BS: American Presidential race 2024

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 12:36 AM

It's discouraging that manyAmericans lapped up CSI stories for years and didn't seem to acquire analytical thought. With the pet-eating rumor, why don't journalists and the man in the street ask the following simple questions:

Does Animal Control report more pet owners searching for missing pets?

Are teachers seeing woeful little kids whose pets are gone?

Are there more flyers posted around town about missing pets?

Are more pet owners asking rescue organizations about missing pets?

Two predators for small pets are coyotes and great horned owls. Are they moving into Springfield? Great horned owls are increasing in wooded cities, and Springfield looks pretty verdant.

Do social-media sites report more pets missing in Springfield?

The city government says there are no reports. Is Springfield the kind of place where citizens would ask gov't for help with a pet?

===========
Of course the whole idea is ridiculous. Why eat pets when one could go fishing?

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 02:11 AM

There is a joke in Oz which has been around for a long, long time about cooking and eating cockatoos. Place the dead cockatoo in a pot of boiling water with a large stone. When the stone is soft, throw away the cockatoo and eat the stone, i.e. the flesh is too tough to eat. Cats and dogs would probably fall into the same category.

I just saw a snippet on the TV news saying that Trump is planning to visit Springfield, maybe to clarify his source of information for this conspiracy theory. Or maybe not - maybe to try to cement his whackadoodle statements into a firmer position in reality. (Like THAT'S going to happen!)

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: mayomick
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 08:07 AM

It seems more like Russian satire directed against various Western media Meta itself refers to Doppelgänger as a “spoof”

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 10:40 AM

Kamala started out great guns, but she seems to have gone suddenly quiet. Why is there no news about her now?

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Rain Dog
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 01:06 PM

I see voting has already started in Virginia.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Neil D
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 01:28 AM

Several years ago I read one of the most profound commentaries on America and I regret that I can't remember the author's name. He was a Scottish writer of detective fiction (not Iain Rankin). His protagonist was a detective trying to wind down from a brutal case by visiting America, only to stumble onto a human trafficking ring. None of which ha to do with the commentary. After his adventure he spends his last day in America at a Florida beach where he sees an immigrant family and he muses "The American Dream has never belonged to Americans. It belongs to the people around the world who desire to be American. But when America closes her borders, as she inevitably will, that dream will die." I've never forgotten those words and find them most appropriate now.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 10:52 PM

Now you're driving me crackers, Neil - what was that Scottish thriller?
Two good pieces in the New York Times about what a victory by Harris or Trump would mean: from last month, Tim Walz and the Weird Politics of Free School Lunches, and from January, Bidencare Is a Really Big Deal.
Harris and Walz offer an America where people help each other - where the rich reach out a hand to pull people out of poverty with honest work and decent lives. Is that what Americans want? We shall see; I hope what they want on 5 November isn't Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Neil D
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 07:50 AM

Driving me nuts too Thompson. At the time I was reading 2 or 3 crime novels a week, many from the far side of the pond. I'm particularly fond of Iain Rankin and Ken Bruen but this was neither of them. It was one I picked up, read quickly and re-consigned to Goodwill and soon forgot the author and title. But that line about the American Dream stuck with me, more and more as anti-immigrant vitriol has increasingly burdened our political discourse. Now, whenever I quote it, I feel bad that I can't properly attribute it. I was kind of hoping some Tartan Noir fan here on the Cat might recognize the plot summary.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 08:53 AM

"Kamala started out great guns, but she seems to have gone suddenly quiet. Why is there no news about her now?"

Ummm.. I see news about her every day! It's mostly about campaign appearances, but there's also stories about her plans for after being elected.

Well, I live in the U.S. and have both TV and online articles.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 08:57 AM

Kamala news

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 10:31 AM

During the first Trump administration there were people there to act as the adults in the room, they provided the "guardrails." With Project 2025 we see Trump getting on the bike without training wheels (the Heritage Foundation puppeteers would be less visible second time around).

Over time he's learned enough to know he doesn't want responsible people around him, for a 2024 cabinet he would be hiring sycophants only. Right now there is an invitation from CNN to do one more presidential debate on Oct. 23, accepted by Harris but Trump is balking so far. It would be interesting to be the fly on the wall in those discussions. I figure at this point the Roger Stones of his acquaintance are working on as many dirty tricks as they can.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 10:33 AM

Not sure about the press and media in Ireland but, here in the UK, they seem to be obsessed with Agent Orange, very much the same way they’re obsessed with Farage. Presumably because they are both ‘characters’ (although another, much shorter, word also beginning with ‘c’ would suit them both better), and ‘characters’ sell newspapers.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 04:55 PM

Neil D, I know we shouldn't go off-topic too much, but as an ex-librarian I am interested in finding the Scottish detective story author and helping you to correctly attribute the quote.

Male or female detective? Have any of the books been made into movies or TV shows? Is the author in this list? Scottish crime fiction writers

Any more clues you can give us?

You can PM me with more clues if you want so that we don't sully this topic with an unnecessary detour.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 05:13 PM

Let us know the answer when you come up with it - that was a really good sentiment cited from the book!

The news today is that Trump says he won't run again in four years if he loses November election
If he is re-elected, though, he didn’t rule out the possibility of appointing former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, tech billionaire Elon Musk or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his Cabinet.

One would hope that, if we're all so diligent in our efforts that he does lose in November, bigly so there is no dispute, that the GOP will get their heads out of the collective asses and try to rebuild the party to a responsible entity. And in four year's time it wouldn't even come up to consider Trump. And mostly because he'll still be in prison.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 07:55 PM

I retract the question about male or female detective because I re-read Neil D's first post about it and he refers to the detective as "he" and "him". More clues will help the search. Also any recollections on the detective's name?

If we find the answer we'll definitely post it here, but in the meantime I'll refrain from referring to the search here.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: mayomick
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 05:45 AM

I wonder if the Scottish writer was paraphrasing Ronald Reagan on the immigrants who embrace the American dream ?


"It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. They believe in the American dream. And over and over, they make it come true for themselves, for their children, and for others"

https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-medal-freedom-5

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 06:43 AM

I've sent Neil D a PM with a possible match and I'm waiting for his reply. The book is called Stateside by J.D. Kirk in which the Scottish detective named Robert Hoon goes to Florida.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Neil D
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 08:24 AM

Helen, that certainly sounds like that is probably it. Your research prowess is better than mine. I've been scouring Amazon synopses for days ,getting nowhere.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: mayomick
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 08:38 AM

Sounds like a match
“When Hoon hears that his friend and MI5 agent, Miles Crabtree, has gone missing in the United States, he is dragged back into action once more.”


Until you see J.D. Kirk writing that the book was only to be released in July this year , which puts Neil’s “several years ago “ time frame out “Today, it gives me great pleasure to reveal the cover and blurb for the book, which will be published in July 2024. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
https://jdkirk.com/stateside-cover-reveal/

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 12:39 PM

Back to the Trump presidential news (but good find on that novel, Helen!) Man suspected of assassination attempt against Trump left a letter detailing his plans, prosecutors say

He seems to have even offered a bounty (did he have this kind of cash?)

One letter, addressed to “The World” said: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job.

He seems to have had a plan, a half-dozen cell phones, and left copious communications to analyze. Maybe that $150K comes from the sales of his Kindle book (it's still there - $2.99 on Amazon, look up "ryan routh book")

Prosecutors say Routh was in the area of Trump’s golf course and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence across multiple days in the month before he was arrested and had a Google search of how to travel from Florida to Mexico in one of his phones.

Routh also had a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump has or was expected to appear in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.

The handwritten stuff will nail the case, whereas he might claim that he "found the phones" with the searches already in place.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 12:54 PM

Thanks guys! My ex-librarian bloodhound instinct might still be working. LOL

I did think of publication dates but the plot seemed to fit and reading the plots from the list of Robert Hoon Thrillers Books shows that J.D. Kirk has written about human trafficking.

I'll stop posting about it in this thread but I'll be interested in any further developments, including finding the quote and whether it is related to Ronald Reagan's quote, so a PM with further info will be welcome.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Neil D
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 08:06 AM

mayomick is right. If "Stateside" was published this year it can't possibly be the one I read at least 7 years ago. I never expected to kick off a literary scavenger hunt but it does seem interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 11:40 AM

Trump wants chaos, and he wants a government shutdown, but it looks like the GOP led House of Representatives is pitching the dealbreaker that Trump wanted ("it removed a proposal demanded by Donald Trump that would require Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.")

House poised to pass a bill to avert a shutdown after dropping Trump voting plan
GOP leaders plan to rely on Democratic votes to pass the bill as they face internal defections. Fears of a shutdown before the election are motivating them to abandon their demands.

I'm trying to post links to articles everyone can open, but the headline on the Atlantic is a good one: Republicans Are Finally Tired of Shutting Down the Government
Despite all the chaos of their narrow House majority, Republicans have avoided disaster.

The lesson that the GOP is having difficulty taking in is that when they act rationally they get bipartisan support and the work of governing is much easier. Trump wants it to be more difficult, so he can grandstand on different positions that are blocking functioning government.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 02:03 PM

So SRS, some good may be coming out of the Trump era. (I never thought I would catch myself saying that!)

The GOP, or at least a chunk of it, may finally be realising the true reasons for being elected representatives of the people, i.e. making decisions for the good of the people and the country. We can only hope, but I think that sometimes the best changes in life come out of the worst experiences, bringing a change of course based on a desire for better outcomes.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 02:54 PM

What they all want is to pass this legislation because the sooner that happens they all go home and take the rest of the time off until the election. They won't be back until after November 5. They're all campaigning and raising money, harder to do when they actually have to do their jobs.

Trump will have one less cudgel to use against Biden/Harris/Democrats when the House isn't there in session doing and saying stupid things.

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Helen
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 03:19 PM

I just watched the Oz TV show Planet America. According to their analysis, Mark Robinson, a candidate for Governor of North Carolina, is also one less cudgel to use against Biden/Harris/Democrats. He has become a liability and not an asset for Trump.

Mark Robinson may be in hot water with Trump and his voters after latest controversy

Subject: RE: BS: American Presidential race 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 03:46 PM

Robinson's campaign people have resigned en masse. I think Trump watchers are waiting for the day when he says "Robinson who?"