Trump has not spoken to Pence since Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol

Trump has not spoken to Pence since Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol

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A major split seems to have occurred between Trump and his VP Mike Pence according to NBC News There is .. a deepening and widespread anger among Pence’s aides and allies at how Trump seemingly discarded his most devoted soldier over his refusal to circumvent an important constitutional duty, per these people. The president’s decision not to reach out to Pence and his family while they were sheltered inside a Capitol bunker as pro-Trump rioters breached the building has particularly…

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Jabbing the Unjabbable (or, for the less polite, Pricking the Pricks)

Jabbing the Unjabbable (or, for the less polite, Pricking the Pricks)

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A guest slot by Stocky I saw a friend recently who is an enthusiast of myriad butt-clenching conspiracy theories.  “My intention was to calmly, cleverly and succinctly knock down each piece of nonsense one-by-one and emerge victorious, chest swelled and buttocks relaxed. My plan quickly got caught up in the weeds.” He quickly got into his patter: Covid is no worse than flu; the death figures are deliberately inflated; long-Covid is largely made up; the pandemic is a fiction created by…

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Time to bet that Trump will take the controversial step of pardoning himself?

Time to bet that Trump will take the controversial step of pardoning himself?

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The above is the top of the entry on the US Department of Justice website of the dozens of people who have been pardoned by Trump during his presidency. No doubt this list will be added to in the days that remain before Biden is inaugurated on January 20th. There’s a lot of speculation about who will make the final list which is likely to include those who have been closest to the President during his time in office. There’s…

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Is Donald Trump the electoral behemoth his congressional allies think he is?

Is Donald Trump the electoral behemoth his congressional allies think he is?

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As I started looking at betting on the 2022 and 2024 American elections I thought I’d look at Donald Trump’s performances in 2016 and 2020 and see if he might be a help or a hindrance for the GOP going forward purely in electoral terms. As we can see Trump has the two of the three lowest shares of the vote this millennium for the GOP. In defence of Trump, the GOP have only won the popular vote once in…

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Of talking dogs and politicians

Of talking dogs and politicians

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We’re still allowed to take daily exercise and I expect that most readers do.  If, like me, you go for a walk, you have no doubt been treated to the experience of an unleashed dog bounding up to you. As it barks and jumps, you regularly hear the owner breezily assure you: “don’t worry, he won’t bite”. On such occasions, an ex of mine used to reply sardonically: “fuck me, a talking dog”. Academics working in political science have spent many years…

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This is not about Trump (except of course it is)

This is not about Trump (except of course it is)

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A guest slot by Richard Tyndall Trump’s second to last tweet before he was banned permanently from Twitter began with the sentence: “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future.” “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future.” Ignoring for a moment the fact that Trump…

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Lucky. Trump’s farcial self-coup failed because of little more than the happenstance of his inadequate political awareness

Lucky. Trump’s farcial self-coup failed because of little more than the happenstance of his inadequate political awareness

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A lifetime of cod-dictatorship left him unprepared for the real thing Where did it go wrong for Donald Trump? Wednesday’s events will prove a watershed moment for his political career. Beforehand, he was absolutely dominant in the Republican Party, with the expectations of many that he would remain so even out of office. Now, that aura of raw power shines far more dimly – not merely because he finally crossed a line unacceptable to many in the GOP but because…

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Why ambitious Republicans might back impeach Trump moves

Why ambitious Republicans might back impeach Trump moves

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With rallies and demonstrations, like the one in New York above, taking place in many US cities to demand that the president be impeached there are increasing reports that an attempt might be made during Trump’s final 12 days. The reason why there’s so much anger that was there for all to see on Wednesday as Trump supporters invaded the Capitol building. This cannot be allowed to go unpunished if a commitment to democratic values is to be restored. Taegan…

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