7 votes

Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 11

Automatically posted November 11

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.

6 comments

hungariantoast
November 12
Link
A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power Not sure how I feel about the article as a whole, but it does have some nice paragraphs:

A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power

Not sure how I feel about the article as a whole, but it does have some nice paragraphs:

Does the technology mudslide hypothesis now make sense? Of how a small innovation can eventually disrupt a legacy brand? That brand is truth. It’s evidence. It’s journalism. It’s science. It’s the Enlightenment. A niche concept you’ll find behind a paywall at the New York Times.

You have a subscription? Enjoy your clean, hygienic, fact-checked news. Then come with me into the information sewers, where we will wade through the shit everyone else consumes. Trump is cholera. His hate, his lies – it’s an infection that’s in the drinking water now. Our information system is London’s stinking streets before the Victorian miracle of sanitation. We fixed that through engineering. But we haven’t fixed this. We had eight years to hold Silicon Valley to account. And we failed. Utterly.

Social media is mainstream media now. It’s where the majority of the world gets its news. Though who even cares about news? It’s where the world gets its memes and jokes and consumes its endlessly mutating trends. Forget “internet culture”. The internet is culture. And this is where this election was fought and won … long before a single person cast a ballot.

These bros know. They don’t fear journalists any more. Journalists will now learn to fear them. Because this is oligarchy now. This is the fusion of state and commercial power in a ruling elite. It’s not a coincidence that Musk spouts the Kremlin’s talking points and chats to Putin on the phone. The chaos of Russia in the 90s is the template; billions will be made, people will die, crimes will be committed.

5 votes
[5]
NoPants
November 14
Link
Trump's choice to lead justice department stuns - but also sends strong message

Trump's choice to lead justice department stuns - but also sends strong message

During the campaign, Trump promised retribution for the numerous investigations launched against him. Now, it appears, Gaetz will be at the frontlines of Trump’s efforts to bring the justice department to heel.

The department also investigated Gaetz himself.

Last year, it declined to bring charges over allegations he violated sex trafficking laws during a trip he took to the Bahamas with paid escorts. He was the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation in the House of Representatives into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and misuse of campaign funds.

4 votes
1. [3]
  psi
  November 14
  Link Parent
  It's impossible to overemphasize how unqualified Gaetz would be for this role. By point of contrast, let's compare Gaetz's relevant legal experience with Garland's. Garland: [1977] served as a...
  
  Exemplary
  
  It's impossible to overemphasize how unqualified Gaetz would be for this role. By point of contrast, let's compare Gaetz's relevant legal experience with Garland's. Garland:
  
  [1977] served as a clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,
  
  [1978] served as a clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court,
  
  [1979] served as a special assistant to the US Attorney General,
  
  [1980-89] practiced (and later became partner) at Arnold & Porter, one of the largest law firms in the world,
  
  [1985-86] lectured at Harvard Law School on antitrust law,
  
  [1989] served as assistant US attorney in DC,
  
  [1992-93] returned to Arnold & Portner,
  
  [1993] served as deputy assistant general of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division,
  
  [...] twenty more years of legal experience that I can't be assed to write [...],
  
  [2013 - 21] served as Chief Justice at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
  
  On the other hand, here's the entirety of Gaetz's legal experience:
  
  [???? - ??] practiced at the law firm Keefe, Anchors & Gordon in Fort Walton Beach, a law firm so lacking in newsworthiness that it doesn't even warrant its own Wikipedia page.
  
  That's it!
  
  This is the first litmus test for Republicans: can they reject an unqualified candidate whom they nearly universally revile, or will they capitulate to Trump's every whim?
  
  4 votes
  1. NoPants
    November 14
    Link Parent
    Or just grant Trump recess appointments?
    
    This is the first litmus test for Republicans: can they reject an unqualified candidate whom they nearly universally revile, or will they capitulate to Trump's every whim?
    
    Or just grant Trump recess appointments?
    
    4 votes
  2. NoPants
    November 14
    Link Parent
    It's always interesting to see actual GOP representatives react to this stuff And, I almost forgot, Musk is now a "GOP" member also... This is Musk, who once called an actual hero a pedo... The...
    
    It's always interesting to see actual GOP representatives react to this stuff
    
    Former GOP Representative Joe Walsh of Illinois told The Independent that “no one should be surprised” by Gaetz’s nomination.
    
    “F*** ‘em,” Walsh said. “This is what America voted for.”
    
    "Are you s****ing me?" Republican Representative Mike Simpson told The Hillwhen they informed him of the news.
    
    Republican Senator Thom Tillis also told reporters on Capitol Hill: “I’m sure it’ll make for a popcorn-eating confirmation.”
    
    And, I almost forgot, Musk is now a "GOP" member also...
    
    “The hammer of justice is coming.”
    
    This is Musk, who once called an actual hero a pedo... The mind boggles.
    
    2 votes
2. NoPants
  November 16
  Link Parent
  Trump's pro-Israel cabinet picks upset Muslims who voted for him
  
  Trump's pro-Israel cabinet picks upset Muslims who voted for him
  
  Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins, strategists believe.
  
  Muslim voters had hoped Trump would choose cabinet officials who work toward peace, and there was no sign of that.
  
  "I don't think everyone's going to be happy with every appointment Trump makes, but the outcome is what matters," she said.
  "I do know that Trump wants peace, and what people need to realize is that there's 50,000 dead Palestinians and 3,000 dead Lebanese, and that's happened during the current administration."
  
  2 votes