US Politics Thread

[Mr Kobayashi]

That's just a bizarre ramble.

"better not testify" - not his mate any more then. Funny how everything is a lie except TrumpSpeak.

I'm also assuming that DiCaprio might issue a request that Agent Orange never speaks of him again.

Also" Catch me if you can" isn't actually a fiction, it's dramatised and certain elements and timeline has been changed but it is based on the real life Frank Abagnale's early adulthood.

 

[Salford_Blue]

I expect Meadows is sh*tting himself right now if that's the case because it appears that EVERYTHING leaning up to Jan 6 and beyond went through Meadows.

I bet she's been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. With any luck she will throw him under the bus.

I remember Meadows on the infamous video where he is being filmed by Junior, on the 6th. Acting all smug and arrogant.

The Committee are presenting this very well and after listening to podcasts with people far more learned than me, there really appears to be enough to charge him.

The AG has a big decision to make. If he doesn't do something, it sets a precedent for future attempts.

In reply to your message about Ali Alexander, I read he had already presented late last week, but said online yesterday that he was travelling to DC today; hence the speculation.

Could be a pivotal day. Once one or two of the big guns start to crumble, many more will follow.

 

[Salford_Blue]

When Trump took over, you knew it was inevitable that things would happen outside the usual role of the President, but not to this level. Only in America can a failed business man and TV personality become the most powerful person in the world.

However, at the time I thought, it doesn't affect us and it was rather fun to see the things going on, from afar. Then as it evolves, you start to see the bigger picture of a man who was the leader of the free world and realise the enormity of what could happen and what could've happened had the coup been successful or if he has legally been re-elected.

This movie, when made, will make the the LOTR trilogy seem as tame as The Moomins.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Trump isn’t happy that Meadows may testify today

View attachment 48194

Fucking idiot. That people over there even entertain the notion of this clown is staggering. I bet Putin is laughing his tits off and he can't wait to try and get him back in. With the war in Ukraine, sanctions biting and energy squeeze on Trump is Putin's wet dream. He got him elected once, God only knows the global catastrophe to follow if he gets in again

 

[andyhinch]

Also" Catch me if you can" isn't actually a fiction, it's dramatised and certain elements and timeline has been changed but it is based on the real life Frank Abagnale's early adulthood.

You’re forgetting it’s on a big shiny screen coming from a magic lantern.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Trump isn’t happy that Meadows may testify today

View attachment 48194

Please tell me that's a spoof???

 

[west didsblue]

Also" Catch me if you can" isn't actually a fiction, it's dramatised and certain elements and timeline has been changed but it is based on the real life Frank Abagnale's early adulthood.

To be fair, most of Abagnale’s autobiography has been debunked as fiction. Who could’ve guessed a conman would tell lies in his autobiography?

Trump wouldn’t know that though. He’s far too stupid.

 

[Barry Conlons wig]

This can't be real, surely?

Almost child-like.

ALMOST :-O

 

[SebastianBlue]

Guess which group of American citizens is most likely to be prosecuted and made felons under the new abortion bans (and which group will still get abortions with no prosecution)?

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

I've posted previously about why I believe that misinformation is the single biggest threat to Democracy.

To help me explain why this is so, I offer, for example, the following video in which Trump rally attendees are interviewed and are asked what they think about the 1/6 investigation:


Interviewees exhibit a complete disconnect from reality. Numerous interviewees don't even know the significance of 1/6. Others spout conspiracy theories as to what transpired - for example, that 1/6 was orchestrated by Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to discredited Republicans.

Several of the interviewees agreed to view footage of the proceedings. A clip was shown in which Barr (the Attorney General under Trump at the time of 1/6) stated that the claims of election fraud were bullshit; another clip showed Ivanka Trump saying that she believed Barr.

One of those who agreed to view the clips, shook his head and obviously went into a deep think. At the end of his thought process he decided that something was very wrong. He concluded that the clips shown to him were fake or that the footage was taken out of context.

A second individual concluded that the Ivanka clip was a fabrication. He thought that an Ivanka clone was filmed; obviously, he reasoned, the real Ivanka would never say such things.

Yet another individual who viewed the clips seemed to correctly process the information presented to him. But when asked whether or not he was going to attend the pro-Trump rally, he said absolutely that he was going to. Apparently he simply brushed the footage off as irrelevant.
===
Watching the above video helped me understand why disinformation needs to be regulated.

Witness attendees of Trump's rallies. These people aren't rational. They actually believe the lies they have been told - to the extent that they're largely beyond persuasion. The repeated lies and echo-chamber reinforcement have turned them into a secular cult. It would take an intervention followed by intense deprogramming to possibly return such people to rationality.

Irrational beliefs lead to irrational behavior. And irrational behavior may lead to extremely poor decisions that put the very lives of the mislead in great danger; or, worse still, that pose a threat to society at large.

Roughly 1/2 the USA is under the sway of irrationality. These such, acting collectively, are well-capable of voting into office frauds and demagogues who would do society great harm simply to advance self gain. And that is why disinformation needs to be regulated by the government.