OT: May be vice also needs to suspend a few folks as their website is egregious to use with full page intrusive ads. FFS please. I don't mind the ads but this is just too much. I am pretty sure I am not going to be clicking on vice links again.

Consider downloading UBlock. Looks great with an adblocker

Elect a clown, expect a circus.

The first amendment of the US constitution grants freedom of speech to all persons. Courts have interpreted that first amendment applies broadly, even to non-citizens.

I find it hard to believe that THIS Supreme Court would re-affirm this decision if it ever came up.

This may be the only sensible thing Abbott has done in a while. Texas is trending towards a nanny state for quite a bit for things Republicans politicians don't like.

It's miracle that Dan Patrick is not in jail and wasn't impeached from his job last year. Tough on crime Republicans in Texas Senate acquitted him of 16 impeachment charges around bribery and corruption.

Wrong guy, you're thinking of the AG, Ken Paxton. It is a travesty that he still holds his position and is likely to unseat Cornyn (who is also terrible, but less so) in the coming senate race.

Ah you are right! I was thinking of ken Paxton.

Texas is not tough on crime. Like most corrupt governments, they are tough on people they don't like.

Yup. Austin's criminalization of homelessness without providing housing is just one example. While it technically made a partial dent (but still there are tents under I-35), it did so with brutality and without addressing any of the systemic factors.

More widely, the leopards are eating faces.

Spoke to a friend who is a big Trump supporter just yesterday - his view is that we shouldn't react to short term impact, these policies and tariffs should be viewed and judged in the long term. These tariffs will remake american manufacturing. I dont know if thats the current faux news talking point.

Yep, that's the talking point. Howard Lutnick has been out there saying this.

For better or worse, though, voters don't judge politicians based on the impact their policies have in 10-20 years. They're going to judge these tariffs in 18 months when they vote in the midterms and again in 2028, long before a widespread shift in manufacturing can occur.

This would be easier if they laid out the details of their long term plan.

The government is already actively ignoring federal courts. Who is going to stop them?

The army isn't likely to stand for this

They’re the most likely to go along. The whole point of the army is following orders. Congress doesn’t have the threat of jail for not listening to Trump.

Gold.

Reminds me on 'the town' in the book Damon Copperhead.

I have been hearing about the idea of Abundance a bit and it appeals to me more than tearing down (DOGE) philosophy. I dont buy the Republican argument of tearing everything down because government doesn't work. At the state level Republicans are doing exactly the opposite and so its hypocritical for them to claim that while they consolidate all kinds of power, expand government and do things quite opposite to what they stand for including the principles of individual freedom.