US US Politics General - Discussion of President Biden and other politicians

 

[Puff]

True enough, the old drop tables are pretty accurate as they are but adding in our medical imaging and material science would make hanging a precise event.


I think it has been proposed but never done, despite the fact that it ticks all the modern cuck boxes of being 'clinical' and 'clean'. Weird because the government spent the last few decades trying to execute people without feeling icky about it, and its just made things worse. They want to pretend that lethal injections or the electric chair are more 'civilized' or 'humane' than older methods but they aren't - all are prone to failure and even when they do work they just torture the prisoner to death. The only advantage to them is that they offer a veneer of progress, and a sense of emotional distance for the executioner so they can pretend they aren't taking a human life. Inert gas would give all they benefits they claim to want, but no state has made the jump to it yet.

Personally I like firing squads, they have a sense of masculine dignity for the condemned and the state.

Yeah, if I were getting executed, it has to be firing squad or hanging. Got to put on a show. The modern methods LOOK prettier when done right. It's about the comfort of the viewer.

 

[Pig Cups]

Does anyone USE inert gas asphyxiation? Flooding a room with nitrogen is cheap and easy, you just pass out and die. The 3 drug cocktails are clearly designed to fuck up.

Surprisingly, California adopted the gas chamber as its sole method in 1937. Up until 1967, 194 people were executed by lethal gas.

Capital punishment in CA went back and forth for awhile, with the state supreme court abolishing it in 1972, and continuing to hold the line, despite a 1976 SCOTUS ruling that superseded their 1972 ruling, which halted the practice. Executions in CA would resume in 1992, with the last execution occurring in 2006 (by the sources I check). Then, Newsom issued an EO stopping capital punishment in the state altogether, because of course he did.

 

[Puff]

Surprisingly, California adopted the gas chamber as its sole method in 1937. Up until 1967, 194 people were executed by lethal gas.

Capital punishment in CA went back and forth for awhile, with the state supreme court abolishing it in 1972, and continuing to hold the line, despite a 1976 SCOTUS ruling that superseded their 1972 ruling, which halted the practice. Executions in CA would resume in 1992, with the last execution occurring in 2006 (by the sources I check). Then, Newsom issued an EO stopping capital punishment in the state altogether, because of course he did.

Gas chamber is generally Cyanide.

 

[Meat Target]

Yeah, if I were getting executed, it has to be firing squad or hanging. Got to put on a show. The modern methods LOOK prettier when done right. It's about the comfort of the viewer.

I wanna go out like Major Kong.

 

[Herty]

Riding with Biden

 

[JohnDoe]

Surprisingly, California adopted the gas chamber as its sole method in 1937. Up until 1967, 194 people were executed by lethal gas.

Gas chamber is generally Cyanide.

It's also fucking horrifying, painful to watch and experience. But it was 'modern' and the proto 'Believe the SCIENCE!!!" types hyped it to the moon and back, ignoring that every time they used it the chamber fucked up. Either it didn't work and took multiple tries to start, or multiple 'doses' of gas tablets, and then when it 'worked' the condemned would thrash and scream in agony for up to a quarter hour at a time.

Broke leg horses received a more dignified and competent end.

 

[Meat Target]

View attachment 3250083

>Catholic-despising

Alito, Barrett, Thomas, and Kavanaugh are practicing Catholics, numbnuts.

I have the same feelings towards this Tristan Snell guy as I do Jared Holt: his name and face pissed me off before I knew anything about him or his politics.

 

[More AWS-8Q Than You]

So as a slight PL, the dementia patient will be visiting a business down the road from my job tomorrow. Already had Blackhawks and Ospreys flying over. It's going to make lunch a bitch, as they're probably going to shut down enough of the road to effect us.

Not sure why he'd come out here, to say this is Trump country would be a massive understatement.

 

[mandatorylurk]

One thing in the supply chain that is being overlooked that seems to be getting more attention is a lack of baby formula. It's all anecdotal twitter stuff but supposedly 30% of stores are out of baby formula.

Democrats not only want to keep killing babies, they want them to starve too. Ultra MAGA can't arrive soon enough.

 

[Pig Cups]

I concur with the firing squads and hangings argument. I feel like the mechanics of lethal injection were purposely and needlessly complicated, with a veiled activist intention of causing problems that would bring about a gradual dismantling of the death penalty.

With regard to lethal injection, it really needs to be no more complicated than the practice that assisted dying organizations use, like Dignitas in Switzerland. They give an anti-emetic beforehand, which is then followed with an overdose of sodium pentobarbital. The individual then falls into a deep sleep before respiratory/heart failure occurs. It’s virtually painless and simple.

Then, there are the Russians. Seems like an efficient way of doing it, if you ask me.

etd: duplicate words

 

[JohnDoe]

One thing in the supply chain that is being overlooked that seems to be getting more attention is a lack of baby formula. It's all anecdotal twitter stuff but supposedly 30% of stores are out of baby formula.

Democrats not only want to keep killing babies, they want them to starve too. Ultra MAGA can't arrive soon enough.

Reject modernity, return to tradition. Breast milk is the best option for your baby, it's all natural and super healthy.

 

[Pentex]

Biden is close to the point of no return with Americans on the economy

President Joe Biden and his administration appear perilously close to an irreversible severing of public confidence in his capacity to deliver prosperity and financial security as stiff economic challenges balloon into huge political liabilities.

A CNN poll released Wednesday shows that the President's repeated efforts to highlight undeniably strong aspects of the economy's post-pandemic rebound and to offset blame for its bad spots aren't working.

The main culprit is inflation, a corrosive force that the White House initially underestimated and has failed to tame. It's been decades since Americans have experienced this demoralizing cycle of spiraling costs for basic goods and services. That shock is twinned with punishing gasoline prices that also hammer family budgets and spread pain across the population -- in a way that a regular recession, which can destroy millions of jobs but not hurt everyone -- may not.

The result is a looming political disaster for Democrats, with voters in a disgruntled mood ahead of midterm elections that were already historically tough for a first-term President.

The depth of voter disquiet about the economy also suggests that a potential backlash against the Supreme Court possibly overturning the nationwide right to abortion may not save Democrats in November.

The party seems stuck in a dangerous political position of insisting the economy is doing well while voters think it's in the tank.

The CNN poll, conducted by SSRS from April 28 to May 1, showed that a majority of Americans think Biden's policies have hurt the economy, while 8 in 10 say the government is not doing enough to combat inflation. It was released on the same day the Federal Reserve made its biggest swing against the rising cost of living in 22 years.

White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein admitted on CNN on Thursday that some households are "experiencing extreme discomfort" because of inflation, but said some were in a better position because of the strong job market.

"So I think you have to be more nuanced when you're trying to assess the economy ... we're doing all we can to try to help ease these inflationary pressures," Bernstein told Brianna Keilar on "New Day." He pointed to White House efforts to end supply chain blockages, to tackle port congestion, to lower energy prices and the release of millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves among other measures.

Bernstein is right about the external factors pushing inflation. But the problem for the White House is that nuance is the first thing that goes missing in political campaigns and voter anguish offers an easy opening for Republicans.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point, but it triggered a stocks rally by indicating that despite adjustments to come, it did not anticipate further huge spikes in the price of borrowing.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to speak directly to the American people," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at the start of a news conference. "Inflation is much too high, and we understand the hardship it is causing. We are moving expeditiously to bring it back down."

Yet the strikingly direct moment may not quell concerns that the Fed and the White House have acted too slowly to tackle inflation, are not using sufficiently aggressive methods to ease it and may still be overtaken by global factors, including the war in Ukraine and the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which clogged supply chains, sent energy prices soaring and triggered other rising prices.

What the interest rate hike means
The rate increase will make new home and car loans and payments on credit card balances more expensive. But in the process, it could cool the housing market, making it easier to buy a home and taking the heat out of rising prices.

Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, explained that Americans could see results from the rate hikes in their daily lives, as inflation simmers at the highest levels since Ronald Reagan's 1980s presidency.

"What the Fed is hoping to do is cool inflation a little so your paycheck will go a little further, although that will mean slowing the economy and that might mean a little less bargaining power for workers and fewer prospects of a wage rise anytime soon," Wolfers said on CNN's "Newsroom."

The White House is showing clear signs of frustration that inflation is overshadowing the strong aspects of an economy that appears in remarkably robust shape -- despite a small contraction of 1.4% in the first quarter -- given the cataclysm of a two-year pandemic and the worst war in Europe since 1945.

Biden, for example, on Wednesday touted cuts in the federal budget deficit and an unemployment rate that is approaching 50-year lows in a speech that appeared to be an attempt to get ahead of the Fed announcement and to signal resolve.

Yet his political plight is underscoring why inflation remains a force that is dreaded by political leaders everywhere.

Despite Republican claims in midterm campaign ads that Biden's public spending policies are the sole cause of inflation, the President is correct to identify outside factors, including the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as the main drivers of rising prices.

But the reality doesn't mean voters will give Biden a pass. It's the nature of the job that when the country is in a grim mood, the President gets the blame. And when the White House's efforts to explain the problems and fix them have sometimes been muddled and too late, the political damage mounts. Biden may never shake off the initial White House line that high inflation was a "transitory" phase coming out of the pandemic. And while the economy is strong in many areas, voters' perception is often more important politically than the data that tells the real story.

A daunting poll for the White House
The CNN poll, for example, says that only 23% of Americans rate economic conditions as even somewhat good, down from 37% in December. The last time public perception of the economy was this poor in CNN's polling was November 2011. Only 34% approve of Biden's management of the economy. And his approval rating on helping the middle class -- 36% -- is devastating for a President who has made that issue the foundation of his political career.

The question of public perception versus the true state of the economy is also borne out in the poll. Americans said by nearly 4 to 1 that they were more likely to hear bad news than good news about the economy.

Some 94% of Republicans rate economic conditions as poor. This suggests that views of the economy may be shaped by partisan leanings as much as a neutral judgment of conditions. Conservative news channels keep a constant drumbeat of horror stories about rising prices, and Republicans have made the issue an effective campaign tool while hyping the strength of ex-President Donald Trump's economic performance.

Yet 81% of independents and 54% of Democrats also think the economy is poor, suggesting that Biden has taken a hit among some of the voters who put him in office.

Americans are more positive about their own finances than about the national economic situation, with 53% saying they're satisfied with their personal financial situations. That could again indicate that a wider sense of malaise is coloring views of the economy. Still, that figure is down from 66% in 2016.

Given this catalog of gloom, Biden's tone and topic on Wednesday were a little surprising.

He claimed credit for a $1.5 trillion cut in the federal deficit by the end of the year. This compares with the profligacy of the debt-laden Trump years and exposes the hypocrisy of Republican deficit hawks who forget their supposed principles when one of their own is in the Oval Office.

Yet how many Americans stretching their weekly budgets care that much about deficits -- even if, as Biden said, lowering them could bring down inflation in the long term?

The White House event also exposed the President's frustration that he's not getting credit for what's good about the economy.

When a reporter asked him about Ukraine and the Supreme Court's abortion drama, he replied: "No one asked about deficits, huh? ... You want to make sure this doesn't get covered."

What happens next
The best hope for Biden, other Democratic politicians and all Americans facing an economic crunch is that the Fed's approach works and prices fall. And some perspective here: The economy isn't facing the full-blown disaster of 2008 or even the inflationary nightmares of 40 years ago.

"I don't think we have the economy of the 1980s or the 1970s," Betsey Stevenson, who was a member of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Wednesday.

But it's hard to see how things get better quickly -- or anywhere near in time to make a difference to Biden before the midterms.

Even if the war in Ukraine ends soon, the fundamental shifts it has unleashed in the global economy will play out for years. More pressure on food prices is certain if the harvest in Europe's breadbasket -- a major source of grain and sunflower oil -- is disrupted by the war. New Covid-19 lockdowns in China could revive supply chain chaos that helped push up inflation in the first place. Some observers think the Fed has moved too slowly. Others think that its assault on inflation will cause a recession.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, appearing on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday before the Fed's announcement, said that although the economy is strong and consumers are in good shape, vulnerabilities are everywhere. He sees, for instance, a 1 in 3 chance of a "mild recession" that spans six to nine months but warned there's "a chance it's going to be much harder than that."

So for the country, and for Biden especially, there's more frustration to come.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/biden-is-close-to-the-point-of-no-return-with-americans-on-the-economy/ar-AAWVRFn?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=8cba8c6c35244af2aa243cd6aae9b908

https://archive.ph/N7hIN

 

[Puff]

>Catholic-despising

Alito, Barrett, Thomas, and Kavanaugh are practicing Catholics, numbnuts.

I have the same feelings towards this Tristan Snell guy as I do Jared Holt: his name and face pissed me off before I knew anything about him or his politics.

Why in absolute hell are 4 of the justices, specifically ALL 4 conservative justices Catholics?

 

[Josterman]

>Catholic-despising

Alito, Barrett, Thomas, and Kavanaugh are practicing Catholics, numbnuts.

I have the same feelings towards this Tristan Snell guy as I do Jared Holt: his name and face pissed me off before I knew anything about him or his politics.

Maybe he should looked into a little more

 

[soy_king]

Why in absolute hell are 4 of the justices, specifically ALL 4 conservative justices Catholics?

I think Roberts is also catholic, plus Sotomayor is technically Catholic.

 

[NyQuilninja]

I really don't think abortion going to the states will really cause that much damage socially. Give it a few days after the ruling, assuming they stick with the votes from the draft, and people will realize what "going to the states" actually fucking means, hopefully.

I'm assuming you're not American. If you were you would know that Americans are never wrong on whatever side of History they take and of course we always reasonably solve our social issues the polite way by shooting at each other and violently demonstrating while destroying massive amounts of property. Not to mention being state-sanctioned and corporate-sponsored to do so. yeah we're totally reasonable people that can come together and sort out differences

 

[Absolutego]

Why in absolute hell are 4 of the justices, specifically ALL 4 conservative justices Catholics?

They're all Catholics except for Breyer and Kagan, who are Jews. Gorsuch's a bit of a mix growing up Catholic but now attending an Episcopal church.
And wait until you find out what two schools all of them except ACB studied at. The Supreme Court is extremely incestuous in terms of who makes it to the nomination.
(It's Harvard and Yale. Even Ketanji Brown Jackson went to Harvard. ACB went to Notre Dame)

 

[Socrates]

Riding with Biden

View attachment 3250302

View attachment 3250300

View attachment 3250304

It really goes to show the potency of clown world that everybody's expectations for how the war in Ukraine was supposed to go has been totally inverted. Russia was supposed to absolutely stomp the Ukrainians while the Western nations dismantled Russia with economic sanctions, and instead the opposite is happening. What a fucking mess.

 

[Woe-B-Gon (TM)]

So as a slight PL, the dementia patient will be visiting a business down the road from my job tomorrow.

I recommend taking a few days off to avoid getting caught in the massive covid outbreak that will happen the day after tomorrow.

 

[draggs]

It really goes to show the potency of clown world that everybody's expectations for how the war in Ukraine was supposed to go has been totally inverted. Russia was supposed to absolutely stomp the Ukrainians while the Western nations dismantled Russia with economic sanctions, and instead the opposite is happening. What a fucking mess.

Russia is being dismantled economically, coffee, sugar, tea, etc., have increased 100% in price, imported consumer goods are essentially unobtainable, in parts of the country (east of the Urals) there's rationing at grocery stores, it's a shitshow over there.