The Politics Thread

[JaneAusten]

The "experts" have been so BAD predicting this.  I know there are some here who think abortion rights being stripped won't lead to a tidelwave.  The most important part of this in Kansas is that 74% of people that registered to vote after the Dobbs decision were women.

[Cat]

The view from some Taiwanese Americans on Pelosi's visit and the geopolitical situation regarding Taiwan and China.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/02/taiwanese-americans-pelosi-visit-taiwan-china

[DramatistDreamer]

Do you think that Kansas will turn out to be a bellwether state?

[JaneAusten]

Hard to say. I don't know that Kansas is as ruby red as a southern state. I think it's more a victim of the Koch family propaganda. I mean they did chase Brownbeck out of office(his Koch utopian agenda was a disaster) and rejected Kobach as Governor in favor of Laura Kelly.  That being said, it may not be Alabama but it still is a red state.  And suburban women generally are still lite republican leaning IMO.

[Vee]

I've been off the grid with my first ever bout with COVID and I'm still not fully recovered, but:

 

[JaneAusten]

Leave it to the Beltway media to find a "bad" win for dems in the vote in Kansas. They are not even hiding their bias at this point

What does the abortion-referendum vote in Kansas tell us about November? - The Washington Post

[Vee]

The Alex Jones/Sandy Hook trial is too much for this thread to keep up with too fast, but this is just one of many huge developments in this thread:

 

 

[j swift]

At first, I thought it was a fool's errand to try to generalize a national sentiment based on a Kansas primary where 1/3 of the population registered to vote

But, according to the Kansas Secretary of State, twice as many GOP members registered to vote, so the victory is meaningful in terms of the Dems ability to get out the vote based on civil rights issues

Kansas Voter Registration Totals
	Republican	Democratic	Libertarian	Unaffiliated	Total
	852,000	495,760	21,453	546,161	1,915,374

[DramatistDreamer]

Sorry to hear about you’re getting COVID-19 @Vee. Wishing you a speedy recovery back to full strength.

In terms of the accidental delivery of Alex Jones’ phone data/messages, some people believe there are no accidents. Whatever it was, it’s karmic justice afaic and I hope the penalties for Jones are high and numerous. He’s a horrible person who deserves to be made to hand over every last cent to the people whose lives he has made unbearable. He also deserves jail time.

[Vee]

 

[DRW50]

And the usual defensive responses:

These are the same figures who assured us that the GOP would not have a problem because it's all about inflation and wokeness. I already put Maga Haberman's posturing in the media thread. 

I do think there's a big question mark over how much this will be harnessed outside of this amendment - Kris Kobach, one of the biggest extremists in the country, won the GOP attorney general nomination so if there's any real chance of this making positive change I hope the Democrats might have some chance to win that race in November. 

If nothing else there is at least some semblance of Democrats being able to find a message that will resonate, enough to possibly avert a complete electoral bloodbath, which is probably why the media is so unnerved this morning. They would sell their whole family for a GOP trifecta. 

[Juliajms]

Yeah, I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I have to wonder if his lawyers (or one of them) f*cked him on purpose. Didn't one of them even start crying during testimony?

@Vee I hope you have a mild case and that you get well soon.

[Vee]

They're already unnerved by the potential triple header of the IRA Bill, the PACT Act and CHIPS IMO, which has put some wind in folks' sails again. They don't tend to like Dem comeback stories, ever. They wanted Romney to win in '12 to tell that 'sensible Republican' comeback story, and Obama cruised to victory despite many attempts to pretend it was a tight race.

[DramatistDreamer]

Wow, Brittney Griner had been sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia. Irrespective of whether a prisoner swap can be arranged, that’s still a harsh sentence for some CBD oil.

 

EDT. it was hashish oil, I stand corrected. 

For a first time offense though? No intent to sell or distribute.

[DRW50]

And of course the usual dead end leftists on Twitter are shouting "what about America?  what about America?" and not even pretending to care about her.