Stuck In The Middle With You (Common Ground Thread)

[mocat]

https://twitter.com/esjesjesj/status/1796552880335335699?t=Sfi890FcpZLrf-KIxoE-MA&s=19

[Sandstone Outcropping]

https://x.com/Mike_Pence/status/1815388390784668055

[Sandstone Outcropping]

https://x.com/VigilantFox/status/1815426072692883660

[michigancat]

https://x.com/VigilantFox/status/1815426072692883660

LMAO none of the replies realize it was an anti-ar15 question as much as a question about the effectiveness of the secret service

[MakeItRain]

https://x.com/VigilantFox/status/1815426072692883660

Imagine that, a member of Congress who can properly do her job without grandstanding. Doing crap like following a bureaucrat through an arena and yelling at her for social media likes is embarrassing.

[michigancat]

I am a big AOC fan and I think she was grandstanding, she's just better at it than most of her peers

[MakeItRain]

You might be right, I didn't watch a second of this hearing, outside of this clip. I truly don't see the grandstanding here. She's not yelling, interrupting, asking something unrelated to the subject at hand, asking a rhetorical question, or asking an impossible to answer question.

I know that AR-14s are a bit of a hot button topic, but that is what the shooter used. It's a popular weapon in this country and it seems crazy to me that the secret service apparently doesn't do a security sweep and detail that's well inside the range of such a popular weapon. It's not like she was asking about the range of an RPG or something.

[CNS]

It’s a great idea to get the secret service to admit they can’t reasonably protect even the president of the nation from an AR if your goal is to get rid of AR’s. I think it is def grandstanding, but done in a way that is a lot smarter than the clips that normally get posted to social media.

[MakeItRain]

This is grandstanding and, unfortunately, has become typical of congressional hearings these days. This crap is embarrassing.
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1815424685523505205

[DQ12]

This is grandstanding and, unfortunately has become typical of congressional hearings these days. This crap is embarrassing.
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1815424685523505205

Yes.  100% common ground.

[Trim]

Many former Congressional staffers for Mace have described her approach to her office as focused on gaining media attention. Her staffers have attributed many of her political actions, such as her vote against McCarthy, to a desire to make headlines and appear on TV programs. Staffers recalled her attempting to attract attention to herself during the January 6 Capitol attack by risking her own safety and seeking to be assaulted by rioters. Legislative staffers for Mace described her efforts to attract media attention as hampering her legislative agenda and working relationships with other members of Congress.[49][56]

An internal staff handbook written by Mace showcased an unusual focus on public image and media attention, with strenuous expectations for communications staff. Mace's handbook required communications staffers to book her on national TV outlets at least 1-3 times a day, and on local TV channels at least 6 times per week. The handbook was conspicuously more detailed in its descriptions for communications staff compared to legislative and constituent focused staff positions. Mace's office experienced high levels of turnover, including a complete turnover of all staff between November 2023 and February 2024.[49][57]

[MakeItRain]

Is her only angle to potentially get her own TV show or something? There seems to be no precedence for that, it works the other way but not the Congress to TV star. Is she angling herself for the 2028 presidential election? If Trump loses maga, as a national thing, will be done. The Larry Hogan and Mike Dewine types will be who the Republican party will lean on.

[Trim]

That wikipedia article has her positions being pretty non-maga. Just wants attention.

[star seed 7]

Is her only angle to potentially get her own TV show or something? There seems to be no precedence for that, it works the other way but not the Congress to TV star. Is she angling herself for the 2028 presidential election? If Trump loses maga, as a national thing, will be done. The Larry Hogan and Mike Dewine types will be who the Republican party will lean on.

Joe Scarborough, Janine peririo? I know there's more but I'm blanking.... Lawrence O'Donnell maybe?

[bananaeater]

That wikipedia article has her positions being pretty non-maga. Just wants attention.

yeah, she just seems to be a clown.

[star seed 7]

https://x.com/NancyMace/status/1815546785408168034?t=yrhtKooRsKaygioWPQ6yEg&s=19

[nicname]

Nancy Mace is the pretty good tv name iyam

[michigancat]

Is her only angle to potentially get her own TV show or something? There seems to be no precedence for that, it works the other way but not the Congress to TV star. Is she angling herself for the 2028 presidential election? If Trump loses maga, as a national thing, will be done. The Larry Hogan and Mike Dewine types will be who the Republican party will lean on.

Joe Scarborough, Janine peririo? I know there's more but I'm blanking.... Lawrence O'Donnell maybe?

Trey Gowdy, Mike Huckabee? But she might not try to be on TV, it might just be for money. I'm guessing MTG gets shitloads of funding from outside her district because the outlandish crap that comes out of her mouth gets her on TV all the time (and also resonates with most Republicans).

[Pete]

GREAT NEWS DAX, ITS HAPPENING!  The EU is stepping up and we are inching closer to a world where a powerful EU funds their own defense and the US is no longer their financial defense patron.

From €142 million to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) a year. The European Commission is pressing the accelerator on investment in weapons and defense technologies.  From a total €590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved to a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) package for the 2021 to 2027 period. This year alone, the European Defense Fund (EDF) has put €1.1 billion on the plate, divided into 34 calls for as many military-related research topics….


….The project for a common defense has distant origins and was formalized in 2015, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine that accelerated the European Commission's march to spend on arms, ammunition, and military technology.

https://www.wired.com/story/european-commission-military-tech-spending/

[Cire]

She was elected in a purple district. Maybe they gerrymandered it or something


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pete]

GREAT NEWS DAX, ITS HAPPENING!  The EU is stepping up and we are inching closer to a world where a powerful EU funds their own defense and the US is no longer their financial defense patron.

From €142 million to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) a year. The European Commission is pressing the accelerator on investment in weapons and defense technologies.  From a total €590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved to a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) package for the 2021 to 2027 period. This year alone, the European Defense Fund (EDF) has put €1.1 billion on the plate, divided into 34 calls for as many military-related research topics….


….The project for a common defense has distant origins and was formalized in 2015, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine that accelerated the European Commission's march to spend on arms, ammunition, and military technology.

https://www.wired.com/story/european-commission-military-tech-spending/

And Dax, in the spirt of bipartisanship I completely acknowledge that much of the credit for this goes to Trump.

[sonofdaxjones]

GREAT NEWS DAX, ITS HAPPENING!  The EU is stepping up and we are inching closer to a world where a powerful EU funds their own defense and the US is no longer their financial defense patron.

From €142 million to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) a year. The European Commission is pressing the accelerator on investment in weapons and defense technologies.  From a total €590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved to a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) package for the 2021 to 2027 period. This year alone, the European Defense Fund (EDF) has put €1.1 billion on the plate, divided into 34 calls for as many military-related research topics….


….The project for a common defense has distant origins and was formalized in 2015, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine that accelerated the European Commission's march to spend on arms, ammunition, and military technology.

https://www.wired.com/story/european-commission-military-tech-spending/

And Dax, in the spirt of bipartisanship I completely acknowledge that much of the credit for this goes to Trump.

Good stuff. Unfortunately the spirit of bi-partisanship didn't exist when Trump was telling our NATO partners to spend more on their own defense and to stop buying energy from Vlad Putin.  Vlad would've have had a lot less money to spend on things like invading Ukraine. 

[Pete]

GREAT NEWS DAX, ITS HAPPENING!  The EU is stepping up and we are inching closer to a world where a powerful EU funds their own defense and the US is no longer their financial defense patron.

From €142 million to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) a year. The European Commission is pressing the accelerator on investment in weapons and defense technologies.  From a total €590 million invested between 2017 and 2020, Brussels has moved to a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) package for the 2021 to 2027 period. This year alone, the European Defense Fund (EDF) has put €1.1 billion on the plate, divided into 34 calls for as many military-related research topics….


….The project for a common defense has distant origins and was formalized in 2015, but it was Russia's invasion of Ukraine that accelerated the European Commission's march to spend on arms, ammunition, and military technology.

https://www.wired.com/story/european-commission-military-tech-spending/

And Dax, in the spirt of bipartisanship I completely acknowledge that much of the credit for this goes to Trump.

Good stuff. Unfortunately the spirit of bi-partisanship didn't exist when Trump was telling our NATO partners to spend more on their own defense and to stop buying energy from Vlad Putin.  Vlad would've have had a lot less money to spend on things like invading Ukraine. 

I agree that they should have headed his call to spend more on defense and stop buying energy from Putin.

[Rage Against the McKee]

I don't know that Europe spending more on defense is a good thing for Americans.

[Sandstone Outcropping]

I don't know that Europe spending more on defense is a good thing for Americans.

To put this in context, the USAs annual defense budget is $802billion.