Me neither really. But I don’t feel any schadenfreude either, it was their stupidity (as we were discussing) that shocked me.
I guess their only option to continue as a family is for the husband and children to apply to emigrate Canada. Talk about unintended consequences. Mind you, could be the best thing ever for the kids 
Apparently they just need to wait until Trump annexes Canada then they will all be US citizens again.
“Hillbiĺly Elegy” by JD Vance Trump’s Vice President, is on Amazon UK Kindle offers today only, for £0.99p.
Typing B01JR1KJBC into the search box finds it easily.
I haven’t read it yet but expect it to give an explanation of recent US cultural history, an explanation of the rise of the Right Wing, and to see how Mr. Vance, a politician who may or may not have written the book himself, decides to present himself and the facts.
PS Papique if you’re lurking B0DN9HMPFQ “Minority Rule” might also be interesting. On offer £1.89p today. Apparently it also covers that immigrants don’t eat people’s pets 
.
This is an interesting reversal over Epstein, particularly Pam Bondi’s comment about the client list being on her desk for review.
These people are truly incompetent. Here’s another one (if it’s not paywalled): GOP Senators Stunned by Terrible Rule in Budget Bill They Voted For | The New Republic
Yes and no
I mean, they are, but it is often the case that here’s a whip (or whatever the US equivalent is) to vote a bill through so there might not be a lot of mileage in rank and file politicians caring much about what is in it.
Yeah, it’s a whip in the US too. However, I was under the impression that they were supposed to actually know what they were voting for. Stupid me. Our only hope is that these bootlickers get voted out in 2026, if there are elections…
I guess some might be - but the BBB is 900 pages, even if you read it all you might miss some details and if you are being told “this is the party line, vote for it” you might choose to spend your time on some other activity - like suckering up to your sponsors.
You’d be amazed at how little scrutiny any bill gets in the US or the UK. Most MPs couldn’t tell you exactly what they just voted for.
@billybutcher you’re correct. The Senate Dems read it out, in full, before the vote, giving the Republicans an opportunity to know what they were voting on, but since they didn’t really give a *&$%, they didn’t stick around to hear it.
@JohnH , I know that in the US they don’t care what they’re voting on, but it’s sad to hear that it’s not any better in the UK
They certainly do. They are voting to keep their seats. Otherwise they get primaried by someone supported by Trump. If they were voting their conscience we wouldn’t have fascism in the US now.
Republicans don’t have any.
My fervent hope is that they get voted out anyway. I don’t think that voters are going to forget this one, as they normally do. When was it - a couple of decades ago? - the Republicans paid dearly for their deeply unpopular votes, and I think that they know that there’s a good chance that it will happen again…assuming that there’s an election in 2026, of course.
Grossly overpriced 
It’s not just Trump.
It’s clear that the loonies are taking over the asylum in the land of the free**.
**: Except where prohibited by ICE
I confess I have little interest in politics (unless it involves saving the planet) but reading this thread, some of the antics of our “friends” across the pond have made me laugh.
I am not laughing now.
A week or so ago we were introduced to a new (to us) couple. He is a prof at Toronto University and holds Canadian, American and Irish passports but has a house near us in France. He also has property and family in the USA where he has to visit soon to sort out a few things. He is taking precautions to buy a “clean” phone and will leave his computer at home. His wife is terrified that he may not be allowed to return.
I suggested it was a bit extreme but he insisted he knew stuff I was unaware of.
BUT yesterday I got an old fashioned letter in the post. Last year a good friend died and we adopted his dog. We also helped his son with paperwork to get probate started.
The letter was from that son who is a prof at Harvard University but holds a UK passport. He still has to return to France to complete the probate and is also worried about getting back into USA. He dares not communicate by email in case his comments are monitored (he is not a Republican). He has a clean phone and computer. He has also taken out power of attorney (as have many of his friends) so that if he is detained, he still has access to bank accounts.
Neither of these people seemed to be inclined towards conspiracy theories and when I suggested that I had read about some of this in the news I was told only a fraction of what is happening makes the news because the press have the same fears. The academics have their own pipeline of information.
As I said, I am not laughing now.
No, indeed.
So many things happening in America now bring to mind numerous works of fiction. We keep saying it can’t be true. But it is.
The author of a series of dystopian novels and “father” of the Cyberpunk genre William Gibson once said:
“The future is already here, it just hasn’t been evenly distributed yet.”
