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

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.

Life comes at you fast, or whatever

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/06/14/trump-gop-future-moment-south-carolina-00162767

The Night Drove New Dixie Down

xp fwiw the 50% divorce rate isn't close to accurate anymore (it's now around 25% afaict), though that's partially due to the marriage rate also declining

(speaking of the US only)

Quality not quantity I always say

50% divorce rate is the discount rate if you do a twofer and bring a coupon

Wait, Fetterman is allowed to drive?

they don't take your license away because you had a stroke at some point

hope it ends well for him

people whose ability to drive is impaired often don't lose their licenses unless someone is aware of the issue (i.e. a doctor) and reports it to the DMV.

eh that politico i cannot...someone got paid to assemble that tho, and hard to resist “the American people...the more news they receive, the less savvy they become” or “We’re no longer going to be the stupid people, folks,” he’d said. “We’re going to be smart, and we’re going to win" cuz like, president fredo will lead us. and then he did

xp

also xp i had a really severe tbi with bleeds and some dai. trauma is v different to stroke obv, but as far as brain injury and driving, CO's licensing sys seemed more concerned with my seizure history/risk. i been seizure free, which is lucky, really. hmm i like to imagine my brain is all kinds of better than fetterman's but that's my opinion.

Hunt3r >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fetterman

aw ty!

Hard agree with Neando

Thirded

i saw something on a thread somewhere about something called sympathy fishing, and you can sees i been working on them skills

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., introduced a bill in April to rename Washington-Dulles International Airport to the Donald J. Trump International Airport.

A few days later, a group of Democrats responded with legislation to change the name of the federal prison in Miami to the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution.

Have we crossed the threshold yet of some representative or another introducing a bill to rename the country Trumpland?

The Democratic response is cute, but whenever I see stuff like that I wonder what they could be spending their time on instead.