Whenever something like this comes up, I'm torn between thinking that:
a) She's phenomenally stupid, or
b) She thinks would-be Tory voters are phenomenally stupid.
Then, I remember that these two things aren't actually mutually exclusive.
As a UK-based fan who was shouting for Canada, it's not hard: it's the team that scored more than once from the multiple chances they had. Given his own performance, MacKinnon can have no complaints and should suck it up.
It's not just Trump. Here in County Durham (UK), the Reform council leadership is all about "re-industrialisation". They want to go back to the days of deep coal mines and opencast. It's all about where their money comes from. Reform UK gets about 80% of their income from fossil fuel businesses...
The odd thing is the way they get upset when that's pointed out.
As @garrykasparov.bsky.social has previously noted: "The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth".
Part of that will be to feed in convenient truths for their supporters to hold on to and promote.
I probably still have my "Prefect" badge from the sixth-form...
I'm now waiting for someone to gift him a Medal of Hono(u)r that they picked up from eBay after it had been sold by a veteran or their family.
Trump: "And they said I was a draft-dodger!"
Two heads are better than one:
That sure doesn't look like it's all down to bad luck.
Given their track record, it's kind of hard to believe that "all options are on the table". The options that might involve upsetting Musk - and Trump, for that matter - likely won't be.
I'm not saying Mike McDaniel actually wants to get sacked, but what would the Dolphins do differently if he did?
She's done a great job demonstrating that she's never been in the same time zone as any of the writings of Hannah Arendt.
That's pretty amazing for someone with so many "opinions" on the subject of cultural reaction to totalitarianism.
The "banality of evil" indeed...
Watching this all unfold from the UK. My view is that it doesn't matter why someone decides to break away from the cult - just as long as they help the splinter effect. Only through that kind of thing will people realise that perpetual Trumpist control is NOT inevitable.
Playing (and coaching) down to the level of their opponents.
She'd definitely know about "fake"...
I'm excited but a bit sad to announce that I've left Bellingcat to start a nonprofit investigative outlet focused on the far-right. We're called Decoherence Media, and we're launching today.
That's why I wasn't super freaked out when they all joined here. They don't even need to have an account to read the firehose right? Can't imagine an administration obsessed with social media hasn't been here secretly since the early days
The sudden appearance of all these Trump administration accounts on Bluesky is ominous. They're not here in good faith and they're not here to troll.
They're setting something up. It likely has to do with a coming attack on Bluesky.
It really does seem difficult for individuals to acknowledge this about themselves. The mental gymnastics required to believe that supporting racism *doesn't* mean you are racist, are quite something.
My conclusion is that either: a) Starmer is so weak intellectually that he believes his close advisers when they say this is no big deal (and on whose behalf would they do that...?) or b) he simply wanted to be PM because he thought is was his turn to play i.e. a Johnson-scale sense of entitlement.
An interesting part of the Statement of Affairs for United Hygiene & Catering Equipment is the money owed to business lenders: £200k to Funding Circle, over £121k to NatWest and just shy of £200k to another cash flow finance provider. Most of that is post-Covid. Looks like he can spin a good yarn.
Brought to my mind the Harry Chapin song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas", which was inspired by an incident in 1965 that also took place in Pennsylvania.
"What would it take for a new British left-wing party to succeed?"
For a start, it could try ditching Corbyn...
Naughty, naughty... 😅
From my position the UK, what consistently strikes me every time Vance appears is just how mindlessly awful he is. I mean, truly horrible. If it's not bad enough that he appears to be utterly useless as a politician, he is just disgusting as an individual as well.
Or, Roberts unexpectedly retires and the appointment of one new Trump loyalist cements his control.
Personally, I don't think it matters too much. As a self-confessed cynic when it comes to politics, sometimes cynicism isn't helpful or relevant.
What's important here is that the PM's approach is being backed. What can't happen is that our adversaries see a country divided along partisan lines.
I've been watching ep. 4, season 2 of the original Star Trek - "Mirror, Mirror".
I’m convinced that we've been hit by an ion storm, and there's a parallel universe where racists and absolute idiots like this are quaking with the thought that their "presidential hero" is about to end up in jail.
What's the grift? There's ALWAYS a grift with these types.
Excellent explanation of your reasoning, David. Many thanks.
