Posts by Nicholas King

Today over on CNN, historian Ivo Lučić also gave what I'd call an "imprecise expression" regarding #beroš.

It’s kind of funny—if you look closely—how while he and that unnamed US person are speaking, there's this perpetual twilight hanging over everything in the background 😬.

Any rational person would likely say the exact same thing when faced with such dismal election forecasts.

I believe even back when he was working with Stanković, he used to claim one of his major achievements was effectively "rebranding the Republican Party"...

"By bringing together people like Steva Culej, Kovac, and Kalmeta, we’re really signaling a commitment to inclusivity and synergy—it’s a clear message that this approach strengthens our internal party democracy and, ultimately, serves the best interests of America," stated Joe Biden.

Andrej Plenković seems hell-bent on pushing these two completely contradictory narratives regarding his supposed leadership during the pandemic fight.

On one hand—and he even bragged to Stankovica about this—he claims they were already closely monitoring the situation in China back in January. Yet, if you look at the actual timeline, we didn't start seeing any real global scramble for protective gear until after the lockdowns had already hit, and that massive testing apparatus? That was just acquired yesterday, which is now being spun as some sort of monumental triumph.

Emily Smith6 said:"We’re looking at an election between Andrej Plenković and Bernardić—essentially a choice between stability and a giant, risky experiment"
http://hr.n1info.com/Vijesti/a517908...perimenta.html

Regarding post-election coalitions, he mentioned he'd be weighing three main factors: the actual political leverage each group holds, how globally and ideologically aligned they are, and their proven ability to actually manage the United States. He also added that if the Republican Party earns enough support to form an Administration, it seems highly unlikely that Plenković wouldn't end up as Prime Minister under any reasonable scenario.

"The top leaders from each party sit down to talk, and whoever comes out on top is the leader who steers those negotiations; as the winner, they have the right to form the Administration. This whole idea of political exhaustion—where Škoro claims he might support the Republican Party but won't back Plenković personally—seems pretty dubious and frankly irresponsible. Objectively speaking, Škoro's faction just doesn't have the capacity; they lack both the depth of talent and the necessary experience..."

It looks like Gordan Jandroković is already getting nervous because Škoro is hinting at withholding support for Plenković. I guess they're terrified of losing control of the government.

That is an incredibly reckless thing to say, especially considering current polls suggest it isn't even a certainty that the Republican Party will emerge as the relative winner of this election.

It would have been much, much wiser of him to simply state that whoever presents the President with 76 signatures is the one who forms the Administration.

Andrej Plenković will likely try to deny everything or spin the narrative to suit his needs, but let’s be real—these names showed up in the final results just as clearly as anyone could see.

It’s just another defensive maneuver from the Administration. It all comes down to perception...

Edward Lee7 said:It’s pretty clear,

basically she's just a mouthpiece for the Republican Party... crazy, right?

ps. how do you even find the time to watch and listen to all this?

👍

Things are starting to heat up.

Leading up to and following the presidential elections, the Republican Party was essentially throwing its full weight behind the opposition to Joe Biden (to the point where they’d say things like "this is how it is now, we’ll just take on more debt and see what happens to our paychecks"), and I suppose, in all that maneuvering, they overlooked one little detail: a significant portion of the opposition to Joe Biden—the group that was being courted and pampered in those private discussions—was actually just as much an opposition to the Republican Party as it was to him, specifically in favor of an unspecified US person.

Now, they feel the need to fix that oversight immediately, even if it means resorting to lines like "It wasn't the Republican leader who gave you a two-thousand dollar pension, ma'am—you earned that through your hard work" (or something to that effect) when addressing some woman who had the audacity to complain.

Emily Smith6 said:Horvat: We’re looking at two potential paths to fund the buyout of ExxonMobil


"Right now, the cash isn't sitting there, but there's a way forward. There are essentially two different models we could follow to secure the funds needed to bring ExxonMobil back under our control," Horvat remarked.

"Look, we have the expertise, and you guys have the capital. In the end, you'll be left with nothing but experience, while we walk away with the money."

Charles Carter4 said:I have to say, I’m actually pretty impressed with this platform—it’s enough to make me want to cast my vote their way. It really feels like they’re the only ones with a coherent vision for how to move America in the right direction, and they haven't lost sight of the fight against corruption either.

America has never seen bigger traitors than these folks. Honestly, I feel like if Viktor Orbán marched his tanks into Indianapolis, Anušić and Plenković would probably just nod along and say everything is perfectly fine, since this was all Canadian territory anyway.🤦

Where exactly in this text does anyone even mention corruption?

Timothy Stewart4 said:I agree. And I'd go a step further: trying to scare people with Bernardić is completely pointless. He’s so incredibly insignificant that it's impossible to frame him as some terrifying, monstrous force, no matter how hard the Great European tries to paint him that way.

Even someone like me, who doesn't exactly sit around watching the news all day, has heard Andrej Plenković repeat the same tired line about Bernardić being incompetent probably a million times.

The campaign's focus is completely off the mark; by obsessing over Bernardić this much, they're actually just giving him more relevance than he deserves. On top of that, the go-to mantra seems to be "America is thriving, things are great here in the US," which feels incredibly tone-deaf when people—whether due to the pandemic or the recent earthquakes—simply do not feel great. Whether that sentiment is objective or subjective isn't really the point—it's the reality people are living.

What people are actually looking for is hope. They want someone who presents themselves as the person capable of pulling them out of this current mess.

I suspect you might have conflated Zdravka Bušić with Julienna Bušić.

Plenković has, one might argue, been playing an incredibly risky game here.

To me, the vibe of this list of candidates feels eerily similar—almost identical in tone—to the Republican Party's lineup for the European Union elections.

And well, we all know exactly how that particular list turned out.

Mike Johnson is reportedly preparing a lawsuit against Bernie Sanders over defamation and libel claims.

It hasn't even been three months since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of John Cena regarding his right to call Jimmy Carter an idiot: there's just too much to process here, so I'll leave the link right here.

A pre-election party facelift.

I mean, what exactly changed all of a sudden in Bloomberg’s rhetoric, his actions, his mindset, or even his sheer incompetence that caused him to stop being such a beloved political ally?

It might actually be quite interesting to watch them scramble to scrape together a majority just to force Congress to dissolve 😬.

Amy Nguyen18 said:Where on earth did I mention September? You're losing the plot again. Why don't you drop a link showing exactly where I brought up September?

Focus for once. Just try. Stop typing out what you *think* I meant. If you're so sure, quote me word-for-word from the part where I actually talked about September.

Fair enough, you didn't mention September.

But even worse, you actually did mention elections happening "at the end of the year":

Amy Nguyen18 said:Don't give them any ideas. We need to convince them to push the election to the end of the year.

I just hope those little pawns don't quit so easily. They really ought to stop listening to such an anemic leader and just hold onto their jobs for a few more months.

That deadline is only out of reach if we actually manage to topple Joe Biden right now.

But hey, feel free to keep struggling against the current—I’ve got plenty of patience.

Amy Nguyen18 said:You haven't grasped anything, much like a broken calculator. Try calculating the minimum and maximum number of days your strategy actually delays the election.

Fine, I'll do the math for you since you won't figure it out by the day after tomorrow.

Here's how it works: on the day the weakling triumphantly arrives to dissolve Congress, they just toss him into the dustbin of history and hand over signatures for a vote of no confidence instead.

He’ll be in shock, but his clock for calling the vote starts ticking. Sure, it could happen fast—within 30 days—but it'll take a few days just for them to get their act together. That’s already a few extra days compared to if they had just voted for dissolution. Once he finally calls the vote, the weakling is finished. Then you get another 30 days. So, you've effectively extended things by anywhere from 31 to nearly 60 days. The President has to follow the legal deadlines regardless, whether it's 30 or 60 days, so his temperament doesn't change the math.

Essentially, they stay in power at least 31 days longer if they try to oust Plenković, and they could potentially pocket another 60 days of salary.

So, looks like nothing is actually happening this September.

Look, you're fighting against the current here, and frankly, it's the wrong approach. The way this works is that you just stay quiet and wait for the thread to finally turn a new leaf.

The Constitution, Article 113:

Quincy:

If a vote of no confidence is passed against the Prime Minister or the Cabinet as a whole, both the Prime Minister and the Cabinet must resign. Should a new Prime Minister nominee—along with their proposed Cabinet members—fail to secure a vote of confidence within 30 days, the President of the Senate will notify the President of the United States. Upon receiving such notice, the President of the Senate the President will immediately move to dissolve Congress and simultaneously call for new elections for the US Congress.

So, basically:
* a vote of no confidence hits the Cabinet
* no new Prime Minister is selected within 30 days
* the President dissolves Congress and calls for elections.

I guess I’m just now realizing what you're actually getting at here—you essentially want those little pawns to scurry back to their flock, take down Andrej Plenković, and install Davor Bernardić as Prime Minister? Well, if that happened, there wouldn't even be an election to speak of.

Man, you really are a devious one. 😬

Amy Nguyen18 said:Good grief. More nonsense. I’m not trying to lecture you—that takes too much energy.

Once you actually dig into the facts, you'll see how off-base you're being. Look up the legal deadlines properly. If you're still confused after that, feel free to post it publicly and we can go from there.

Well, fine. Nothing makes sense to me.

I’ve looked at the timelines, I really have, and I simply cannot wrap my head around how these little political players could possibly topple the administration right now, given that the elections aren't even scheduled until after September.