USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

«‹›201 »

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Can't post for 2 hours!

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Maybe they're mad it can't go be with the three balloons the Chinese sent over during the Trump administration.

Again, this doesn't matter. It won't ever matter.

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

There were a lot of them but the government did a good job keeping it quiet so it's been downplayed. They weren't going to strategically bomb cities with the things but they could start some big rear end forest fires.

Hey since it's Black History Month, here's some black paratroopers that were running around to defuse the bombs and put out the fires:

https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/01/22/376973981/how-black-smokejumpers-helped-save-the-american-west

I think one of the bombs managed to get as far as Michigan and kill somebody (?).

Apparently one of those bombs actually significantly disrupted the Manhattan Project, which has to be one of those million-to-one chances.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 05:26

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 15:37

Shooting Blanks: Jun 6, 2007; Real bullets mess up how cool this thing looks.

-Blade

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Maybe they're mad it can't go be with the three balloons the Chinese sent over during the Trump administration.

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Again, this doesn't matter. It won't ever matter.

Apparently the balloons that flew over during the Trump admin were never detected, according to this article.

Politico posted:

The Biden administration is willing to brief former Trump officials on newly discovered intelligence that China sent spy balloons into U.S. airspace during their time in charge.

The offer, described by senior Biden administration officials on Sunday night, comes as former President Donald Trump and senior members of his national security team say they were never briefed on such an incursion by a Beijing-sent aircraft.

�This information was discovered after the prior administration left. The intelligence community is prepared to offer key officials from the Trump administration briefings on [China�s] surveillance program,� one of the officials said. The official, along with several others, asked not to be named in order to discuss sensitive information.

It still doesn't matter, and I'm not entirely sure why the Biden admin is willing to brief Trump folks on it. It's not like there will be any substantial change in their public statements, instead of "This never happened under Trump!" it would have been "We'd have shot them down had we known about it at the time!" until nobody asks the question any more.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 06:25

Rocko Bonaparte: Mar 12, 2002; Every day is Friday!

Huh. I figured there was some effort to make sure Trump didn't know. He'd have ordered it show down ASAP and killed somebody in the debris, escalating everything.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 08:26

Captain Oblivious: Oct 12, 2007; I'm not like other posters

Paracaidas posted:

One of the lesser-heralded aspects of the recent IRA was the shift to "direct pay" for renewable energy tax credits. These are a substantial change for public and nonprofit utilities: Prior to the change, tax credits did little for these orgs because they had no tax liability to be offset by the credits. As Ryan Cooper notes in the February edition of The American Prospect, direct pay eliminates that hurdle.

Things are dragging a bit as the IRS and Treasury work to get out guidance (probably next month)-which is slowing adoption:

A few other things the administration can do to ensure as much takeup as possible before future congresses and administrations work to knife the program:

Finally, an interesting look at the shitheadery of the TVA with a bit of reason for optimism"

TVA is not wrong in the macro-sense even if they're wrong in the context of Tennessee's specific grid. There is a tendency to assume, out of ideological loyalty, that energy is as simple as 'throw nuclear at it' but nuclear plants are spectacular for baseload and terrible for scaling up and down. Long start ups and shut downs make them an absolute bear to utilize in conjunction with renewables because of the repeatedly noted inconsistency. So how do you solve that? Well, ideally, batteries. But we are nowhere near batteries that can make that work. So how do you get from point A to point B? Natural gas peaker plants, basically. There's not much in the way of realistic alternatives.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 09:58

Elias_Maluco: Aug 23, 2007; I need to sleep

Discussing a Chinese invasion as a real possibility (when is actually the USA who has been seriously discussing attacking China for years) is the most American thing

Never change, yankees

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Feb 6, 2023 13:06

BrainDance: May 8, 2007; Disco all night long!

Epic High Five posted:

I'm going to kick anybody's rear end who reveals that the public face of their ideology is this high schooler in an anarchist symbol jacket poo poo from this point on. I know I've talked to half of you personally elsewhere about this stuff. Get your uneventful Sunday kicks elsewhere or refine your pitch a BIT more maybe.

but my ideology is high schooler in an anarchist symbol jacket

# ? Feb 6, 2023 13:43

Edgar Allen Ho: Apr 3, 2017; by sebmojo

Elias_Maluco posted:

Discussing a Chinese invasion as a real possibility (when is actually the USA who has been seriously discussing attacking China for years) is the most American thing

Never change, yankees

one driveby shitpost going "please save me president Xi I am leftist like you" and then getting mocked isn't exactly a serious discussion but if it helps you feel better than dumb yanks do you I guess

# ? Feb 6, 2023 14:04

Leon Sumbitches: Mar 27, 2010; Dr. Leon Adoso Sumbitches (prounounced soom-'beh-cheh) (born January 21, 1935) is heir to the legendary Adoso family oil fortune.

Fortaleza posted:

Chinese troops occupying Tibet wound up being a massive improvement, why would this hypothetical situation be any different

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

I know the poster has already been probated, but for the benefit of everyone else:

Tibetan monks, nuns, and laity are still publicly self-immolating in protest of Chinese occupation. The cultural genocide of the Tibetan Plateau continues apace, with millions of Chinese tourists traveling annually to see newly reconstructed Buddhist temples and museums dedicated to historic revisionism.

The temples were reconstructed after they were originally destroyed by CCP to repress authentic spiritual practice. Now each rebuilt temple is under constant surveillance and strict limits for practicing Tibetan Buddhists including how many and from which geologic region. Checkpoints on all major roads (there aren't a lot!) keep people geographically isolated unless they have specific reasons to travel. All rural farmers have been moved to crowded cities against their will. Just across the street from Potala Palace, which has been ransacked and whose treasures have been stolen and sold, the CCP have erected a massive monument to Chinese occupation.

Teenagers now prefer Chinese food, music, culture to their own, due to immense pressure from the CCP. I think that within a generation authentic Tibetan culture will be lost. It will be replaced by karaoke bars and rich coastal tourists and the world will be poorer for it. It goes on and on.

This is genocide, happening slowly over decades, but genocide is genocide and gently caress anyone who says otherwise.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Feb 6, 2023 14:52

BRJurgis: Aug 15, 2007; Well I hear the thunder roll, I feel the cold winds blowing...
But you won't find me there, 'cause I won't go back again...
While you're on smoky roads, I'll be out in the sun...
Where the trees still grow, where they count by one...

BrainDance posted:

but my ideology is high schooler in an anarchist symbol jacket

When I was I high school I was an establishment type Democrat who resented my peers lack of interest or engagement in political matters, and thought republicans should be jailed.

Now, anarchist jacket is close enough to my ideology... and it definitely feels like progress.

Speaking of anarchism, can't we just, yknow, dislike all the global superpower states?

# ? Feb 6, 2023 14:57

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Shooting down some earlier speculation, Mayor Pete confirms that he will not run for the Senate seat in Michigan.

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1622244108478595074

The current Democrats who have expressed interest are:

- Elissa Slotkin
- Jocelyn Benson
- Garlin Gilchrist
- Brenda Lawrence

# ? Feb 6, 2023 15:20

Staluigi: Jun 22, 2021

BRJurgis posted:

Speaking of anarchism, can't we just, yknow, dislike all the global superpower states?

Only after dealing with the whole thing where there's a "the only moral conservative imperialism is my conservative imperialism" crowd for each single one

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:13

Judgy Fucker: Mar 24, 2006

BRJurgis posted:

Speaking of anarchism, can't we just, yknow, dislike all the global superpower states?

Global superpower states exist in an anarchic international system. Putin, Xi, and Biden all have their crusty black jackets with the circumscribed "A" patch on under their suits.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:19

Blue Footed Booby: Oct 4, 2006; got those happy feet

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Again, this doesn't matter. It won't ever matter.

...

I'm not sure what you think I was saying, but it sure as poo poo wasn't "maybe this will change Republicans tune." Thanks for calling me a moron, tho

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:24

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

BRJurgis posted:

Speaking of anarchism, can't we just, yknow, dislike all the global superpower states?

No? Big daddy Xi will come and own the libs and fix my life

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:29

Kalit: Nov 6, 2006; The great thing about the thousands of slaughtered Palestinian children is that they can't pull away when you fondle them or sniff their hair.

That's a Biden success story.

Judgy Fucker posted:

Global superpower states exist in an anarchic international system. Putin, Xi, and Biden all have their crusty black jackets with the circumscribed "A" patch on under their suits.

Now I'm imagining them in a crust punk band together. However, they only cover Anti-Flag songs.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 16:30

Killer robot: Sep 6, 2010; I was having the most wonderful dream. I think you were in it!; Pillbug

Still not catching the people who shot electrical stations, but they caught people planning to.

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/sarah-beth-clendaniel-fbi-energy-substation-plot-KLTNJHK3FNBG5JHT7THIR3GQAY/

(with the usual caveat that you never know if the Feds suggested it first or not, but it's a couple of Nazis either way.)

# ? Feb 6, 2023 17:58

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

The New Yorker has a piece out about Salman Rushdie and it includes the first pictures since his attack several months ago.

The article is incredibly long, so I am just quoting the first few paragraphs. But, it gives a really interesting look at the many assassination attempts on his life, why the most recent one was the only semi-successful one, and how he is recovering.

After treatment, he has the following permanent injuries:

- Lost right eye.
- Partially paralyzed left arm.
- Scarred and partially paralyzed right side of the face.
- Lost use of right hand.
- Permanent damage to liver.

The rest were all flesh wounds or able to be treated.

Somehow, it simultaneously seems really bad and also looks surprisingly good for being stabbed 12 times.

quote:

The Defiance of Salman Rushdie

After a near-fatal stabbing�and decades of threats�the novelist speaks about writing as a death-defying act.

When Salman Rushdie turned seventy-five, last summer, he had every reason to believe that he had outlasted the threat of assassination. A long time ago, on Valentine�s Day, 1989, Iran�s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared Rushdie�s novel �The Satanic Verses� blasphemous and issued a fatwa ordering the execution of its author and �all those involved in its publication.� Rushdie, a resident of London, spent the next decade in a fugitive existence, under constant police protection. But after settling in New York, in 2000, he lived freely, insistently unguarded. He refused to be terrorized.

There were times, though, when the lingering threat made itself apparent, and not merely on the lunatic reaches of the Internet. In 2012, during the annual autumn gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, I joined a small meeting of reporters with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, and I asked him if the multimillion-dollar bounty that an Iranian foundation had placed on Rushdie�s head had been rescinded. Ahmadinejad smiled with a glint of malice. �Salman Rushdie, where is he now?� he said. �There is no news of him. Is he in the United States? If he is in the U.S., you shouldn�t broadcast that, for his own safety.�

Within a year, Ahmadinejad was out of office and out of favor with the mullahs. Rushdie went on living as a free man. The years passed. He wrote book after book, taught, lectured, travelled, met with readers, married, divorced, and became a fixture in the city that was his adopted home. If he ever felt the need for some vestige of anonymity, he wore a baseball cap.

Recalling his first few months in New York, Rushdie told me, �People were scared to be around me. I thought, The only way I can stop that is to behave as if I�m not scared. I have to show them there�s nothing to be scared about.� One night, he went out to dinner with Andrew Wylie, his agent and friend, at Nick & Toni�s, an extravagantly conspicuous restaurant in East Hampton. The painter Eric Fischl stopped by their table and said, �Shouldn�t we all be afraid and leave the restaurant?�

�Well, I�m having dinner,� Rushdie replied. �You can do what you like.�

Fischl hadn�t meant to offend, but sometimes there was a tone of derision in press accounts of Rushdie�s �indefatigable presence on the New York night-life scene,� as Laura M. Holson put it in the Times. Some people thought he should have adopted a more austere posture toward his predicament. Would Solzhenitsyn have gone onstage with Bono or danced the night away at Moomba?

For Rushdie, keeping a low profile would be capitulation. He was a social being and would live as he pleased. He even tried to render the fatwa ridiculous. Six years ago, he played himself in an episode of �Curb Your Enthusiasm� in which Larry David provokes threats from Iran for mocking the Ayatollah while promoting his upcoming production �Fatwa! The Musical.� David is terrified, but Rushdie�s character assures him that life under an edict of execution, though it can be �scary,� also makes a man alluring to women. �It�s not exactly you, it�s the fatwa wrapped around you, like sexy pixie dust!� he says.

With every public gesture, it appeared, Rushdie was determined to show that he would not merely survive but flourish, at his desk and on the town. �There was no such thing as absolute security,� he wrote in his third-person memoir, �Joseph Anton,� published in 2012. �There were only varying degrees of insecurity. He would have to learn to live with that.� He well understood that his demise would not require the co�rdinated efforts of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Hezbollah; a cracked loner could easily do the job. �But I had come to feel that it was a very long time ago, and that the world moves on,� he told me.

In September, 2021, Rushdie married the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, whom he�d met six years earlier, at a pen event. It was his fifth marriage, and a happy one. They spent the pandemic together productively. By last July, Rushdie had made his final corrections on a new novel, titled �Victory City.�

One of the sparks for the novel was a trip decades ago to the town of Hampi, in South India, the site of the ruins of the medieval Vijayanagara empire. �Victory City,� which is presented as a recovered medieval Sanskrit epic, is the story of a young girl named Pampa Kampana, who, after witnessing the death of her mother, acquires divine powers and conjures into existence a glorious metropolis called Bisnaga, in which women resist patriarchal rule and religious tolerance prevails, at least for a while. The novel, firmly in the tradition of the wonder tale, draws on Rushdie�s readings in Hindu mythology and in the history of South Asia.

�The first kings of Vijayanagara announced, quite seriously, that they were descended from the moon,� Rushdie said. �So when these kings, Harihara and Bukka, announce that they�re members of the lunar dynasty, they�re basically associating themselves with those great heroes. It�s like saying, �I�ve descended from the same family as Achilles.� Or Agamemnon. And so I thought, Well, if you could say that, I can say anything.�

# ? Feb 6, 2023 19:30

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Another set of Democratic elected officials and party members are trying to kill Kamala's potential 2028 campaign before it even begins.

Lots of knives coming out for her now. Honestly, not sure why right now. The article says some of them were getting started months ago because they weren't sure if Biden would run or not, but now that the uncertainty is over, a bunch more people are coming out anonymously after her.

Her aides are also going on record saying that Biden is kneecapping her (either unintentionally through neglect or intentionally) and many prominent black women are upset that there are people moving to kill her campaign before it ever starts.

This sentence is pretty brutal:

quote:

Even some Democrats whom her own advisers referred reporters to for supportive quotes confided privately that they had lost hope in her.

The details are worth reading and it is a fairly substantial article.

https://twitter.com/nickconfessore/status/1622666646987972614

quote:

Kamala Harris Is Trying to Define Her Vice Presidency. Even Her Allies Are Tired of Waiting.

WASHINGTON � Kamala Harris was frustrated. The text of a speech she had been given to deliver in Chicago to the nation�s biggest teachers� union was just another dreary, scripted talk that said little of any consequence.

As Air Force Two made its way to the Midwest over the summer, the vice president told her staff she wanted to say something more significant, more direct. She brandished a Rolling Stone magazine article about the backlash against Florida school officials after new legislation barring the discussion of gender identity in the classroom.

The teachers she was about to address were on the front lines of the nation�s culture wars, Ms. Harris told her staff. They were the same ones on the front lines of school shootings. Just blandly ticking through federal funding for education would not be enough. The plane was just an hour out from Chicago, but she said they needed to start over.

By the time she landed, she had a more spirited version of the speech in hand, accusing �extremist so-called leaders� in the Republican Party of taking away rights and freedoms.

Ms. Harris�s small airborne rebellion that day encapsulated the trap that she finds herself in. She has already made history as the first woman, the first African American and the first Asian American ever to serve as vice president, but she has still struggled to define her role much beyond that legacy.

Her staff notes that she has made strides, emerging as a strong voice in the administration on abortion rights. She has positioned herself as a more visible advocate for the administration, giving a speech last week at the funeral for Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old who was beaten by Memphis police officers. And her critics and detractors alike acknowledge that the vice presidency is intended to be a supporting role, and many of her predecessors have labored to make themselves relevant, as well.

But the painful reality for Ms. Harris is that in private conversations over the last few months, dozens of Democrats in the White House, on Capitol Hill and around the nation � including some who helped put her on the party�s 2020 ticket � said she had not risen to the challenge of proving herself as a future leader of the party, much less the country. Even some Democrats whom her own advisers referred reporters to for supportive quotes confided privately that they had lost hope in her.

Through much of the fall, a quiet panic set in among key Democrats about what would happen if President Biden opted not to run for a second term. Most Democrats interviewed, who insisted on anonymity to avoid alienating the White House, said flatly that they did not think Ms. Harris could win the presidency in 2024. Some said the party�s biggest challenge would be finding a way to sideline her without inflaming key Democratic constituencies that would take offense.

Now with Mr. Biden appearing all but certain to run again, the concern over Ms. Harris has shifted to whether she will be a political liability for the ticket. Given that Mr. Biden at 80 is already the oldest president in American history, Republicans would most likely make Ms. Harris, who is 58, a prime attack line, arguing that a vote for Mr. Biden may in fact be a vote to put her in the Oval Office.

�That will be in my opinion one of the most hard-hitting arguments against Biden,� said John Morgan, a prominent fund-raiser for Democrats, including Mr. Biden, and a former Florida finance chairman for President Bill Clinton. �It doesn�t take a genius to say, �Look, with his age, we have to really think about this.��

So far, he said, she has not distinguished herself.

�I can�t think of one thing she�s done except stay out of the way and stand beside him at certain ceremonies,� he said.

Some 39 percent of Americans approve of Ms. Harris�s job performance, according to a recent aggregate of surveys compiled by the polling site FiveThirtyEight. This puts her below Mr. Biden�s approval rating, which has hovered around 42 percent for the past month.

Ms. Harris�s allies said she was trapped in a damned-if-she-does, damned-if-she-doesn�t conundrum � she is expected to not do anything to overshadow Mr. Biden while navigating intractable issues he has assigned her such as voting rights and illegal immigration. And some see a double standard applied to a prominent woman of color.

�That�s what being a first is all about,� said Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina and one of the nation�s most prominent Black lawmakers, who has been an outspoken supporter. �She�s got to work every day to make sure she�s not the last.�

While Mr. Biden was quoted in a new book by Chris Whipple, �The Fight of His Life,� calling Ms. Harris a �work in progress,� the White House defended her when asked for comment, forwarding a statement from Ron Klain, the president�s departing chief of staff who has been her most important internal ally.

Mr. Klain, who served as chief of staff to two vice presidents, said that those who hold that post often �take grief� but go on �to prove skeptics wrong.� He cited Ms. Harris�s outspoken support for abortion rights and her international trips. �She has done all that operating under high expectations,� he added, noting her status as various firsts. �She carries these expectations not as a burden but with grace and an understanding of how much her history-making role inspires others.�

Ms. Harris has a fresh opportunity to find her footing with the arrival of the new Congress. Because the Senate was split evenly for the last two years, Ms. Harris has cast 26 tiebreaking votes in her role as president of the Senate, more than any vice president since John C. Calhoun, who left office in 1832. Tethered to Washington, she could never be more than 24 hours away from the Capitol when the Senate was in session in case her vote was needed.

With Democrats now holding a 51-to-49 edge, at least in cases when Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the rogue Democrat-turned-independent, votes with them, Ms. Harris has a little more breathing space. She has told her staff that she wants to make at least three out-of-town trips a week in the coming year.

No one feels the frustration of being underestimated more acutely than Ms. Harris, but she makes a point of not exhibiting it publicly. In an interview with The New York Times while she was in Japan last fall, she tried to explain her own political identity.

�You got to know what you stand for and, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for,� Ms. Harris said.

What that translates to in tangible terms is less clear. After her disastrous interview with Lester Holt of NBC News in June 2021, in which she struggled to articulate the administration�s strategy for securing the border, White House officials � including some in her own office � noted that she all but went into a bunker for about a year, avoiding many interviews out of what aides said was a fear of making mistakes and disappointing Mr. Biden.

Members of Congress, Democratic strategists and other major party figures all said she had not made herself into a formidable leader. Two Democrats recalled private conversations in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented that Ms. Harris could not win because she does not have the political instincts to clear a primary field. Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, said she was strongly supportive of Ms. Harris and often spoke with her about shared experiences of being �a woman in power.� He added: �They have built and maintained a strong bond. Any other characterization is patently false.�

Advisers and allies trace Ms. Harris�s challenges to her transition from the lawyerly prosecutor she used to be as district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California into a job where symbolism and politics are prioritized.

Aides have encouraged her to liberate herself from the teleprompter and show the nation the Ms. Harris they say they see when the cameras are off, one who can cross-examine policymakers on the intricacies of legislative proposals and connect with younger voters across the country.

Ms. Harris has acknowledged her reservations about leaning into the more symbolic aspects of her current position.

�My bias has always been to speak factually, to speak accurately, to speak precisely about issues and matters that have potentially great consequence,� she said in the interview in Japan. �I find it off-putting to just engage in platitudes. I much prefer to deconstruct an issue and speak of it in a way that hopefully elevates public discourse and educates the public.�

Ms. Harris finds herself navigating the unique dynamics of being a woman of color in a job previously filled only by men. In planning meetings before she travels abroad, officials from foreign governments have proposed meetings or public appearances with the first lady of the country Ms. Harris is visiting. Her staff rebuffs those proposals, saying the vice president is not visiting as a spouse but as the second-ranking official of the United States, according to current and former White House officials.

There are more mundane hiccups, as well. Jamal Simmons, who recently stepped down as communications director for the vice president, said he learned that the desk chairs in her office needed to be changed to suit Ms. Harris � who stands about 5-foot-2 � instead of the �average male height� of her predecessors. �She forces us to recalibrate our assumptions,� Mr. Simmons said.

Ms. Harris has, at times, expressed hesitation to become the face of certain issues. When the Biden administration confronted a shortage of baby formula across the nation last year, Ms. Harris declined a request by the West Wing to highlight efforts to solve the problem by meeting a shipment of formula at Washington Dulles International Airport, an incident first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by one current and two former administration officials. Instead, Jill Biden, the first lady, ended up appearing alongside the surgeon general when the shipment arrived from overseas. (Nearly a month later, Ms. Harris did agree to meet one of the shipments.)

Ms. Harris disputes the idea that she is concerned about being assigned � or pursuing � certain tasks solely because of her gender or identity.

�I�m fully aware of stereotypes, but I will tell you something: I�ve never been burdened by a sense of �I should not do something that�s important because I will be pigeonholed,�� Ms. Harris said during the interview in Japan. She said she had pursued the abortion rights issue, for example, �because I feel it is one of the biggest tragedies that has happened at this level of our government in a very long time.�

Ms. Harris often tells senior aides that she feels most comfortable receiving intelligence briefings or addressing law enforcement officials, venues where she says substance is valued over politics. She has directed staff members to ensure that she is making trips to speak about the administration�s accomplishments, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, and not just the multiple crises it faces.

She has also peppered her staff with questions about local abortion access and how the decision overturning Roe v. Wade could lead to criminalization of medical officials.

�She has her prosecutor hat on that way,� said Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood, who has watched the vice president try to distill complex health care issues in a way that �everyday citizens� can understand.

And months after she revised her Chicago speech aboard Air Force Two, Ms. Harris went through nine drafts before delivering a speech in Tallahassee, Fla., on the 50th anniversary of Roe, in which she asked if Americans can ever �truly be free� if a woman cannot make decisions about her own body.

Several attendees said they were encouraged to see a Black woman speaking clearly about how threats to Roe represent a broader threat to civil rights.

It was �very powerful for me to see someone with my likeness in this position in this day and age,� said Sabrita Thurman, 56, who is Black.

Those close to Ms. Harris hope she can move beyond �defensive politics,� said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian who organized a meeting at her residence about the legacy of the vice presidency and will attend another session with her this week.

�President Biden has to give her more leeway to be herself and not make her overly cautious that a mistake, a rhetorical mistake, will cost the party a lot,� Mr. Brinkley said. �It�s better to let Kamala be Kamala.�

# ? Feb 6, 2023 20:32

Name Change: Oct 9, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Another set of Democratic elected officials and party members are trying to kill Kamala's potential 2028 campaign before it even begins.

Lots of knives coming out for her now. Honestly, not sure why right now. The article says some of them were getting started months ago because they weren't sure if Biden would run or not, but now that the uncertainty is over, a bunch more people are coming out anonymously after her.

Her aides are also going on record saying that Biden is kneecapping her (either unintentionally through neglect or intentionally) and many prominent black women are upset that there are people moving to kill her campaign before it ever starts.

This sentence is pretty brutal:

The details are worth reading and it is a fairly substantial article.

https://twitter.com/nickconfessore/status/1622666646987972614

If her campaign dies, it won't be because of any meaningful reason, like her actual politics, but because of that nebulous likeability, which can stem from incompetent campaigning.

All these secret sources also had the shirts printed for Biden's Waterloo in '22, and about the only real influence they seem to have is on the papers.

Similarly I think pundits who have DeSantis penciled in as the Republican nominee are going to get a few free cycles of writing how shocked they are at the inaccuracy of the tea leaves that they themselves put there.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 20:41

Mooseontheloose: May 13, 2003

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Another set of Democratic elected officials and party members are trying to kill Kamala's potential 2028 campaign before it even begins.

i mean, the timing is they want Biden to boot her from the ticket in 2024. they want to pick the next heir apparent for 2028 because they (rightly or wrongly) don't think she has the chops and they are backed into a corner. and someone wants somebody to be the next Vice President.

I think deciding 2 to 6 years before the next election to get rid of her is foolish. If they lose in two years, then she is toast. In 6 years, who the gently caress even knows what that is going to look like in terms of appeal, issues, and voters.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 20:43

Cranappleberry: Jan 27, 2009

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Another set of Democratic elected officials and party members are trying to kill Kamala's potential 2028 campaign before it even begins.

Lots of knives coming out for her now. Honestly, not sure why right now.

speculation, but potentially something going on behind the scenes and people are worried about 2024. Could just be an early start on 2028.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 21:03

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Biden proposing a bunch of good things that will never pass the House (and some of which probably would not pass the current Senate) in his newest budget.

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1622694576795357203
https://twitter.com/arappeport/status/1622694376261488668

quote:

Biden proposes a tax on billionaires as he looks to fund his economic agenda.

President Biden on Monday proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations, outlining several initiatives in his 2023 budget aimed at bringing down the federal budget deficit and closing loopholes that allow the rich to lower their tax bills.

The proposals revive elements of Mr. Biden�s economic agenda that have struggled to gain traction in Congress over the last year, including reversing major components of the 2017 tax law that was passed by Republicans and promoting what Mr. Biden has called economic fairness.

The budget calls for a new tax on American households worth more than $100 million, which would require that they pay a rate of at least 20 percent on their income as well as unrealized gains in the value of their liquid assets, such as stocks, which can accumulate value for years but are taxed only when they are sold.

The �Billionaire Minimum Income Tax� would apply only to the top one-hundredth of 1 percent of American households, and over half of the revenue would come from those worth more than $1 billion. The proposal focuses on taxing unrealized capital gains that are built up over years but are taxed only when sold for a profit. The White House estimates that the new tax would raise about $360 billion in revenue over a decade.

White House officials said the proposal would eliminate loopholes and tax planning strategies that the rich have employed for years to keep their federal tax bills lower than those of many middle-income Americans. It would apply only to those who do not already pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent on their income and unrealized gains. Those who pay below that level would have to pay the difference between their current tax rate and the new 20 percent rate.

Democrats in Congress have considered a variety of different tax proposals that would target the wealthiest Americans, including surtaxes and wealth taxes that sweep in gains from a wide assortment of assets.

The Biden administration emphasized that the proposal is different from the wealth taxes that Democrats such as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have proposed in the past that would impose annual levies on an individual�s accumulated assets. However, the billionaire tax that Mr. Biden is proposing could still face legal challenges, as taxes on unrealized capital gains are different from the income taxes allowed by the 16th Amendment.

The tax idea drew criticism from some conservative groups who argued that it would deter investment.

�Under Biden�s tax proposal, wealthy people would be rewarded for consumption and penalized for reinvesting to grow their businesses,� said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. �Patience and prudence would be punished. The Biden plan would particularly harm leading edge industries that rely on wealthy investors to take the large risks that drive American innovation.�

The White House�s budget also calls for other tax increases on the rich. It would raise the top individual income tax rate to 39.6 percent from 37 percent, reversing the 2017 tax cut ushered in by President Donald J. Trump. A White House official noted that it was the same top rate that was in place during the Obama administration. The rate would apply to unmarried individual taxpayers with income of $400,000 or more and married individuals with income of $450,000 or more, a Treasury official said.

Mr. Biden also proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, a partial rollback of the corporate tax cut in the 2017 law.

The call to increase in the corporate tax rate drew criticism from the retail industry on Monday.

�Leading retailers are extremely disappointed to see a tax plan from the president that revives earlier failed plans to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent,� said Hana Greenberg, vice president of tax at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. �Practically, this tax increase would disproportionally punish retailers who already pay their full freight in corporate taxes.�

All told, the tax proposals amount to a $2.5 trillion tax increase over a decade.

It is unclear whether any of the proposals will be able to gain enough support in Congress to become law. Previous efforts to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations have run into resistance from moderate Democrats, including Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1622681706967838720
Additionally, the main points of the State of the Union address tomorrow:

- No negotiation on debt ceiling.

- Attack Republican investigations, tax plans, and SS/Medicare cuts.

- Push for small bipartisan legislation on paid parental leave, child tax credits, and immigration.

- Make case for re-election by promoting jobs, infrastructure projects to come in 2023 from infrastructure bill, and IRA rebates/Medicare drug rebates to come.

- Hype the stuff at the top of the post as the start of his 2024 campaign and platform for if they take back the House.

- Criticize Russia and call for them to end the war in Ukraine.

- Repeal the Trump tax cuts for income above $400k.

Mostly stuff to kick off a re-election campaign (platform and attacking Republicans) and some small bipartisan bills with a very small chance of passing. Nothing really important from a practical or immediate policy perspective.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 21:52

Lib and let die: Aug 26, 2004

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Biden proposing a bunch of good things that will never pass the House

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/kayfabe/

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Feb 6, 2023 22:01

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

Mooseontheloose posted:

i mean, the timing is they want Biden to boot her from the ticket in 2024. they want to pick the next heir apparent for 2028 because they (rightly or wrongly) don't think she has the chops and they are backed into a corner. and someone wants somebody to be the next Vice President.

Yeah, lots of people would love to be VP to Biden in '25. Probably the best shot since Ford for someone to slide on in to the big chair. It just happens that in addition to other people wanting the gig, Harris does objectively suck rear end on virtually every metric.

quote:

I think deciding 2 to 6 years before the next election to get rid of her is foolish. If they lose in two years, then she is toast. In 6 years, who the gently caress even knows what that is going to look like in terms of appeal, issues, and voters.

She's been a bad choice from the start, and given Biden's age and implied health issues now is the best time to try and get someone else. Win or lose next year, they'll have front runner status in 2028.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 22:07

Staluigi: Jun 22, 2021

It's been great to watch Harris just not have the juice from day 1

# ? Feb 6, 2023 22:10

Mooseontheloose: May 13, 2003

Gyges posted:

She's been a bad choice from the start, and given Biden's age and implied health issues now is the best time to try and get someone else. Win or lose next year, they'll have front runner status in 2028.

Yah, she lacks instincts and at least in 2020 was quite frankly cowardly as a candidate and that is hard to shake.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 22:13

Yawgmoft: Nov 15, 2004

They really dropped the ball not just pushing through with Duckworth.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 22:48

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Yawgmoft posted:

They really dropped the ball not just pushing through with Duckworth.

What is with this board's obsession with Duckworth

She's not FDR guys.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:03

Sub Par: Jul 18, 2001; Dinosaur Gum

FlamingLiberal posted:

What is with this board's obsession with Duckworth

She's not FDR guys.

I think it's as simple as "she's much better than Kamala Harris".

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:13

Yawgmoft: Nov 15, 2004

FlamingLiberal posted:

What is with this board's obsession with Duckworth

She's not FDR guys.

Sorry, I do not know why you think Harris is a better choice than Duckworth, whom multiple members of the Biden team actively wanted to be VP and thus was a real alternative that could have occurred, but I am willing to hear why you prefer Harris.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:14

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Yawgmoft posted:

Sorry, I do not know why you think Harris is a better choice than Duckworth, whom multiple members of the Biden team actively wanted to be VP and thus was a real alternative that could have occurred, but I am willing to hear why you prefer Harris.

Harris sucks rear end, almost anyone would be better than her, but going back to the 2020 primaries a bunch of people here had this obsession with making Duckworth the running mate for some reason.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:20

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

Sub Par posted:

I think it's as simple as "she's much better than Kamala Harris".

Everyone is except for I would say Mayo Pete

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:21

DeadlyMuffin: Jul 3, 2007

FlamingLiberal posted:

What is with this board's obsession with Duckworth

She's not FDR guys.

I think there's a perception that because she's a former soldier she will be immune to many of the attacks the GOP would make.

I'm not saying I agree with it, I don't. I remember how John Kerry was treated.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:29

JosefStalinator: Oct 9, 2007; Come Tbilisi if you want to live.; Grimey Drawer

DeadlyMuffin posted:

I think there's a perception that because she's a former soldier she will be immune to many of the attacks the GOP would make.

I'm not saying I agree with it, I don't. I remember how John Kerry was treated.

These colors (can't) run. :911:

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:31

Queering Wheel: Jun 18, 2011; [url=https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3876906]

DeadlyMuffin posted:

I think there's a perception that because she's a former soldier she will be immune to many of the attacks the GOP would make.

I'm not saying I agree with it, I don't. I remember how John Kerry was treated.

While I think that she would be a better choice than Harris (not a high bar) literally nobody gives a gently caress about a troop.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:34

Medium Chungus: Feb 19, 2012

DeadlyMuffin posted:

I think there's a perception that because she's a former soldier she will be immune to many of the attacks the GOP would make.

I'm not saying I agree with it, I don't. I remember how John Kerry was treated.

"Swiftboating"

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:50

socialsecurity: Aug 30, 2003

The only worse choices then Harris would of been HRC or some reach across the aisle Republican pick.

# ? Feb 6, 2023 23:51

WarpedLichen: Aug 14, 2008

Has Harris done anything objectionable as VP or is this all based on her past positions? Genuinely curious.

# ? Feb 7, 2023 00:01

Gerund: Sep 12, 2007; He push a man

WarpedLichen posted:

Has Harris done anything objectionable as VP or is this all based on her past positions? Genuinely curious.

VP Harris is generally given every poo poo job in the administration, including defending southern border detention camps.

# ? Feb 7, 2023 00:14

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 8, 2024 15:37

Bird in a Blender: Nov 17, 2005; It's amazing what they can do with computers these days.

WarpedLichen posted:

Has Harris done anything objectionable as VP or is this all based on her past positions? Genuinely curious.

Not so much objectionable, but she�s had some pretty bad interviews, and has just done a very bleh job. Really, the only reason to replace Harris is because of the real concern that Biden will die. I don�t think Harris will ever improve her image enough to win the Democratic primary unless she�s already the incumbent.

# ? Feb 7, 2023 00:23

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE Winter 2023: change thread titles constantly, almost on a daily basis

«‹›201 »