Appointees do have to be approved by the Senate, but we’ve already seen that the republicans are perfectly happy to rubber stamp anyone who will favor republican policies. I don’t know if the president could appoint himself, but I’d bet a republican-controlled senate would be happy to confirm him even if some law theoretically disallows it. The president cannot himself remove the justices through any mechanism of law (as if he cares about that), but justices can be removed by Congress via impeachment. I am not a lawyer, but I’m thinking a sufficiently corrupt congress/senate could make it happen.

It’s depressing how much of our government and legal system relied on the idea that at least most people would act in good faith.

And then they blame it on “left wing political violence” and then the shooter’s family will be like “look at all these pictures of him wearing maga hats” and then the media will be like “but he had a high school class with someone who’s cousin was bisexual so he’s obviously a left wing lunatic”.

I wanna see a movie where Hitler decides to abandon his plans for global domination when he discovers his true passion: underground street racing. And the cars better honk with a period appropriate “awooga”.

Per your link, it hasn’t actually happened yet. It’s still schedule I.

I think that’s been their plan all along.

Ah, right. My mistake.

That occurred to me too. Having an awful, public crime to blame on “the left” is awfully convenient, and Trump and his ilk immediately came out blaming Democrats and calling for political violence. What if Trump or one of his circle is behind this because they wanted a distraction from the Epstein situation and literally everything Trump does being unpopular? People who are okay with raping kids clearly have no moral compunctions preventing them from such an act.

But I’m not one to profer conspiracies without any kind of actual evidence, and I doubt Kirk is really considered enough of a somebody for them to believe he’d be enough of a distraction (although that may be because I just ignore anything to do with him because of his being a bigoted dumbfuck). Having something to blame on Democrats and “the left” just happened to be good fortune for them. I do think it more likely that the shooter was someone like a parent of a kid who was a victim of a school shooting or who was queer and died by suicide.

Charlie Kirk wasn’t even a politician or CEO? He was a talking head, a media personality; an “influencer”.

The political leanings and goals of the shooter, who is not in custody, are not yet known.

So … We don’t actually know if this was a politically-motivated shooting. I mean, I’d be willing to bet money that it was, but for all we know it could have been a jealous husband, an enraged parent, a jilted ex lover, or someone with delusions.

In any case, political violence is not a new thing here.

As a Tennessean, I’d be shocked and dismayed.

But I’d still say throw her in the slammer.

I really don’t understand why I constantly see this sentiment on every post pertaining to protests. Rome wasn’t built in a day. How do you expect the masses to go directly to violent revolution when many of them don’t even recognize there’s a problem, and most of them have spent their whole lives in a system which hasn’t required any political participation at all? Drawing attention to the problems is how you get more people active.

Obviously, protests won’t do anything to directly influence the corrupt leaders in any meaningful or beneficial way. I don’t know anyone who actually hopes for that. But a handful of individuals resorting to political violence will be easily quashed by the fascists’ enforcers and then demonized or ignored by the fascist-friendly media, so the logical thing is to make the movement too big to fail or ignore. Drawing attention to the problems is how you get more people active.

Something something only the best people?

The dude 100% believes that there will be a mass murdering purge of all doctors and healthcare workers this year when the “RFK Autism report” comes out.

…does he not realize that he is also capable of contracting illness? Who does he think is going to take care of him when he breaks his hip or has a stroke?

Don’t they keep it for life?

Newsom is doing enough of that on his own.

That was one of the things that boggled me the most. I understood why they e.g. wouldn’t call out Israel, dumb and evil as it was, but to keep hammering on how “great” the economy was, over and over, despite all evidence that indicated people were struggling? It blows my mind. I can’t imagine a better way to get people to vote against you.

Tbh, I’m not convinced either of them are compromised by Russia in that sense (though wouldn’t be surprised, to be clear. We pretty much know Trump has assaulted and raped underage girls; I wouldn’t be surprised if Musk has also). I think they’re both just scared little boys who are trying to impress who they see as a big, strong man, in order to get the kind of fatherly approval that they never received from their actual fathers. They’re both childishly impulsive and both try comedically hard to be seen as strong and capable, and then get emotional when they see that image being challenged.

Where’s DOGE on this waste and abuse?

He’s a billionaire.

Allegedly. His inability to pay some of the judgments against him calls that into question, e.g. the E. Jean Carrol suit. If nothing else, he definitely has a billionaire mindset.

Hopefully they survive this administration.