All the current threads are a re-litigation of the 2016 Election, or a discussion about Putin, or Bill Browder, grandson of the head of the American Communist Party. The same arguments are made over and over and it is totally tedious.

There are actual Politics going on. Actual Election Contests.

One is in a Congressional District that has been represented by a republican for many years, went for Trump by 11 points,

AND THE RACE BETWEEN THE DEMOCRAT AND THE REPUBLICAN IS NECK AND NECK!

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/02/trump-pelosi-ohio-special-election-757629

Yep. And I highly recommend Pod Save America, Lovett or Leave it, The Wilderness - all podcasts from Crooked Media - to stay current and beyond. Of course On The Media as well. Finally Democrats are starting to realize midterms count and count even more these days.

Beto is going to beat Ted Cruz in Texas. Send him a donation.

Democrats are seriously exceeding expectations throughout Texas. I can't wait for the midterms. I think it's going to be a rout.

So the reason for this new thread is so that we can post about the latest QAnon stuff then?   

You can start your own thread about that.

kthnry said:
Beto is going to beat Ted Cruz in Texas. Send him a donation.
Democrats are seriously exceeding expectations throughout Texas. I can't wait for the midterms. I think it's going to be a rout.

 It is never a good idea in Politics to be over confident.

Beto is certainly the under dog.

I think I'm getting an answer.

LOST said:

kthnry said:
Beto is going to beat Ted Cruz in Texas. Send him a donation.
Democrats are seriously exceeding expectations throughout Texas. I can't wait for the midterms. I think it's going to be a rout.

 It is never a good idea in Politics to be over confident.
Beto is certainly the under dog.

Not that much of an underdog. Cruz's lead is shrinking fast.

--------------------

Texas Senate contest nearly a dead heat: Ted Cruz leads Beto O'Rourke by 2 points in one new poll, 6 points in another

Sen. Ted Cruz acknowledged Wednesday that he is in a tight race and has lost momentum after new polls showed Rep. Beto O'Rourke closing in.

A Texas Lyceum poll showed a statistical dead heat, with Cruz ahead by 41 to 39, well within the margin of error of plus or minus 4.67 percentage points, which technically means that either could be ahead.

Hours later, the Quinnipiac University Poll put Cruz leading 49 to 43. A May 30 survey from the same pollsters showed Cruz ahead by 50 to 39, meaning the Democrat has cut the incumbent's lead nearly in half.

These are by far the closest snapshots of the contest in any poll taken since O'Rourke jumped into the race in early 2017. If they're accurate, a seismic political shift is underway in Texas, a state dominated by Republicans for more than two decades. 

In an email to donors, the Cruz campaign conceded that momentum is on O'Rourke's side. In a brief interview at the Senate, he took the sobering polls in stride. 

"There have been polls all over the place but there is no doubt that the far left is energized and angry and that is reflected in the record breaking fundraising Congressman O'Rourke is seeing, as liberals all over the country are pouring millions of dollars into his campaign," he told The Dallas Morning News. "We are taking the campaign very seriously."

--------------------------

Cruz is not taking the campaign seriously in any way that is visible to this constituent. 

It's interesting to try and figure out Beto's campaign strategy. When he's on the road, he's here in San Antonio every ten days or so for four or five campaign events per day. I don't know how he keeps it up. But I don't see a lot of outreach to the Hispanic community, given that SA is about 65% Hispanic and he speaks excellent Spanish. He seems to be working harder to reach African Americans, and we don't have a whole lot of African Americans in San Antonio, especially compared to, say, Houston. I think he knows the black community is very motivated to vote. I've been providing my black mailman with a steady supply of Beto signs for him to give his friends and neighbors. With Hispanics, who knows if they'll show up? 

700 attendees at a Beto event in Abilene on a Thursday afternoon. This is nuts. Abilene??? Oil, cattle, and heavily evangelical. 73% of the county voted for Trump. Beto may not win, but it’s exciting as hell to watch. 

https://www.facebook.com/1610637568988502/posts/1918831068169149/

Big reductions on Ted Cruz yard signs. I have yet to see one. Beto signs are everywhere. 

Okay, I’ll stop now. 

For something international and amusing, I'd suggest last week's The Last Leg, looking at how the UK handled heat, rain, Brexit surprises and a range of social issues. Lots of humour (surprisingly, this edition has champagne)

Ridski seems to know how to find it... season 14, no.6 (last Sat)

This AP photo is striking (the article doesn't matter as much; more relevant for Aussies perhaps). I wonder if the composition was intentional? Was the photographer focussed on the president's stance? His words? His position? The lighting? His expression?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-03/this-week-we-learned-trump-hasnt-been-to-the-shops-in-a-while/10069630

joanne said:
For something international and amusing, I'd suggest last week's The Last Leg, looking at how the UK handled heat, rain, Brexit surprises and a range of social issues. Lots of humour (surprisingly, this edition has champagne)
Ridski seems to know how to find it... season 14, no.6 (last Sat)

 Is that episode when the host ripped his jacket and sleeves off and held a toast? That was a good one.

Anybody else see the CNN piece on Paulette Jordan last night?  She has only a very slim chance (to none) of winning the Idaho governor's race, but amazing that she has kept her legislative seat in a historically Republican rural district in Idaho. If she does win, she would be the first Native American and the first woman to become governor of Idaho.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/02/politics/idaho-governor-democratic-candidate-paulette-jordan/index.html

Please excuse the thread drift, but why do the cable stations film live from Trump rallies? (I know this is a rhetorical question.)  This is a man who calls the press the enemy of the people. 

Yep, ridski, that's the one! 'silver fox' indeed...

no-one else sees the subliminal noose or gallows in that AP photo of Trump?? Ah well.

I'm off to sleep, been a long day. Night, all!

joanne said:
no-one else sees the subliminal noose or gallows in that AP photo of Trump?? Ah well.
I'm off to sleep, been a long day. Night, all!

 Didn't see that, but I liked the way the picture made him look very small.

'morning!

Look at that straight line of the panels behind his head, the tight circle of his collar, the shadow of his tightly-tied tie under the collar, his arms swinging in a plea for help...

Or you could also just make out a case for this to be a Messiah pose, his arms widespread, that line behind continued by his overlong rigid tie. The fixing point is still his neck and shoulders. This argument, to me, somehow makes him seem more of a stick-figure puppet.

A friend who's a professional photographer (trades, not portraits) and discussed the pic. 'Heads will roll', he said. Pity, it's well shot.

cramer said:
Please excuse the thread drift, but why do the cable stations film live from Trump rallies? (I know this is a rhetorical question.)  This is a man who calls the press the enemy of the people. 

 I've wondered what would happen if MSNBC and CNN just stopped covering his rallies and his tweets for one week. Give it a name. Call it a news media campaign to go sane.

And imagine if the press just didn't show up to Sarah's press parties. Or posed in 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" positions.

What’s Trump/the EPA got against bees?? Don’t they like honey?? 

World Honey Bee Day was in May, and 22 Ministers of Agriculture signed a Declaration to protect honey bees in order to save agriculture. USA was absent, I notice; Russia happily signed without question. 

http://www.mkgp.gov.si/fileadmin/mkgp.gov.si/pageuploads/Medijsko_sredisce/2018/05_Maj/19_ministrska_konferenca/Decleration_WORLD_BEE_DAY.pdf

Then, today, there’s the news of de-regulating the damaging neonicotinoid sprays that poison and kill bee colonies, and make it easier for varroa mites to spread.

For a president who reckons he’s working to bring back jobs and markets for American farmers, he’s sure doing everything he can to kill off the industry. 

Someone should point out to family Trump that hamburgers etc won’t be possible without bees

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/why-humans-and-big-macs-depend-bees

joanne said:
no-one else sees the subliminal noose or gallows in that AP photo of Trump?? Ah well.
I'm off to sleep, been a long day. Night, all!

 Where???  

the link was there earlier. 

Pic’s in this article

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-03/this-week-we-learned-trump-hasnt-been-to-the-shops-in-a-while/10069630

Morganna said:

cramer said:
Please excuse the thread drift, but why do the cable stations film live from Trump rallies? (I know this is a rhetorical question.)  This is a man who calls the press the enemy of the people. 

 I've wondered what would happen if MSNBC and CNN just stopped covering his rallies and his tweets for one week. Give it a name. Call it a news media campaign to go sane.
And imagine if the press just didn't show up to Sarah's press parties. Or posed in 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" positions.

 Can't believe that I just saw this in my news feed. Not surprised that Stephen King can read minds.

During the 2016 Primaries a reporter began asking Bernie Sanders a question about something Trump had said. Bernie cut him off saying something like "I don't have time to respond to every dumb thing Trump says". It is too bad that everyone didn't take that tact.

Maybe it's not too late.

For those actually interested in Politics, here is a very interesting race:

http://www.michiganradio.org/post/michigans-13th-district-crowded-race-john-conyers-old-seat-too-close-call

Anyone see the Netroots conference in New Orleans? I caught some of it and Elizabeth Warren was great. Loved Cory Booker. I missed Kamala Harris and Julian Castro, 2 people that I follow.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-netroots-nation-democratic-white-house-hopefuls-balance-messages-of-unity-rebellion/2018/08/03/223ddec2-9750-11e8-a679-b09212fb69c2_story.html

LOST said:
During the 2016 Primaries a reporter began asking Bernie Sanders a question about something Trump had said. Bernie cut him off saying something like "I don't have time to respond to every dumb thing Trump says". It is too bad that everyone didn't take that tact.
Maybe it's not too late.

 I think too many people are hooked on the outrage.

Which reminds me, thank you for starting this thread, I was looking for a soft place to land.