US Politics Thread

[Sabrefan1]

4 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Just an outsiders view...key seems to be winning over the "independants".  GOP "identity politics" ain't going to win many over them over (much like how the Dems "identity politics" didn't win many of those voters over).

 

The independents combined with getting the respective party's base out.  The Independents are the thumb on the scale.  The party bases are the bedrock holding the sides of the scale up.  If both bases show up, the independents choose which side the scale leans.  If the bedrock is tilted to one side already to begin with, the independents are less important.

[the destroyer of worlds]

 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/12/22/a-proclamation-on-granting-pardon-for-the-offense-of-simple-possession-of-marijuana-attempted-simple-possession-of-marijuana-or-use-of-marijuana/

A Proclamation on Granting Pardon for the Offense of Simple Possession of Marijuana, Attempted Simple Possession of Marijuana, or Use of Marijuana

 

In Proclamation 10467 of October 6, 2022 (Granting Pardon for the Offense of Simple Possession of Marijuana), I exercised my authority under the Constitution to pardon individuals who committed or were convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana in violation of the Controlled Substances Act and section 48–904.01(d)(1) of the Code of the District of Columbia (D.C. Code).  As I have said before, convictions for simple possession of marijuana have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities.  Through this proclamation, consistent with the grant of Proclamation 10467, I am pardoning additional individuals who may continue to experience the unnecessary collateral consequences of a conviction for simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana.  Therefore, acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., do hereby grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who, on or before the date of this proclamation, committed or were convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, regardless of whether they have been charged with or prosecuted for these offenses on or before the date of this proclamation, in violation of:

(1)  section 844 of title 21, United States Code, section 846 of title 21, United States Code, and previous provisions in the United States Code that prohibited simple possession of marijuana or attempted simple possession of marijuana; 

(2)  section 48-904.01(d)(1) of the D.C. Code and previous provisions in the D.C. Code that prohibited simple possession of marijuana;

(3)  section 48-904.09 of the D.C. Code and previous provisions in the D.C. Code that prohibited attempted simple possession of marijuana; and

(4)  provisions in the Code of Federal Regulations, including as enforced under the United States Code, that prohibit only the simple possession or use of marijuana on Federal properties or installations, or in other locales, as currently or previously codified, including but not limited to 25 C.F.R. 11.452(a); 32 C.F.R. 1903.12(b)(2); 36 C.F.R. 2.35(b)(2); 36 C.F.R. 1002.35(b)(2); 36 C.F.R. 1280.16(a)(1); 36 C.F.R. 702.6(b); 41 C.F.R. 102-74.400(a); 43 C.F.R. 8365.1-4(b)(2); and 50 C.F.R. 27.82(b)(2).
 

     My intent by this proclamation is to pardon only the offenses of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana in violation of the Federal and D.C. laws set forth in paragraphs (1) through (3) of this proclamation, as well as the provisions in the Code of Federal Regulations consistent with paragraph (4) of this proclamation, and not any other offenses involving other controlled substances or activity beyond simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, such as possession of marijuana with intent to distribute or driving offenses committed while under the influence of marijuana.  This pardon does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense.

     Pursuant to the procedures in Proclamation 10467, the Attorney General, acting through the Pardon Attorney, shall review all properly submitted applications for certificates of pardon and shall issue such certificates of pardon to eligible applicants in due course. 

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
 

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

[the destroyer of worlds]

Just to expand.  The recent news of TRUMP and co pressuring those Wayne County officials to not certify their votes.  One of them was an antivaxxer and covidiot.  I said was, because he got Covid and died.  So there is only one other person alive who can confirm in live testimony, the veracity of the call.

 

Hartmann, 63, had been critical of the COVID-19 vaccine in multiple posts on Facebook. In August, he accused Democrats of needing mask and vaccine "panic" to "screw up" elections.

 

 

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/01/wayne-county-canvasser-hartmann-dies-after-contracting-coronavirus/8819812002/

Wayne County canvasser William Hartmann dies after contracting coronavirus

[Boudrias]

1 hour ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

I'm not so sure that he could do that this second time around.

 

If the Democrats don't get their base excited to vote for Biden, Trump will be the next POTUS unless Haley starts picking up more votes in more states in the Republican primary.

What I would really like to see is Haley pick a middle of the road Democrat to run with her as VP. 

[Bob Long]

1 hour ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Cool.  You realized my name snafu on the last paragraph. 

 

Honestly though, I think a fair number of "progressives" will either leave the president part of their ballot blank (which in a few strict voting law states is likely considered a spoiled ballot which could be thrown away), or just not show up to the polls if Haley emerges from the Republican primaries instead of Trump.  Identity politics is ridiculous and could cost the Democrats seats in Congress and the retention of the Oval Office.

 

yea I don't really understand why the progressives act like they do in the US tbh. Maybe because they've already achieved the potential for a good life for everyone for the most part? yes I know there is still inequity, but things are so much better than 50 years ago in so many ways. 

 

 

[Sabrefan1]

29 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

What I would really like to see is Haley pick a middle of the road Democrat to run with her as VP. 

 

Not gonna happen.  She's somewhere between a moderate and conservative Republican and that would be political suicide.  Her party would disown her.

[Sabrefan1]

34 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

yea I don't really understand why the progressives act like they do in the US tbh. Maybe because they've already achieved the potential for a good life for everyone for the most part? yes I know there is still inequity, but things are so much better than 50 years ago in so many ways. 

 

Because they got a rush of relevancy and they don't want to give it up.  So they'll put at risk what they've already gotten in order to keep their addiction going.  Just like a gambler who doesn't know when to get up from the table.

[24K]

51 minutes ago, the destroyer of worlds said:

Just to expand.  The recent news of TRUMP and co pressuring those Wayne County officials to not certify their votes.  One of them was an antivaxxer and covidiot.  I said was, because he got Covid and died.  So there is only one other person alive who can confirm in live testimony, the veracity of the call.

 

Hartmann, 63, had been critical of the COVID-19 vaccine in multiple posts on Facebook. In August, he accused Democrats of needing mask and vaccine "panic" to "screw up" elections.

 

 

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/01/wayne-county-canvasser-hartmann-dies-after-contracting-coronavirus/8819812002/

Wayne County canvasser William Hartmann dies after contracting coronavirus

How much would you bet Trump's looney lawyers gonna bring up the call is fake. Made via AI synthesis. 

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Because they got a rush of relevancy and they don't want to give it up.  So they'll put at risk what they've already gotten in order to keep their addiction going.  Just like a gambler who doesn't know when to get up from the table.

 

But kitchen table issues are there for the taking.

 

Shrug. Dunno, maybe social media has actually permanently screwed us all.

[Sabrefan1]

Just now, Bob Long said:

Shrug. Dunno, maybe social media has actually permanently screwed us all.

 

This x 10.

[Gurn]

One thing that gets me, with many politicians; if John Six Pack said some of the stuff that these poly tickers say- they would be in an institute for a 3 day  mental health check.

[Boudrias]

13 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Not gonna happen.  She's somewhere between a moderate and conservative Republican and that would be political suicide.  Her party would disown her.

No doubt she would have to sell it. The question becomes whether she would be OK with a Trump nomination. If the conviction is that neither Trump or Biden are viable candidates then she might be able to craft a ticket that would appeal. Apparently a Abacus poll suggested 70% of Americans do not want either Trump or Biden as POTUS.  

[The Arrogant Worms]

 

Trump Flips Out At ‘RATINGS CHALLENGED FOXNEWS’ Because They’re Going To Cover NH Poll With Haley Closing Gap A Lot — He Thinks

 

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-flips-out-at-ratings-challenged-foxnews-because-theyre-going-to-cover-nh-poll-with-haley-closing-gap-a-lot-he-thinks/

[Sabrefan1]

When it rains, it pours.

 

Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump immunity case

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67808655

[Sabrefan1]

21 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

No doubt she would have to sell it. The question becomes whether she would be OK with a Trump nomination. If the conviction is that neither Trump or Biden are viable candidates then she might be able to craft a ticket that would appeal. Apparently a Abacus poll suggested 70% of Americans do not want either Trump or Biden as POTUS.  

 

She wants a Haley nomination.  If she chose a Democrat as her running mate, both the Republicans and her donors would disown her and Biden would easily cruise to victory.

[nuckin_futz]

2 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

When it rains, it pours.

 

Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump immunity case

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67808655

 

Can kiss that March trial date goodbye. Probably gets pushed back into late summer now.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

40 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Not gonna happen.  She's somewhere between a moderate and conservative Republican and that would be political suicide.  Her party would disown her.

heh, Barry Goldwater would be disowned by today's GOP.

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

When it rains, it pours.

 

Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump immunity case

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67808655

 

They should. Rip the bandage off and get on with it .

 

But it's also not surprising. It's within their right to not hear it. 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by Bob Long

[24K]

4 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

When it rains, it pours.

 

Supreme Court declines to fast-track Trump immunity case

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67808655

Not surprised with this SCOTUS. 

They better not pick it up also when DC circuit rules on it. Look like hypocrites. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by 24K

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

 

Can kiss that March trial date goodbye. Probably gets pushed back into late summer now.

 

It's crazy how so many people rally to the aid of Trump.

 

It's why I keep saying don't count your chickens.

 

I fully expect trump to win the next election.

[nuckin_futz]

Jan. 6 rioter nabbed in Bumble dating app sting pleads guilty to assaulting officers

WASHINGTON — Nearly three years ago, a young professional in the nation's capital was sitting in her apartment after the Jan. 6 attack and saw that the FBI was looking for help identifying the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. So she opened up the Bumble dating app, changed her political beliefs to conservative and got to swiping.

 

The woman reached out to several Donald Trump supporters who the app showed were in the Washington area, hoping to elicit confessions from those who had flooded into the city because they believed his lies about the 2020 presidential election.

 

On Wednesday, one of the Bumble users she turned in to the FBI pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers with chemical spray and a metal whip.

Andrew Taake at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia)

 

Andrew Taake, 35, of Texas, pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, admitting that he used both bear spray and a metal whip to attack officers, at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington. Taake, who had been ordered held in pretrial detention after he was arrested in July 2021, appeared in a sparsely filled courtroom Wednesday in an orange prison jumpsuit.

 

"Guilty," Taake pleaded, telling Nichols he was entering his plea voluntarily and of his own free will.

 

The woman referred to as "Witness 1” in Taake's FBI affidavit has previously recalled how "comically minimal ego-stroking" from her led Trump supporters to give her information about their activities on Jan. 6.

 

“I felt a bit of ‘civic duty,’ I guess, but truthfully, I was mostly just mad and thinking, f--- these guys,” she said, speaking anonymously for fear of online reprisal.

Her strategy, she said, was to say, "Wow, crazy, tell me more,” on repeat until guys gave her enough to send their information to the FBI.

 

She ended up chatting with about a dozen guys in the days after the Jan. 6 attack, and she said they made comments that were “very on-brand for a MAGA rally” when they parroted the debunked talking points about the 2020 election they were hearing from prominent Republicans. They couldn't see her rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone.

 

“They just wanted to regurgitate a lot of these ideas to somebody, and it seemed like I was a willing participant,” she said. “It definitely didn’t take a lot of arm-twisting to get them to start talking about it. Basically me being like 'Wow, so cool — then what? What else?' was pretty much all it took.”

 

“One of my friends was like, ‘You basically got all these confessions just being, like, “Haha! Then what?”’” she said.

Andrew Taake, right, seen attacking officers with chemical spray on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia)

 

In Taake's case, Witness 1 stumbled on his profile and started asking him questions and found he was very willing to brag to a woman he'd just met virtually. NBC News has viewed screenshots of messages Taake and the woman exchanged in the app.

 

“Were you near all the action?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” Taake replied. “From the very beginning.” He sent along a selfie he took shortly after he was pepper-sprayed.

 

In the days after the attack, she continued chatting with Taake, falsely telling him that she couldn't video-chat because she was at a beer garden with friends. She tried to gather more intel, asking him whether he planned to come back for Joe Biden's inauguration.

 

“Maybe depending on what happens with election,” Taake wrote. "Biden still isn’t in office ... and there is too much criminal stuff to come out. There are many many Patriots ready and willing to head back depending what happens."

 

Taake, a self-employed handyman who owned a pressure-washing business, had a felony record, but authorities found multiple guns at his home when they took him into custody. He was on bond in a separate case when he stormed the Capitol, with a pending charge of soliciting a minor online; court records in Harris County, Texas, show that case is still active.

 

Taake's "willingness to physically assault officers with bear spray and a metal whip, while on bond and conditions of release for the felony offense of solicitation of a minor, demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he poses a concrete threat both to the community and to specific individuals,” a federal magistrate judge wrote, bolding for emphasis, in ordering Taake detained until trial.

 

His sentencing was set for March 26.

 

Taake wasn’t the only Jan. 6 defendant arrested thanks to intrepid Bumble users. Robert Chapman was sentenced to home detention on a misdemeanor charge after a Bumble match turned him in.

 

Reached by NBC News after Taake's guilty plea, the woman who sent his identity to the FBI was glad to see him held accountable.

 

“FINALLY,” the woman said Wednesday. “It’s been wild to see him still defend that attack all this time and makes me even more glad he was caught for it.”

 

"I regret exactly nothing lol," she said Wednesday.

Edited December 22, 2023 by nuckin_futz

[Sabrefan1]

8 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

They should. Rip the bandage off and get on with it .

 

But it's also not surprising. It's within their right to not hear it. 

 

If I were them, I'd have done the same.  There's a procedure that needs to be followed.  They've been doing the same thing with gun laws post-Bruen.  They prefer to let the appellate courts handle it and will only take it up after they've dealt with it. 

[Sabrefan1]

11 minutes ago, 24K said:

Not surprised with this SCOTUS. 

They better not pick it up also when DC circuit rules on it. Look like hypocrites. 

 

They've already decided that the district appellate court will handle this.  If they wanted to force a decision, they'd have taken it up on an emergency basis and ruled.

 

I just wonder whether the delays between the court hearings will last up to election day.  I would imagine that they will.  Major cases like this never rocket through the court dockets.

[Sabrefan1]

16 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

It's crazy how so many people rally to the aid of Trump.

 

It's why I keep saying don't count your chickens.

 

I fully expect trump to win the next election.

 

The Supreme Court's decision isn't a pro-Trump thing.  It's how they've been doing business.  Plenty of Republicans are angry with the court for letting the post-Bruen gun laws go through the same exact process the Trump case is apparently going to go through.

 

Had they wanted to be pro-Trump, they'd take the case and rule in his favour.

[Bob Long]

1 hour ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

The Supreme Court's decision isn't a pro-Trump thing.  It's how they've been doing business.  Plenty of Republicans are angry with the court for letting the post-Bruen gun laws go through the same exact process the Trump case is apparently going to go through.

 

Had they wanted to be pro-Trump, they'd take the case and rule in his favour.

 

I'm not sure. They can keep this one in their back pocket if they need a ruling to dismiss the case if Smith is successful. 

 

Thomas is in the bag for sure, he'll do whatever the donors tell him.