The Biden Administration and All Things Politics

[Al-O-Meter]

The latest polls are crazy. These are National Polls. Trump could win the popular vote! RCP is now showing the popular vote as effectively deadlocked. That includes California and New York.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

Kamala Harris’s Blue-Collar Blues

Donald Trump’s appeal among working-class voters is neutralizing Democrats’ traditional advantage with unions.

www.city-journal.org

"In a break from tradition, the International Association of Fire Fighters recently announced that it would not endorse a candidate for president. The firefighters’ union endorsed Joe Biden last time around and has backed a Democrat in almost every presidential cycle for the past 40 years, the only exception being 2016—a parallel that might provoke dread in some Democrats."

 

[Al-O-Meter]

How Did the Democrats Get Here?

Talking with Tim Shenk about party realignment, the legacy of 1990s political consultants, the 2024 election, and his new book, Left Adrift: What Happened to Liberal Politics.

www.thenation.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

The Democrat plan to censor America

unherd.com

"The First Amendment codifies a “negative liberty”, not a licence for certain behaviour but rather a protection from government interference. It reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It can function as a kind of barrier to the worst excesses of the illiberal Left, even at a time when their party of choice occupies the White House.


Such challenges to the First Amendment began around 10 years ago with the emergence of the Critical Social Justice (or “woke”) movement, which sought to promote equity according to group identity through authoritarian means."

 

[Al-O-Meter]

It was interesting to see the effect of Kamala letting everyone know the DNC of 2024 is the home for neocons like Liz Cheney.

Jon Stewart almost blew a fuse on his show and Cenk Uygur from TYT signaled that it was enough for him to stop supporting Kamala.


View: https://x.com/cenkuygur/status/1848541323277832213


Not it is appearing the move is indeed informing the undecided voters.

Opinion: I'm a non-MAGA conservative. Sanctimonious liberals make me want to vote Trump.

Kamala Harris and her fellow liberals are starting to sound a lot like Democrats did in 2016, and it's a huge turnoff to voters like me.

www.usatoday.com

 

[fishonjazz]

MSN

A majority of Americans think it would be “wrong” for Donald Trump to have the Justice Department drop federal charges against him if he wins back the White House.

Legal observers say there's no chance a Trump Justice Department would continue the two federal cases he has asked judges to dismiss as a "witch hunt" led by a prosecutor he calls "deranged." But nearly 58% of likely voters who responded to the poll said it would be "wrong" for Trump to direct the department to drop the charges, compared to 30% saying it would be the "right" thing to do.

 

[fishonjazz]

MSN

It’s one of the most-aired ads of the 2024 election: Buddy, a Black man from Allentown, Pennsylvania, watches on a tablet as former President Donald Trump tells a crowd at a fundraiser: “I know about 20 of you, and you’re rich as hell. We’re gonna give you tax cuts.”

“In 2016, Trump was able to convince some voters he wasn’t Republican on abortion, Social Security and taxes,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist involved at the top levels of both the 2016 and 2024 races. “But he can’t in 2024 because he now has a record on all of them: tax breaks for the rich, cuts to Social Security and overturning Roe v. Wade. His ability to disown the Republican brand doesn’t work anymore.”

The result, as Ferguson put it: “He’s blended the policy agenda of Paul Ryan and the character of Caligula.” (I love that line lol)

 

[Al-O-Meter]

Signs of the Times in Pennsylvania

A dispatch from the heart of the heart of a swing state.

www.thenation.com

 

[Red]

Some would prefer to claim these generals turned against Trump because….military industrial complex: these guys are warmongers and know Trump will end wars. Warmongering generals want more war!

That’s a pretty ignorant interpretation. Personally, way too late to be ID’ing Trump as a fascist. Way too late. Hell, I recognized it the very day he descended the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015, and created a scapegoat, migrants from south of the border, upon which disaffected Americans could hang the blame for all their problems. Just a bit too late for Kelly, Milley, and others to be pointing out what was as clear- as-day obvious for years: the man has the mindset of a hate mongering fascist.

We don’t need fascism in the United States. It never helps. But, it is too late to make a difference two weeks before an election where 99+% must have made up their minds by now. But, holy smokes, one more opportunity for yours truly to use the dreaded F word, lol….

Several good videos in this piece. Glad this is happening, even if it is a meaningless effort, IMO.

Opinion | Don’t ignore John Kelly’s warning about Trump

The retired Marine general and former White House chief of staff knows what he’s talking about when he warns about his former boss’ unfitness for office.

www.msnbc.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

... said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist involved at the top levels of both the 2016 and 2024 races....

Their authority is a Democratic strategist who was involved in the 2016 campaign where they lost, and now in 2024 where they are losing. That is a great find Fish!

 

[fishonjazz]

But of course.... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=a75eba23cdce4b60918cf465b22972e2&ei=89

A former deputy Palm Beach County sheriff who fled to Moscow and became one of the Kremlin’s most prolific propagandists is working directly with Russian military intelligence to pump out deepfakes and circulate misinformation that targets Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, according to Russian documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.

The documents show that John Mark Dougan, who also served in the U.S. Marines and has long claimed to be working independently of the Russian government, was provided funding by an officer from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service. Some of the payments were made after fake news sites he created began to have difficulty accessing Western artificial intelligence systems this spring and he needed an AI generator — a tool that can be prompted to create text, photos and video.

Dougan’s liaison at the GRU is a senior figure in Russian military intelligence working under the cover name Yury Khoroshevsky, the documents show. The officer’s real name is Yury Khoroshenky, though he is referred to only as Khoroshevsky in the documents, and he serves in the GRU’s Unit 29155, which oversees sabotage, political interference operations and cyberwarfare targeting the West, according to two European security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The more than 150 documents — which were shared with The Post to demonstrate the extent of Russian interference through Dougan and focus mostly on the period between March 2021 and August 2024 — for the first time expose some of the inner workings of a network that researchers and intelligence officials say has become the most potent source of fake news emanating from Russia and targeting American voters over the past year.

Disinformation researchers say Dougan’s network was probably behind a recent viral fake video smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz, which U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday was created by Russia. It received nearly 5 million views on X in less than 24 hours, Microsoft said.

Dougan is responsible for content on dozens of fake news sites with names such as DC Weekly, Chicago Chronicle and Atlanta Observer, according to the documents and disinformation researchers. In the months that followed his reboot with the new GRU-facilitated server and AI generator, the sites and fake news videos spread by Dougan and his associates have produced some of the most viral Russian disinformation targeting Harris, according to Microsoft and NewsGuard, including a deepfake audio in August that purported to show Barack Obama implying that the Democrats had ordered the July assassination attempt against Donald Trump.


Most recently, Dougan was the initial source for a false claim behind the viral fake video that alleged Walz abused a student at the high school where he taught, and NewsGuard believes Dougan’s network may be behind its further dissemination. Eleven days before a video appeared with what NewsGuard says was probably an AI-generated persona claiming to be a former Walz student.

Other Kremlin-directed efforts to sway the U.S. presidential election have included the Doppelgänger campaign run by Kremlin political strategists that was recently targeted by the Department of Justice for its cloning of legitimate news outlets, including Fox News and The Post — a Russian operation about which The Post had previously reported. The Justice Department has also accused RT, the Russian state media outlet, of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to American social media influencers to parrot Kremlin talking points.

Fake news indeed.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

Some would prefer to claim these generals turned against Trump because….military industrial complex: these guys are warmongers and know Trump will end wars. Warmongering generals want more war!

That’s a pretty ignorant interpretation. Personally, way too late to be ID’ing Trump as a fascist. Way too late. Hell, I recognized it the very day he descended the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015, and created a scapegoat, migrants from south of the border, upon which disaffected Americans could hang the blame for all their problems. Just a bit too late for Kelly, Milley, and others to be pointing out what was as clear- as-day obvious for years: the man has the mindset of a hate mongering fascist.

We don’t need fascism in the United States. It never helps. But, it is too late to make a difference two weeks before an election where 99+% must have made up their minds by now. But, holy smokes, one more opportunity for yours truly to use the dreaded F word, lol….

Several good videos in this piece. Glad this is happening, even if it is a meaningless effort, IMO.

Opinion | Don’t ignore John Kelly’s warning about Trump

The retired Marine general and former White House chief of staff knows what he’s talking about when he warns about his former boss’ unfitness for office.

www.msnbc.com

That is great except that he was already President for four years and nothing like 1930's Italy or Germany happened. We are actually closer to world war now than we were when Trump was in office and everyone knows it. Thanks Democrats.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

But of course.... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=a75eba23cdce4b60918cf465b22972e2&ei=89

A former deputy Palm Beach County sheriff who fled to Moscow and became one of the Kremlin’s most prolific propagandists is working directly with Russian military intelligence to pump out deepfakes and circulate misinformation that targets Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, according to Russian documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.

The documents show that John Mark Dougan, who also served in the U.S. Marines and has long claimed to be working independently of the Russian government, was provided funding by an officer from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service. Some of the payments were made after fake news sites he created began to have difficulty accessing Western artificial intelligence systems this spring and he needed an AI generator — a tool that can be prompted to create text, photos and video.

Dougan’s liaison at the GRU is a senior figure in Russian military intelligence working under the cover name Yury Khoroshevsky, the documents show. The officer’s real name is Yury Khoroshenky, though he is referred to only as Khoroshevsky in the documents, and he serves in the GRU’s Unit 29155, which oversees sabotage, political interference operations and cyberwarfare targeting the West, according to two European security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The more than 150 documents — which were shared with The Post to demonstrate the extent of Russian interference through Dougan and focus mostly on the period between March 2021 and August 2024 — for the first time expose some of the inner workings of a network that researchers and intelligence officials say has become the most potent source of fake news emanating from Russia and targeting American voters over the past year.

Disinformation researchers say Dougan’s network was probably behind a recent viral fake video smearing Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz, which U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday was created by Russia. It received nearly 5 million views on X in less than 24 hours, Microsoft said.

Dougan is responsible for content on dozens of fake news sites with names such as DC Weekly, Chicago Chronicle and Atlanta Observer, according to the documents and disinformation researchers. In the months that followed his reboot with the new GRU-facilitated server and AI generator, the sites and fake news videos spread by Dougan and his associates have produced some of the most viral Russian disinformation targeting Harris, according to Microsoft and NewsGuard, including a deepfake audio in August that purported to show Barack Obama implying that the Democrats had ordered the July assassination attempt against Donald Trump.


Most recently, Dougan was the initial source for a false claim behind the viral fake video that alleged Walz abused a student at the high school where he taught, and NewsGuard believes Dougan’s network may be behind its further dissemination. Eleven days before a video appeared with what NewsGuard says was probably an AI-generated persona claiming to be a former Walz student.

Other Kremlin-directed efforts to sway the U.S. presidential election have included the Doppelgänger campaign run by Kremlin political strategists that was recently targeted by the Department of Justice for its cloning of legitimate news outlets, including Fox News and The Post — a Russian operation about which The Post had previously reported. The Justice Department has also accused RT, the Russian state media outlet, of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to American social media influencers to parrot Kremlin talking points.

Fake news indeed.

Why is every story you post from MSN? I'm not meaning to demean or offend, but do you get news from other sources?

 

[Al-O-Meter]

MSN

A majority of Americans think it would be “wrong” for Donald Trump to have the Justice Department drop federal charges against him if he wins back the White House.

Legal observers say there's no chance a Trump Justice Department would continue the two federal cases he has asked judges to dismiss as a "witch hunt" led by a prosecutor he calls "deranged." But nearly 58% of likely voters who responded to the poll said it would be "wrong" for Trump to direct the department to drop the charges, compared to 30% saying it would be the "right" thing to do.

It doesn't matter. If Trump wins the election to become the President, that would be his second term which means he can't run again and doesn't need to worry about things like approval rating. He should do what is right and stomp out the politically motivated corruption of the DOJ.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

The result, as Ferguson put it: “He’s blended the policy agenda of Paul Ryan and the character of Caligula.” (I love that line lol)

Most will tell you they vote for Trump because of his policy, not his character.

 

[Bucknutz]

Most will tell you they vote for Trump because of his policy, not his character.

This is what most of the left wing posters here don't understand. They can't separate the 2 things.

 

[PJF]

View: https://x.com/RealMacReport/status/1849442967058043173

 

[Red]

A short reminder on how MAGA will always be the enemy of education….and is busy damaging a good education in the United States. Florida leads the way of course.

US public schools burned up nearly $3.2bn fending off rightwing culture attacks – report

Researchers surveyed 467 schools and found funds for learning improvements were diverted to security, PR and attorneys in wake of targeting

www.theguardian.com

 

[Al-O-Meter]

A short reminder on how MAGA will always be the enemy of education….and is busy damaging a good education in the United States. Florida leads the way of course.

US public schools burned up nearly $3.2bn fending off rightwing culture attacks – report

Researchers surveyed 467 schools and found funds for learning improvements were diverted to security, PR and attorneys in wake of targeting

www.theguardian.com

If your idea of "education" is to allow teachers to give illustrated gay porn to elementary-aged children, then I agree that Trump's supporters will continue to be the enemy of that "education". It doesn't matter how many times pedophiles scream about books being banned, I don't see resistance to that idea going anywhere. If anything, I see the pendulum swinging back with some ferocity. In interviews, Kamala will no longer stand behind statements she made regarding support for fostering sexual identity in children. In the Senate debate between Ted Cruz and Colin Allred, Cruz had been hammering Allred on statements, votes, and documents Allred had signed on the sexualization of children. Colin Allred looked straight at the camera to say he didn't believe any of those things.

Public schools were stupid to have spent so much money defending it. Let children be children.

 

[fishonjazz]

This is what most of the left wing posters here don't understand. They can't separate the 2 things.

I understand it, just disagree with it. I have liked some of trumps policy. Like his stance on immigration. I know that any other republican would go hard on immigration. trump isn't needed for that. trump isn't needed to go against abortion. Any republican candidate would be against abortion. Same with taxes on the wealthy. Any republican candidate would be cool with helping the rich out. Desantis and Haley and many other republican candidates want the same type of policies as trump does. Those other candidates dont hate the democrats enough though. They aren't entertaining enough. They have no chance against how loud trump is. How in everyones face he is. Trump isn't the republican nominee due to policy. He is the nominee because the voters believe he can fight the deep state and drain the swamp. (not realizing he is the deep state and is the swamp) The most fervent are the ones who vote in primaries. They care little about policy. They could have the policy without the horrible character. Governing in the US is a group effort. Congress is involved. They want the horrible character though.