HEADLINES: 2026

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Correct.
But it was 8 years of Obama, but he allowed judicial due process, and allowed voluntary deportation on the hope of then being allowed legal immigration later,
 
Obama was the worst president ever! And so was Biden! satire of MAGA

Actually I was very disappointed in Obama, since he ran on anti war, but then greatly increased the wars instead.
He was also behind the 2014 Maidan Coup, the murder of Qaddafi, etc.
And ACA was not very good, and we should have gotten Medicare or All instead.
 
"Actually I was very disappointed in Obama, since he ran on anti war, but then greatly increased the wars instead." R5 #43
President Obama was neither a perfect man, nor a perfect president.
And certainly within his decade of federal tenure he earned some demerits. BUT !
By the Republican demigod's standard, Ronald Reagan's standard: "Are you better off ... ?" we certainly were.

"He was also behind the 2014 Maidan Coup, the murder of Qaddafi, etc." R5 #43
A disgraceful blunder.
In context: President GWB lied U.S. into War. And though UBL was number one on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list because UBL killed approximately 3,000 innocent Americans during GWB's 8 year tenure,
President GWB killed thousands more innocent Americans than that during the same 8 years.
UBL fed the fish.
GWB gets a generous pension, and Secret Service protection for life.

"And ACA was not very good, and we should have gotten Medicare or All instead." R5 #43
If instead of being president of the United States Obama were emperor of the cosmos that wouldn't surprise me.
But Obama's political opposition was unabashedly destructive.
“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
http://www.mediaite.com/online/white-house-appears-to-want-to-shame-the-shameless-mitch-mcconnell-and-company/
Obama did the best he could, possibly the best humanly possible under the circumstance.
And Republicans tried to sabotage Obama on it both during and after Obama's tenure.
 
President Obama was neither a perfect man, nor a perfect president.
And certainly within his decade of federal tenure he earned some demerits. BUT !
By the Republican demigod's standard, Ronald Reagan's standard: "Are you better off ... ?" we certainly were.


A disgraceful blunder.
In context: President GWB lied U.S. into War. And though UBL was number one on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list because UBL killed approximately 3,000 innocent Americans during GWB's 8 year tenure,
President GWB killed thousands more innocent Americans than that during the same 8 years.
UBL fed the fish.
GWB gets a generous pension, and Secret Service protection for life.


If instead of being president of the United States Obama were emperor of the cosmos that wouldn't surprise me.
But Obama's political opposition was unabashedly destructive.

Obama did the best he could, possibly the best humanly possible under the circumstance.
And Republicans tried to sabotage Obama on it both during and after Obama's tenure.

I agree Obama was not awful, and much better than Bush or Trump.
Since the VA does the family of veterans who are not vets themselves, it would seem like Obama could have expanded VA accessibility without congressional approval?
 
"Since the VA does the family of veterans who are not vets themselves, it would seem like Obama could have expanded VA accessibility without congressional approval?" R5 #45
Perhaps that would require judicial determination.

But if you're suggesting expanding the population of those eligible for VA medical coverage, without a proportionate expansion of the VA's limited (& by some standards inadequate) budget,
that might be fairly broadly considered cheating veterans.
 
Perhaps that would require judicial determination.

But if you're suggesting expanding the population of those eligible for VA medical coverage, without a proportionate expansion of the VA's limited (& by some standards inadequate) budget,
that might be fairly broadly considered cheating veterans.

The VA runs an insurance program in order to get coverage for family civilians.
So if they can do that, they can sell insurance to anyone, and still not worry about their budget, since they could cover it all with the new premiums they could sell.
The point being they would not have to double the price like regular insurance companies that work for profit do.
{...
Dependents of veterans may qualify for health insurance benefits through programs like CHAMPVA and TRICARE, providing essential healthcare coverage.

Key​

  1. CHAMPVA (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs):
  • Eligibility: Available to the spouse or child of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled due to a service-connected condition, or the surviving spouse or child of a veteran who died from a service-connected disability. It is also available to those who are not eligible for TRICARE.

...}
 
zero-sum game
n.
A situation in which a gain by one person or side must be matched by a loss by another person or side: "It's not a zero-sum game in which either youth or pensioners must lose" (Earl W. Foell).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

If it benefits one group without penalizing another, seems a good idea. - but -

I retain my layman's hunch that, however politically unlikely, it might make more sense to review other healthcare models from around the globe, and from them select one with lowest per capita cost, along with highest patient longevity / citizen life expectancy.

With Speaker Johnson [R] and Majority Leader Thune [R] in charge, that seems unlikely.
 
zero-sum game
n.
A situation in which a gain by one person or side must be matched by a loss by another person or side: "It's not a zero-sum game in which either youth or pensioners must lose" (Earl W. Foell).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

If it benefits one group without penalizing another, seems a good idea. - but -

I retain my layman's hunch that, however politically unlikely, it might make more sense to review other healthcare models from around the globe, and from them select one with lowest per capita cost, along with highest patient longevity / citizen life expectancy.

With Speaker Johnson [R] and Majority Leader Thune [R] in charge, that seems unlikely.

Actually I think Bernie Sanders has already looked into this and is pushing what he called "Medicare for All".
I prefer the VA route since it has its own doctors who are likely underworked, and may not require any congressional change?
But the popular reaction against ICE likely will change Congress at next year's election?
 
"Actually I think Bernie Sanders has already looked into this and is pushing what he called "Medicare for All"." R5 #49
I'd be interested in a more comprehensive Sen. Sanders analysis. I suspect Sanders advocates that because he thinks it's the least politically unlikely of the possibilities.
Not sure what Sanders actually thinks would be best.

"I prefer the VA route since it has its own doctors who are likely underworked ..." R5 #49
I've been getting my healthcare from the VA throughout the new millennium.
In my experience, they're having such a difficult time populating the doctor staff they're substituting nurse practitioners, etc.
A few visits ago I mentioned to the guy the health affects of methyl-Mercury, a neurotoxic heavy metal compound found in fish like King Mackerel.
The "doctor" was taking notes, and apparently not only didn't know how to spell "neurotoxic" but didn't seem to know what it meant.
I don't know what his "qualifications" were, but to me he didn't seems smart enough to flunk out of medical school.

That raises another issue about VA healthcare.
The "doctor" is so busy typing details into the computer updating the patient's medical record, there isn't adequate time to actually attend to the patient. The medical record gets the care, and the patient pays the co-pay.

"But the popular reaction against ICE likely will change Congress at next year's election?" R5 #49
A charming thought. But "overnight is a lifetime in politics".
Wouldn't surprise me if by November's election several other crises will have come and gone, and this one long forgotten.
 
I'd be interested in a more comprehensive Sen. Sanders analysis. I suspect Sanders advocates that because he thinks it's the least politically unlikely of the possibilities.
Not sure what Sanders actually thinks would be best.


I've been getting my healthcare from the VA throughout the new millennium.
In my experience, they're having such a difficult time populating the doctor staff they're substituting nurse practitioners, etc.
A few visits ago I mentioned to the guy the health affects of methyl-Mercury, a neurotoxic heavy metal compound found in fish like King Mackerel.
The "doctor" was taking notes, and apparently not only didn't know how to spell "neurotoxic" but didn't seem to know what it meant.
I don't know what his "qualifications" were, but to me he didn't seems smart enough to flunk out of medical school.

That raises another issue about VA healthcare.
The "doctor" is so busy typing details into the computer updating the patient's medical record, there isn't adequate time to actually attend to the patient. The medical record gets the care, and the patient pays the co-pay.


A charming thought. But "overnight is a lifetime in politics".
Wouldn't surprise me if by November's election several other crises will have come and gone, and this one long forgotten.

I do not think this is going away.
Too many people murdered and children separated from parents.
Over 54 dead.
14 shot'
 
Consistent with congress' legendary ineptitude yet another needless, self-inflicted government shutdown threatens.

CNN

Trump’s deal with Senate leaders to avert government shutdown hits snags as lawmakers refuse to allow quick vote​

Morgan Rimmer, Ted Barrett, Manu Raju, CNN / Thu, January 29, 2026 at 11:58 PM EST
Senate leaders have a bipartisan funding deal in hand but it remains to be seen whether they will avert a costly government shutdown as the clock ticks down toward Friday’s midnight deadline.
Lawmakers left Capitol Hill late Thursday after all rank-and-file senators could not come to agreement to swiftly move the spending package – the contours of which negotiators from both parties and the White House struck earlier in the day. Senators are set to return Friday with an eye toward sending the bills back to the House for final approval, but negotiations can change rapidly.
“I hope we can get these issues resolved. Right now, we got snags on both sides, but tomorrow’s another day,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters as he left the US Capitol.
Any one senator can object to quick consideration of a measure on the floor, slowing down the process.

Though well deserved at the time Republicans earned blame for previous federal funding crises, it seems Republicans have retained blame, even though now it's Democrats that hold the U.S. federal government hostage.

Good, apparently.
What outrageous demands have Democrats imposed this time? ICE reform.
While Republicans don't seem to object to the murders in Minnesota, and have even mischaracterized events there,
Democrats have taken a more rational, more objective, more humanitarian approach.

And while Trump reportedly has accepted, some Republican MOC seem determined to defend the indefensible. tic tic tic
 
The Telegraph

Putin ‘will send thousands of criminals to wreak havoc across Europe’​

Joe Barnes / Sun, February 1, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST
Vladimir Putin could send Russian soldiers to Europe to wreak havoc, according to the Estonian foreign minister
Vladimir Putin is preparing to send hundreds of thousands of former soldiers to wreak havoc across Europe after any ceasefire in Ukraine, Estonia’s foreign minister told The Telegraph.
Margus Tsahkna has proposed a blanket ban on Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine from the European Union’s Schengen free-travel zone in response to the Kremlin’s plans to dispatch “ex-prisoners and rapists” to wage hybrid war in the bloc.

He invited the UK to join the scheme to boost collaboration in order to prepare the continent for what could be “very, very sudden security risk for Europe” after a potential peace deal.
“We have close to one million combatants in Russia right now,” Mr Tsahkna told The Telegraph on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels.
“Russia and Putin are already using different people to commit attacks on our societies, but when there will be peace, we can imagine that we will have hundreds of thousands of ex-combatants coming to Europe.

“And they’re definitely not going with good plans to earn their own salaries and pay taxes. They come with real bad plans. We already see the special agencies of Russia organising different attacks in Europe.”

"Putin ‘will send thousands of criminals to wreak havoc across Europe’" for fun?
As a threat? Comply, or this will happen?
 
The Telegraph

Putin ‘will send thousands of criminals to wreak havoc across Europe’​

Joe Barnes / Sun, February 1, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST
Vladimir Putin could send Russian soldiers to Europe to wreak havoc, according to the Estonian foreign minister
Vladimir Putin is preparing to send hundreds of thousands of former soldiers to wreak havoc across Europe after any ceasefire in Ukraine, Estonia’s foreign minister told The Telegraph.
Margus Tsahkna has proposed a blanket ban on Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine from the European Union’s Schengen free-travel zone in response to the Kremlin’s plans to dispatch “ex-prisoners and rapists” to wage hybrid war in the bloc.

He invited the UK to join the scheme to boost collaboration in order to prepare the continent for what could be “very, very sudden security risk for Europe” after a potential peace deal.
“We have close to one million combatants in Russia right now,” Mr Tsahkna told The Telegraph on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels.
“Russia and Putin are already using different people to commit attacks on our societies, but when there will be peace, we can imagine that we will have hundreds of thousands of ex-combatants coming to Europe.

“And they’re definitely not going with good plans to earn their own salaries and pay taxes. They come with real bad plans. We already see the special agencies of Russia organising different attacks in Europe.”

"Putin ‘will send thousands of criminals to wreak havoc across Europe’" for fun?
As a threat? Comply, or this will happen?


The problem is the EU and the US already violated the Geneva Conventions with illegal economic sanctions.
Its legal to blockade weapons, but not civilian goods like oil.
That is not trying to stop violence, but creating harm to civilians by trying to prevent civilian commerce needed in order to buy things like food.

So not only are the US and EU guilty of war crimes, but the whole idea of bribing the Maidan Coup on 2014 was intent on trying to put NATO nukes on Russia's border.
Which is also obviously wrong and unacceptable, even if not technically illegal.

So once again I am siding with Putin.
Putin is no hero, but the US and the EU seem to just be vastly worse.
 

Clintons refuse to testify in House Epstein probe as Republicans threaten contempt proceedings #6

Ex-US President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton to testify in Epstein probe​


By Al Jazeera and News Agencies / Published On 3 Feb 20263 Feb 2026
Former ‍United States President Bill ‍Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, will testify in a congressional investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesperson for the ex-president said.
The ⁠decision by the Clintons announced on Monday could head off a planned vote in the Republican-led House of Representatives to hold the high-profile Democratic Party veterans in contempt for refusing to appear before lawmakers, which could lead to criminal charges.
 
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