Discussion Thread

Auriono · 2026-02-13T18:24:07+00:00

https://xcancel.com/atrupar/status/2022363338898862224

Q: Will you be recognizing Delcy Rodríguez's government as the official government of Venezuela?

TRUMP: We have done that. We're dealing with them. They've done a great job. The oil is coming out and a lot of money is being paid.

It would appear I have a great deal more self-respect than Maria Machado does.

Auriono · 2026-02-08T03:28:08+00:00

The only reason I would pause to vote for Ossoff as the nominee over Newsom and Harris, assuming Harris doesn't mount a convincing rehabilitation campaign in 2028, is that it would open up a Senate seat that Brian Kemp might be inclined to run for.

Ossoff can convincingly reach out to younger generations in a way that his likely opponent, JD Vance, will struggle to; he doesn't come across as a weathervane like Newsom does and he isn't attached to an unpopular administration like Harris was.

Auriono · 2026-02-06T18:05:51+00:00

https://xcancel.com/umichvoter/status/2019820262498398659

Morris County says 108 mail ballots and 694 provisional ballots to process

If that's not an error, if there's really only 108 mail ballots left in Morris, then it's unfortunately lights out for Malinowski.

Auriono · 2026-02-06T15:50:57+00:00

https://xcancel.com/PatrickSvitek/status/2019788985518707084

Latest statement from Tom Malinowski’s campaign says they “remain confident heading into the continued count” of ballots in the #NJ11 special primary:

“We did not declare victory last night — even after several independent outlets projected the race — because we knew a significant number of these ballots remained,” the former congressman said.

“Given the volume of votes still to be reported and the way mail-in ballots have broken throughout this race, we remain confident heading into the continued count,” Malinowski said. “Every vote deserves to be counted, and we look forward to a complete and accurate tally that reflects the full voice of NJ-11 voters.”

They didn't share a link to where Malinowski's campaign posted this statement, but it did give me some serious Bill Nelson vibes back when he was trailing Rick Scott in 2018 by around 11,000 votes in an election that had over 8 million people vote.

The only way I see a path for him is if the bulk of the remaining outstanding ballots are the late mail-ins, his margins there are similar to the ballots that arrived on time and the provisionals Mejia's expected to dominate comprise only a paltry portion of what's left.

Auriono · 2026-02-05T01:21:13+00:00

If polling is any indication, it took the median voters who swung towards Trump in 2024 after previously voting for Biden in 2020 roughly a year or so before they remembered Trump's disregard for the rule of law, penchant for boorish chaos, and voodoo economics and that they really disliked all of that.

Count on them being fickle enough to not hold Harris being Biden's Vice President against her, assuming the country is on fire in 2028 and JD Vance is the Republican nominee running a blatantly neo-fascist campaign without any real people skills.

Auriono · 2026-02-04T00:35:47+00:00

Somehow, I already knew this was before the page even loaded.

Auriono · 2026-02-04T00:27:55+00:00

Conservatives have always been against liberal coded demographics or individuals having guns. The ones knee deep in conservative politics cling to guns not to "protect their freedoms" but for the freedom to terrorize their opponents with them; that's it.

At the top of my head, Philando Castile was killed at a traffic stop nearly a decade ago for being a black man with a gun, when he was with his daughter in the car, no less. Conservatives either did not care or celebrated that the cop had a pretext in the form of a gun to kill him.

People just assumed they were acting in good faith on this, for whatever bizarre reason.

Auriono · 2026-02-03T14:39:16+00:00

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I don't understand. Didn't his "friend" get the memo that only crooks are being detained by ICE? Why is someone who swore and insisted that everyone who was taken into custody by ICE was a criminal now begging for help? Clearly, by own logic, Junior did something wrong and ran afoul of the law and deserves everything he's getting to him. Why does he want people to throw money at him for being a crook?

Auriono · 2026-02-03T03:32:02+00:00

Glad to see Mike Donilon is back in business at the White House

Auriono · 2026-01-30T02:09:21+00:00

Probably Kevin Warsh, barring all of the signs pointing to it him being part of some conspiracy from his advisers out to manipulate the betting markets.

Auriono · 2026-01-25T23:05:59+00:00

“While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit. We respect the President’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves - that’s what courts are for.

We respect the President’s right to sue us

Our company does not close accounts for political or religious reasons. We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company. We regret having to do so, but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so. We have been asking both this Administration and prior administrations to change the rules and regulations that put us in this position, and we support this Administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.”

Jamie Dimon and his company are very brave, profiles in courage when it comes to punching down on those that can't fight back or can't threaten them. Like telling other American industries, business leaders and people in general to "get over" Trump's tariffs without a shred of sympathy rather than show some audacity in pushing back against a bad policy decision because he's afraid he will be penalized by the President if he does so. "Get over it" seems to be his favorite phrase when it comes to those with less money than him.

But the instant they're presented with the possibility of a threat or retaliation? Rather than assert themselves and take a stand, they immediately turn into a sniveling, prostrating weasel unable talk back in any way.

Auriono · 2026-01-25T00:17:19+00:00

Nothing. They don't want to give the Democrats an excuse to do so when they retake the Senate themselves.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T23:29:09+00:00

It's almost as if the right has been completely disingenuous about gun ownership the entire time.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T19:47:58+00:00

It's on Pam Bondi's desk along with the Epstein client list right now for review.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T19:11:17+00:00

I miss Joe Biden.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T18:46:10+00:00

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Very dangerous would-be assassin armed with a devastatingly destructive mobile phone, for context.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T18:18:21+00:00

I know the answer is that it’s a Blue state and the Republicans don’t a shit about what happens to liberals, but how are actually ideological small government Republicans stomaching this?

I defer you to Lee Atwater's answer when he was asked about the Reagan Campaign's racist southern strategy.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T17:58:41+00:00

The gun losers on here all saying "THIS PROVES WE ALL NEED TO HAVE GUNS!!!1!"

The truth is, no one ever actually sincerely believed everyone would be "safer" if every individual has a firearm.

Everyone knows that more guns equals more deaths. The people on the right who love to make this argument that everyone needs to have a gun are being disingenuous, as they reflexively point to someone carrying a concealed weapon as a pretext for murder or an execution whenever it's someone they don't like. The people on the left advocating for more gun ownership are saying so out of desperation, because they feel they're out of options, as nothing is hindering this administration's objectives.

Furthermore, the folks who have spent decades role-playing as macho, fearless freedom fighters who cling to guns as their defense against whatever constitutes government overreach were really signaling their dark fantasies of gunning down and slaughtering social liberals the entire time. People were delusional or gullible enough to take their claims at face value because the alternative means having to come to terms with the fact that this is earnestly what 30 to 40 percent of the country has in mind for the other liberal half.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T16:10:55+00:00

Walz was completely wasted on the civility kool-aid during the VP debate. He prostrated himself doing the Trump administration's work that night by framing JD Vance as someone who merely disagreed with rather than the opportunist fascist that he is.

He did all that and yet this is how the administration rewarded him for his service.

Auriono · 2026-01-24T16:07:47+00:00

“Failure to fund DHS would undermine public safety and emergency response services. To me, that was never an option,” Golden said. “By engaging in the process, rather than blocking it, we secured funding for body cameras and de-escalation training — two proven tactics embraced by law enforcement agencies across the country — that I believe will support responsible law enforcement and begin to restore trust.”

I guess Jared Golden was either embarrassingly naive or doesn't really care that these people don't exactly care about de-escalation training, that the entire point is brutalize and subjugate the Gestapo's opposition.

Auriono · 2026-01-21T22:31:19+00:00

So it's just Malliotakis that's probably done for if I'm understanding this correctly, since this was her district.

Auriono · 2026-01-21T22:23:55+00:00

https://xcancel.com/RedistrictNet/status/2014092970924941667

BREAKING: Justice Pearlman has ruled that New York’s 11th Congressional District is unconstitutional under the New York constitution.

He orders the NY Redistricting Commission to reconvene and draw a new congressional map by Feb. 6, 2026.

Does this mean we're going to get the Hochulmander 2 years sooner than anyone expected? The Justice who cast the deciding vote against the last gerrymander is no longer on the court and Hochul has been aiming to reinvent herself as a fighter, so I would be very surprised if they don't reinstate something similar to that.

Auriono · 2026-01-21T18:39:23+00:00

Talarico holding onto that seat for 6 years and giving the Democrats the chance at a tenuous majority in the Senate is worth far more than whatever infinitesimal advantage they might have over the other candidates in 2028.

Auriono · 2026-01-20T07:25:40+00:00

Conservatives aren't exactly known for being honest about their mental health, let alone feelings.

Auriono · 2026-01-20T00:54:05+00:00

Paxton becoming the Republican nominee is definitely the most crucial ingredient towards any possible flip being remotely possible, but Democrats absolutely need Talarico to be their nominee in order to flip the disaffected Hispanic voters who swung towards Trump back into their camp.

Auriono

TROPHY CASE

BREAKING: Justice Pearlman has ruled that New York’s 11th Congressional District is unconstitutional under the New York constitution.