2024 US Election thread

[SouprMatt]

Liberal Pundits Were Dead Wrong on Americans’ Economic Pain

It turns out misinformation did help decide the election: the misinformation coming from liberal pundits. They told Democratic Party leaders that voters who were unhappy with the economy were simply wrong.

jacobin.com

Yes, that's the guy. You know that's a leftist critique of Biden, correct? I realize that liberals often find the left more repugnant than the right, and that's disappointing because we should be on the same side.

In either case, I stand by what's in that article and no one's quiet about Palestine and ol' Genocide Joe. If anything, I've been hearing more about it lately.

You’re “standing by” what’s in the article? It’s just an opinion piece with cherry-picked numbers (which aren’t included directly, only hyperlinked) attempting to bolster its predetermined conclusion. One example: he claims a “historic spike in child poverty.” The supposed spike was 5.3%… but the all-time modern history recorded high was 22.7%. And it was 2x as high in 2020 than the 2023 “spike” he claims. So yeah, the author is full of it and doesn’t think people will bother following his hyperlinks to see just how bad the lies are.

This author was calling for Ukraine to surrender in early 2023 and blaming the “West” for unnecessarily prolonging the war by supporting them. Uh… just no. Read a couple more of his pieces, and (like this one) they are often derisive of what he calls the “Liberal Elites” and are full of disingenuous arguments. A fake “leftist” if there ever was one.

 

[P___X]

You’re “standing by” what’s in the article? It’s just an opinion piece with cherry-picked numbers (which aren’t included directly, only hyperlinked) attempting to bolster its predetermined conclusion. One example: he claims a “historic spike in child poverty.” The supposed spike was 5.3%… but the all-time modern history recorded high was 22.7%. And it was 2x as high in 2020 than the 2023 “spike” he claims. So yeah, the author is full of it and doesn’t think people will bother following his hyperlinks to see just how bad the lies are.

This author was calling for Ukraine to surrender in early 2023 and blaming the “West” for unnecessarily prolonging the war by supporting them. Uh… just no. Read a couple more of his pieces, and (like this one) they are often derisive of what he calls the “Liberal Elites” and are full of disingenuous arguments. A fake “leftist” if there ever was one.

To me self-congratulating statements like the one below are super off-putting.

Ironically, had Democrats listened to oppositional left-wingoutlets like this one — that are often harshly critical of the Democratic Party, but whose many warnings about the grim reality of the US economy and Americans’ discontent ended up being far more accurate — they might have realized and acted on this sooner.

It's kind of a teenager mindset, where you develop this hyper critical, negativistic mindset and then thump your chest about your premonition when bad things happen.

And I agree, WTF would I take that guy seriously when he fails to mention that the child poverty rate increase occurred after a Biden-instituted child tax credit policy which expired:

Who killed the expanded child tax credit?

Joe Manchin dealt the final blow. But the reasons it lapsed are deeper than one man.

www.vox.com

Seriously.

 

[Jay Mysteri0]

Some places are learning from our mistakes*

Australia moves to ban billionaires from buying elections

Australia's ruling party has proposed moves to ban billionaires from buying elections after Elon Musk helped Donald Trump secure power.

www.thelondoneconomic.com

Australia’s ruling party has proposed moves to ban billionaires from buying elections.

Following Elon Musk’s sizeable donations in the US election and rumours that he is considering a substantial donation to Reform UK in Britain, Australia’s Labor Party has announced plans to cap donations to prevent a similar picture from unfolding there.


While no draft legislation has been made public, the government has sketched out a plan to limit donor spending to $20,000 per candidate per year and introduce a cap on campaign spending for the first time.

It’s a move that Don Farrell, the special minister for state, said will keep big money out of politics.

“The Australian electoral system should not work on the basis that the only people that can get in to Parliament are people who are sponsored by billionaires”, he announced.


Musk, the world’s richest man, has also been rubbing shoulders with the right-wing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has provoked controversy over moves to set up asylum centres in Albania.

Posting on X, Micah Erfan noted: “Y’all do realize that the fact a random unelected private citizen is able to book 1 on 1 meetings with world leaders is a serious condemnation of the amount of poltical power we’ve allowed a small group of oligarchs to accumulate in our society.”

*Calling our last election "mistakes" seems like a cosmically sized under statement, but you get the sentiment.

 

[SouprMatt]

Some places are learning from our mistakes*




*Calling our last election "mistakes" seems like a cosmically sized under statement, but you get the sentiment.

Yeah, well America also passed a law to prevent this, but the SCOTUS overturned it, and all it cost the billionaires was a fancy RV.

 

[SouprMatt]

Please tell me more about how Trump voters picked him because of grocery prices!

Trump now says bringing down grocery prices, as he promised, will be 'very hard'

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned relentlessly on grocery prices in the 2024 race. Now, he says lowering costs will be "very hard."

abcnews.go.com

OMG who could have believed he won’t lower prices on anything?!?!?

 

[SouprMatt]

Poll: Many Republicans wouldn't be too concerned if Trump suspended laws

If Donald Trump suspended some laws and constitutional provisions, would Republican voters have a problem with that? A new poll suggests the answer is largely no.

www.msnbc.com

Fewer than 1 in 4 Republicans — just 23% — said they would be bothered “a lot” if Trump suspended some laws and constitutional provisions to go after political opponents.

So 3/4 of Trump voters are cool with suspending the constitution and rule of law to attack political opponents. Like I said in my last post, PLEASE tell me more about how this election was about the price of eggs.

 

[P___X]

Please tell me more about how Trump voters picked him because of grocery prices!

Trump now says bringing down grocery prices, as he promised, will be 'very hard'

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned relentlessly on grocery prices in the 2024 race. Now, he says lowering costs will be "very hard."

abcnews.go.com

OMG who could have believed he won’t lower prices on anything?!?!?

there's just so much stupid packed in this article. But I appreciate the journalism there. It's like "yeah if you can read between the lines, you know that we think this is fucking stupid, but at this point it's gonna be our open secret [wink wink] because these stupid schmucks wouldn't get it even if we spelled "THIS IS STUPID" out for them".

 

[Jay Mysteri0]

This does raise an interesting question.

Florida lawmaker's party switch increases Republican supermajority in the House

Democratic Florida state Rep. Susan Valdés is switching parties, which will extend Republicans' supermajority in the House.

apnews.com

If a politician switches party AFTER ( say within the first 3 - 6 months ) they've been elected, should that activate a recall?

 

[Jay Mysteri0]

Shit trending on xit



I'm sorry, Biden's age was a factor?

 

[SouprMatt]

The economy is so terrible, that’s why Trump won!

US economic output grows at fastest pace in nearly 3 years to end 2024

S&P Global's flash US composite, which captures activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors, hit its highest level in 33 months during the month of December.

www.aol.com

Black Friday Holiday Weekend Online Sales Hit Record $41 Billion

The initial numbers from the five-day Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday holiday sales weekend signal a positive start to retailers' most crucial sales perior of the year.

www.forbes.com

 

[lizkat]

The economy is so terrible, that’s why Trump won!

US economic output grows at fastest pace in nearly 3 years to end 2024

S&P Global's flash US composite, which captures activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors, hit its highest level in 33 months during the month of December.

www.aol.com

Black Friday Holiday Weekend Online Sales Hit Record $41 Billion

The initial numbers from the five-day Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday holiday sales weekend signal a positive start to retailers' most crucial sales perior of the year.

www.forbes.com

"But Biden's pardons"... 🙄🔥

 

[TBL]

More Kamala sucking:

 

[lizkat]

More Kamala sucking:

View attachment 1797

If true, Harris apparently only meant that at a minimum the Dems would take back the House at the midterms... or at least that's the script the Republicans (including Prez-Elect Musk, his sidekick The Don and CatLadyVance) appear to be using.

I don't mind all the prattling on now about how "Harris Lost And Don't You Forget It!" since it precludes (as usual) the GOP's focus on an upcoming need to demonstrate prowess at actual governance.

Their near-miss at owning a government shutdown last week was a warmup for mid-March, and that's not even counting the fact that Dems are who helped Johnson get a continuing resolution over the finish line.

Remains to be seen what the Rs in the new Congress think of that performance when they choose their speaker in January. They best hope they don't need Dem help on that, else with the slimmest of miscalculations we'll all have the highly entertaining spectacle of Hakeem Jeffries holding the House gavel over the Rs' heads.

 

[SouprMatt]

More Kamala sucking:

View attachment 1797

This was the same Sean O’Brien who refused to speak at the DNC, but did speak at the RNC (this was before Harris was a candidate). He refused to endorse Biden, despite historic improvement for unions under Biden. The same O’Brien whom local chapters of the Teamsters ignored and endorsed Harris anyway.

So, was she supposed to kiss this guy’s butt?

Sean O’Brien’s Tantrum Against the Democrats

He appears to be hoping for a Trump victory, which would be a disaster for the Teamsters, but just maybe good for him.

prospect.org

PS - Anthony LaMesa is a COVID-19 denialist.

 

[Hrafn]

More Kamala sucking:
More TBL needing desperately to buy a clue...

 

[Thomas Veil]

Great. Now we gotta deal with this, too?

For some Latinos, ‘prosperity gospel’ led them to Trump

In brief, an escalating number of Latino immigrants who want to be successful, who want the American dream, are increasingly hooked on prosperity gospel ministers, who tell them that God made Trump successful and that Trump will make them successful too. Democrats, OTOH, are failing them by focusing on such negative things as poverty.

If true, how do you even combat thinking like that? It’s like more and more of the country is falling for cults and charlatans. And as we all know, people that easily deceived are not to be reasoned with.

 

[Jay Mysteri0]

Great. Now we gotta deal with this, too?

For some Latinos, ‘prosperity gospel’ led them to Trump

In brief, an escalating number of Latino immigrants who want to be successful, who want the American dream, are increasingly hooked on prosperity gospel ministers, who tell them that God made Trump successful and that Trump will make them successful too. Democrats, OTOH, are failing them by focusing on such negative things as poverty.

If true, how do you even combat thinking like that? It’s like more and more of the country is falling for cults and charlatans. And as we all know, people that easily deceived are not to be reasoned with.

We've had this for awhile. It's especially big in some of those mega faiths, both Black & White.

The most interesting story I heard about them was earlier this year involving this...

How Minion Jesus died — and then rose — on TikTok

The winding, weird story that even involves, yes, the battle for the White House.

www.vox.com

Traci Coston, a serious young Christian TikToker, stares directly at the camera.

“One day, an animator was messing around, and he created this picture of a little minion.”

Coston points up to an image of a sausage-bodied minion hanging limply from a wooden cross.

Easily among the most recognizable anti-heroes in film history, minions are the stars of a $5 billion animated movie franchise. The enduring success of the franchise can be attributed, at least in part, to their extremely online fans, who have been feverishly producing minions memes since the release of the first movie, Despicable Me, in 2010.

“Listen to this,” she continues, “a minion didn’t die for you, but somebody actually did. Jesus actually died for you.”

Coston had sacrificed the Minion Jesus for my attention, and the crucified minion had done its job. I had not scrolled away. His death was the key that unlocked the door to my carefully curated TikTok algorithm, and Coston had walked right through.

⬇️

Seaman is the 26-year-old self-proclaimed millionaire behind a coaching program called Kingdom University. From a small town in central Louisiana, he offers online courses to any would-be social media evangelist willing to “invest” thousands of dollars into his ministry. In exchange, he teaches them his “Viral Video Framework,” a basic digital content marketing strategy couched in the language of proselytism. The program offers its students a bold guarantee: “at least 100,000 new followers in 90 days.”

As you may have guessed by now, the Minion Jesus video is a Kingdom University product.

⬇️

Seaman’s personal content skews a bit more pessimistic. His videos are often concerned with demonic possession, and they tend to be more overtly political and caught up with conspiracy theories than the content created by his students. His message is also often about money. This is no coincidence. An explicit focus on wealth-building is integral to his ministry, and his videos contain clear nods to a midcentury offshoot of Pentecostalism commonly known as the Word of Faith Movement.

⬇️

New Apostolic Reformation’s most prominent figure is Lance Wallnau, a regular guest on Kenneth Copeland’s television network, the movement’s loudest megaphone. For the last two decades, Wallnau has been scribbling out a vision he calls “The Seven Mountains Mandate” on dry-erase boards across the country. He argues that conservative Christians should “take dominion” over American life by assuming positions of power in seven key spheres of influence: arts and media, business, church, education, family, government, and science and technology.

“This segment of Christianity is not the largest by number, but it’s the fastest-growing,” says Kroll. Across the country, pastors are using Wallnau’s language to communicate a new kind of Christian Nationalism to their congregations.

You cannot, of course, spell “dominion” without the word “minion.”

⬇️

Once fringe, this vision for America has found a champion in former president Donald Trump. Wallnau was one of the first Christian leaders to endorse Trump, and Trump has spent the past eight years borrowing liberally from Wallnau’s language and theology to appeal to his base.

Hours after Donald Trump survived the July 13 assassination attempt, Wallnau made a special appearance on Flashpoint, a Christian political show on Kenneth Copeland’s broadcast network. “There are some attacks, when they happen, God intervenes and he moves in a miraculous way,” said Wallnau, pointer finger raised, “and I pray for a miraculous intervention of God now on President Trump.”

Yes, that unrelated Minion meme done by a random digital artist, somehow ties Christianity & making money, to eventually 45.

This one of the more surprising stories I heard ( I listened to Vox's podcast on this ), as it started from something so random, then worked it's way to something more out there.

 

[SouprMatt]

The square root of 2025 is 45. 😱

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well if that isn’t an evil omen I don’t know what is.

 

[P___X]

I took a few days off the internet. Yesterday, I went back to check my facebook (for xmas photos) and I see Saul Williams posting about Gaza 24/7, and Sage Francis saying that maybe Harris was a bad candidate. It's interesting to see how people get to present disagreement on 10% of issues as a justification to allow someone to get elected they disagree on over half the issues (or like 90% in my case)?
Then I went to Reddit where they post literally 3-6months old twitter "owns" on Musk, or the newest Lara fucking Loomer vs. Other Alt-Right Xitters. At this point I'm starting to wonder if taking up on vaping is a healthier habit than using social media.