In the News II

Quote:

Kamala Harris has generally operated within the mainstream of the Democratic Party alongside Barack Obama, but she has diverged from him on specific foreign policy positions, the aggressiveness of financial settlements, and the progression of criminal justice approaches.

Because Harris's national political career largely took off after the Obama presidency, her policy differences are best understood through specific actions she took as California's Attorney General and later as a U.S. Senator.🏛️

Foreign Policy and Israel United Nations Vote: In January 2017, during her very first foreign policy vote as a U.S. Senator, Harris voted to criticize the outgoing Obama administration. She sided with a bipartisan group opposing Obama's decision to abstain from (and thus allow the passage of) a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The 2012 National Mortgage Settlement

Rejecting the Administration's Deal: As California's Attorney General in 2011, Harris initially broke away from the Obama administration's pressured framework for a nationwide settlement with major banks over foreclosure abuses.

Demanding More Relief: Believing the Obama administration’s proposed deal was too lenient on Wall Street, Harris walked away from the talks. Her gamble worked; she eventually secured $20 billion for California homeowners, which was vastly more than the $2 billion originally earmarked for the state under the initial administration-backed proposal.

Criminal Justice Evolution

Progression Beyond Obama-Era Positions:

During his presidency, Obama faced critique from the progressive left for a cautious approach to systemic police reform, though he became more vocal later in his second term. Harris initially mirrored this caution during her prosecutor years (e.g., declining to investigate certain police shootings in 2014–2015).

However, following the 2020 racial justice protests, Harris moved further left than the Obama-era baseline by aggressively championing the federal ban of cash-bail laws and strict federal tracking of racial bias in policing.

Marijuana Decriminalization: While serving as California's Attorney General, Harris opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana, aligning with the Obama administration’s federal stance at the time. However, Harris later shifted to favor full federal descheduling and decriminalization—a position more progressive than the enforcement-heavy approach of the early Obama years

Quote: rxwine

You know what the best thing about this below, MrV? (See at the end)
No, invading Greenland talk, no love letters to Kim Jong, no inexplicable honoring Putin, no seeing Ukraine as hostile, no money schemes, no selling gold Trump Temu Trinkets, no prostrating cabinet members telling how great the leader is, no shitty up and down tarriffs, no egomaniac begging for attention filling the news airwaves with constant stink, no lunatic up all night tweeting random shit and NO JAN 6!

… and any number of bonker things too tiresome to repeat and again again,

Quote: MSN

Organizers aim to launch more than 850,000 fireworks — compared to the 7,000 at the 2025 show.

Quote: missedhervee

It is very hot in DC, this is affecting things.

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2026/07/americas-independence-day-parade-canceled-in-washington-dc.html

They'll light off over 3/4 million fireworks tonight.

Quote: missedhervee

The MAGA-works display tonight is a typical ploy of the fat oaf, like having UFC at the White House.
He's channeling the well-proven strategy of the past Roman emperors he admires and emulates: "Give the People bread and circuses."

Quote: OnceDear

T'is true. Except to observe that he couldn't name a single Roman emperor.

Quote:

increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant, and sexually perverted thereafter, an insane, murderous tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god, humiliated the Senate, and planned to make his horse a consul.

During his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within the principate. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and public works to benefit Rome's ordinary citizens, including racetracks, theatres, amphitheaters, and improvements to roads and ports. He began the construction of two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. During his reign, the empire annexed the client kingdom of Mauretania as a province. He had to abandon an attempted invasion of Britain, and the installation of his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Quote: rxwine

Does this sound at all familiar?

Caligula