What stupid shit has Biden done today?

[gentlegreen]

Kevin Logan - who has the stomach to do actually read that stuff - reckons that (Parler) is already roughly 25 percent trolls winding up the right wing loons.

 

[Dogsauce]

Kevin Logan - who has the stomach to do actually read that stuff - reckons that (Parler) is already roughly 25 percent trolls winding up the right wing loons.

There‘s probably some fun to be had trying to see exactly how far you can stretch their beliefs, though no guarantee that the person responding isn’t also playing along for the LOLs. Could be the modern equivalent of that infamous animal rights cell in the 80s that consisted of three undercover plod from separate divisions, two investigative journalists and one actual loon.

 

[NoXion]

There‘s probably some fun to be had trying to see exactly how far you can stretch their beliefs, though no guarantee that the person responding isn’t also playing along for the LOLs. Could be the modern equivalent of that infamous animal rights cell in the 80s that consisted of three undercover plod from separate divisions, two investigative journalists and one actual loon.

A flock of wolves.

 

[a_chap]

A pack of seagulls.

 

[teqniq]

News that will probably come as no surprise to many, more of the same:

Biden Chooses Tom "Mr. Monsanto" Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary - Left Voice

In the growing rogues’ gallery of Biden’s cabinet picks, the latest is Tom “Mr. Monsanto” Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack returns to this position he held under Obama, with a history of discrimination and colluding with big meatpacking and dairy interests. Democrats are no friend...

www.leftvoice.org

 

[Smokeandsteam]

It’s like Thatcher’s nation of shopkeepers all over again, only this time with the appropriate quotas ticked off:

 

[teqniq]

This is pretty fucking stupid along with very dishonest:

 

[hitmouse]

Peter Gelderloos on what stupid shit we can expect from Biden coming up:

Even law enforcement, always the fash’s closest ally in the halls of power, is getting in on the act. The Capitol rioters are, to their great dismay, suddenly getting treated in similar fashion to anarchist and Black Lives Matter protesters (albeit a day late of course). While direct comparisons to J20 should probably wait until all the indictments are in, early returns seem to indicate that more chuds will be prosecuted than were J20 protesters, and more held without bail, but on lesser charges. Thanks to their crap security practices, far more of the fash will be convicted.

The reason for this sudden change of heart is clear. The only thing cops hate more than Black people is embarrassment, and cops have never been more embarrassed than they are now. The Capitol Police in particular of course, but the shame is so vast it transcends jurisdictional boundaries. A department of 2,300 cops had one job, to protect one building, and they blew it, comprehensively and spectacularly, on hundreds of livestreams...

Trump has disgraced his party more thoroughly than Nixon did with Watergate, and at a far more precarious time. The GOP might not be dead, but it is bleeding freely from multiple shots to the foot, and that clip’s not empty yet.

On the Democratic side, the historic response to the Republican rightward slide has been to follow along behind them, hoping to retain swing voters and pick up moderate ex-Republicans who had become disgusted with their party’s fascist creep(s). The liberal vote was taken for granted because it had nowhere else to go. Prior to the sixth, it was looking like this strategy had reached its expiration date. The pandemic, the economic desperation, and the latent fury aroused by the George Floyd uprising mandated a certain level of relief, and besides, the hot new electoral strategy these days isn’t competing for swing voters, it’s mobilizing the base. Turnout and enthusiasm are key. Biden signaled through his Cabinet choices that he meant to govern a carefully calibrated half inch to the left of Obama. A December piece on FiveThirtyEight hypothesized that progressives had the ability to block the nomination of the most objectionable candidates (like Rahm Emanuel), but not to push their ideal choices through (like Bernie Sanders). That pattern seems to have held up.

However, the Republican debacle now gives Biden and the Democrats more leeway to disappoint their followers. With their competition divided and in disarray Democrats don’t have to work as hard at driving turnout to win. Again, where else are liberal voters going to go? The only other choices are open fascists or thinly disguised fascists.

It remains to be seen how quickly Biden will move to take advantage of this opportunity. The Democrats are already waffling on $2,000 stimulus checks, but that might have happened anyway. If Biden is smart he will try to extend his honeymoon and wait for the 2022 midterms to see how fast the Republicans fall apart and how much the economy recovers. No matter the results, in 2023 he can reshuffle his Cabinet and install the centrist Blue Dogs that his heart cries out for. If the Democrats do well in the midterms he will have the latitude to do whatever he wants, especially if he decides not to run for re-election. If the GOP musters one last gasp to gain ground in Congress, Biden’s excuse for a rightward pivot will be the hoary chestnut that radical policies are alienating moderate swing voters.

He might be too impatient, though. Corporate America took back to back punches to the gut on January fifth and sixth. First Mitch McConnell lost his stranglehold on the Senate in the Georgia runoff elections, and the next day the entire Republican Party imploded in epic fashion. Wall Street lobbyists will be desperate to recoup their reverses, and in Biden they have the perfect man for the job...

A few current issues might give us an idea of future trends. One, the next stimulus check. The drama around how much to provide and who will get it should reveal who the designated Democratic obstructionists will be going forward, how much weight the progressive caucus carries, and how the new administration means to approach economic issues in the short term. One hilarious possibility – an alliance between Trumpist Republicans and progressive Democrats to push for the full $2,000.

Two, the Centers for Disease Control eviction moratorium. This expires at the end of January, and if it is not renewed a massive wave of evictions will throw millions of vulnerable renters into the cold in the middle of the pandemic. Biden has pledged to extend the moratorium until September – but as part of a recovery plan that has to be passed by Congress, not an executive order. This raises suspicions that he doesn’t care about the moratorium expiring as long as he can plausibly blame the Republicans. Keep an eye on the details of this one. The current moratorium only requires tenants to attest that their ability to pay rent has been damaged by the pandemic. If a new moratorium requires them to prove it, that extra hurdle will result in many more evictions than previously.

Three, immunity from Covid neglect lawsuits for nursing home corporations. Nursing homes are just prisons for old people, a different kind of warehouse for a different sector of the surplus population. The rampant neglect and cost cutting endemic to the industry have caused countless avoidable deaths from Covid-19. Liability from lawsuits for neglect has been instituted in several states, but despite Trump and McConnell’s best efforts, not yet at the federal level. Expect Republicans to try again as the price for passing Biden’s recovery plan. His response will be instructive.

(last few paragraphs are probably the most important there)

 

[hitmouse]

Committed to not reversing Trump's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem: US embassy to stay in Jerusalem: Biden’s top diplomat Blinken

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Excellent analysis of the stupid shit already unfolding and where it’s going. “This is the season of choral chanting by the western middle classes. There are people in Morningside, Wimbledon, Blackrock and Charlottenburg saying things they know aren't true in a vast extended court around king Biden. Journalists and commentators, influencers, diplomats, academics, think tanks and NGOs profess that a coup has been – perhaps is still being – thwarted and democracy saved. They are also making sure they are being seen to profess.

What we are witnessing is the seamless transmutation of ‘the Resistance’ into the early period of a restorationist, authoritarian-liberal administration.”.....

Bidenism Is Establishing Its Founding Myth | Conter

With the US inauguration the site of a major ideological offensive, David Jamieson argues the now regime has implications for us all.

www.conter.co.uk

 

[rekil]

Just more nothing to see here crankleft contrarianism as a shitty counterweight to the liberal happyclappiness. Claiming that the loon attempt to overturn the election is a "myth" while simultaneously conceding that there's "potential for outrages and violence from fragments of a disintegrating Trump movement". No evidence of this disintegration presented of course. He just makes it up. As for this whiny handwringing rubbish.

Every major social media platform engaged in a purge of Trump and many of his followers. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the banning of Trump for “use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government”. There is no precedent in history for the censoring of the world’s most powerful elected official from most of the world’s media by a handful of unelected businessmen.

Talk about hysterical.

 

[NoXion]

Trump got exceptionally lenient treatment for his Twitter TOS violations, with the hammer only really coming down after the coup attempt. My understanding is that the "myth" of it comes not in the attempt itself, which was entirely real, but in how the post-Trump Democrats will use the event to build excuses for even more security-industrial complex type shit. When as we clearly saw, the footsoldiers of the attempted coup were practically begging to have their collars felt, posting their names and selfies publicly while doing so. Such inconvenient facts will be ignored in the pursuit of more authority.

There also needs to be more talk about the pseudo-public nature of social media spaces and how that effects discourse. Of course it's funny when radical conservatives and fascists get fucked by the notion of private property that they love so much, but that doesn't mean we can't also say that it's a bad thing for unaccountable corporations to control so much of public life.

 

[petee]

Just more nothing to see here crankleft contrarianism as a shitty counterweight to the liberal happyclappiness. Claiming that the loon attempt to overturn the election is a "myth" while simultaneously conceding that there's "potential for outrages and violence from fragments of a disintegrating Trump movement". No evidence of this disintegration presented of course. He just makes it up. As for this whiny handwringing rubbish.
Talk about hysterical.

best post on the thread.

 

[bimble]

i don't think we have a thread for this but here's a seemingly real and non-stupid thing he's doing. I didn't expect that.
If its just federal convictions this applies to though maybe its not that big of a deal as most prisoners will be there from state courts?

 

[Badgers]

i don't think we have a thread for this but here's a seemingly real and non-stupid thing he's doing. I didn't expect that.
If its just federal convictions this applies to though maybe its not that big of a deal as most prisoners will be there from state courts?
View attachment 251582

That is massive if it happens

 

[NoXion]

I don't see many on this forum talking about the $2000 stimulus check that's apparently now going to be $1400 (and which might not arrive at all!). Maybe that's not entirely Biden's fault, but it's certainly a dumb move on the part of the Democrats. They seem pretty damn eager to piss away what little goodwill they accrued by not being Trump's Republicans.

 

[Chilli.s]

i don't think we have a thread for this but here's a seemingly real and non-stupid thing he's doing. I didn't expect that.
If its just federal convictions this applies to though maybe its not that big of a deal as most prisoners will be there from state courts?
View attachment 251582

Wow, didn't expect that.

This private prisons thing is a thing I'm expecting to arrive in the UK as it's been such a cash cow to the corrupt capital ethos over there.

 

[DotCommunist]

It doesn't end their use at borders/by DHS where it is most widespread.

Wow, didn't expect that.

This private prisons thing is a thing I'm expecting to arrive in the UK as it's been such a cash cow to the corrupt capital ethos over there.

we already have 14 of them, you may remember the Birmingham prison riot a few years back

 

[two sheds]

I don't see many on this forum talking about the $2000 stimulus check that's apparently now going to be $1400 (and which might not arrive at all!). Maybe that's not entirely Biden's fault, but it's certainly a dumb move on the part of the Democrats. They seem pretty damn eager to piss away what little goodwill they accrued by not being Trump's Republicans.

They did say $2000 rather than $600 and people have already got the $600 haven't they, so they're strictly doing what they said they'd do but yes they should be giving the full $2000.

 

[hitmouse]

i don't think we have a thread for this but here's a seemingly real and non-stupid thing he's doing. I didn't expect that.
If its just federal convictions this applies to though maybe its not that big of a deal as most prisoners will be there from state courts?

Bit more discussion of it here: Reversing a Trump policy, Biden will end the Justice Department's use of private prisons

Doesn't really seem hugely unexpected to me, Obama announced a similar thing in 2016 or so only to have it immediately rolled back by Trump.

The executive order “will ultimately end the Justice Department’s use of private prisons, an industry that houses pretrial detainees and federal prisoners,” Biden said Tuesday in a speech on his racial equity policy agenda. The decision means the gradual end for a dozen private prisons that currently incarcerate about 14,000 people—about 9 percent of the federal prison population. Most of those are men without US citizenship serving short federal sentences under low security. It could also affect for-profit jails run by private prison companies under contract with US Marshals Service, a DOJ division that holds pretrial detainees...

The order will restore a policy first implemented under President Barack Obama, when then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates released a memo announcing that the Justice Department would phase out its contracts with private prison companies to lock up people convicted of federal crimes—responding both to a declining federal prison population and to a damning Office of the Inspector General report showing that federal prisons run by for-profit companies were more violent and less secure than publicly operated ones. But before the change could have much effect, Trump won the presidency and Attorney General Jeff Sessions swiftly reversed the policy, kicking off a new era of growth for private prison companies fueled largely by federal contacts.

Biden’s executive order will have major implications for the private prison industry’s top players, including the GEO Group, Management and Training Corporation, and CoreCivic, formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America. In 2019, Bureau of Prisons and Marshals Service contracts accounted for about 23 percent of the GEO Group’s revenue, and 22 percent of CoreCivic’s revenue. Stocks for CoreCivic and GEO fell 18 percent and 12 percent respectively following the news of the executive order on Tuesday.

While Biden’s move fulfills a campaign promise to end the federal use of private prisons, it stops short of a second pledge to end for-profit immigration detention centers. It remains unclear how quickly private immigration detention centers—which make up the majority of the ICE detention system and account for about a third of GEO’s and CoreCivic’s revenue—could be closed and what would replace them.

Yet today’s order is a sign of the Democratic Party’s decisive shift against private prisons over the last several years. Public outcry against private prisons intensified during the Trump administration, as outrage over hardline immigration policies, including family separation, drew attention to ICE’s detention apparatus and the corporations that profited from it. In 2019, under pressure from activists, major US banks announced they would no longer finance the private prison industry. Meanwhile, states have been weighing and passing their own private prison bans.

In other news worth keeping an eye on, big letter signed by a long list of civil rights groups opposing any new terrorism laws being introduced in the post-January 6th climate: 135 Civil Rights Organizations Oppose a New Domestic Terrorism Charge - The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

 

[petee]

handy list of all the stupid shit biden's done

Presidential Actions Archives | The White House

Executive Orders, Memorandum, Proclamations and more by President Biden.

www.whitehouse.gov

 

[two sheds]

There was a 'the right can't meme' post on reddit responding to democrat accusations of far right undemocratic takeover by posting the number of executive orders Biden made on his first day (lots) compared to Trump and Obama and a couple of others. Nice to see what those were.

 

[spring-peeper]

Just before dinner, I saw this.



With the statement -> IMAGINE THAT! ISN'T THIS CALLED INSIDER TRADING???

went back on fb to get it, and it had this warning....

"Partly False Information
Checked by independent fact-checkers.
See Why"

Wow!!!! 20 minutes and it got labeled!!!!

 

[Yossarian]

There was a 'the right can't meme' post on reddit responding to democrat accusations of far right undemocratic takeover by posting the number of executive orders Biden made on his first day (lots) compared to Trump and Obama and a couple of others. Nice to see what those were.

That was a quick U-turn from "Joe Biden didn't do anything" to "Joe Biden is doing too much."

 

[petee]

That was a quick U-turn from "Joe Biden didn't do anything" to "Joe Biden is doing too much."

pairs well with "joe biden is senile" to "joe biden is an evil genius".

 

[two sheds]

senile evil genius please

 

[petee]

now that's how you do it such stupid shit

 

[hitmouse]

This doesn't seem like a great sign:

Biden administration prepares to open overflow facility for migrant children | CNN Politics

The Biden administration is opening an overflow facility for unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the US-Mexico border, the federal agency tasked with the children's care told CNN in a statement.

edition.cnn.com

 

[NoXion]

They haven't stopped putting kids in cages, which is one of the things that makes the simping for Biden so vomit-inducing.

 

[NoXion]

"Unaccompanied", well yeah of course they're going to be "unaccompanied" if you separate them from the adults they're travelling with. CNN propagandising for the Dems, no shock..