Dennis Shanahan of The Australian, who is always well plugged into government’s line of tactical thinking, wrote on Monday on the likelihood of a federal election in the second half of this year ($) rather than the first half of the next, that being the full extent of the window for a normal election of the House of Representatives and half the Senate. This basically boils down to a view that the government’s perceived current dominance means the sooner it goes the better, tempered by a desire to avoid an election in winter.
An unidentified Liberal MP quoted in The Australian ($) said they were “almost certain” they were “almost certain” the election would be in August or September, although another felt November more likely since an earlier election would be seen as too opportunistic. Why November would be a whole lot better on that count is unclear, since there seems to be no particular obstacle to Morrison holding out until May next year, by which time it will have been a full three years since the last election. For what it’s worth, the latter MP was also quoted saying it “also depends on if Labor ditch Anthony Albanese and get someone more electable”.
In more definite news for the year ahead, the Western Australian state election is set for March 13 — I am presently furiously hard at work on my election guide, which I can assure those of you who like that kind of thing will be a classic of its genre. As for opinion polling, the silly season proved no obstacle to Newspoll last year, which opened its account with a poll conducted from Wednesday, January 8 and Saturday, January 11, so there may be action on that front this or (probably more likely) next weekend.
Hmm. Can we call this a “Prayer Chamber”?
_____
A Prayer Chamber Pot perhaps?
C@tmomma says: Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 1:54 pm
Apparently Lindsey Graham is whipping the Republican Senate numbers not to convict Trump. A toady to the bitter end.
The Donald is Graham’s unrequited love.
Yabba @ #3147 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 2:45 pm
I’ll bet you lay them in the aisles at the MENSA open-mike comedy nights.
Kate
Thank you for this.
Apparently Lindsey Graham is whipping the Republican Senate numbers not to convict Trump. A toady to the bitter end.
—————
Trump has dirt on his minions. Some of the dirt is sourced from within the GOP – probably well known dirt outside the GOP too but peeps decent enough to not use it. I suspect there is a lot of dirt sourced from external actors too – possibly with pretty pictures, audio and video.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=anyone+for+tennis+song&cvid=d14584b1a3e54327a1d33513e468d456&pglt=43&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=ASTS
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/13/zello-app-us-capitol-attack-far-right
The Right believe in armed assault. To them, the use of force is apparently perfectly normal. Democracy really is in peril as long as such people can find a political home in the Republican Party. From here….thinking about the massive and irrevocable social, political, ideological and economic impacts of covid19, the militarisation of political action in the US seems very dangerous indeed.
Simon Katichsays:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 2:57 pm
Apparently Lindsey Graham is whipping the Republican Senate numbers not to convict Trump. A toady to the bitter end.
—————
Trump has dirt on his minions. Some of the dirt is sourced from within the GOP – probably well known dirt outside the GOP too but peeps decent enough to not use it. I suspect there is a lot of dirt sourced from external actors too – possibly with pretty pictures, audio and video.
*******************************************************
Of course Trump has something on Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) once said President Trump was unfit for office. Now Graham can’t stop praising Trump.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) has gone from being one of President Trump’s most vocal critics to one of his strongest allies.
His transformation has sparked conspiracy theories about his motives. In December 2017, author Sarah Kendzior suggested that Trump may be blackmailing Graham with information obtained from Russia’s 2016 hack of the senator’s emails.
MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle echoed those suspicions last week, saying, “Donald Trump or somebody knows something pretty extreme about Lindsey Graham.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a freshman member of Congress, then made headlines for similarly stating, without evidence, that Graham is compromised.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/01/21/of-course-trump-has-something-on-lindsey-graham-his-voters/
America will be fine. There are plenty of good people with guns.
lizzie says:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 2:54 pm
Kate
While they follow basic democratic principles, there can be major deviations towards authoritarianism. Under managed democracy, the state’s continuous use of propaganda techniques prevents the electorate from having a significant impact on policy.”
Thank you for this.
Both the nominal Left and the Right share this view of political institutions, of constitutional order and the efficacy of the electoral and party systems. The attacks upon the order come from both sides and are instigated in order to serve the political goals of each wing.
In part, this reflects the atomisation of society in recent decades, now made more intense by the dominance of social media and the impacts of covid, which undermine all kinds of normal social interaction and discourse.
We are observing a kind of decay….a self-mutilation.
N
The move towards authoritarianism has been far more pronounced under Morrison’s LNP than Labor/independents.
I find your same-sameism troubling.
‘phoenixRED says:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 2:45 pm
Trump considered resigning — but refused because he doesn’t trust Pence to pardon him: report ‘
Not a clear signal of paranoia, IMO. Trump’s right. These days you can’t trust anybody in the White House anymore.
The militarisation of the civil order was commenced in Australia by the creation of the Department of Home Affairs as a para-military outfit, run by a particularly stupid and bigoted ex-policeman, Dutton.
Trump not paying someone who did work for him? Not one person anywhere saw that coming! 🙂
Well it was pretty crap work so why would you pay?
BKsays: Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 3:08 pm
America will be fine. There are plenty of good people with guns.
****************************************************************
NRA: ‘Only Way To Stop A Bad Guy With A Gun Is With A Good Guy With A Gun’
https://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/12/21/nra-only-way-to-stop-a-bad-guy-with-a-gun-is-with-a-good-guy-with-a-gun/
lizzie says:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 3:13 pm
N
The move towards authoritarianism has been far more pronounced under Morrison’s LNP than Labor/independents.
I find your same-sameism troubling.
This is not about Labor.
The self-styled Faux Left in Australia – the No Windmills Party in particular – and Momentum in the UK voice the same complaints about the order as do the Right, including elements of the LNP and ON, and their various imitators.
The self-gratifying Left and the self-adoring Right are on the same page. They detest the order. They spend their days trying to defame and destroy it.
BK says:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 2:50 pm
Pot Kettle Black ?
The Last Days of the Trump White House?
The plot of ‘King Rat’ bears. Note especially the grand finale:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rat_(Clavell_novel)
phoenixRED @ #3165 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 3:17 pm
Fine in theory, but in practice it’s hard to shoot straight when you are so one-eyed.
Player One @ #3054 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 2:54 pm
Zinger! Keep working at it! I suggest Parler. Lots of inspiration on there, just for you.
It’s time @ #2937 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 2:16 pm
Actually, given the intrinsically impossible task of ‘go prove election fraud when we know there was none’, I think Giuliani put in a more faithful effort than just about anybody else would have.
Not his fault the job sucked. Though certainly his fault for accepting it in the first place.
I love this. Some ‘breaking news’ is soooo stale!
Trump’s got a point.
The drooling hair dye outside the back door of a garden centre next door to a sex shop was not worth $20,000 that day.
Yabba @ #3170 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 3:21 pm
I refuse to join anything that has you as a member.
boerwar @ #3139 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 2:13 pm
Ahh – but rudy still wants and may well *need* a pardon.
Who can do the stab in the back the quickest ?
Hint – the minute Biden is sworn in – there will be queue around the block with rats eager to “tell it all” – how they never trusted trump. Blah Blah.
More importantly atm – who won’t get a pardon ? Any calls on this ?
They deserve each other…
The Right express their anxieties about the future by the adoption of Nationalist and Nativist themes. The So-called Left express their anxieties by declaiming about Neo-Liberalism and Centrism.
These voices are essentially worried about the same sets of things, and their reflexes include a common desire to tear down democracy. There is a loss of belief at work – a loss of belief in the utility of electoral politics, in the fairness and efficacy of democratic systems. This is common to both the Nativist/Racists and the Neo-Left.
The voices against this are to be found most commonly in the instruments of social democracy…in the Democratic Party in the US, in labour unions, in Labor in this country. Both the Left and the Right detest these instruments. They want to deprive them political power and, if possible, destroy them altogether.
America will be fine. There are plenty of good people with guns.
————-
Nice gun range up your way. Dramatic scenery. I believe they are expanding it. I can think of worse places to get back in tune with a firearm.
I wonder how gun sales are going atm in the US?
Does this answer your question SK?
https://www.kold.com/2020/12/21/gun-sales-hit-record-driven-by-pandemic-protests-politics/
dave
I have it sorted. First Trump sells a truckload of pardons, cash up front. Then he pardons himself for selling a truckload of pardons. He uses the cash to pay off his debts.
Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman is rightfully being hailed as a hero after singlehandedly holding back rioters from entering the Senate chambers last week.
An Iraq combat vet and member of this Corps, Eugene was a hero long before last Wednesday.
We celebrate his valor.
“Duty, Honor, Country” — those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. Gen MacArthur West Point
N
‘The self-styled Faux Left in Australia…’
I doubt that they do self-style that, really. But who knows where the depth of their depravity bottoms out?
boerwar says:
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 3:39 pm
N
‘The self-styled Faux Left in Australia…’
I doubt that they do self-style that, really. But who knows where the depth of their depravity bottoms out?
They’re phobic, b. They hate Labor. They hate unions. They hate common-or-garden voters. We see the phobias on parade here and elsewhere on a daily basis. They thrive on it. In this they are singing from the same song sheets as the Right.
Player One @ #3075 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 3:24 pm
Better! Keep at it. One day you might find something that you are borderline competent at. The problem you have, though, is that you won’t be able to recognise it, if and when it ever happens.
Have you looked up what i is yet? Or what pi has to do with a power factor?
Or why 7 km of above ground pipeline might possibly be more cost effective than 27 km of tunnel through hard rock?
N
All that may well be true for some of them. Bludger used to have some Greens posters who resembled Putti confronted by Satan. And there are still some odds and sods of Labor haters who occasionally dart in a bit of hate by way of a snark. They could be self-loathing Laborites. Who knows?
But would your ‘left’ style themselves Faux-Left or just plain Left?
Stranded Aussies should’ve had tennis lessons
B….of course, they see themselves as pure Left. The appellation “Faux” is something I attach…because while they purport to be of the Left, they also oppose the political instruments of working people and muster support for the Right. They are splitters and frauds, imo.
Must go now….2 much time bludging today 🙂
‘BK
https://www.kold.com/2020/12/21/gun-sales-hit-record-driven-by-pandemic-protests-politics/‘
My view is that the only solution for what ails the US is more guns and more ammo. It stands to reason.
Here is a decision-making frame for the grand denouemont.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hOOGWLshtE
boerwar @ #3181 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 3:39 pm
Briefly does. He’s down there, looking up.
Game, set, match, Vogon Poet.
😀
Yabba @ #3183 Thursday, January 14th, 2021 – 3:45 pm
I know what you is.
And I reckon a few others here have figured it out as well.
Quite obviously the rioters who invaded the Capitol with guns were the good guys, since they themselves have told us so.
Then the question is, who were the bad guys with guns that they needed to protect themselves against?
Seth Meyers hilariously mocks GOP for pathetic defense of Trump: ‘Every movement has a lunatic fringe’
“Late Night” host Seth Meyers’ take on President Donald Trump’s impeachment is that regardless of how it turns out for the president, he’s likely to end up as nothing more than a Trivial Pursuit question.
“So whatever else happens after today, it will be inscribed in the Congressional record and the history books and it will be a stain on Trump’s name forever,” Meyers said. “He is the only president to get impeached twice. In fact, it’s worse than that! He’s the only president to be impeached twice and lose the popular vote twice. He’ll be emblazoned in history as an embarrassment and disgrace. No politician has ever been more thoroughly and more frequently repudiated by the American people.”
https://www.rawstory.com/seth-meyers-gop-impeachment-fail/
Simon Katich
“I wonder how gun sales are going atm in the US?”
Gun sales are going gangbusters in my in-laws’ household, in Nevada. They bought a handgun on-line; but it was delayed due to high demand. They were impatient, so they went to a gun shop and bought a gun in person. They are now the proud owners of an M&P 380 Shield EZ from Smith & Wesson. Yessir.
My in-laws are Trump voters. In case you were wondering.
The Orange Monstrosity left it far and away too late to condemn what he helped, in a major way, to eventuate.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/534146-trump-releases-his-lengthiest-denunciation-of-capitol-violence-just
In further example of excellent forward planning and logistics, the US National Guard are moving 20,000 troops into DC – nobody thought they would need somewhere to sleep… in the Capitol earlier today
[‘Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s openness to convicting Donald Trump in a US Senate impeachment trial is a seismic signal to his caucus that could prod other Republicans to break with the President in the coming days and weeks.
While McConnell has remained largely silent since last week’s riot of the US Capitol, those close to him have anonymously conveyed through media reports that the outgoing Majority Leader is ready to wash his hands of Trump and that he sees the impeachment process as a ready-made solvent.
…
Jim Kessler, a former policy aide to incoming Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said McConnell’s smoke-signal gave other Senate Republicans permission to abandon Trump.
“Whether they take that permission, I don’t know,” said Kessler. “But between both McConnell and Representative [Liz] Cheney, this can no longer be seen as a partisan endeavour. That just changes this dramatically.”]
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/mcconnell-s-signal-to-republicans-could-open-floodgates-against-trump-20210114-p56u2l.html
There’s just no loyalty in politics these days.
Kr
That the same guy who bragged about how he could go out in the street shoot somebody and get away with it?
Nah. Gotta be a different guy, right?
Early was late. Trump was early.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-washington-dc-came-close-to-being-conquered-by-the-confederacy-180951994/
“ If it’s true that Pressley’s panic buttons were ripped out before the January 6 insurrection, it suggests the possibility of an inside job involving security personnel at the Capitol. It raises the stakes of any probe into the sudden suicide of USCP officer Howard Liebengood, Jr.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/13/nation/it-was-like-looking-evil-capitol-attack-through-eyes-massachusetts-delegation/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true