#j.d. vance

[helenvaughans]

[saywhat-politics]

[beatbizzle]

Here is another short form video that explains clearly and quickly debate tactics used to discredit important issues. In the following are outlined:

Strawman: when someone reframes/rewrites your question to make it easier to beat, often times changing the meaning entirely to make the question seem illogical or irrational.

Appeal to Emotion: Using emotional manipulation to ilicit an emotional response instead of engaging with the argument itself.

Ad Hominem: attacking the person asking questions instead of answering the question. This is specifically to discredit the claim by attacking the person's credibility, even if the claim is valid.

False dichotomy: this is the classic "two things can be true" thing I see a LOT on this site. This one says by focusing on one item, the other item is not important and thus you are evil/wrong/or bad.

Red Herring: when someone brings up a seperate topic to derail and distract from the original topic. The classic "define a woman" tactic Kirk stans use a lot.

Remain calm. Remain rational. And disengage if they try to get an emotional rise out of you so you don't become feed for their content farms. And if you are unable, do not engage.

And record them if they record you so you can post it in full.

Phrases like "I am sorry you feel the need to ridicule people who are different than you." Or "You're not here to learn, you're here to farm content. Please leave me alone." Are good exit strategies.

Stay vigilant. Be safe.

[badbreed1111]

Look at little Marco Rubio, J.D.Vance david vance. And Pete Hegseth just being Hegseth...😯😅👇🏾

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Debunking the Nick Shirley Video Attacking Somalis in Minnesota

A 42 minute video with zero evidence and overwhelming propaganda has captured MAGA media—here are the facts they hope you don't see

Qasim Rashid at Let's Address This:

Right wing provocateur Nick Shirley has published a video claiming he has proof of fraud in Somali daycare centers. I watched the video so you don’t have to. The entire video is, in a word, propaganda. Despite this complete lack of substantiation, Vice President JD Vance praised Shirley and suggested he deserves a Pulitzer Prize. MAGA media has since moved immediately to demonize the Somali community in Minnesota as a whole—facts be damned. That framing is not just reckless—it is intentionally racist. And it obscures the real issue entirely. Here are the critical facts they leave out, and hope Americans don’t see. Let’s Address This.

A Propagandized Claim With Zero Evidence

Shirley begins his interview with a man named “David,” who apparently investigated this alleged fraud for years. Shirley provides no explanation of who David is, what qualifications he has, or what actual evidence of fraud he’s uncovered. Instead, while waving around documents that he never bothers to validate, David makes the following bombastic and factless claims:

“Compared to worldwide, the fraud is worse here in the Twin Cities than anywhere else ever, in history, anywhere.”

“The allegedly stolen funds are being sent to terrorist organizations.”

“We have to be careful because these [Somali] people are very violent, they’re exceptionally violent.”

“Tim Walz is guilty of misconduct with a public employee.”

Note—the above are actual quotes from David. At no point in the video does David or Shirley provide any actual evidence for the above claims. We are simply meant to believe them—even to the absurdity that in the entirety of human history, the alleged fraud in Minnesota outranks all of them. As far as the claim that “Walz committed misconduct with a public employee,” there’s zero evidence of this malicious claim. It’s especially rich coming from two men who are silent on Trump’s dozens of cases of sexual assault of women, and God only knows the full extent of his involvement in Epstein’s child sex trafficking atrocity.

Shirley and David espouse obviously and demonstrably false claims. The majority of Shirley’s video then entails he and David driving from center to center, harassing employees, and attempting to enter childcare centers without permission. The employees are clearly frightened that two angry men with cameras are repeatedly yelling “where are the children!”, while trying to gain unauthorized access to spaces meant to protect children. Unsurprisingly, the employees refuse to answer questions from men they rightly see as strangers. Shirley and David therefore conclude that the employees’ refusal to answer their questions means there must be fraud. That is the extent of their “evidence” of fraud.

Shirley Ignores What Actual Journalists Have Already Reported

Now, let’s make four points absolutely clear—points Shirley deliberately ignores, and hopes his viewers don’t realize. First, what Shirley allegedly “uncovered” is not some new scandal. Since 2022 several of these same day care centers have been fined and shutdown for violating the law. Local media in Minnesota has already reported on that alleged fraud and reported on the subsequent FBI investigations. Even in his video, Shirley admits that the FBI is already investigating these facilities and is already aware that there may be potential fraud. You can literally see him at the exact same locations that have already been investigated and reported upon.

Second, former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger is already on record rejecting Shirley’s claim that any of the 70 people his office prosecuted had any ties whatsoever to “terrorism” in the United States or overseas. “David’s” bombastic accusation is entirely meritless and, at no point does Shirley even attempt to provide any evidence of it’s truth—because there is none.

Third, in addition to local media and law enforcement already tackling this fraud, employees of the day care centers themselves sounded the alarm well over a year ago. Shirley’s claim that “all Somalis think as one” is both racist and unfounded. It’s also worth noting that while Shirley claims “Somalis are violent,” Minnesota is one of the safest states in the country, with a violent crime rate of 256/100K, more than 100 points lower than the national average of 359/100K. Fourth and finally, for as much as Shirley insists fraud problems in Minnesota begin and end with Somalis, nowhere in his 42 minute propaganda piece does he admit, let alone acknowledge, that the accused ring leader who was convicted of leading the largest prosecuted fraud in Minnesota is a white woman named Aimee Bock.

Here Are The Facts

Now, let’s discuss what is true. Shirley alleges that Somalis have somehow “taken over” Minnesota. This is fear-mongering and racist propaganda. Minnesota is home to approximately 60,000 Somalis, representing a whopping 1% of Minnesota’s population of 6 million people. Moreover, it is absolutely not the case that Somalis somehow uniquely committed fraud. It is the case that, among the people accused of fraud in Minnesota, some happen to be Somali. That is a critical distinction. Fraud, where it occurs, should be investigated and prosecuted fully and fairly—for everyone involved, regardless of race, religion, or immigration status. No person gets a pass, and no group deserves collective blame. But Shirley or MAGA figures are not interested in accountability. They are interested in scapegoating.

[...] Somalis face demonization on the mere accusation of a crime—yet we hear complete silence from Shirley and MAGA pundits on Trump’s open bribery to pardon convicted felons who are white. Thus the open hypocrisy—when white Americans commit fraud, they are treated as individuals. When Black, brown, Muslim, or immigrant communities are accused—even speculatively—the entire community is put on trial. One person becomes “proof” that everyone is guilty. That is de facto racism. So let’s be explicitly clear: if you are outraged at alleged fraud involving Somali daycare operators, but celebrate Trump for pardoning white men convicted of fraud at ten or twenty times the scale, then fraud is not what you care about. What you care about is protecting white supremacy.

The recent video from right-wing Nick Sortor-wannabe Nick Shirley that purports to “investigate fraud” in Somali daycare centers in Minnesota is nothing more than a propagandistic, racist, and xenophobic smear attack against Somali Americans.

See Also:

Daily Kos: GOP ignores reality to boost MAGA YouTuber's racist attacks

[tomorrowusa]

« [I]f Donald Trump and his Catholic convert Veep, JD Vance, are ready to cheer, then they should think again. Cardinal Robert Prevost has chosen the name Leo XIV – and if you’re a papal Leo, you tend to be a reformer at the progressive end of Catholicism. That Prevost has decided to become Leo XIV will make Catholics think immediately of the last Leo – Leo XIII – and his 1891 encyclical or teaching document, Rerum Novarum, which outlined workers’ rights to a fair wage, safe working conditions and the rights of workers to belong to trade unions. If Pope Francis was the People’s Pope, then Leo XIV is all set to be the Workers’ Pope. »

— Catholic journalist Catherine Pepinster writing at The Guardian.

Going back 250 years, of the (now) 18 popes since the start of the American Revolution, the three most what we would now call "progressive" would be...

John XXIII (1958-1963)

Francis (2013-2025)

Leo XIII (1878-1903)

Leo XIII issued an encyclical called Rerum Novarum which in modern terms called for collective bargaining and fair working conditions for workers – with emphasis on the working poor. Though the encyclical also rejected violence and forced confiscation of property as advocated by militant socialists of that era, Rerum Novarum was regarded as radical by powerful conservative elements inside the church hierarchy. So when Leo XIII died, the cardinals elected Pius X who was a blatant reactionary.

So if papal names set the tone for papal reigns, Chicagoan Leo XIV might be seen as pro-labor and against the more rapacious aspects of capitalism. Trump and his broligarch buddies can't be terribly pleased about that. While Leo XIV won't be wildly "woke", he's not the pope that MAGA was hoping for.

[robertreich]

JD Vance Is a Working Class Phony

J.D. Vance wants to con America into believing he’s some “working class hero.” 

Baloney!

He worked for a law firm that lobbied for Purdue Pharma — the company that pleaded guilty to three felonies for its role in creating America’s opioid crisis.

He's a former venture capitalist who benefited from tax loopholes designed for the super-rich.

He won his Senate seat thanks to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who spent $15 million on Vance’s Senate campaign.

He visited a picket line for a photo op, but opposed legislation to protect workers’ rights to organize.

He weakened his own railway safety bill at the request of rail and chemical lobbyists.

He opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, which has unleashed a wave of investment in American manufacturing and created over 300,000 clean energy jobs so far.

J.D. Vance isn’t a “populist.” He’s a phony.

He doesn’t give a fig about workers.

[easyearl]