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2023 American Political Scene

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  • Would someone please spell out what is meant by the extreme left?
    Are those who use the term trying to equate, say, Antifa -- which has exactly zero elected politicians -- with He Who Should Not Be Named?
    Do people really think there is no difference in the tactics employed by Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Matt Gaetz?

    If the answer is no, then why use the term? Socialists and communists are not a viable part of the US political spectrum!

    https://www.counterextremism.com/con...-united-states
    Trust me?
    I'm an economist!

    Comment


    • Originally posted by DOR View Post
      Would someone please spell out what is meant by the extreme left?
      Are those who use the term trying to equate, say, Antifa -- which has exactly zero elected politicians -- with He Who Should Not Be Named?
      Do people really think there is no difference in the tactics employed by Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Matt Gaetz?

      If the answer is no, then why use the term? Socialists and communists are not a viable part of the US political spectrum!

      https://www.counterextremism.com/con...-united-states
      These days? Seems like it's "Anything to the Left of hunting the homeless for sport"

      At the very least, it allows for a patently absurd "BOTH sides!!" narrative.

      I've also seen the WAB decried as being an "left/extreme left" board, so there's that.
      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

      Comment


      • So interim speaker boots Pelosi and Hoyer out of their cubby hole offices as his first move. Well we are off to a good start.

        McCarthy complains that Pelosi promised to support him if needed. Ah, Kevin, that was before you broke all those other promises to the Dems and Biden. Tastes bitter doesn't it?

        Comment


        • Originally posted by TopHatter View Post

          These days? Seems like it's "Anything to the Left of hunting the homeless for sport"

          At the very least, it allows for a patently absurd "BOTH sides!!" narrative.

          I've also seen the WAB decried as being an "left/extreme left" board, so there's that.
          When I saw honest, respectable Wabbits turn away from the GOP, I knew this was party headquarters for the extreme left.
          Home at last!
          Trust me?
          I'm an economist!

          Comment


          • Originally posted by TopHatter View Post

            These days? Seems like it's "Anything to the Left of hunting the homeless for sport"

            At the very least, it allows for a patently absurd "BOTH sides!!" narrative.

            I've also seen the WAB decried as being an "left/extreme left" board, so there's that.
            Hard right conservatives won't join. They want an echo chamber, not a challenge.
            If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

            Comment


            • Originally posted by DOR View Post
              Socialists and communists are not a viable part of the US political spectrum!
              That would seem to ignore Bernie Sanders. While he did not enjoy enough support to become elected to the office POTUS, he did raise a non-trivial $229,099,494 toward that effort in the 2016 race. Bernie was a member of the socialist Liberty Union Party 1970 - 1977, was Mayor of Burlington Vermont 06 April 1981 – 04 April 1989, was US Congressman from Vermont's at-large district 03 January 1991 – 03 January 2007, and has been a US Senator from Vermont since then.

              Originally posted by CNN
              13 October 2015
              Bernie Sanders explains democratic socialism
              (02 min, 31 sec)

              Sen. Bernie Sanders explains why he describes himself as a democratic socialist at the CNN Democrat Debate in Las Vegas.
              .
              .
              .

              Comment


              • Originally posted by JRT View Post

                That would seem to ignore Bernie Sanders. While he did not enjoy enough support to become elected to the office POTUS, he did raise a non-trivial $229,099,494 toward that effort in the 2016 race. Bernie was a member of the socialist Liberty Union Party 1970 - 1977, was Mayor of Burlington Vermont 06 April 1981 – 04 April 1989, was US Congressman from Vermont's at-large district 03 January 1991 – 03 January 2007, and has been a US Senator from Vermont since then.

                Well Bernie isn't a communist. As for socialist maybe somewhat but so what as his ilk is a very small part of the ideology here. They are dwarfed by the far-right, aka fascism, and always have been. I make him equal to Goldwater in 1964 although today Goldwater, in place of DeSantis, might be formidable if he altered his message some.

                Besides, who always makes the most noise about socialists and communists? It is the far right and they have been doing it before McCarthy (Tail-gunner Joe) and it is one of their most standard talking points to scare others.
                Last edited by tbm3fan; 09 Oct 23,, 02:15.

                Comment


                • Sanders would be running as a center to center-left candidate in most western countries. We always have a chuckle when he’s depicted by the US right as a communist/socialist

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by JRT View Post

                    That would seem to ignore Bernie Sanders. While he did not enjoy enough support to become elected to the office POTUS, he did raise a non-trivial $229,099,494 toward that effort in the 2016 race. Bernie was a member of the socialist Liberty Union Party 1970 - 1977, was Mayor of Burlington Vermont 06 April 1981 – 04 April 1989, was US Congressman from Vermont's at-large district 03 January 1991 – 03 January 2007, and has been a US Senator from Vermont since then.

                    Among the wildly socialistic policy positions favored by past Liberty Union Party candidates are such radical, dangerous ideas as single-payer healthcare, nonviolence, and (*horrors!*) "Democracy must exist at all times in all the processes of society."

                    Dangerous stuff.
                    Trust me?
                    I'm an economist!

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by DOR View Post

                      Among the wildly socialistic policy positions favored by past Liberty Union Party candidates are such radical, dangerous ideas as single-payer healthcare, nonviolence, and (*horrors!*) "Democracy must exist at all times in all the processes of society."

                      Dangerous stuff.
                      and this coming from someone who went to Cal Berkeley (horror of horrors) for four years. If that doesn't make him a "socialist" I don't know what does?

                      Wait a second I spent four grad years at Cal. Must be a socialist board...

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post

                        and this coming from someone who went to Cal Berkeley (horror of horrors) for four years. If that doesn't make him a "socialist" I don't know what does?

                        Wait a second I spent four grad years at Cal. Must be a socialist board...
                        Allegedley
                        “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                        Mark Twain

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post

                          Allegedley
                          According to the "Main Stream Media" ...
                          Trust me?
                          I'm an economist!

                          Comment


                          • So it's down to Scalise vs Jordan for the Speaker race.

                            I think Scalise would be preferable to Jordan for the position... is it possible the Dems could swing the vote toward Scalise in a vote against Jordan? I mean, the smaller party in the House typically votes for their own guy, Hakeem Jeffries in this case, but could they help put Scalise over the top?
                            "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by TopHatter View Post
                              Rep. George Santos charged by Justice Department in federal probe

                              Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

                              Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York’s eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal.

                              The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims.

                              The congressman’s attorney declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment.

                              The freshman congressman, who was elected last year to represent a district that includes parts of Long Island and Queens, has been under investigation in multiple jurisdictions and by the House Ethics Committee.

                              Top Democrats, joined by some New York Republicans, have been calling on Santos to resign over allegations ranging from criminal behavior on the campaign trail to petty personal dishonesty stretching back more than a decade.

                              House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will look at the charges before determining if he thinks Santos should be removed from Congress.

                              “I’ll look at the charges,” the California Republican told CNN on Tuesday.

                              During his brief time in office, Santos has been accused of breaking campaign finance laws, violating federal conflict of interest laws, stealing cash meant for an Iraq War veteran’s dying dog, masterminding a credit card fraud scheme and lying about where he went to school and worked.

                              Santos has admitted to making some misleading claims about his education and financial status, but continues to deny the more serious allegations.

                              During his victorious campaign last year, Santos ran according to the Republican midterm playbook, hammering his Democratic opponent over crime and inflation. The message resonated in the New York suburbs, where GOP candidates flipped four seats on their way to winning a narrow House majority.

                              But as Santos’ past came under closer scrutiny, with large chunks of his official biography revealed to be conjured from nothing, he increasingly adapted the persona of a right-wing troll.

                              He played up his support for former President Donald Trump and once claimed that Democrats were “trying to ban toilet paper.”

                              New York Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Santos, repeatedly urging him to leave office and insisting they knew nothing about his shadowy past. Democrats, meanwhile, are attempting to shake off the embarrassment of not exposing Santos sooner ahead of what promises to be an expensive race to win back his and other neighboring seats in 2024.

                              The cracks in Santos’ façade first made national headlines in late December 2022, when The New York Times published a long investigation that questioned large chunks of the personal story he sold to voters during the campaign. What followed, though, was often stranger than fiction. A seemingly endless string of new revelations ranging from allegations he stole a dog from an Amish dairy farmer to his own past claims – all false – of playing high-level college volleyball.

                              As the stories piled up, former friends and associated of Santos began to come forward and share stories claiming he had ripped them off or misled them about his financial and professional situation. A former roommate of the congressman told CNN earlier this year that Santos showed signs of “delusions of grandeur” during their time living together.

                              “The truth has finally come out,” said Gregory Morey-Parker, who also accused Santos of stealing his scarf. An allegation, like so many others, that Santos denies.

                              Can remain in Congress
                              The charges do not, from a legal standpoint, affect Santos’ status as a member of Congress. Nothing in the Constitution’s requirements for congressional office bars individuals under criminal indictment or conviction from serving, except for the 14th Amendment prohibitions for certain treasonous conduct committed after a member has taken the oath of office.

                              Under the formal rules for the US House of Representatives, according to a Congressional Research Service report, “an indicted Member may continue to participate in congressional proceedings and considerations.”

                              However, if a member is convicted of a crime that could result in a punishment of two or more years in prison, they are instructed under House rules not to participate in votes on the floor or in committee votes.
                              ________
                              In case you forgot about this guy....

                              https://www.npr.org/ny-republican-co...felony-charges

                              Embattled N.Y. Republican Congressman George Santos faces 10 new felony charges


                              October 10, 20236:33 PM ET



                              Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023.

                              Andrew Harnik/AP

                              The U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York has added an additional ten counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, identity theft and other charges against Congressman George Santos.

                              The New York Republican was already facing 13-counts from a May indictment. In this latest court filing, federal prosecutors allege Santos made false statements to the Federal Election Commission and then falsified records to obstruct the FEC.

                              The 23-count superseding indictment also accuses the first-term Congressman of identity theft, device fraud and wire fraud.


                              POLITICS

                              N.Y. Rep. George Santos pleads not guilty to federal fraud charges


                              In the scheme, prosecutors accuse Santos of running a credit card fraud scheme using his political donors' credit cards, while also allegedly attempting to scam the national Republican Party.

                              "Santos is charged with stealing people's identities and making charges on his own donors' credit cards without their authorization," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement Tuesday.

                              This expanded indictment comes less than a week after Santos's former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty to felony charges linked to her work for his campaign.

                              Marks faces up to five years in prison. It's not yet clear whether she has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors targeting Santos.

                              Santos, whose district includes part of Long Island and Queens, was first charged with federal felony crimes linked to his campaign operations in May.

                              He has acknowledged lying to the public about much of his personal story, fabricating his education, inventing a story about family members who escaped the Holocaust and deceiving voters about his professional career.



                              Santos remains a member in full standing of the Republican caucus, though he's been stripped of his committee assignments.

                              Santos has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and pleaded not guilty in May to the original charges. He was released on a $500,000 bond. He also faces a House ethics probe but announced he's running for re-election next year.

                              In a statement this week on social media, Santos said he plans to back Rep. Jim Jordan in the fight for the Speaker's gavel. Despite scandals and criminal charges, he could serve as a key vote in the bitterly divided chamber.
                              “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                              Mark Twain

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post

                                In case you forgot about this guy....

                                https://www.npr.org/ny-republican-co...felony-charges
                                The fact that this shit stain hasn't been expelled from Congress speaks volumes about his party.
                                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                                Comment

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