Examples of GOP Leadership

So Iran ran away during the week the White House and the Pentagon worked out the response?
Johnson criticizes ‘excessive signaling’ as US begins strikes in Iraq, Syria
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized the Biden administration for what he called a slow response to the attack on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three American service members, as Capitol Hill reacted Friday night to the first set of retaliatory U.S. strikes on Iranian-linked militia groups in the Middle East.

“The tragic deaths of three U.S. troops in Jordan, perpetrated by Iran-backed militias, demanded a clear and forceful response. Unfortunately, the administration waited for a week and telegraphed to the world, including to Iran, the nature of our response,” Johnson said in a statement.

“The public handwringing and excessive signaling undercuts our ability to put a decisive end to the barrage of attacks endured over the past few months,” he added.

The U.S. military announced earlier Friday that the Biden administration had carried out an initial round of airstrikes in retaliation for last weekend’s attack in Jordan, employing “more than 125 precision munitions” at multiples sites in Iraq and Syria.

The strikes targeted sites connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated groups. Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was confident the strikes damaged military capabilities.

“We hit exactly what we meant to hit,” Sims said. “We confidently struck targets that will impact their ability to conduct future strikes against Americans.”

Democrats praised the initial strikes as a justified response to a deadly attack on American troops, even as the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) called the strikes “a strong, proportional response” to an attack that killed three Americans and wounded dozens more.

“In fact, the 85 targets struck tonight mark a greater number than the prior administration,” he said, referring to the Trump administration, adding the strikes amounted to a “significant blow” to Iranian proxy forces in Iraq and Syria.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) called it a “good first step” in an appearance on CNN, noting Biden was seeking to “thread the needle” by retaliating for the death of American troops without escalating the conflict into a broader war with Tehran.

For their part, Republicans in both chambers were quick to pan the strikes, which came five days after Biden first pledged to respond to the suicide drone attack at the military base in Jordan known as Tower 22.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) posted on social media that the administration’s response to recent attacks in the Middle East “has been disastrous to the point of being dangerous,” adding the U.S. instead should look to sink “Iranian spy ships” and consider reimposing oil and gas sanctions.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said during an appearance on Fox News on Friday night that the strikes would likely be a “tactical success” but he cast doubt on whether they would achieve any “strategic success.”

“Simply put, one example: We let Iran’s leaders hightail it back to Iran from Syria and Iraq, so I suspect we did not kill many key Iranian leaders in these regions,” he said.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) echoed in a statement that the administration “spent nearly a week foolishly telegraphing U.S. intentions to our adversaries, giving them time to relocate and hide.”

Biden earlier in the week spoke with the families of the service members killed and on Friday attended the ceremony in which the troops’ remains were returned to the U.S., called a dignified transfer, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The strikes are the first in what U.S. officials have described as a tiered response to Iranian-backed militias. The end-of-week strikes also came after U.S. officials told some news outlets this week that weather was one factor in the timing of the strikes.

Biden said in a statement earlier Friday that America’s response “will continue at times and places of our choosing.”

“We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

I put this one with GOP leadership because they are really the same thing in most cases.

What do you expect from a bunch of phony pseudo-Christians and grifters who believe utter bullshit or pretend to.

I'm amazed at how this level of bullshit is tolerated in modern American society, it's just another day and another republican busted for this shit. Nothing to see here folks and if he was running for office and hated the right people in the right district, he would have no problems with his election.
Character counts and it counts for nearly everything when running for office, if it doesn't, then people are willing to elect obvious and, in some cases, convicted criminals and enemies of the constitution. However just one party is willing to do these things and has, the republican party and above all else its base, to whom cruelty and hatred are the point and about the only one.

Normally you can detach people's votes from their moral character as long as policy and facts are at issue, but when neither policy or facts matter, other things do, and many won't be really honest about what those things are.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I put this one with GOP leadership because they are really the same thing in most cases.

What do you expect from a bunch of phony pseudo-Christians and grifters who believe utter bullshit or pretend to.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1753419626430505005

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In the immortal words of a former supervisor:

What we need here is a little less bondage and a little more discipline!

Let's talk about 10 Oregon Republicans out of the race....

DIY-HP-LED said:

Let's talk about 10 Oregon Republicans out of the race....

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Every time I read the headlines saying that, I get a big smile.

It's not going to change the balance of the Oregon legislature. Democrats control 35 seats, Republicans control 25. In the Senate, Democrats control 17 seats, Republicans control 14. Maybe the number of R's will drop by one or a few in the legislature but we had enough of a majority before this year to get most of what we wanted done if it weren't for Republican obstruction. The 2024 session is a short session, where normally, they basically show up to deal with emergency legislation. I don't really want them to do anything different. Do the important stuff in 2024, then, for those who can (lol), go forth, run re-election campaigns and come back ready to get to work next year. 2025 will be a long session where the budget is set and new funding can be discussed. I have high hopes for that session.

In any case, we are a puny state and little that we do affects the nation in any meaningful way. But inside the state, this feels like a big deal.

Fogdog said:

Every time I read the headlines saying that, I get a big smile.

It's not going to change the balance of the Oregon legislature. Democrats control 35 seats, Republicans control 25. In the Senate, Democrats control 17 seats, Republicans control 14. Maybe the number of R's will drop by one or a few in the legislature but we had enough of a majority before this year to get most of what we wanted done if it weren't for Republican obstruction. The 2024 session is a short session, where normally, they basically show up to deal with emergency legislation. I don't really want them to do anything different. Do the important stuff in 2024, then, for those who can (lol), go forth, run re-election campaigns and come back ready to get to work next year. 2025 will be a long session where the budget is set and new funding can be discussed. I have high hopes for that session.

In any case, we are a puny state and little that we do affects the nation in any meaningful way. But inside the state, this feels like a big deal.

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While this one occurrence may not directly affect what happens outside your state, it does show another instance of the quiet majority getting rid of minority rule via obstructionism and other child like behaviour. Add this to Moms For Liberty having such an underwhelming level of success in November and this looks to be the beginning of a pattern, or at least keeps the ball rolling in the right direction. Long way of saying while it may not be the most important, it's not unimportant.

"Excessive signaling"? WTF does this guy think this is, a game of online checkers or something.

Dorian2 said:

"Excessive signaling"? WTF does this guy think this is, a game of online checkers or something.

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It’s a manufactured gripe seeking to minimize Biden’s real political capital.

It’s just like the border thing. Politics of the double bind.

“Fix the border, you radical left Democrat!”
“Ok, here’s the plan.”
“No! We refuse to work with you, you radical left Democrat! This is all your fault! Why don’t you care about America?!”

cannabineer said:

It’s a manufactured gripe seeking to minimize Biden’s real political capital.

It’s just like the border thing. Politics of the double bind.

“Fix the border, you radical left Democrat!”
“Ok, here’s the plan.”
No! We refuse to work with you, you radical left Democrat! This is all your fault! Why don’t you care about America?!”

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Right down to the negative headline.

cannabineer said:

Right down to the negative headline.

Biden's pivot: Why the president is moving to the right in 2024 on immigration

President Joe Biden's call for authority to "shut down the border" shows how far the immigration debate has moved to the right.

www.usatoday.com

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Talk is cheap and it will work for the election, easy to promise on things others have to deliver on, like more powers for him.

OldMedUser said:

Not all of us. I'd be a dem if I lived in the states and vote a straight NDP ticket both federally and provincially here. New Democratic Party in case anyone wondered.

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Ditto.

This will probably get blockaded by Repugs, but it makes a point about Spudtown’s perfidy and raw misrepresentation.

CANON_Grow said:

While this one occurrence may not directly affect what happens outside your state, it does show another instance of the quiet majority getting rid of minority rule via obstructionism and other child like behaviour. Add this to Moms For Liberty having such an underwhelming level of success in November and this looks to be the beginning of a pattern, or at least keeps the ball rolling in the right direction. Long way of saying while it may not be the most important, it's not unimportant.

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We are a good test case because we are a safe blue state with a vocal and rabid MAGA minority. I'd be happy if other states used Oregon's legislative progress against the fascist movement that is taking place inside our borders as precedents that they use in their own states.

This is a long audio podcast, over an hour, but it delivers. Sarah Longwell interviews Roberta Kaplan regarding her experiences as lead attorney for E Jean Carroll and their holding Donald Trump accountable for his sexual assault that Trump thought he could just lie about and defame E Jean over.

George Conway and Matthew Craig, an associate who worked with Kaplan also participate.

The war stories they tell are amazing. Also, George Conway relates what happened during the early days of Trump's president when he was on a flight with his then wife, now recently divorced wife and Trump.

https://audioboom.com/posts/8451817-george-conway-explains-how-trump-lost-83m-with-roberta-kaplan

Spoiler alert: Trump doesn't come off looking good from Kaplan's POV.

Maga is not new, it was always there in one form or another, sometimes in the shadows and sometimes in your face. They exist and always have, and most likely always will, to some degree or another. However, their arising cannot be solely attributed to Trump who is more symptomatic and it is closely related to a global reactionary phenomenon. It is caused by migration to wealthy countries and the internet, we went from a curated hierarchical information system to a networked information system, and this has impacts both good and bad. In America it is caused by more people being included in the power structures and society in general, some people feel threatened by this. In Europe there are ancient cultures and small nations with their own languages, and they are concerned, more legitimately perhaps than other places.

DIY-HP-LED said:

Maga is not new, it was always there in one form or another, sometimes in the shadows and sometimes in your face. They exist and always have, and most likely always will, to some degree or another. However, their arising cannot be solely attributed to Trump who is more symptomatic and it is closely related to a global reactionary phenomenon. It is caused by migration to wealthy countries and the internet, we went from a curated hierarchical information system to a networked information system, and this has impacts both good and bad. In America it is caused by more people being included in the power structures and society in general, some people feel threatened by this. In Europe there are ancient cultures and small nations with their own languages, and they are concerned, more legitimately perhaps than other places.

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Apes are not new; there have been vertebrates on land for four hundred million years.

To the last: here as well. Neither of our nations has been equitable towards first nations, or toward initial colonists such as the Latinos who settled the Southwest before there even was a United States or a post-French Canada. The homogeneity you imagine is the direct result of a rolling series of displacements and genocides. History is written by the winners.

cannabineer said:

Apes are not new; there have been vertebrates on land for four hundred million years.

To the last: here as well. Neither of our nations has been equitable towards first nations, or toward initial colonists such as the Latinos who settled the Southwest before there even was a United States or a post-French Canada. The homogeneity you imagine is the direct result of a rolling series of displacements and genocides. History is written by the winners.

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That thing about small cultures and languages feeling threatened applies to Quebec too, who have different immigration rules. It is not the homogeneity I image, but the one the magats imagine, and if one is to understand the phenomena then one must also try to understand them.