The Politics Thread

[janea4old]

https://x.com/JBKSchlossberg/status/1884294384474046900

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https://bsky.app/profile/jackschlossberg.bsky.social/post/3lgtbwmstic2r

 

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https://www.instagram.com/p/DFYL36XRNz-/

 

[janea4old]

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[DRW50]

This may seem like small potatoes, but it's still a sign of voter discontent, one that explains why the GOP are so eager to dismantle anything stopping them and why they own our entire media. 

Democrats flipped a state senate seat in a district Trump just won by 21%. This was not expected. Dave Weigel mentioned that Democrats in the district had recently "waved it off" when he asked them about their chances.

https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-senate-district-35-election-democrats-win-mike-zimmer/63596596

[Contessa Donatella]

https://x.com/KristaAllenXO

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[Contessa Donatella]

Is there no post about Elon Musk being nominated for a Nobel prize? And, if not, do I need to perhaps be delighted that it is fake news or something like that?

[I Am A Swede]

 

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Edited January 29 by I Am A Swede

[Vee]

I am barely paying attn for my own sanity at this point, but the only grace to be found in this shitshow that I can see is that amazingly, the Trump WH is yet again barely prepared to implement any of their insane goals. I really expected them to get much better at this.

[Khan]

That's what I've been saying, lol! 

People are going around saying, "He's learned a thing or two since the last time."  No, he hasn't, lol!  He's a malignant narcissist.  Malignant narcissists never learn from their mistakes, because malignant narcissists never believe they've MADE any mistakes. 

And he is not the type to say, "The only thing wrong with my last administration is that I didn't hire enough yes-men," because that, too, would be an admission of failure on his part.

[janea4old]

Wednesday night January 29, 2025
A U.S.Army Blackhawk helicopter carrying three service personnel collided with an American Airlines jet civilian passenger flight carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. 
The collision was in Washington DC mid-air, near Reagan airport.
(Many reports are using "DCA" which is the official abbreviation for Reagan airport)
Both aircraft broke apart and fell into the Potomac River.

The American Airlines flight was arriving in DC from Wichita Kansas.
Some of the 60 passengers were figure skaters and their families.

The US figure skating governing body confirmed that athletes, coaches, and family members were on board after attending national development camp held in conjunction with the US figure skating championships.
Russian state media has reported that figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on board. The pair, who were married, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and lived in the US.
Russian media also quoted a Kremlin official stating that there were additional Russian citizens on the flight as well.

 

https://bsky.app/profile/mattdpearce.com/post/3lgwrwdnkgs22

 

 

 

 

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lgwig3vkac24

https://bsky.app/profile/jonostrower.com/post/3lgwsu6vivg24

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

Regarding the plane/helicopter crash in DC, there are so many insane comments from Trump and his new cabinet, that I won't post them all here because, well you can imagine the stupid stuff they are saying, and who they are blaming.

Trump said "NOT GOOD".
 

Useful information for families of the passengers: via the Kansas City Star
https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article299417149.html

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

Pete Buttigieg was Biden's Secretary of Transportation,
but Trump replaced him.

Trump's new Secretary of Transportation is Sean Duffy.
He first gained fame as a cast member on The Real World: Boston, 1998's Road Rules: All Stars and 2002's Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons.  He later served as a congressman from Wisconsin.

Sean Duffy was sworn in on January 28 as Secretary of Transportation.
His first act was to sign a memorandum directing his department to immediately rescind and replace all existing corporate average fuel economy standards and eliminate the electric vehicle mandate
https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1884410146438185312

The plane/helicopter crash occurred Jan. 29, the day after he took office.

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

This was Pete Buttigieg's final tweet as Transportation Secretary.
Note that Buttigieg mentions infrastructure accomplishments.
(However, because Biden tied the infrastructure deal with
clean green environmentally-friendly new jobs, Trump now intends to throw all that out.)
 

https://x.com/PeteButtigieg/status/1881452598420799526

Pete Buttigieg @PeteButtigieg
January 20, 2025

Serving the American people over the past four years has been an extraordinary honor.

To everyone I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with while serving as Secretary—especially the outstanding team of public servants at USDOT—I couldn’t be prouder of all we accomplished together. America’s Infrastructure Decade is fast underway. Until our paths cross again, thank you.

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

Per the Tr*mp Executive Order, the Defense Intelligence Agency is stopping the observances of MLK Day, Black History Month, Women's History Month,
Holocaust Remembrance Days, Pride, Juneteenth, 
National Disability Employment Awareness Month,  
Etc etc etc
As detailed here:

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Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

 

Instead of posting comments from questionable officials who don't know anything yet ...

I'll simply post this:
U.S. officials just had a press conference and announced that there were no survivors of the plane/helicopter crash.

RIP:

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2018 interview with Evgenia and Vadim as coaches in Boston, coaching their teen son Max. 
(I don't know if their son was on the plane or not.
He could have been elsewhere. Most of the passenger identities have not yet been announced.
Just posting because it's Evgenia and Vadim speaking)
 

Edited January 30 by janea4old

[janea4old]

From this morning's press conference:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy: "Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that."

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https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lgxojy6fah2m
From a Fox news interview:
Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles on the DCA plane crash: "Did DEI play a role?"

 

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update:
Trump giving press conference just now about the aviation crash, spouting nonsense.
And commenting on the crash before the NTSB begins investigating.
per the Guardian live blog
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jan/30/plane-crashes-near-washington-dc-after-mid-air-collision-with-military-helicopter-follow-live
(from the Guardian international page, so some words here are in British spelling)
 

“We did not know what led to this crash but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” Donald Trump said.
“We have some pretty good ideas … we’ll find out how this disaster occurred and we’ll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again,” he continued.
Trump said “we have very strong opinions and ideas” about how the accident happened then reverted to taking political swipes at Barack Obama and Joe Biden over air traffic controller standards. “The word talented. You have to be naturally talented geniuses.”

In a harsher tone than before, he is now complaining about diversity and inclusion in FAA programmes and describing former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg as a “disaster” who has a “good line in bullshit”.

“You had a confluence of bad decisions that were made,” Donald Trump said.

“One thing we do know, there was a lot of vision, and people should have been able to see that. You know, at what point do you stop at? What do you say, well, that plane’s getting a little bit close?” Trump continued.

(then Trump said something about the relative heights and visiblity of the aircrafts, which I won't bother to quote here because it doesn't sound rational)
Defense Secretary Hegseth is at same press conference and echoed Trump about the heights.

Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary said: "When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination. That didn’t happen yesterday."

Trump continued to turn what might have been a sombre briefing into a baseless rant against DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) despite no evidence of a link with the plane crash.

The president was backed to the hilt by transportation secretary Sean Duffy, who said “we can only accept the best and the brightest” in positions affecting passenger safety, and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who echoed: “The era of DEI is gone at the defence department and we need the best and brightest.”

Then came vice-president JD Vance, who claimed “we want to hire the best people” who are “actually competent enough to do the job”.

Trump returned to the lectern to claim that “very powerful tests” for competence in air traffic control were “terminated” by Joe Biden.

CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked: “Aren’t you getting ahead of the investigation?” Trump replied: “No, I don’t think so at all... I don’t think that’s a smart question. I’m surprised, coming from you.”

Another reporter asked why Trump believes DEI is responsible. He said: “Because I have common sense and unfortunately a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level.”

Edited January 30 by janea4old