And Let's not forget about the other Deplorables

[Norri]

Well on the side of the angels...there wasn't one...but it ultimately led to the loss of Dixie Democrats to the Republicans and the far right MAGAt's of today's GQP.

In part because it inflamed the issue of 'states rights' and an increasing hatred of the federal government.

There was an inevitability built into the decisions.

And of course, now that we see key civil rights decisions being overturned by a right wing SC...it is even more depressing to think that so much is being lost.

I would say that with the current SC you'd have to be a cockeyed optimist to think that the executive branch could unilateraaly act without the justices ruling in favour of the State of Texas. The days of JFK et al are over until there is a rebalanced Court.

It was also JFK’s constitutional duty as the executive is in charge of enforcement. But I completely disagree with you as what the court will do here they will back up Biden and probably unanimously. They did tell Texas to remove the barbed wire yesterday. But that’s not the point anyone with a taste for power wouldn’t care nationalize the guard and make Abbott the one who runs to court while you win the day. For crying out loud that’s what Abbott is doing he is clearly breaking US law but doesn’t care because he’s winning the political day.
It occurred to me while thinking about the Brown desegregation decision that conservatives today hate the idea of institutional racism no matter the evidence but that case certainly shows that the justices believed in such racism. If not they could have just thrown money at the problem.

 

[KaraBulut]

Whatever else one can say about him Joe Biden has no taste for power. I read stories last week about the Texas National Guard blocking INS from accessing the border over which they have jurisdiction. It’s not all comforting to me that Joe went running to the courts to clear up the matter when what he should have done what JFK did to George Wallace and federalize the Texas guard and force Abbott to stand down and then it is over. Let Abbott go running to court.
Power abhors a vacuum and the governor is filling that vacuum.
A man who understood power was Eisenhower and in 1957 he sent federal troops into Little Rock to make sure federal law was enforced why can’t Biden follow that lead he could use the political optic of looking strong.

It's a cynical trap that the Republicans are using because immigration polls negatively for Democrats and positively for Republicans. The "culture of life" party is willing to use immigrants as pawns to gin up their base. Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton claim to be "Christians" but they're willing to let human beings be cut up on razor wire and even drown. As the saying goes, "The cruelty is the point" with those guys.

There was already a Federal Court case where Arizona was told that the Federal Government is in charge of immigration and that States need to stay in their lane. Biden is wise to keep hold back but keep his powder dry until after the 2024 election.

 

[rareboy]

It was also JFK’s constitutional duty as the executive is in charge of enforcement. But I completely disagree with you as what the court will do here they will back up Biden and probably unanimously. They did tell Texas to remove the barbed wire yesterday. But that’s not the point anyone with a taste for power wouldn’t care nationalize the guard and make Abbott the one who runs to court while you win the day. For crying out loud that’s what Abbott is doing he is clearly breaking US law but doesn’t care because he’s winning the political day.
It occurred to me while thinking about the Brown desegregation decision that conservatives today hate the idea of institutional racism no matter the evidence but that case certainly shows that the justices believed in such racism. If not they could have just thrown money at the problem.

See Kara's response above

I am not confident of this SC's capacity to rule in favour of the law.

They have given me no comfort at all so far.

 

[Norri]

See Kara's response above

I am not confident of this SC's capacity to rule in favour of the law.

They have given me no comfort at all so far.

I understand your lack of confidence in the court I don’t have much either but this is red letter law, not much room for interpretation. And also consider that they need not soil themselves by deciding in favor of Texas when all they have to do to stick it to Biden is to slow walk the case maybe decide in October no need to rush Abbott will continue to be a hero for his folk and Biden continues looking weak.

 

[KaraBulut]

I understand your lack of confidence in the court I don’t have much either but this is red letter law, not much room for interpretation. And also consider that they need not soil themselves by deciding in favor of Texas when all they have to do to stick it to Biden is to slow walk the case maybe decide in October no need to rush Abbott will continue to be a hero for his folk and Biden continues looking weak.

Abbott's far right and White Christian Nationalist base is never going to vote for Biden. There's nothing to be gained for Biden to pander to them. Biden would be better focused upon finding solutions that please the Latino coalition that needs to win in 2024.

There's a fracturing with the Latino vote for 2024. There's one group who are focused on fear of Leftist politics and another group who are focused upon the mess on the Southern border.

The MAGA candidates run Spanish language ads railing about Democrats, "socialism" and "communism". Trump, in his mini-Nuremberg rallies, rails against the Communists and how he's going to get them out of the Deep State when he's back in office. All of this is targeted to the Hispanic vote, particularly the Cuban and Central American communities who are citizens and can vote.

On the other side, there's a group of Mexican-Americans living in Southern Texas, Arizona and Nevada. These communities have strong ties with communities on the southern side of the border. Many of them have family who live in Mexico. They are not happy with the militarization of the border because they have historically lived on both sides of the border. They aren't happy with the influx of Venezuelans, Hondurans, El Salvadorans and Nicaraguans coming across the border. They're also not happy with everyone focusing on thousands of migrants coming north across the border with no one talking about the thousands of guns that are being sold and smuggled from the US to Mexico which is fueling the violence in Mexico.

The Republicans are dependent upon support from two sources: business interests that love the cheap labor that legal immigration provides to businesses and an increasingly far-right base that is focused upon the race issues that come with immigration. This difference is splitting the party. It's spilling over into the Presidential race and the Senate races.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/politics/senate-republican-lunch-border-talks/index.html

The moment comes as McConnell has told his conference that this moment may be the best one Republicans have to address border security and as he finds himself as a leading advocate for Ukraine aid when support for that in his party has started to crater.

The tension also comes as there is growing concern among some Senate Republicans that they could walk the plank on a border bill that seems to be going nowhere in the House and as the leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination Donald Trump is signaling he thinks Republicans shouldn’t back any deal unless it is exactly what the party wants.

 

[Norri]

Abbott's far right and White Christian Nationalist base is never going to vote for Biden. There's nothing to be gained for Biden to pander to them. Biden would be better focused upon finding solutions that please the Latino coalition that needs to win in 2024.

I’m aware white Christian nationals won’t be voting for Biden but there are other voters out there that may or may not vote for Biden and those are the ones he should be thinking about. If you can’t bitchslap a governor giving you political trouble who exactly are you going to stand up to?

There's a fracturing with the Latino vote for 2024. There's one group who are focused on fear of Leftist politics and another group who are focused upon the mess on the Southern border.

The MAGA candidates run Spanish language ads railing about Democrats, "socialism" and "communism". Trump, in his mini-Nuremberg rallies, rails against the Communists and how he's going to get them out of the Deep State when he's back in office. All of this is targeted to the Hispanic vote, particularly the Cuban and Central American communities who are citizens and can vote.

On the other side, there's a group of Mexican-Americans living in Southern Texas, Arizona and Nevada. These communities have strong ties with communities on the southern side of the border. Many of them have family who live in Mexico. They are not happy with the militarization of the border because they have historically lived on both sides of the border. They aren't happy with the influx of Venezuelans, Hondurans, El Salvadorans and Nicaraguans coming across the border. They're also not happy with everyone focusing on thousands of migrants coming north across the border with no one talking about the thousands of guns that are being sold and smuggled from the US to Mexico which is fueling the violence in Mexico.

Yes it’s a diverse community hard to pander to but the issue that unites them immigration wise is the dreamers. They are popular with most he should be leaning into that while standing up to Abbott. Don’t you think that would give Biden badly needed good press while Trump is wrapping up the nomination……we can hear about something other than the inevitably of Trump and that matters because he is trying to create an aura of inevitably.

The Republicans are dependent upon support from two sources: business interests that love the cheap labor that legal immigration provides to businesses and an increasingly far-right base that is focused upon the race issues that come with immigration. This difference is splitting the party. It's spilling over into the Presidential race and the Senate races.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/politics/senate-republican-lunch-border-talks/index.html

The business republicans have lost, the Freedom Caucus has lost small government and free trade do not interest Trump republicans. I read the article you linked and I have to agree with those complaining republicans. The House Freedom Caucus had its broken clock moment, they too are right about no committee bills and just a huge one at the end of the yr with no time to read. What’s the use about fighting over whether elections are democratic and secure when once elected you find democracy ends at the congressional door. Electing reps who follow orders makes the election itself almost moot.

 

[KaraBulut]

....The business republicans have lost, the Freedom Caucus has lost small government and free trade do not interest Trump republicans.

And you've hit upon the core problem: the Republican Party had an interlude in the late 21st century where they were the party of ideas that could be traced to thought leaders who had something that resembled a theoretical framework and ideals.

That's gone.

What exists now is a cult with no party platform and just does things they believe will energize their base. We probably have another decade until enough of the baby boomers die off and are replaced by voters born in the 21st century before the cult formerly known as the Republican Party reinvents itself again. Until that die off happens, the pendulum will swing in other direction- perhaps radically which will be all the more reason that we need a functional party with conservative ideas.

We can postulate that "Biden should do ____" but it's not going to do anything but inflame the MAGA crowd. Biden's weakness at the moment is an agenda to justify a second term. "Inevitability" is not a platform and saying, "Because I'm not Trump" isn't enough to add the independent voters that the Democrats will need to hold on to the Senate, flip the House and keep the White House.

 

[johaninsc]

 

[Thad1527]

Yet Republicans in Congress won't fully fund the Border Patrol.

 

[LilBit]

Yet Republicans in Congress won't fully fund the Border Patrol.

Hey, that tactic worked for them in Benghazi...

 

[smokeshadow]

And. . .

Calls Mount for Biden to Seize Control of National Guard as Abbott Ignores SCOTUS Ruling

Legal experts and members of Congress have started to urge President Joe Biden to seize control of the Texas National Guard, which Governor Greg Abbott is using to defy federal law and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling while continuing to obstruct federal agents from accessing the border. “Texas’s...

www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

 

[TX-Beau]

Abbot will use any underhanded trick he can find to get the Fed to intervene; that is the entire fucking point of his defiance. This is just one of the many provocations that will ensure to get Biden to send in the troops so Abbot can cry foul, run to the horde, and play the martyr. Not one Trog is going to make any distinction between enforcing an order from the Supreme Court, and Biden just acting dictatorially to piss on Texas.

THAT. IS. THE ENTIRE. POINT!

Texas is looking closer than 2020, which means 'Pubs are going to need all the hate and fear, and election interference, vigilante violence, and outright terrorism they can gin up. Last time, only one DNC office was firebombed, and one campaign bus was attacked. I bet it's more this time.

 

[TX-Beau]

Abbot is using the Toad method, push and push and push and push, and when someone stops you, cry victim.


I also agree that it's not certain that Robert's court will side with the FED; they have absolutely no credibility when it comes to the protections in the Constitution, or the body of precedent people keep trying to rely on. It will probably turn on the opinions of whoever bought Uncle Thomas the priciest "gift" last month.

They will make up whatever crazy shit they need to justify their decisions. The only silver lining is that six of them are only loyal to the money; none of them are beholden to Toad - that we know of.

 

[rareboy]

Abbot will use any underhanded trick he can find to get the Fed to intervene; that is the entire fucking point of his defiance. This is just one of the many provocations that will ensure to get Biden to send in the troops so Abbot can cry foul, run to the horde, and play the martyr. Not one Trog is going to make any distinction between enforcing an order from the Supreme Court, and Biden just acting dictatorially to piss on Texas.

THAT. IS. THE ENTIRE. POINT!

Texas is looking closer than 2020, which means 'Pubs are going to need all the hate and fear, and election interference, vigilante violence, and outright terrorism they can gin up. Last time, only one DNC office was firebombed, and one campaign bus was attacked. I bet it's more this time.

This.

 

[KaraBulut]

More from the "new Christianity" and "prosperity gospel" in the US:

Denver pastor Eli Regalado and his wife told his congregation that God has told him to start a cryptocurrency company. They collected $3.2 million from over 300 investors and pocketed about $1.3 million of the funds to sustain their personal lifestyle, paying for renovations to their home, vehicles, vacations, cosmetic dentistry and other expenses.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/24/us/colorado-pastor-crypto-fraud-cec/index.html

Denver pastor Eli Regalado had an exciting message for his congregation.

After months of prayers and cues from God, he was going to start selling cryptocurrency, he announced in a YouTube video last April. The Signature and Silvergate banks had collapsed weeks earlier, signaling the need to look into other investment options beyond financial institutions, he said. With divine wisdom, he said, he was “setting the rails for God’s wealth transfer.”

Shortly afterward, Regalado and his wife, Kaitlyn Regalado, launched a cryptocurrency, INDXcoin, and began selling it to members of his Victorious Grace Church and other Christian communities in the Denver area. They sold it through the Kingdom Wealth Exchange, an online cryptocurrency marketplace he created, controlled and operated.

 

[KaraBulut]

When MAGA eats MAGA.

The chair of the Arizona Republican Party, Jeff DeWit, resigned after Kari Lake released a recording of DeWit suggesting that Lake pull out of the Arizona Senate race in exchange for a highly-paid job at a private company. DeWit is a Trump ally, as is Lake. They were considered allies, so this is being viewed as Lake's backers in Arizona forcing out DeWit's faction in the state, in order for Lake's allies to take control over the Arizona Republican Party.

DeWit released a statement saying as much:
“This morning, I was determined to fight for my position. However, a few hours ago, I received an ultimatum from Lake’s team: resign today or face the release of a new, more damaging recording. I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk. I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks, allowing me to return to the business sector — a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics,” DeWit said in the statement.

 

[rareboy]

More from the "new Christianity" and "prosperity gospel" in the US:

Denver pastor Eli Regalado and his wife told his congregation that God has told him to start a cryptocurrency company. They collected $3.2 million from over 300 investors and pocketed about $1.3 million of the funds to sustain their personal lifestyle, paying for renovations to their home, vehicles, vacations, cosmetic dentistry and other expenses.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/24/us/colorado-pastor-crypto-fraud-cec/index.html

hahaha

“The charges are that Kaitlyn and I pocketed 1.3 million dollars, and I just want to come out and say that those charges are true,” he said, adding, “A few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do.”

Because that is what Jesus is busy doing while ignoring all the war, famine, sickness and destruction of the planet....whispering in our ears that the house needs a new kitchen and master bath spa.

 

[KaraBulut]

...Because that is what Jesus is busy doing while ignoring all the war, famine, sickness and destruction of the planet....whispering in our ears that the house needs a new kitchen and master bath spa.

Apparently, the new Jesus is 900 feet tall and is always telling televangelists to build theme parks, build megamansions (and call them "parsonages" making them exempt from property taxes), buy jets and vote for Cheeto Jezus.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/unfair-burden/article/parsonages-religion-texas-tax-free-clergy-homes-16678079.php

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/file/944/0/9440-Day1_Parsonages_HeroEdit.mp4

(these are all different "parsonages" owned by megachurches in the South)

 

[LilBit]

^They're expensive, but hey, at least they're hideous.

 

[KaraBulut]

^They're expensive, but hey, at least they're hideous.

True of the ministers, as well as their parsonages.