[Tubby Isaacs]

Though of course Ron Johnson who won was exactly an anti abortion gerrymandering goon. But it’s kind of more stark when you run for the state Supreme Court.

[Youngian]

Why has the continental hard right made in-roads into young voters whilst failing spectacularly in Britain and the US? Where these people look like aliens from outer space to most under 40s. Le Pen offers gimmicky yoof policies and dubious job guarantee promises but so did Nick Griffin and the BNP.

[Yug]

I dunno about France, but it does show the superiority of the British education system over the American. When young adults are leaving school woefully uneducated they're easier to fool and easier to manipulate. Go to any internet site where there are lots of Americans and it soon becomes apparent just how uneducated they are. The American Right like to keep it this way.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

The French are more naturally contrarian than the British, I feel.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Well, all that went well.

[AOB]

Donald Trump says court staff ‘were crying’ at his arraignment

During an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News at Mr Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, he described how he was processed at the court by officials, including police. He said “tears were pouring down their eyes”.

“They were incredible,” he said. “When I went to the courthouse, which is also a prison in a sense, they signed me in and I’ll tell you people were crying.

“People that work there. Professionally work there that have no problems putting in murderers and they see everybody.

“It’s a tough, tough place and they were crying. They were actually crying. They said, ‘I’m sorry.’”

[MisterMuncher]

Everywhere he goes, everyone supports him when no one is looking. You've got to wonder how that's compatible with all the secret conspiracies ranged against him.

Also "courthouse, which is a type of prison" is some seriously insidious shit

[Tubby Isaacs]

Oh dear.

[Youngian]

Is this ‘travel companion’ in the Bosie Douglas sense?

[Samanfur]

Yeah, that'll work:

Navy veteran who stormed Capitol gets 3 years on gun charges

Speed's lawyers asked the judge not to be prejudiced against him because of his inflammatory views. In conversations with an FBI undercover employee in 2022, Speed expressed admiration not only for Hitler but also for Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

In recorded conversations, Speed also made antisemitic comments and proposed targeting Jewish people with acts of violence. He also collected neo-Nazi memorabilia.

[Youngian]

Red states are now talking about travel bans to other states for abortion, this is horrific. If these ban increase contraceptive use, abstinence and emigration to blue states, where does that leave the birth rate?

[satnav]

I got an interesting email from YouGov yesterday inviting me to take part in a survey asking whether or not I thought Donald 'Trump had broken the law?' This seems to be a rather bizarre survey given that it will ultimately down to the courts to determine if he is guilty or innocent. I'm guessing that the survey has been commissioned by a British media group trying to determine which side of the fence they should plump for.

[Youngian]

I got an interesting email from YouGov yesterday inviting me to take part in a survey asking whether or not I thought Donald 'Trump had broken the law?' This seems to be a rather bizarre survey given that it will ultimately down to the courts to determine if he is guilty or innocent.

They should but having heard Trump on the phone trying to fix an election, I’d go out on a limb on this one and say yes.

[Crabcakes]

Tucker Carlson has left Fox. After the recent Dominion thing, I suspect this is no accident. Question is, will he bite the hand that fed him or go thermonuclear batshit?

EDIT: looks like it was immediate, with no final show. Uncle Rupert might have picked who’s going to get thrown under the bus, I suspect…

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Tucker Carlson has left Fox. After the recent Dominion thing, I suspect this is no accident. Question is, will he bite the hand that fed him or go thermonuclear batshit?

EDIT: looks like it was immediate, with no final show. Uncle Rupert might have picked who’s going to get thrown under the bus, I suspect…

Rapid unscheduled disassembly...

[Youngian]

There’s two other networks even more batshit than Fox.

[Spoonman]

'murica No. 32894

Educators ‘outraged’ after attorneys argue 1st-grade teacher shot in school is ‘workplace injury’

The motion was filed last week by attorneys representing the School Board and argues that Zwerner, who was shot in her classroom at Richneck Elementary in January by a 6-year-old student, is only entitled to file a worker’s compensation claim because the injury she sustained from the shooting is a “workplace injury,” and that the shooting was a hazard of the job.

James Graves, the president of the Newport News teachers union, says that argument is “ridiculous.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/educators-ou ... 00860.html

[Spoonman]

Meanwhile, the purveyors of FAFO have reached the "find out" stage.

Four Proud Boys Convicted of Sedition in Key Jan. 6 Case

Four members of the Proud Boys, including their former leader Enrique Tarrio, were convicted on Thursday of seditious conspiracy for plotting to keep President Donald J. Trump in power after his election defeat by leading a violent mob in attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The jurors in the case failed to reach a decision on the sedition charge for one of the defendants, Dominic Pezzola, although he was convicted of other serious felonies.

The verdicts, coming after seven days of deliberations in Federal District Court in Washington, were a major blow against one of the country’s most notorious far-right groups and another milestone in the Justice Department’s vast investigation of the Capitol attack.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/us/p ... d=re-share

[Spoonman]

E Jean Carroll: Jury finds Trump sexually abused writer in NY department store

A jury in a civil case has found former President Donald Trump sexually abused a magazine columnist in a New York department store in the 1990s.

But Mr Trump was found not liable for raping E Jean Carroll in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman.

The jury also found Mr Trump liable for defamation for calling the writer's accusations "a Hoax and a lie".

It is the first time Mr Trump has been found legally responsible for a sexual assault.

The Manhattan jury ordered Mr Trump to pay her about $5m (£4m) in damages.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65531098

I wonder if this might be the start of the floodgates opening on Trump by other women who think/know they were sexually harassed by him, but may not have had enough confidence to publicly go for damages or charges?

Meanwhile...

[Youngian]

Even under English libel law, Trump the Rapist is now fair comment.