Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Robert Roaldi]

You can't make this nonsense up (but one here will buy it hook, line and sinker):

Former President Donald Trump said Monday that one of his first acts as president if he wins in November would be to "free" those charged and convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. "My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Is that "drill baby drill" phrase some kind of virtue signalling? The US has never been shy about drilling. Is Trump trying to make people think that regulations are restricting oil production? US domestic oil supply has always been pretty good. The oil crisis of the 1970s was an oil price crisis, not a supply crisis. Does no one remember that?

[digitaldog]

The United States produced more crude oil than any nation at any time, according to our International Energy Statistics, for the past six years in a row.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61545

[Robert Roaldi]

Quite a political journey that J.D. Vance has been on according to this piece, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/03/15/mr-maga-goes-to-washington-00147054.

When the article describes Vance's entourage as tall 6 ft males who smoke a lot, I couldn't stop myself from humming "Macho Man" by the Village People.

Vance is described as someone who values US isolationism, especially the kind that existed between the world wars. (Oh yeah?) I can't figure out if this means that people who believe in that thought that Hitler was sort of ok, the way Trump does or pretends to. Now if only the US had not stuck its nose into the affairs of other countries so much, it would be easier for non-Americans to take that isolationism talk seriously.

[Robert Roaldi]

With respect to the southern border, I have heard the number of 10 million as the number of undocumented immigrants let in since Biden took office. I heard this number on a youtube video and from a friend who is retired in Florida. This makes me think that this is a propaganda-based number that has taken hold on the interweb. Ten million is about 1/3 the population of California, so it's pretty damn hard to believe that Biden has "let in" that many since he's been in office. Especially since Wiki claims that the TOTAL number of undocumented immigrants in the entire US is estimated at 13 million and that a sizeable number are leaving the US these days. The estimates are so wide apart that my bullshit meter is beeping.

Does anyone credible know what's actually going on?

Is this just another in a long line of moral panics?

[Michael West]

With respect to the southern border, I have heard the number of 10 million as the number of undocumented immigrants let in since Biden took office. I heard this number on a youtube video and from a friend who is retired in Florida. This makes me think that this is a propaganda-based number that has taken hold on the interweb. Ten million is about 1/3 the population of California, so it's pretty damn hard to believe that Biden has "let in" that many since he's been in office. Especially since Wiki claims that the TOTAL number of undocumented immigrants in the entire US is estimated at 13 million and that a sizeable number are leaving the US these days. The estimates are so wide apart that my bullshit meter is beeping.

Does anyone credible know what's actually going on?

Is this just another in a long line of moral panics?

id suspect so. given the rhetoric some people are usiing to

[digitaldog]

3/16/24:
"Now if I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole -- that's gonna be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that will be the least of it," Donald Trump

[PeterAit]

With respect to the southern border, I have heard the number of 10 million as the number of undocumented immigrants let in since Biden took office. I heard this number on a youtube video and from a friend who is retired in Florida. This makes me think that this is a propaganda-based number that has taken hold on the interweb. Ten million is about 1/3 the population of California, so it's pretty damn hard to believe that Biden has "let in" that many since he's been in office. Especially since Wiki claims that the TOTAL number of undocumented immigrants in the entire US is estimated at 13 million and that a sizeable number are leaving the US these days. The estimates are so wide apart that my bullshit meter is beeping.

Does anyone credible know what's actually going on?

Is this just another in a long line of moral panics?

That number seems to be fairly  accurate.

https://thehill.com/opinion/4423296-matthews-illegal-immigrants-double-under-biden-and-thats-just-the-start/

[Frans Waterlander]

That number seems to be fairly  accurate.

https://thehill.com/opinion/4423296-matthews-illegal-immigrants-double-under-biden-and-thats-just-the-start/

Just wait for the naysayers...

[digitaldog]

Since Title 42 ended in May, Biden officials have deported or returned roughly 500,000 people to Mexico and other countries, exceeding Trump's totals, which averaged roughly 500,000 annually. But Biden's higher numbers are partly the result of a much greater volume of illegal crossings. Trump implemented the Title 42 policy at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 to rapidly expel border crossers without giving them a chance to seek U.S. protection. The Trump administration expelled the vast majority who entered the United States and border crossings remained relatively low. Biden kept the policy in place and ended up expelling five times more border-crossers than Trump did, mainly because more migrants attempted to enter the United States during the period between Biden's inauguration and May 2023 when he ended Title 42. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2024/02/11/trump-biden-immigration-border-compared/

[digitaldog]

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) reacts to former President Trump's comments warning of a potential "bloodbath" if not re-elected in November, saying the former president's rhetoric "is always on the edge" of crossing the line.https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/sen-cassidy-trump-s-rhetoric-always-walks-up-to-the-edge-as-he-warns-of-potential-bloodbath-206762565592 It's the media's fault. At least he's got a little pushback to this idiotic idea that guilty Jan 6th protesters should be freed by Trump.https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/trump-freeing-those-convicted-for-jan-6-actions-wouldn-t-be-appropriate-says-sen-cassidy-206759493727

[Robert Roaldi]

That number seems to be fairly  accurate.

https://thehill.com/opinion/4423296-matthews-illegal-immigrants-double-under-biden-and-thats-just-the-start/

If we take as 3 years the amount of time that Biden has been in office, 1095 days, doubling illegal immigration to 20 million means that about 9000 are coming across the border every day on average. You'd think we'd have drone and/or satellite photos of massive encampments on the Mexican side. There's no way to hide that many people. There would be food vendors, chemical toilets, well-marked trails, etc.

[Frans Waterlander]

If we take as 3 years the amount of time that Biden has been in office, 1095 days, doubling illegal immigration to 20 million means that about 9000 are coming across the border every day on average. You'd think we'd have drone and/or satellite photos of massive encampments on the Mexican side. There's no way to hide that many people. There would be food vendors, chemical toilets, well-marked trails, etc.

Where have you been the last 3 years?

[digitaldog]

Where have you been the last 3 years?

"Well, it's not so easy to give an answer when you ask a stupid question!" Hans Christian Andersen

[digitaldog]

One if these is a lie:
'I'm really rich': Donald Trump claims $9bn fortune during campaign launch The estimate more than doubles Forbes magazine's assessment of $4.1bn but real estate scion sees wealth as asset in presidential race a marker of 'success'
Today: Trump has been unable to get bond for $464 million judgment, his lawyers say In a filing to an appeals court, Trump's attorneys said getting the bond needed to halt proceedings while they appeal is a "practical impossibility."

[Robert Roaldi]

One if these is a lie:
'I'm really rich': Donald Trump claims $9bn fortune during campaign launch The estimate more than doubles Forbes magazine's assessment of $4.1bn but real estate scion sees wealth as asset in presidential race a marker of 'success'
Today: Trump has been unable to get bond for $464 million judgment, his lawyers say In a filing to an appeals court, Trump's attorneys said getting the bond needed to halt proceedings while they appeal is a "practical impossibility."

Kind of understandable that he's having trouble. It might be difficult for others to trust his real estate valuations when they're securing collateral for any bonds. Who would trust the numbers. I don't know what's worse, that the GOP can't find a better candidate or that the Democrats aren't a shoe-in, especially given the keystone cops Republican performance in Congress.

On another subject, Putin won the Russian election.

[digitaldog]

On another subject, Putin won the Russian election.

Putin is arguably the wealthiest man in the world (there's virtually no transparency, but there is some evidence of this), so maybe Trump can get the money from this thug.

[digitaldog]

Wow!
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/qbj5e0pea1I?feature=shared

[Robert Roaldi]

I saw an hilarious headline on one of the news sites about MTG throwing the house back into chaos by calling for Michael Johnson's resignation. What do they mean by "back"?

Also, I see they are trying to avert yet another government shutdown. Is that just a weekly thing now?

I saw some youtube video titles about calls by some to convince people that birth control pills are unsafe. It's starting, the Christian Taliban and fellow travellers are going after contraception. I am going to presume that this is just internet noise and not real.

[digitaldog]

The last time a Trump company went public it didn't go well for investors
Trump made millions in the 1990s when his casino company went public. Investors lost a fortune.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/last-time-trump-company-went-public-didnt-go-well-investors-rcna144657

[Robert Roaldi]

Since immigration comes up from time to time here, I thought I'd point out a mini-series that the Freakonomics podcast has pubilshed recently. The first in the series is here https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/. I haven't listened to it yet, this is just fyi.