A Deeply Fractured US

[brihard]

I don't imagine he'll be alive for long.

No, probably not. What an awful way to go.

 

[KevinB]

Conspiracy theorist doesn't confine him to the Trump camp.

True, but it is an odd location to set fire to oneself without a link to DJT.

 

[brihard]

True, but it is an odd location to set fire to oneself without a link to DJT.

If there are profound mental heath issues at play, that link could be extremely tenuous and not particularly ideological. The trial location is an obvious focal point for media and the public, and anything happening there will get disproportionate coverage. Someone who is able to rationally plan based off irrational beliefs (and those people very much exist) could easily gravitate to that. Absent concrete evidence about the individual’s thinking and beliefs, I don’t want to try to attribute one way or another. All manner of prominent public figures become the focus of some strange and disordered behaviour. Whatever his myriad faults are or may be, the fact that his name is out there and is a bug lamp for crazies is not something Trump should automatically be blamed for.

 

[Kirkhill]

So how fractured IS the US? And where does that fracture line lie?

The FISA issue is at heart a question of individual liberties vs the needs of the state.

House approves surveillance authority reauthorization bill - Roll Call

The House voted to pass a bill Friday to reauthorize a powerful surveillance authority, capping off a bruising months-long debate.

rollcall.com

So where does the left meet the right?

Further to....

The House adopted a rule Friday to take up a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, in a bipartisan show of support that likely paves the way for passage Saturday.

With scores of Republicans opposed to Ukraine aid and furious that a border security measure was left on the sidelines, Democrats took the unusual step of backing a procedural rule from the majority party to ensure that long-stalled aid would pass.

The 316-94 vote for the rule signaled solid support for the four separate bills that make up the aid package, which also includes measures to increase sanctions on adversaries and force the divestiture of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, among other things.


Democrats provided slightly more support for the resolution than GOP lawmakers did, outnumbering Republican “yea” votes by a count of 165 to 151. There were 55 GOP “nay” votes to 39 on the Democratic side.

The rule’s structure allows members to vote for the pieces they like and against those they don’t, which helped bring along Democrats opposed to funneling unconditional military aid to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, for instance.

Rule for emergency aid bill adopted with Democratic support - Roll Call

The House, relying on Democratic votes to overcome Republican opponents, adopted the rule for floor debate on a foreign-aid package.

rollcall.com

Democrats voted 165 tp 39 in favour
Republicans voted 151 to 55 in favour.

Just as in the FISA case the splits are intra-party as much as they are inter-party.

Nobody gets everything they want.

Congratulations to Mike Johnson for crafting a compromise.