspelled names and uncommon signatures that signaled something was amiss.'

Republican candidate in Michigan governor race loses bid to get placed on primary ballot | The Hill

... Republican candidates (or their people) committing actual fraud to get on the ballot? Not a great sign....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 01 June 2022 - 11:22 PM

[Malankazooie]

The Jan. 6, capital attack committee is going to have public hearings this week. What up? You think it will make a difference?

[Gorefest]

Nope, already taken way too long. The country has moved on and nobody cares anymore. The Dems missed their slot. They will have to fight hard simply to not get shafted with the legacy of Covid and the Ukrain war.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 06 June 2022 - 03:16 PM, said:

The Jan. 6, capital attack committee is going to have public hearings this week. What up? You think it will make a difference?

It may hurt Mastriano in Pennsylvania, provided it's reported widely enough.

More generally... I'm optimistic:

'as the steady dropping of shocking findings from the committee over the course of the past months suggests, the sessions will likely have many viewers on the edge of their seats.

[...] On May 25, we learned that the committee reportedly has evidence that Trump cheered Jan. 6 Capitol invaders' chanting "Hang Mike Pence." [...]

[...] Some legal observers argue the Justice Department faces an uphill battle in determining criminal intent because Trump could claim that he actually believed his own Big Lie about massive voter fraud. Even if his attorney general and others told him directly that the claim was false, was Trump's outside lawyer, John Eastman, whispering contrary messages into Trump's ear?

[...] the committee just released new evidence showing that Eastman, too, knew the claim lacked factual foundation.

[...] Eastman has two personal notes from Trump that Eastman's trying to keep from being disclosed. [...] Trump is famously careful about not using email to create evidence against himself. But suddenly here is evidence that may show his personal participation in the plot against democracy—this time, in his own handwriting.

[...] it sounds like the committee has quite the story to tell. [...] called the evidence "absolutely stunning." [...] some of it reads like "a fantasy novel."'

Jan. 6 hearings: Trump's summer of bad news is about to get much worse.

[Tsundoku]

Meh, it doesn't matter. If all the mountains of evidence against Trump previously couldn't shift his base as they simply yelled "Fake news! Democrats/NWO conspiracy! Her emails!" this this is just more of the same. Can you imagine any of those mouth-breathers suddenly going "Huh, well now, you've convinced me"? Yeah, didn't think so.
Enough will support him regardless of facts that it will seriously skew the GOP toward candidates at least LIKE him for years, if not generations.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 06 June 2022 - 08:18 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tsundoku, on 06 June 2022 - 08:17 PM, said:

Meh, it doesn't matter. If all the mountains of evidence against Trump previously couldn't shift his base as they simply yelled "Fake news! Democrats/NWO conspiracy! Her emails!" this this is just more of the same. Can you imagine any of those mouth-breathers suddenly going "Huh, well now, you've convinced me"? Yeah, didn't think so.
Enough will support him regardless of facts that it will seriously skew the GOP toward candidates at least LIKE him for years, if not generations.

It's more about motivating anti-Trump / pro-democracy turnout than it is about trying to convince the MAGA base of much of anything. (Not sure how much Australian-style legally mandated voting would help---though president Johnny Depp probably would be better than Trump....)

Wonder how many 'low information voters' will believe Trump's cries of 'fake news' because the reality of what Trump/MAGA have been saying and doing is so extreme... 'it reads like a fantasy novel' cuts (at least) both ways. Creating a false equivalence between QAnon conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies (conspiracy theorists proposing conspiracies for other conspiracy theorists to take part in, and actually trying to implement them to overturn the presidential election... to what extent it's self-aware cynical grifting or kayfabe or genuine paranoia or belief (or dementia, or power/holy-vision-drunkenness etc.))---functionally (at least) like psychopathy or psychosis---remains an open question...).