US Politics, June 2024: "Have there ever been this many cowards in power?"

i have to admit i'm curious how exactly MAGAstan is going to spin the current president's son getting over-prosecuted for gun possession. i mean i believe in them and know they can do it, i'm just wondering what the deflective talking points are gonna be

Hunter Biden guilty of Rule 34
Donald Trump guilty on 34 counts

Yeah, Hunter Biden should be a poster boy for Second Amendment gun rights.

What else is he going to hunt with?

My right to bear arms protects my right to smoke hubba

I think they're doing the right angle - "I'm in recovery and I accept the consequences of my actions" will actually resonate with quite a few Americans

There it is

https://newrepublic.com/post/182568/conservatives-conspiracy-theories-hunter-biden-guilty-verdict

Let me guess — Bidel let his son get convicted so he looks good in comparison to Trump, then will pardon him after the election

Uh Biden

i think it will be hilarious if he pardons him after the election

Stephen Miller: “The gun charges are a giant misdirection,” asserted Miller. “An easy op for DOJ to sell to a pliant media that is all too willing to be duped. Don’t be gaslit. This is all about protecting Joe Biden and only Joe Biden.”

LOL what the fuck is he talking about

Joe sold Hunter the crack

when the shrooms hit and i realize the beauty of the world all around me pic.twitter.com/rwAcQcHDLv

— Trey Smith (@SlimiHendrix) June 11, 2024

If only Republicans had the ability to conduct their own congressional investigation to prove the nefariousness of the Biden Crime Family.

Opinion | If Donald Trump was named anything but Trump, he never would have been put on trial for manipulating a presidential election he’d go on to win. Here’s why I’m calling on Hunter Biden’s judge to give him the maximum 25 year sentence.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) June 11, 2024

25 years for each laptop he's stolen from burisma

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/11/us/elections/results-ohio-us-house-6-special.html is going to be a squeaker. it went republican 67 to 32 in 2022 and 74 to 26 in 2020.

Meanwhile, it looks like state Sen. Michael Rulli (R) is on track for a significant underperformance in tonight's #OH06 special election (a Trump +29 seat), though he's still strongly favored to win the seat.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 12, 2024

Noble Co. is now fully reporting, and Rulli (R) only wins it by 28 pts over Kripchak (D). This is a county Trump won by 63 pts in 2020. As a whole, #OH06 is Trump +29.

I'm starting to think #OH06 (a special neither party paid attention to) is going to end up quite close.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 12, 2024

Monroe Co. (Trump 76%-22% in '20) now fully reported. Rulli (R) wins it just 60%-40%. Rulli has to hope for a better Election Day vote surge elsewhere. #OH06

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 12, 2024

oh well. huge swing though.

I've seen enough: Michael Rulli (R) wins the #OH06 special election, defeating Michael Kripchak (D). But it'll be a much closer margin than either party expected.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 12, 2024

Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come (in a good way).

IIUC it's consistent with the last four years of special elections, but the fact that it's *still* happening with a national campaign underway seems noteworthy.

Brill still out here Contenting

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/steven-brill-death-of-truth

Good morning!

https://bsky.app/profile/taniel.bsky.social/post/3kuqasirbpl2s

Brill’s NOT Content

PS the nineties eh? I had a subscription to that and George

Using AI to simulate polling results. This should work out great.

lol, AFAICT the authors of that article seem to mostly work in the data-science, language-processing, and AI fields. if any of them know anything whatsoever about politics, polling, or even "the expressed opinions of individuals and groups across the web," they're not going out of their way to make that clear. they might as well be writing in an lawn-care magazine about how AI will probably be able to change the way you mow your lawn.

plus there's a rather long history of trying to model and simulate voters

can AI be used to simulate electoral results that factor in Republican cheating?

Using AI to simulate polling results. This should work out great.

as others have pointed out, talking to imaginary voters he has invented is literally how the leader of the senate understands the policy preferences of Americans, so it's not clear this would be any worse.

PS the nineties eh? I had a subscription to that and George

― Gigi Allen (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, June 12, 2024 9:38 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Same. What a time it was

God I haven't thought of George in.. decades? That was JFK Jr. or something?

Yeah, a real Clinton-era artifact. (I had a subscription too, at least for the first year. I don't remember how long it lasted.)

They're back!

https://georgemagazine.com/

and they're based in Hot Springs, Arkansas... where the DC elites go to hobnob

They have a kids' version as well

https://georgemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-GEORGE-JR-ISSUE-11-COVER_V1_01-1.png

The Arkansas base + Religious content + Mike Huckabee on the cover make me think this is some kind of Christian nationalist hermit crab situation

I am not clicking that link you guys

Everything is eventually reanimated as venture capitalist right wing or liberatarian BS it seems

--Andy Warhol

They have a giant Q on one cover... wasn't JFK Jr. somehow cast into that cosplay? Finally it's all coming full circle

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/13/john-fetterman-car-crash-driving-speeding-tickets/

john-fetterman-life-crash

Wait, Fetterman is allowed to drive?

just a little stroke, let's be cool

he drives...innovation

Wait... are you telling me that a cranky ass middle aged white dude from Pennsylvania drives like an asshole? I never.

Can't drive. 55 (in August)

Pretty annoyed with the people in my feeds acting all shocked about IVF becoming the new target for the Christofascists. We knew they weren't gonna just sit back contentedly after reversing Roe!

I assume this also is quite shocking to the same group: https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/354635/divorce-no-fault-states-marriage-republicans

With 50% of all marriages ending in divorce, I really doubt that is going to be a winning issue for them. Not that they won't try.