The United States(!) of A
"President Biden's objective, and his commitment, is to bring transparency and truth back to government..."
...errrrr ...ok...
"...Next month, in my first appearance before a joint session of Congress, I will lay out my 'Build Back Better' recovery plan," Biden announced in late January. That never happened."
"...I have this strange notion, we are a democracy ... if you can't get the votes ... you can't [legislate] by executive order unless you're a dictator. We're a democracy. We need consensus," Candidate Biden said last October, before the election. Yet, as of March 8, Biden had signed a very dictator-ish 37 executive orders, 13 presidential memoranda, 16 proclamations and seven notices, according to Ballotpedia - far outpacing his predecessors to this point."
"...It's one thing about the vaccine - which we didn't have when we came into office - but a vaccinator, you need the needle, you need the mechanisms to be able to get it in," the president said.
Uh, no. Biden had two vaccines available upon taking office (Pfizer, Moderna) and a third that became available shortly after (Johnson & Johnson). Not only were nearly 1 million people already getting vaccinated per day when Biden took office, but he had received two doses himself in December and January. And this isn't a one-time gaffe, but a mistruth the president has pushed repeatedly in an attempt to take credit for something he had zero to do with. (See: "Operation Warp Speed under the previous administration.")"
"...Two months ago this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or anywhere near all of the American public. But soon we will," Biden claimed.
Another invalid truth. Per the New York Times fact-check: "This is misleading. By the end of last year, the Trump administration had ordered at least 800 million vaccine doses that were expected for delivery by July 31, 2021, the Government Accountability Office reported."
"...A year ago we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months." Again, Biden's team is throwing kerosene into the gaslighting machine. A year ago, plus six weeks, President Trump halted flights from mainland China. That's not silence. Nor was the Europe travel ban announced by Trump on March 11, 2020, in an address to the nation.
The USS Comfort didn't just sail itself to New York Harbor to assist Gov. Andrew Cuomo in March 2020, nor did the Javits Center in New York just decide to morph into a huge field hospital. Cuomo barely utilized either, instead opting to send many COVID-positive elderly patients back into nursing homes, leading to more than 15,000 deaths - higher than the death toll as a whole in 37 U.S. states and 175 countries. The Times generously calls Biden's "silence" claim "exaggerated.""
"...That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, Vietnam War and 9/11 combined," Biden's speechwriter said of the total death toll from COVID-19. The Times simply calls the math "wrong," which therefore has no ambiguity or gray area.'
"...And here's Biden on March 6: The American Rescue Plan will create "over 6 million new jobs by itself." Yet, per Politifact, that claim is "misleading" because "it includes job growth projected to happen even without the plan."
"...But, instead, transparency has consisted of the Leader of the Free World being whisked away from event after event, away from reporters shouting questions over staffers shouting at reporters to leave. It also means Biden now owning the dubious distinction of not holding a formal press conference after taking office longer than his 15 predecessors dating back more than 100 years, before television was invented."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/opinion/technology/543107-the-m...
how shit is joe biden?
I expected average shitness... but he's really really shitness...
kids in cages... again...
a border crisis with seemingly no forsight or planning whatsoever (...who couldn't see that coming?)
a cuomo sex scandal he's still in denial about
a cuomo corona disaster (...that's clearly all trump's fault... (was? ....now? ...not so much...))
a long awaited fronting of the press, with biden a hiden... still, so much so even cnn, nyt and the like are asking.... 'where's joe?'
a looseness with the truthness
and a soviet style press machine, desperately trying to smoothe it all over
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2021/03/12/the_sovietization_of_the_am...
russian style!
sooo much irony...
no 'again' required...
how embarrassment...
https://mobile.twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1369340578517946370?ref_sr...
to think the whole world has access to videos like this that show the true form of our new 'leader of the free world'
his handlers are taking micro management to an extreme lofty new level
the desperation and intended level of deceit is amazing to say the least
it'a bloody shameful
All that and still superior to Trump in every measurable way (except hair style).
Okay, this has now happened on several occasions and there’s only two possible explanations for it. Either :
A/ Biden is losing his on mental acuity in a big way.
B/ Biden is just warming the chair and marking time until Harris officially takes the reign as President.
You tell me.
https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1372637122671353860?s=20
"You tell me."
"Our entire administration will always be honest and transparent with the good news and the bad. We’ll level with you when we make a mistake. We’ll straight up say what happened."
That was President Biden on Jan. 21, a day after being sworn into office.
Today, two months and zero solo press conferences later, the Biden administration is on track to be the least transparent administration in the TV era. Another example of shutting out the press is underway at the U.S.-Mexico border, where said administration has imposed a media blackout on its migrant holding facilities, formerly known as "kids in cages" under the previous administration before the term apparently was retired by most of the media and by Democratic politicians out of courtesy to Team Biden.
The administration also is restricting the information that the Border Patrol can provide to the press, according to a recent NBC News report.
The crisis at the border – which the administration refuses to call a crisis, despite even Democratic lawmakers in border states calling it just that – is one of the president's own making. Because it was Candidate Biden who once declared this at a presidential debate during the campaign: "All those people seeking asylum, they deserve to be heard. If you want to flee and you are fleeing oppression, you should come."
The then-future president also said that migrants seeking asylum should "immediately surge the border" under his presidency."
how fucken dumb, so so so dumb...
why so dumb?
no forsight whatsoever... seriously, couldn't see it coming?
.or is this the desired result?
is it about cheap labour? tds gone wrong? open borders? appeasing their 'dark money' billionaires? ...the lobbyists? or just blind idealism?
because really, after all that talk and posturing, ...for four fucking years mind you! ....you'd think they'd have some sort of plan... some strategy, some kind idea of what they're gonna do...
appears not
"...Migrants are overwhelming facilities as a result. One migrant facility in Donna, Texas, was at 729 percent pandemic capacity at the beginning of March alone, while others have done away with the 50 percent capacity rule set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in an effort to reduce spread. Hundreds of migrants have tested positive for COVID at the border, before being released into the general U.S. population. "Some of the boys said that conditions were so overcrowded that they had to take turns sleeping on the floor," Neha Desai, an attorney who represents migrant youth in U.S. custody, told CBS News.
The Biden administration – the one that would make George Washington blush on the truth and transparency stuff – does not want the public to see these horrific conditions. But information on conditions is increasingly getting into the public domain..."
"...Texas, was at 729 percent pandemic capacity at the beginning of March..."
"...Hundreds of migrants have tested positive for COVID at the border, before being released into the general U.S. population..."
what a bloody disaster
c'mon man!
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/544225-theres-a-five-alarm-crisi...
it truly puzzles me facto... that's all it is...
this ain't about your lame little tit for tat posts political point scoring exercises ...paid or otherwise...
I seriously cannot believe how they can get it so wrong, so much, so consistently... again and again...
and again...
please help me, is it incompetence?
blinded by something? be it hate or idealism?
or they just didn't think it through?
c'mon man
throw me a bone, an insight... anything...
tucker puzzled too huh?
but surely you have an idea... a thought...
(assuming that's permitted)
Anyone come across this before ? What’s your thoughts ? 
free image hosting
Fact Check that one..
Thanks udo , i was looking at some of the points and they were close to what’s been happening, I did as you suggested. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN22N25D
ahh Infrastructure . You can't tell him nothing .
interesting little page there supafreak
I see your interesting, and raise you a flat out spooky...
https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-samsung-rev2&so...
the concepts... the terms... 35 years ago...
but seems that vid could have been made yesterday
slow burn?
fwiw, I still believe in 'the left' of politics in some form or other...
a centre left german or french style left I suppose, where workers are valued and protected, equality is strived for, and there is some form of universal health care that endeavours to provide some equality in the standard of health care in these crazy unequal times...
but I gotta say, parts of the contemporary left are off the rails...
I think it's a stretch to say the US and australia are now turning 'communist'... but geez I'm hearing and reading it a lot of late...
and there's certainly a vibe of it in the air
interesting times
"I think it's a stretch to say the US and australia are now turning 'communist'... but geez I'm hearing and reading it a lot of late."
Yeah it's an interesting piece of history that Supafreak posted, but it's still a huge stretch to suggest countries like Aust or USA are becoming socialist or communist countries, personally i think countries like Australia currently have a pretty good balance on things.
To me the much bigger concern is the popularity among many people especially young people that believe TRUE socialism and communism are actually positive things.
And also the idea that capitalism (free markets etc) are a bad thing.
I think the big problem is many people especially young people confuse capitalism with crony capitalism.
A vibe that Australia is turning communist?
where?
I think people confuse authoritarianism with other things like communism.
One thing nobody can argue with is we have seen a rise in authoritarianism since Covid hit.
The Oxford dictionary definition being.
"the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.
- lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others."
disagree.
..... and like the sands in an hour glass these are the days of our lives .... seems we are back to Menzies era scare campaigns ..... ah, some look back with a tear in their eye and their heart all full of nostalgia this Easter.
the vibe in the air is what certain people are pushing
and what certain other people are saying when you talk politics and stuff. crew are pretty quick to say '...we're turning communist...'
I said I don't really think we are
"One thing nobody can argue with is we have seen a rise in authoritarianism since Covid hit."
certainly a bit of this...
the mate of my mates best friends uncle told his Mum we are turning commo?
that kind of thing?
As far as authoritarianism goes, go read up on the various other plagues that have afflicted humanity and the responses to them.
Then maybe go look at what happened during the various Stalinist purges, or the Cultural Revolution etc etc.
Or the Enclosure Acts etc etc.
We ain't even in the same suburb as the ballpark of Authoritarianism.
Im not saying we are...
Im saying events are fuelling a feeling of encroachment of communism
and the pandemic is probably the main driver
but it's also stuff like blm, antfa, the great reset, the 'jobs guarantee', ubi, the usual wayward claims cc is communism, etc. etc.,
and for me the biggest thing, is the media, the spookyness of that video is the misinformation wars we're in the midst of. I find it totally inconceivable in this internet age the media can be so successful at pushing such bullshit
...about everything... russia, laptops, disease, masks, vaccines, treatments, riots, protests and on and on... and not least this extremely nauseating tendency that has developed...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://nationalpos...
the absolute fawning by some media for biden and harris is not healthy at all, whatever side of politics you come from
You might be looking at a different reality to me.
Now that Trump is gone, no-one I know gives a fuck about American politics anymore.
It's neoliberal economics full steam ahead, a real estate market running red hot and pretty much business as usual.
If anything, people are het up about the sexual misdemeanours inside Parliament.
All that US stuff which seemed to occupy people's minds is yesterdays news.
ymmv.
I mostly agree with Taibbi, sometimes he over-eggs the omelet a bit. But thats his job, he needs eyeballs as much as any media org out there.
Even moreso because he's a freelancer.
"We ain't even in the same suburb as the ballpark of Authoritarianism."
I agree we aren't, compared to history especially other countries history.
But most of us have never lived through a period in our life's where the government has so much control over how we live, like not being able to open for business, or travel, and then lockdowns, telling us we must stay home or what we can and cant do like visit friends, even just having to wear mask etc.
I personally dont really have an issue with lockdowns or wearing a mask or even the whole authority thing, and the only way it's really impacted me is travel and when i couldn't go fishing during lockdowns.
But i do get how people find it a bigger deal than i do and start thinking this or that.
Did we over-react.
Possibly.
History will tell whether our bias towards over reaction was better or worse than a bias towards under-reaction.
Personally, comparing our outcomes to most other countries I think we've got it close enough to right.
Here in Northern NSW, it's been nothing much more than an inconvenience.
I wore a mask in woolies for 3 days. Forgot when I went to get a pie at the Servo and no-one gave a fuck.
Here is a manifesto for Bill Price addressing each of Krushchevs points and ensuring that a more equitable society is achieved, bypassing the need for socialism.
1) Healthcare - Put the provision of healthcare into the hands of private enterprise and non profit organisations so that access to even basic health services becomes a user pays system. This will ensure self determination and empowerment. This is also a more economical use of government funds and will help reduce debt, see 3
2) Poverty - see numbers 3 and 6. These measures will eliminate poverty
3) Debt - Make the provision of all services the responsibility of private enterprise and non profit organisations rather than government because it is a more economical way of funding services thereby reducing and eventually eliminating government debt so there is no need to raise taxes. Taxes can eventually be reduced which will ensure that poverty is eliminated because a larger percentage of peoples income is kept for themselves.
4) Gun Control - Remove all restrictions to gun ownership and let the population negotiate a responsible and workable level of ownership amongst themselves. Defund the police because a well armed population can police themselves, which in turn helps with reducing debt, 3, and leads to a safer and more contented society, see 8
5) Welfare - No need for welfare in a prosperous economy which is the inevitable result from lower taxes and low debt due to more efficient spending on healthcare, education and services. No welfare will help ensure there is full employment because people will be empowered to work so they can service their own needs. Therefore there will be no need for public housing or handouts, etc. This will also help eliminate debt, 3. Full employment will also eliminate poverty, 2
6) Education - Increase education funding to religious and private institutions. A well educated subset of the population will ensure that there are enough people who are willing to have a go. The entrepreneurial efforts of this group will ensure that the remaining less educated will have ample employment opportunities. It is prudent and more cost effective to ensure that wealthy, successful people have a larger portion of educational funding spent on their offspring because this cohort will have an obvious ability to leverage their educational efforts towards creating more job opportunities and growth in the economy. This will eliminate the need for welfare, 5. Increased private funding will also help to educate the offspring of the aspirational middle class, see 8. Equal funding to public educational institutions is not required. The exception to this however is to make sure there are well funded chaplaincy programs in all public schools, see 7.
7) Religion - Religion is a vital part of a nation and should benefit from as much government funding as possible. All government service provision initiatives should be calibrated and transferred to benefit religious institutions the most, particularly education so as to “get them early”. This will help religious organisations reinforce a belief in GOD which in turn will ensure a population that has high morals and empathy for others thereby eliminating the need for welfare, 5, because there will always be a class of people looking after the needs of the less fortunate. A society with high morals and that is empathetic towards others will also reduce crime so will require a smaller police force which will further help reduce debt, 3
8) Class Warfare - Will become irrelevant because there will be no lower class. Instead there will be a group of people with access to full employment opportunities and the feeling of content that comes from paying lower taxes and the empowerment they have achieved from making decisions for themselves. They will always have the feeling of security that comes from the benevolent hand of well funded religious institutions and wealthy benefactors if something goes wrong. There will be a strong and ambitious middle class always striving to be like the wealthy upper class while at the same time acting as a beacon for the lower classes, lighting the road to achievement and an even better life
Fortunately for supporters of the right* in Australia these ideas are being implemented by our government (obviously with the exception of 4) Happy Easter
*Edit
OMG
Instructed not to press the point FR, just smile and hand over the garlic and prawn.
@freeride , hope you didn’t eat that pie standing up
haha, I got the last one Andy.
apologised for forgetting the mask and gal said no worries, we won't judge you.
I didn't want her to think I was trying to make some anti-mask statement.
Yeah there's been a fair bit of anti-mask paranoia, a heap of indifference and a lot of forgetfulness.
And no surprise that old mate would rather have the money than a drama.
Was she the pretty blond one or the little one with the American accent??
Edit: Probably shouldn't answer that.
Slaters pal.
Pocket rocket.
Hiccups it’s all very bizarre but it’s also policy and rhetoric from the right
It's horrifying because there would be plenty of elected politicians in Australia who passionately believe in six or seven of those points.
In any case, it's self-evident that the healthcare and education aspects have been happening for decades in Australia.
Agree largely with FR's posts above.
More gov in our lives during pandemic, but markets are open, RE is going nuts, profits are for individuals to keep etc etc. Still a western democracy here from what I see. And populists gone in the US so back to NeoLib at full throttle - engagement with allies to play Mackinder's 'Great Game' once more.
Another point you guys might want to discuss re: the different responses to pandemic. Australia and NZ might be viewed in future to have responded well, when compared to EU/UK/US. Wealthy Asian nations did authoritarianism and it worked (China lockdowns of hundreds of millions, testing whole cities; S Korea; Taiwan after its SARS experience, Singapore etc), while many Western nations have seen big waves of corona which they have not been able to overcome, and come back to strike them again, placing their economies in chaos as well as the health of their people. All while the response has become a political football, and partisan. I'll posit that those Western countries are perhaps not as unified as Aus/NZ, by unified I mean able to respond with a good pre-planned framework (eg power given to Chief Health Officers at declaration of pandemic) and having people who will respond to calls for the 'common good', and successfully overcome a challenge. Maybe alone in the South Seas, we are becoming a bit different to the rest of the West, more resilient in this case, not as authoritarian as some Asian societies, yet not as chaotic as the rest of the West...
good call VJ.
"Did we over-react.
Possibly.
History will tell whether our bias towards over reaction was better or worse than a bias towards under-reaction.
Personally, comparing our outcomes to most other countries I think we've got it close enough to right.
Here in Northern NSW, it's been nothing much more than an inconvenience.
I wore a mask in woolies for 3 days. Forgot when I went to get a pie at the Servo and no-one gave a fuck."
I remember when this shitshow really started to get going, 14 months ago, norman swan on rn, whilst discussing appropriate responses said something like...
'...if we overeact, governments run the risk of losing public compliance, and public support in the aftermath...
...if we underreact, we risk a major public health disaster, and huge public anger in the aftermath....
...but if we get it right, the pandemic will pass, there will be some loss of life etc. and it will probably seem we overshot the mark a little to most of the public..."
so by that measure, I agree with you and vj...
but I do think we are somewhat plagued by our success (excuse the pun), as oz governnents find our 'new normal'. but to be fair, it's a hard balance to find, the last thing you want to do in undo all the good work
I just cannot handle the hypocrisy, sports stars, celebrities, and students are jetting all over the world, including oz, (and eurokooks flooding indo...) but the little people in oz are still totally locked in. and the fact there's always quaratine places for the big people, whilst some australians have been waiting over 12 months to come home is some next level hypocrisy and inequality...
but as many have said before me, this pandemic has really exposed some of the inequalities that have been allowed to develope in our modern society
and yes, with trump gone and the pandemic largely behind us, its back to business as usual...
it's a shame more people couldn't see past trump's repulsiveness, and the opportunity his repulsive disruption offered...
but then again, I don't think it really matters, trump exposed a lot of ugly 'truths', ...ironically.... that aren't, and sadly, haven't gone anywhere...
2024 is gonna be a doozy of an election, no matter who's there... as are election's across the world, including us... people like to blame trump for everything, but he's just the dark cloud that welcomed a new dawn, ...a new political age...
exciting (if not angry) times ahead...
“It's horrifying because there would be plenty of elected politicians in Australia who passionately believe in six or seven of those points.”
They are basically what people are voting for in oz when they go for the LNP. Might be presented in a more palatable way but there’s plenty of evidence to show that the ideas are the still same
What absolute tripe, that rhetoric is just as bad as the crap people spin on thinking we are becoming a socialist or communist country.
Two great examples of the BS from both sides of politics, thank god the reality is much different.
Indo, I deliberately went over the top with the wording for a bit of shit stirring but there are plenty of examples supporting what I wrote. Not hard to find either
For what it’s worth the left have actively supported some of the policies as well especially funding of education but when they tried to bring in Gonski the scare campaigns came out in full force and now they’re hemmed in.
Now we’ve got a situation where the wealthiest schools in Australia are receiving more federal funding than poorer schools that are in greater need of funding. If that isn’t giving wealthy kids a leg up at the expense of those from lower socio economic areas I’m not sure what is. Etc, etc
Okay fair enough, yeah i do hate the private school funding thing, i know the excuse is it takes pressure of public schools but still
Where i live the nearest public high school is 30 to 45 min by bus and we have needed a public high school since i went in the late 80s problem is a private school has taken pressure of it happening for a long time.
But its also caused a kind of division in the community between public school kids and private school kids.
Luckily they have just started building a local high school for 7 to year 10.
Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank