CoffeeAddict

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

Labour has written to Rishi Sunak calling for him to hand back £10m in donations from the Conservatives’ biggest ever donor, after it emerged he told colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott made you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot”.

[…]

The businessman, who has given £10m to the Tories in the past year, said in the meeting that he did not hate all black women. But he also said that seeing Abbott, who is Britain’s longest-serving black MP, on TV meant “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there”.

This is disgusting.

People (like Frank Hester) who are willing to say these things out loud often have much worse thoughts and should be kept as far away from power as possible.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

So, this is a good thing for Labour then?

It’s still pretty disconcerting to see nativist rhetoric and conspiracy theories being parroted by a major political figure, though.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

There is also state level research, that shows similar results: researchers at the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, looked into Texas in 2019. They found that undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime.

This reminds me a bit of the flat earthers who set out to prove the world was flat with a test (I believe it was using a laser over some distance, along with some other equipment) but their data ended up being consistent with the world being round.

Anyways, it is disheartening to find that, even when the right does produce data contrary to their claims, they disregard it.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

…I’m tired.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

Nothing to see here, folks.

Just one fascist Putin-puppet meeting with another fascist Putin-puppet for a nice discussion about fascism and what their boss wants.

In all seriousness though, it doesn’t get anymore blatant than this. Orbán has consistently acted in Putin’s interests, and now he is meeting with Trump.

Smh.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

It is a good observation and probably why he is so easily manipulated by dictators. He listens to whatever makes him feel good.

As a side note, I do find it somewhat ironic that a man who is so frustratingly good at manipulating and stirring up a crowd is so easily manipulated himself.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

Some good news after Super Tuesday revealed Trump would definitely be the GOP’s nominee in 2024.

In any event, this would help out the average American and is an indication that the Fed no longer expects inflation to be a problem.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

This is possible, but there are also people who have taken their homes off market (or delayed selling their homes) because of the high interest rates.

Right now, the (homeownership) housing market is in a strange situation where there is simultaneously low-supply and low-demand.

Lowering interest rates will absolutely increase the supply, but also increase the demand; how much it will affect either is speculation beyond my expertise.

The only thing that will lower housing costs is building more supply and changing the expectation that housing should be an investment (which is a major problem to be overcome for housing prices to come down.)

However, it is important to note that outside of mortgage loans, there are still positive effects for the economy - any loan taken within the last few years could be refinanced to the new interest rates.

The economy is driven by the exchange of money from one person to another; lowering interest rates can stimulate that exchange.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

[…] “Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos that always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin.”

“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden added.

The president acknowledged significant policy disagreements between his campaign and those who supported Haley, but he pointed to “fundamental issues” like support for NATO and preserving democracy where the two sides could find common ground.

“We all know this is no ordinary election. And the stakes for America couldn’t be higher,” […]

Emphasis is mine.

Her supporters are definitely to the right of Biden on numerous issues (and definitely to the right of this magazine).

But, I think Biden is correct in that his campaign should do what it can to pull them in, because Trump winning a second term will likely result in the end of NATO, a serious reduction in women’s and reproductive rights, increased danger for immigrants and minorities, the total destruction of Palestine, dooming any hope of curtailing the effects of climate change, and the complete overhaul of the US Federal Government to match the Republicans’ Project 2025 vision for the USA.

This is just a short list of all the terrible things that could happen if Trump wins another term. In short, it would just be bad.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

This is a pretty good assessment.

The only reason AOC, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Schumer, Biden, Obama, Harris, Manchin (and I could go on) are part of the Democratic party is because it is a coalition of anyone who recognizes that the Republicans have gone batshit and dangerously crazy.

If they don’t stand together, they will get steamrolled and things will get a lot worse for everyone.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

It’s pure pragmatism. Stopping Trump, MAGA, and fascism is all that matters in this election. That is why Biden and his team have chosen to extend this olive branch.

The simple fact is that while republicans and conservatives are the not the majority in the United States, their party has been extraordinarily effective at impeding progress and enacting their agenda. They are the party of obstructionism. Any votes we can steal from them, is power we can take away from them.

Without the republicans obstructing them, democrats and liberals would absolutely be more to the left. Right now, they are the party trying to hold everything together and make sure another election is even possible (and not a farce). They’re the big tent.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

Biden’s official stance is a ceasefire and a two-state solution, not genocide.

Trump’s official stance is genocide. He has stated that Israel needs to “finish the problem” and would happily annihilate the Palestinian people. He has never liked Muslims, and views them as a problem.

I am not the biggest fan of how Biden is handling the situation, but like it or not, he is the only thing standing people Palestine and Trump. Biden is absolutely the better alternative.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago)

Not sure if you are referring to Trump & Biden, or Trump & Haley. Haley voters are conservatives who don’t really like Trump and are largely upset with the state of the Republican Party. I know a few, and that’s basically their reasoning.

As for Biden: I want to vote for Biden because he and his coalition actually have a decent legislative track record and:

1. He will not attempt to install a dictatorship
2. He will not end NATO
3. He will not reduce women’s rights
4. He will not make things more difficult for minorities
5. He will not reduce reproductive rights (abortion, contraceptives, and in-vitro-fertilization like the Christo-Fascists want)
6. He will not overhaul the US government to match the Republicans Project 2025
7. He will not hand Ukraine to Russia
8. He will appoint liberal judges and justices
9. He supports expanding voting rights, among other things
10. EDIT: He will also keep the US in the Paris Climate Agreement and work to curtail the effects of climate change.

I do wish he was younger, but he’s not. He was old yesterday, he is old today, and he will be old tomorrow. That won’t change.

I do wish he was handling Israel and Palestine better, but his calling for a ceasefire is far better than Trump, who would be happy to bomb Gaza so hard that it falls off into the Mediterranean. Biden and his Administration are the only one’s standing between Palestine and Trump, who would have no problem destroying them.

His people have also navigated a near-impossible situation which is gradually lower inflation without crashing the economy, while also working to turn Russia's Ukraine war into a total embarrassment for Putin, pushing to and succeeding in expanding NATO, passing a huge infrastructure package to boost America's rail network, capping insulin prices at $35 and all with the tiniest majority imaginable. Imagine what he could do if he had the majorities to amend the constitution?

He is not a perfect person or even a perfect president, but Biden has got a lot done with the tiniest of majorities. That’s why I am voting for him when the time comes.

Edit 1: Clarity
Edit 2: Added point 10 about climate change.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

Then I would suggest voting for Biden.

Even if you are lukewarm on Biden, he will 100% be gone and retired in 4 years. Then we can get a shot at a newer, younger candidate.

On the flip side, Trump and the Republicans, through Project 2025, are going to gut federal government employees and replace them with loyalists. They will make it extremely difficult for anyone who is not a Trump sycophant to be in government.

If Trump wins, he will not leave until he dies and his brand of vitriolic and caustic politics will be here to stay. I would not be surprised if he appointed one of his children as his successor.

Biden is not perfect, but his platform, coalition, and the people he empowers are 100% better than the alternative.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago)

If both parties were sane, then sure - vote third party.

But, voting third party will not help in an election where one side is actually campaigning to eradicate their opponents and literally stormed the capitol building when they didn’t get their way. It would be asinine.

The democrats already are the coalition party filled with people who see how batshit and dangerously crazy the Republicans have gotten - it is precisely why they are so diverse.

The only reason Biden, AOC, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, et al are in the same damn party is they recognize the dangers Trump and his party represent.

If you want things to get much worse for the US and the world, vote Donald Trump. He wants presidential immunity, fewer freedoms, increased difficulty for women and minorities (income-segregated educational opportunities, incredibly unequal wealth inequality, etc), the end of NATO, and other horrible things. Vote anyone but the Biden coalition if you want these things.

If you want to fight things getting worse, or dare to believe in things can get better, vote for Joe Biden.

Edit: grammar and clarity.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

No.
Go browbeat elsewhere, asshole. You are the reason we are where we are now.

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CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

It’s always projection with the Trump party.

They pump themselves full of drugs and then drag Hunter Biden through the mud over his addiction problems.

And let’s not even get started with the whole “War on drugs” they’re such big proponents of.

CoffeeAddict, 3 months ago

McConnell created a monster he couldn’t control, and now he’s been beaten into submission by it. He’s spineless.

His career will end and be remembered as enabling Trump and MAGA.