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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. Fuck, if you weren't tuned into the anti-Islamic bullshit following 9/11, and supported the boycott of French Freedom Fries (and wines), then you should ought to be thoroughly embarrassed.
  2. ^^^This passes as "news".
  3. I'm the same and refuse to listen to his voice, but it was a real deal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wetback
  4. I dunno. Thirty-three years ago, I was making fun of the center-right for not seeing the bigger picture that fascism was coming their way and was the future of their party with Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh leading the charge. During the Obama administration, what was happening was even more evident with astroturfing the racist and xenophobic "Tea Party" movement as an anti-tax movement. Hell, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" was published in 2004. I'm sorry if they didn't see it by then, but that's on them.
  5. I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here. There was a Bill Clinton quote about how Dems fall in love with candidates while Goppers fall in line. Then, there was a clear statement that this axiom doesn't hold true anymore. In fact, it's the opposite today. Trumpers are enthralled with Trump to the point that they'd almost be happy to have him as a dictator as a key point of evidence that they've "fallen in love". Is your comment a criticism? I really don't know what point you're making. Both? Is this a "both sides" statement? We have one side comparing Trump to someone chosen by God, and the other saying, "That'll do, pig. You're holding the line." Believe me, there is no "lust" for Biden from the progressives. I think what he's trying to say is that white Nordic immigration to the US is okay while brown Latin immigration is not. Admittedly, it's a garbled message that doesn't make sense unless you're a racist fuck.
  6. @Goredho I agree with all of that. The problem is Republican obstructionism in Congress that blocks any effort Biden/the Dems might make to actually help them, but those people keep voting against their own self-interest.
  7. I know this is getting repetitious, but the fact that it's beginning to sink this is a cult in with the mainstream press and that they're finally ringing alarm bells is somewhat encouraging. The Most Durable Force in American Politics: Trump’s Ties to His Voters If Donald Trump’s rivals want to stop his rise, they’ll need to break his bond with his supporters. They didn’t come close in Iowa. Bill Clinton once explained the nation’s two political parties by saying that Democrats want to fall in love while Republicans want to fall in line. That adage has not withstood the Trump era. Today, it is Republicans who are besotted. Donald J. Trump’s decisive victory in Iowa revealed a new depth to the reservoir of devotion inside his party. For eight years, he has nurtured a relationship with his supporters with little precedent in politics. He validates them, he entertains them, he speaks for them and he uses them for his political and legal advantage. This connection — a hard-earned bond for some, a cult of personality to others — has unleashed one of the most durable forces in American politics. Iowa Republicans, following the lead of party officials across the country, rallied behind the former president despite a list of reasons to reject him. Republicans lost control of the presidency, the Senate and the House during his four years in office. He failed to deliver the red wave of victories he promised in the 2022 midterms. He has been charged with 91 felonies in four criminal cases this past year. And they stayed with him even as they were offered viable alternatives: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a popular young governor who embraced Mr. Trump’s policies, and Nikki Haley, one of the Deep South’s first female governors, who credibly promised she could win back voters Mr. Trump drove away. Yet in the first chance Americans had to cast judgment on Mr. Trump since he tried to overthrow an election, many Iowa Republicans made clear they don’t judge him. They adore him. “Trump is not a candidate, he’s the leader of a national movement,” said Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker who has advised Mr. Trump. “No one has come to grips with what’s it like to take on the champion of a movement. That’s why even as all these legal issues pile up, it just infuriates his movement and increases their anger unbelievably.” The risks associated with the kind of unusually strong hold Mr. Trump maintains on the party have already emerged. He has encouraged supporters to view him as above fault or defeat, a mindset that can lead to the kind of political violence that shocked the nation during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Elevating charisma over character can open the door to the kind of authoritarianism that Mr. Trump has promised on the campaign trail this past year. “A lot of the people that support Donald Trump really are fed up with democracy, representative democracy, they think that an authoritarian-style government would probably be preferable at this point, in order to save the nation or whatever,” said former Representative Charles Bass, a New Hampshire Republican who previously voted for Mr. Trump, but said he would not do so again. “I don’t think they feel threatened by having somebody who at least has the trappings of being more authoritarian than past presidents.” Although Mr. Trump’s win was resounding, the Iowa results suggest the party remains deeply divided over his return to power. Roughly half of Iowa Republicans voted for one of Mr. Trump’s rivals, including about 20 percent who backed Mr. DeSantis, who finished in second, with Ms. Haley close behind. Republicans who resisted Mr. Trump in Iowa included the party’s youngest voters and anti-abortion-rights conservatives who backed Mr. DeSantis, according to entrance polls. Similarly, Ms. Haley won moderate voters, Republicans who believed Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election, those who support a muscular foreign policy and the segment of the party that prioritized temperament in their choice for a presidential nominee. Party strategists and officials in other states caution against drawing sweeping conclusions from the votes of a narrow slice of Republicans in a small state. As the Republican nominating contest moves to New Hampshire next week, one poll this month showed Ms. Haley within striking distance of Mr. Trump. The state’s voters tend to be more moderate and less religious, suggesting an opening for her. Mr. DeSantis’s ability to threaten Mr. Trump is less clear. He marketed himself to voters as a Trumpian wunderkind, able to deliver America First policies without the drama and chaos that often trail the former president. But MAGA Nation rivals the Queen’s Guard when it comes to standing at the ready to defend their sovereign, and Mr. DeSantis was turned back as Republicans showed they are less interested in policies than they are the man. “I know that he is picked by God for this hour,” said Patricia Lage, an Iowa caucusgoer who spoke in support of Mr. Trump on Monday night in Carlisle, outside Des Moines. “There are things that he has done in the past, but we all have pasts.” Mr. Trump has spent years tending to his voters — taking aim at their shared enemies and anticipating their grievances. He has compulsively tried to ensure that he was never out of step. That preoccupation repeatedly drove his decisions in the White House, from refusing to wear a mask during the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 to his opposition to striking the names of Confederate generals from U.S. military bases. More recently, Mr. Trump has attacked Mr. DeSantis for signing a six-week abortion ban and avoided committing to a federal ban on the procedure, betting that his voters will either agree or forgive him for deviating from a core conservative priority. Perhaps most significantly, he has rallied their support amid unprecedented legal troubles in part by describing the prosecution of him as an attempt to silence them. “You and I have been in this battle side-by-side, together — and we have been taking on the entire corrupt system in Washington like no one has ever done before,” Mr. Trump told Iowa supporters at a rally on Sunday, adding that the political establishment and global elites “are at war with us — we have to fight.” Voter anger at political institutions remains sky-high — a dynamic that explains what appears, at first glance, to be nothing short of a political magic act: The billionaire son of a multimillionaire has become the voice for working-class Americans. “His gift is that the average voter in Iowa, New Hampshire and state after state feels like he connects with them,” said David Bossie, Mr. Trump’s deputy campaign manager in 2016. “He’s a blue-collar billionaire.” Both Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley have tried to weaken Mr. Trump’s ties to his supporters without issuing many direct attacks on Mr. Trump. But the race to emerge as the Trump alternative is becoming increasingly urgent, with limited time for the candidates to cement that standing. Former Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Haley supporter, lamented that much of his party had become “sort of a cult” around Mr. Trump. He still considers himself a Republican, though, and views Mr. Trump as the interloper. “I don’t think Trump’s a Republican,” Mr. Gregg said. “He’s a demagogue.” David Kochel, a longtime Iowa Republican operative opposed to Mr. Trump, said the former president’s bond with his voters was unlikely to be replicated by other candidates. The party has become more populist and anti-establishment, but Mr. Trump’s ability to capitalize on his celebrity status while harnessing the swirling mix of anger at elites, racial grievances and mounting distrust of political, judicial and international institutions was, for now, unique. “He’s a unicorn in our party,” Mr. Kochel said. “Republicans have become more populist and anti-establishment, but that doesn’t mean the party will nominate Majorie Taylor Greene or Jim Jordan next. There’s no going back to the old party.”
  8. This tells me his base is not comprised of civically minded people if he can only get 51% of the vote in Iowa. I don't know how/if that can be leveraged, though, if he remains on the ballot in the general election. But it's scary as fuck that a bunch of in-denial, know-nothing cultists can bring down this country when he gets them into a frothing rage come this fall.
  9. Someone put together a detailed interactive Google map showing who controls what in Yemen as of October. The highlighted symbol in the screenshot supposedly represents a military facility in the Houthi-controlled area. Someone pass it on to the intelligence guys who are having trouble finding targets. /s
  10. We hit them again today. Interesting point made in the last two paragraphs. U.S. strikes Houthi targets in Yemen for a third time. The United States carried out a new military strike against Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles in Yemen on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, the second follow-up attack against the Iran-backed rebel group since a U.S.-led air and naval barrage hit dozens of the Houthi targets last week. The strikes on Tuesday were aimed at four missiles designed to sink ships that were being prepared to fired from their launchers and posed an imminent threat to merchant vessels and Navy ships, two U.S. officials said. The strikes came after the Houthis launched a new round of attacks in shipping lanes critical for global trade over the weekend, damaging a U.S.-owned commercial ship on Monday after attempting to hit an American warship the day before. Residents in the area said on Monday that they saw Houthi missiles being fired from remote and mountainous parts of Mukayras, a Houthi-controlled town in central Yemen, on Friday and Monday. The missiles launched from Mukayras are believed to been aimed at ships south of Aden or in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, while missiles fired from Yemen’s western cities of Hodeidah and Taiz targeted ships south of the Red Sea or off Yemen’s coast. The United States-led strikes on Thursday and Friday were aimed at more than 60 targets in Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia, and damaged or destroyed about 90 percent of the targets that were struck. Still, the group has retained about three-quarters of its ability to fire missiles and drones at ships transiting the Red Sea, two U.S. officials said on Saturday. The Houthis so far have been undeterred by the U.S.-led strikes, vowing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and have said they will continue their attacks until Israel withdraws. On Tuesday, the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Red Sea, hitting the Zografia, a Maltese-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier, a Defense Department official said. The ship’s crew reported no injuries. The vessel remained seaworthy, and continued its journey, the official said. Identifying Houthi targets is proving to be challenging for U.S. forces. American and other Western intelligence agencies have not spent significant time or resources in recent years collecting data on the location of Houthi air defenses, command hubs, munitions depots, and storage and production facilities for drones and missiles, the officials said. U.S. analysts have been rushing to catch up and catalog potential Houthi targets every day, the officials said. American forces are bracing for much larger retaliatory attacks from the Houthis, who began targeting ships after the war in the Gaza Strip began and are preparing escalating responses, senior U.S. military officials said.
  11. Some interesting data to sort through: Turnout was 110,000 votes last night, or 15% of Iowa's 700,000 registered Republicans. This was down 41% from 2016. A total of 8% of registered Republicans voted for Trump. Almost half of those who bothered to show up chose someone other than Trump. $124 million was spent on campaign ads, equalling about $1,100 per vote. Now, I suppose a sample size equaling 15% of the universe of self-identified Republicans is decent from a statistical perspective. But if you also consider the prolonged campaign of winning over the most committed (i.e., fanatical) voters with lots of money, I really do wonder how much support Trump will garner in the general election when only half of Republicans chose him, a quasi-incumbent, last night. I'm probably making too much of this because Republicans are famous for falling in line behind their guy, and I certainly don't doubt the borderline worship his most faithful followers have for him, but this all seems to point to an overall lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy among the broader public. Maybe it was the weather; maybe it was the air of inevitability; maybe it points to his core constituency being disengaged from traditional civic participation; or maybe most people are tired of his shit. Let's all hope it's the last one.
  12. White "Christian" nationalism. They've conflated being a Christian with being an American. In their eyes, the identity is one and the same. Christianity has lost its traditional meaning as a religion and has been supplanted by the worship of race and geography (i.e., blood and soil). Trump is their messiah, here to save both.
  13. Wordle 941 4/6 ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #219 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 Daily Quordle 722 4️⃣6️⃣ 8️⃣7️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ Daily Sequence Quordle 722 4️⃣6️⃣ 7️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Blossom Puzzle, January 16 Letters: E G L U R S T My score: 355 points My longest word: 10 letters 🌼 🏵 🌹 🌺 💐 💮 🌷 🌸 🌻 🌼 #Worldle #725 1/6 (100%) 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉 ⭐⭐⭐🏙️🪙 https://worldle.teuteuf.fr #travle #398 (6/11) ✅✅✅✅✅✅ https://travle.earth ClickWord.org Daily 346: 508 points (top 20% 🎊) 11 words: 🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟥🟥🟥🟧🟧 💪 Best word: 84 points 🔥 Streak: 4 days #ClickWord #ClickWordDaily346
  14. No surprises here other than I thought Trump would get a higher vote percentage than he did. 51% feels like weak support for a quasi-incumbent. Trump is still showing weakness among suburban/educated voters. Haley performed relatively well in Ames (Iowa State), Iowa City (Iowa), and Cedar Falls/Waterloo (University of Northern Iowa), as well as the SW Des Moines suburbs. No discernible strengths for DeSantis from a geographic or income standpoint. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/15/us/elections/iowa-republican-precinct-results.html
  15. @longhornmatt Here's the post where I copy/pasted the article.
  16. I recall that piece. It wasn't the same article, but that was pretty much the gist. In the one I was talking about, I think there was also a nod to some of the language Trump and his supporters are now using about him suffering for them, referring to his legal troubles. Very messianic stuff. It truly is getting into cult territory where their politics (if you can even call it that at this point since there really aren't many policies per se) is supplanting their religion. I'll see if I can track it down to repost for you.
  17. The fact that GQP voters would be ignoring one of their evangelical leaders (Bob Vander Plaats) in choosing Trump tracks with the article I posted a few days ago, which was its primary thesis: traditional church leaders are noticing that they're losing their flocks to the cult of Trump, and that is redefining what it means to be a "Christian". A quote from one supporter summed it up by saying something along the lines of "Trump is our savior -- he's the only one who can help us."
  18. I think Jody Foster et al are just city cops. I was curious about it too watching last night, and I looked carefully at the APF patch, which also reads the City of Ennis Police. So maybe it's just a generic Alaska Police Force acronym, which is probably made up but I don't know.
  19. July 15th. From the Pence wiki page: Donald Trump considered naming Pence as his vice presidential running mate along with other finalists including New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former House speaker Newt Gingrich.[177] Pence had stronger connections at the time to the politically influential big donors, the Kochs, than Trump did.[178][11][179][180][181] It was widely reported on July 14 that Pence planned to end his re-election campaign and accept the Republican vice presidential nomination instead.[182] The following day, Trump officially announced on Twitter that Pence would be his running mate.[183][184][185]
  20. Promoting this tweet on MLK day of all days. So as to avoid CR accusations, I won't say who's behind the AFL. You can look it up yourselves.
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