The Republicans accuse liberals of being communists for merely wanting to use the government to help people. But collectivism is complex. There are left-wing strains, like Soviet Russia and Communist China, and right-wing strains, like the Nazi Party. In this, Vance is helpfully describing how the Republican Party has changed from a party elevating the interests of the individual to a party elevating the interests of the collective at the expense of the individual. On the one hand, Donald Trump would blame Barack Obama for pretty much everything. On the other, he would propose a solution to the problem that was exactly what Obama himself had proposed. (He could not achieve it, though, thanks to GOP obstruction in Congress.) Trump’s supporters didn’t mind. If he said it, it was good. If Obama said it, it was bad. Even if they were the same thing.Members of the authoritarian collective see it the other way around. “In Australia right now … they’re still enforcing lockdowns by the military,” DeSantis said this week. “Is Australia freer than communist China right now? The fact that’s even a question tells you something has gone dramatically off the rails.” In fact, it’s nothing of the sort.
johnf44
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued in federal court on Friday that Facebook cannot enforce its terms of service when it comes to him because he is a “government entity.” Reuters legal correspondent Brad Heath reported on a new filing where Trump attorneys claimed the rules “do not apply to governmental entities, including Plaintiff, as the Forty Fifth President of the United States.” Heath explained Trump made a nearly identical argument in September. “It’s basically a copy/paste of his argument that he’s not bound by Twitter’s terms of service, so much so that the lawyers didn’t update the filing to address cases in that district that uphold the enforceability of Facebooks’ forum-selection agreement,” Heath reported. Legal experts ridiculed the former president when he made the same arguments in a federal court filing involving Twitter, which also permanently suspended Trump following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. “Trump’s lawyers are arguing that ‘President Trump’s social media accounts were government accounts, and not private ones,’ which would seem to raise loads of questions about how he, a private citizen, would have standing to sue over their suspension,” Heath noted.
It’s come to my understanding that there is some considerable consternation about the future of Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, on the grounds that he underperformed in this week’s election. And, yes, I understand that the unstated agreement behind this bait-and-switch was that O’Toole needed to show progress in key regions, particularly the 905. Also, yes, I understand that these gains failed to materialize, and that many conservatives feel both betrayed, and more importantly, no closer to government. However, there is a flip side to this argument — the get-a-goddamn-grip side — worth considering before you all roll the dice on another rookie leader 18 to 24 months ahead of your next election campaign. Andrew Scheer lost a winnable election. Erin O’Toole held the line on much more difficult ground. Remember, the Liberals have spent the pandemic shovelling thousands of dollars directly into the pockets of Canadians. They enjoyed a rally-around-the-flag effect as a result of the crisis. And they did secure an adequate vaccine supply.
There are plenty of ballots left to be counted, including more than 1 million mail-in ballots that won’t be touched until Tuesday, but the results known so far show the Liberals holding onto power. After spending $610 million on this vanity election, a few seats changed hands, and Trudeau remains in power.To be clear, the Conservatives have again won the popular vote with 34% of ballots cast for O’Toole’s team, but the Liberals will hold enough seats in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario to retain power. Trudeau has been accused of sexual assault, been caught wearing blackface, and has had multiple ethics scandals. Perhaps that was all baked in, he did lose some support over these issues in the 2019 election, but his record since then has been far from stellar. Canada’s inflation rate is at a two-decade high, the cost of everything is going up, driven in part by out-of-control government spending and Trudeau has no plans to deal with it. Beyond the daily cost-of-living concerns, the price of housing in many parts of the country has more than doubled on his watch which is great for people selling but pricing generations out of the market. Trudeau has no plans to deal with it.
Canada’s unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic election day has arrived, with Canadians heading to the polls to determine whether the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau will come out on top again, or if the country’s political direction will shift. Many have been asking throughout this election campaign: Why are Canadians heading to the polls? But initial indications of Trudeau wanting a majority government became less of a reality as polled voter intention across the country left the Liberals and Conservatives in a tight race leading up to election day. Election Day did get off to a bit of a rocky start when there was a glitch on the Elections Canada site that prevented people from checking where their local voting station is, sparking fears of disenfranchisement of people who can’t easily access information. The site is being panned as out of date by many voters who were shocked it wasn’t working appropriately on voting day. We have to be frank: The incompetence of Elections Canada paired with the snap election will lead to voter disenfranchisement, particularly among young people.
MAGA disciples talk of Trump Derangement Syndrome to dismiss the former president’s critics — the majority of Americans — as simply unhinged. What we actually suffer from is Deranged Trump Syndrome — the sense that Donald Trump was and is capable of just about any noxious act. For years, under presidents of both parties, national security officials kept lines of communication to their counterparts in the Soviet Union, now Russia, and China — to avert miscalculations that could provoke war. Milley continued that tradition. As his spokesman has said, Milley’s calls with Chinese and other foreign counterparts “were in keeping with” his responsibility “to maintain strategic stability,” and were coordinated with other officials at the Pentagon. If Milley indeed had reason to fear what Trump might do to maintain his hold on power — stage a coup, order an attack, even a nuclear strike — then we should celebrate that Milley took action.We already knew how desperately worried Milley was about a coup in Trump’s final days from another recent book by Washinton Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker. “This is a Reichstag moment,” Milley reportedly warned his subordinates.