12 votes

Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 27

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Tags: usa, politics, recurring.weekly

This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

7 comments

  1. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    As city-state housing war heats up, one rich California enclave gets a pass (CalMatters)

    As city-state housing war heats up, one rich California enclave gets a pass (CalMatters)

    Montecito lies next to the Santa Barbara but is not a city. Rather, it is an unincorporated community governed by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.

    The county’s cities have their own quotas, but all of its unincorporated territory is folded into one quota of 5,664 units. The county’s plan, unveiled last month, identifies potential building sites, mostly near the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria and the communities of Orcutt, Goleta, Isla Vista and Carpinteria.

    Some of the sites are vacant while others are occupied, including some shopping centers and churches. None is in Montecito or an adjacent enclave called Summerland, even though the county’s inventory of vacant land includes about a dozen parcels, some of them fairly large, in those two communities.

    When county officials outlined their plan at a public meeting this month they were asked why no sites in Montecito were included. County planning director Lisa Plowman said only sites whose owners were interested in development were chosen and no one in Montecito or Summerland was amenable to dense multi-family housing.

    6 votes
    1. rosco
      Link Parent
      Hopefully the California Department of Housing and Community Development rejects the plan but it would also take a developer to acquire the land and decide that high density housing is the most...

      Hopefully the California Department of Housing and Community Development rejects the plan but it would also take a developer to acquire the land and decide that high density housing is the most profitable option for anything to change.

      2 votes
  2. [3]
    PantsEnvy
    Link
    Rupert Murdoch says Fox News hosts endorsed false election fraud claims

    Rupert Murdoch says Fox News hosts endorsed false election fraud claims

    "Some of our commentators were endorsing it," Mr Murdoch said in a sworn deposition filed on Monday.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      PantsEnvy
      Link Parent
      Donald Trump assails Rupert Murdoch over defamation testimony It is incredible to me that Trump, with a few angry tweets, can destroy Fox News' ratings. I wonder if Murdoch is trying to bring...

      Donald Trump assails Rupert Murdoch over defamation testimony

      On Tuesday, Mr Trump posted: "Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves - they already are."

      After the Arizona call, Fox executives became alarmed by how many viewers began switching to other channels, the filings suggest.

      It is incredible to me that Trump, with a few angry tweets, can destroy Fox News' ratings.

      Tucker Carlson told his producer Trump is 'the undisputed world champion' of destroying things and could ruin Fox News if it didn't back his election lies

      I wonder if Murdoch is trying to bring Trump down from a moral perspective, or if he simply wants to be the only king maker in town...

      Two days after the pro-Trump riot at Capitol Hill, Mr Murdoch emailed a Fox executive to say the network is "very busy pivoting".

      "We want to make Trump a non person," his publicly released emails show.

      6 votes
      1. PantsEnvy
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I think I figured out what is interesting about these disclosures. When Fox News announced Biden won, Republicans could either face the new facts and accept defeat, or they could deny the facts...

        I think I figured out what is interesting about these disclosures.

        When Fox News announced Biden won, Republicans could either face the new facts and accept defeat, or they could deny the facts and angrily switch to a network that continued to deny facts.

        Enough viewers switched, that it forced Fox News to tow the Trump lie.

        I guess I had always assumed that Fox News that corrupted the minds of the voters. I guess it can go both ways?

        Edit: this NY Times article is excellent....
        Fox Leaders Wanted to Break From Trump but Struggled to Make It Happen

        The leadership of Fox and its star hosts are often viewed from the outside as power brokers in Republican politics — with much justification. But in the wake of the election, they appeared fearful of alienating Mr. Trump’s supporters, almost to the point of powerlessness, court filings containing internal communications and depositions show.

        4 votes
  3. [2]
    Gaywallet
    Link
    Tired of conservatives who are busy spreading hate. Why do they have a platform? Why is it legal for them to threaten people with eradication or the death penalty? sigh CPAC speaker sparks alarm...

    Tired of conservatives who are busy spreading hate. Why do they have a platform? Why is it legal for them to threaten people with eradication or the death penalty? sigh

    CPAC speaker sparks alarm with call for trans people to be ‘eradicated’

    Women who seek abortion in South Carolina could face death penalty

    5 votes
    1. cmccabe
      Link Parent
      Speaking of spreading hate, I'm still not even sure how to react to this article. Not only spreading hate but profiting from it. A Neo-Nazi Troll Network Is Making Money Abusing Jews

      Speaking of spreading hate, I'm still not even sure how to react to this article. Not only spreading hate but profiting from it.
      A Neo-Nazi Troll Network Is Making Money Abusing Jews

      3 votes