Politics Thread!

[KlaxonCow]

Not suggesting it's a false flag. I'm suggesting it's at least 50/50 and probably better that the shooter was on the right of the US political spectrum. Not just because there is more of a maniac gun culture on the right, but because it's often deranged fans one way or another.

And if we consider the previous assassination attempt on Trump then it's entirely possible, as that guy was not "a leftist".

(Well, Crooks' political views are complicated, as he did donate to a progressive campaign once, but he was a registered Republican and his social media had antisemitism and anti-immigrant views on it. He seemed more motivated to halt "King" Trump's autocratic tendencies than wanting the Democrats or progressives to win anything.)

[F-ZeroOne]

I hope this is not going to be an excuse to start a witch hunt agains people on the left side of the politics specially in the universities.

Given some of the things that have already been said by the President and his party’s representatives, I fear your hopes are probably going to be unrealised.

Elsewhere, Brazils former president Bolsonaro has just been sentenced to 27 years for his part in a coup attempt, so it is actually possible even these days…

[tufty]

I'm sort of guessing it might have been, but the odds probably are that it wasn't.

It still could be, although not necessarily one run by "the man". I don't see it as anything other than a nutcase deciding Kirk needed to die for <reasons>. Might not even have been political; the guy who shot Reagan did it because he was obsessed with Jodie Foster - explain that one in terms of left and right.

It possibly is the start of the crack-down.

The crack down had already started, Trump had sent troops into DC and was threatening to do the same to Chicago, with the apparent direct aim of causing enough trouble to be able to invoke martial law. Combined with Steven Goebbels Miller calling the democrats a "domestic extremist organization" last week, we can see where that's going. It's certainly not going to be

not too terrible.

As for the suspect, he's a "person of interest". .At least for a while the FBI were saying the shooter was dressed in "full tactical gear", but the photo is of someone in a t-shirt. Along with the dribs and drabs of conflicting information available in an ongoig investigation, there's a lot of misinformation out there too - for a while the right wing media were running with the (clearly bullshit) story that the rifle had been found, and the ammunition was engraved with pro-trans and anti-fascist writings. I wonder what side of the fence that came from, and what it's intended to do.

Meanwhile, Russian drones in Poland.

[venusian]

Meanwhile, Russian drones in Poland.

Yeah, USian back and forth, is a compelling spectator sport, but Putin is aiming to find out how real NATO actually is and that's much less entertaining. It's going to turn out to be wholly illusory, IMO.

[PFVA]

Elsewhere, Brazils former president Bolsonaro has just been sentenced to 27 years for his part in a coup attempt, so it is actually possible even these days…

Bolsonaro's popularity has been decreasing since Trump came out in his defence and stuck the 50% tariffs in retaliation.
Basically most people don't like foreign interference in national business.

However I think 27 might have been too much. I would have settle for 10-12 years

[tufty]

Also, didn't have time to address this before heading off to work this morning, but it looks like Trump has had a pretty major stroke. The video of him at the 9/11 ceremony shows a massive and continuous (i.e not a single frame taken out of context) droop on the right side of his face. There's a bunch of conjecture that the video address on the Charlie Kirk shooting was somewhat hastily edited and AI-enhanced to make him look less stroke-y, which might have some validity to it. It was certainly edited from a bunch of short clips. I guess we'll find out during his next public appearances, if there are any.

I do think he's had a stroke, and I do think it's being covered up. My reasoning for the latter is that, if they invoke the 25th amendment, power passes to Vance as acting president, and if it's a stroke, Trump is very unlikely to come back. But Trump's supporters aren't loyal to the party, or to the program, they're loyal to Trump, and for the moment, the people running things behind Trump can't do without him, or them.

[tufty]

Bolsonaro judgement is good news, though. Go Brazil!

[tufty]

OK, so it appears they have their suspect in custody. And it appears the thing about the bullet casings being engraved was not, in fact, bullshit. The engravings are being reported as being:

"Hey fascist! Catch!"
"Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao, Ciao"
"If you read this you are gay, lmao"

The last one doesn't sound very pro trans to me. As for the second, I was baffled. According to Reuters, though, "Bella Ciao" is a "groyper" meme.

The Groypers, sometimes called the Groyper Army, are a group of alt-right, white nationalist, and Christian nationalist activists led by Nick Fuentes

It's fair to say that Fuentes and Kirk were not the best of friends. The beeb, on the other hand, are saying the Bella Ciao thing is antifa, which, if you take it on face value, it is. So go figure.

[PFVA]

I thought Bella Ciau was an Italian partisan song against Fascism.
It's used here too specially by the Communists, and other left wing groups.

[zip accident]

The Groypers, sometimes called the Groyper Army, are a group of alt-right, white nationalist, and Christian nationalist activists led by Nick Fuentes

It's fair to say that Fuentes and Kirk were not the best of friends. The beeb, on the other hand, are saying the Bella Ciao thing is antifa, which, if you take it on face value, it is. So go figure.

I just read the Wikipedia Fuentes page, and it's strange for a "white racist" to be a hispanic catholic. I'm not blue eyed, blonde or protestant, but I'm nearer to being a Wasp than that guy is. Not that being a Wasp would be a good thing. Or being racist. But you can't have a union of racists that's pro Han, and pro Black, you can have a black racist but if you do, he or she is anti-Han, and vice versa.

[tufty]

you can't have a union of racists that's pro Han, and pro Black, you can have a black racist but if you do, he or she is anti-Han, and vice versa.

Oh, you can. You very much can. Logic has little to do with it. Hitler was far from being the aryan ideal. Suella Braverman is anti immigration. And so on.

[tufty]

I've had a few goes at Youtube's algorithm, which regularly tries to feed me extreme right wing stuff. But today it fed me Chumbawamba's "The day the nazi died". I'd do a "clapping gif" here, but that actually deserves this:

[PFVA]

Regarding fascism and hispanics, there is a lot of hispanics, at least in California that defend Franco's type of fascism:
God, the Nation, the Family. It's also common in Spain. There is also a right wing sector of the Catholic Church that supports that.

Note: and Portugal too as our dictatorship was similar to Spain's and there is people who want it back.

[zip accident]

Going through the motions, I came across a reference to Critical Race Theory, and that sounds like a fine idea.

I must say, the thing that strikes me most is that we don't hear enough about the extra vigour of the F1 hybrid.

It's widely known in plants, but it works for all Eucaryotes (all life?), including people. Second generation crosses don't get the extra vigour, but a cross with a third or further strain can keep the vigour going, and there are thousands of potential human strains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F1_hybrid

Two savannah cats, a hybrid between the domestic cat (Felis catus) and the serval (Leptailurus serval). The larger of the two is an F1 hybrid, while the smaller is an F4 hybrid.

It doesn't have to be different races, Einstein's parents came from different villages and it's my guess that he was an F1 (but that is entirely a guess).

[SuperMappy]