General Politics the second: But what is politics?

[Samson]

US hate crimes increased nearly 12 percent in 2021, FBI says

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the domestic United States intelligence agency, has found that hate crimes rose nearly 12 percent from 2020 to 2021, driven primarily by crimes based on race and ethnicity.

FBI data released on Monday showed hate crimes had increased from 8,120 in 2020 to 9,065 in 2021, an 11.6 percent uptick. Nearly 65 percent of victims were targeted for their race, ethnicity or ancestry. Another 15.9 percent of hate crimes were based on sexual orientation, and 14.1 percent were for religious bias.

Continuing the trend of recent years, but quite a jump

 

[Kyriakos]

Not very nice - but maybe it's in some other city.

 

[Samson]

View attachment 656754

Not very nice - but maybe it's in some other city.

Is that supposed to be a show of force against Russia? 2,500 troop/country deployed into the centre of a French city? That will get Putin scared.

 

[Kyriakos]

Is that supposed to be a show of force against Russia? 2,500 troop/country deployed into the centre of a French city? That will get Putin scared.

Not sure how people in France accepted such a show.

 

[Edmund Ironside]

I'm surprised they didn't immediately surrender!

 

[Farm Boy]

Not sure how people in France accepted such a show.

They seem to be willing to develop some competency against the imperialist hicks of 2023, I guess?

 

[Gori the Grey]

Not sure how people in France accepted such a show.

They're big fans of mime, actually.

 

[Kyriakos]

They're big fans of mime, actually.

Including the Grand-Guignol

 

[Kaitzilla]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is out of the hospital after 5 days.

The 81-year-old hairline-factured a rib and had a concussion from a fall.

Mitch McConnell Discharged from Hospital After Minor Rib Fracture, Concussion from Fall

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been discharged from the hospital after falling during an event on Wednesday.

people.com

Senator Fetterman is still in the hospital from Feb. 15th, and there is hope he will be well enough to leave by the end of March.

John Fetterman could leave Walter Reed in next two weeks: Report

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is reportedly on the mend and may be discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center within the next two weeks.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[Sommerswerd]

McConnell is possibly and ironically the one fig leaf keeping Trump's movement from taking total control...

 

[Kyriakos]

How many 80-year-olds do you need as top figures in politics? ^^

 

[Gori the Grey]

All of them.

 

[Farm Boy]

McConnell is possibly and ironically the one fig leaf keeping Trump's movement from taking total control...

Like the MTG-might-be-his-running-mate movement? She depressed Republican turnout in her district enough that it actually managed to lose them that senate race in GA, which is fun when you count the balance of the Senate. So the thing keeping it from taking total control is Republicans hate her enough that combined with their countrymen they gave that control to the Democrats. Like the White House.

 

[Arakhor]

McConnell is possibly and ironically the one fig leaf keeping Trump's movement from taking total control...

Given that he nurtured and protected it throughout the last few years, the fact that he's only stopping it from taking total control because he doesn't want to lose power is not something I will grant him any credit for.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Like the MTG-might-be-his-running-mate movement? She depressed Republican turnout in her district enough that it actually managed to lose them that senate race in GA, which is fun when you count the balance of the Senate. So the thing keeping it from taking total control is Republicans hate her enough that combined with their countrymen they gave that control to the Democrats. Like the White House.

Eh, I don't know... I mean Trump got the second highest amount of votes of any POTUS candidate in US history the second time around, including 12 million more votes than he got in the 2016 election. So I'm skeptical of the notion that Republicans hating Trump was what turned control of the White House over to Democrats. Seems more like Republican voters mostly loved what they got from Trump and wanted more, but it was Democratic voters that sighed and decided to turn out in even higher record numbers to get rid of him.

Given that he nurtured and protected it throughout the last few years, the fact that he's only stopping it from taking total control because he doesn't want to lose power is not something I will grant him any credit for.

I did say it was ironic...

 

[Lexicus]

Eh, I don't know... I mean Trump got the second highest amount of votes of any POTUS candidate in US history the second time around, including 12 million more votes than he got in the 2016 election. So I'm skeptical of the notion that Republicans hating Trump was what turned control of the White House over to Democrats. Seems more like Republican voters mostly loved what they got from Trump and wanted more, but it was Democratic voters that sighed and decided to turn out in even higher record numbers to get rid of him.

Nah Sommer, pay no attention to your lying eyes. The Party's basic decency and goodness cannot be questioned. On a related note let me explain how the Clintons actually gave Trump the Republican nomination in 2016 despite the best efforts of Republican primary voters.

 

[Farm Boy]

It's a big boat. But I'm taking about turnout differences in one district being enough to flop a statewide election on GA, upon which hinged control of the senate. This just happened. Talk about other crap if you want, it's the minority leader we're taking shots at about control - "but but but... yeah yeah. There's a squirrel over there!"

 

[Lexicus]

This just happened.

So you have said several times, but where's the evidence?

 

[Sommerswerd]

It's a big boat. But I'm taking about turnout differences in one district being enough to flop a statewide election on GA, upon which hinged control of the senate. This just happened. Talk about other crap if you want, it's the minority leader we're taking shots at about control - "but but but... yeah yeah. There's a squirrel over there!"

You said "Like the White House" so that is what I was talking about.

But about the Senate... first off, I don't know that there were any "flipped districts"... take a look:

Spoiler 2020 GA Senate District map :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–21_United_States_Senate_special_election_in_Georgia

Spoiler 2022 GA Senate District Map :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_Senate_election_in_Georgia
Results look identical to me... ... vote totals may have been different (some reds/blues are darker or lighter), but the results (red or blue) stayed the same.


In any case, districts don't matter in Senatorial elections, because its a statewide popular vote, so "flipping" a district in a Senate race isn't like flipping a state in the general election for POTUS. Again, it does not seem like there were any "flipped districts" anyway.

Putting the above aside. Warnock (D) had already won in the GA Senate race. He was the incumbent in the last election. He won the 2020 runoff election with 51% of the vote. He then went on to be re-elected in the 2022 runoff with 51% of the vote. So while I think I understand the point you are trying to make, I just don't think its accurate or relevant in this particular circumstance.

 

[Lexicus]

@Sommerswerd The point isn't about flipping any district, the point is that the R vote in MTG's district depressed enough to flip the result of the statewide election from R to D.

Again, I am awaiting evidence of this assertion.