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February 12, 2024
NATO leader says Trump puts allies at risk by saying Russia can 'do whatever the hell they want'
(AP) The head of the NATO military alliance warned Sunday that Donald Trump was putting the safety of U.S. troops and their allies at risk after the Republican presidential front-runner said Russia should be able to do whatever the hell they want to NATO members who dont meet their defense spending targets. Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the U.S., and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.
Go to discussionTrump's incendiary NATO remarks send very real shudders through Europe
(CNN) Remarks by Donald Trump normally reverberate in an echo chamber of his own creation, a sort of vacuum that often strips them of any consequence globally. It is white noise, one might think rhetoric designed to project strength and the rejection of the status-quo, rather than an expression of any actual policy. It is just Trump being Trump. But when the former president suggested on Saturday that he would let Russia do whatever the hell they want to any NATO member that doesnt meet spending guidelines, the impact was acute.
Go to discussionRepublicans Blast Trump Over Threat to Abandon NATO Allies
(US News & World Report) Some of former President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans on Sunday lashed out at him for saying he would not want to protect NATO members from a future attack by Russia if those countries' contributions to the defense alliance were lagging. "This is why I've been saying for a long time that he's unfit to be president of the United States," former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" program.
Go to discussionTrump's NATO Comments Could Backfire in Swing States
(Political Wire) Playbook: Aside from the obvious national security implications, there are potential political implications to Trumps comment. Its worth noting that the NATO member countries most concerned about future Russian aggression Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also happen to be well represented in the three pivotal swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Go to discussionCompletely Batshit Things from a Trump Speech That Won't Get as Much Coverage as Biden's Age
(The Rude Pundit) Let's start with a lie: "I love Pennsylvania. We ran twice. We won Pennsylvania twice. We won Pennsylvania twice. We did much better the second time than we did the first time." This is election denialism, sure, and we should never lose our outrage over his continued refusal to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election. He lost PA in 2020. He litigated it and begged for it to be overturned, but he fucking lost.
Go to discussionA State Supreme Court Just Issued Another Devastating Rebuke of the U.S. Supreme Court
(Slate) The Hawaii Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion on Wednesday declaring that its state constitution grants individuals absolutely no right to keep and bear arms outside the context of military service. Its decision rejected the U.S. Supreme Courts interpretation of the Second Amendment, refusing to interpolate SCOTUS shoddy historical analysis into Hawaii law.
Go to discussionTrump accuses Taylor Swift of being 'disloyal' if she endorses Biden
(The Guardian) Donald Trump, who attempted to overturn the democratic vote of the American people in 2020, on Sunday accused the pop star Taylor Swift of being disloyal should she endorse Joe Biden for president. With the rightwing conspiracy theory machine fretting that Swift is a Pentagon plant whose relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his teams victory yesterday in the Superbowl, was designed to give Swift a platform to swing the election for Biden, Trump weighed in with his own thoughts.
Go to discussionBiden trolls MAGA Republicans with Super Bowl tweet
(The Hill) President Biden trolled MAGA Republicans Sunday night, poking fun at conspiracy theories surrounding the NFL and pop sensation Taylor Swift after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Just like we drew it up, Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the Dark Brandon meme depicting the president with lasers shooting out of his eyes.
Go to discussionSupine Republicans don't just dance to Trump's tune - they amplify his racism
(The Guardian) The vice-presidential race playing out in real time despite the presidential election being nine months away is serving as a microcosm of what it means to be a success in the modern-day Republican party. In the current environment, anyone wishing to remain relevant in the GOP has to dance to Trumps tune and kiss his big ring, surrendering any self-respect along the way.
Go to discussion