Hanaguma

"Finger in the air" and "political leader" are not synonymous. He has been a follower for his entire career.

Nah, I meant these guys. From the Lincoln Project who posed as white supremacists during the gubernatorial election in 2021. https://www.businessinsider.com/lincoln-project-sends-fake-white-supremacists-to-virginia-gop-event-2021-10

As a politician of 50 years' experience, Joe Biden is adept at keeping his finger in the air and detecting which way the (political) wind is blowing. Then following.

Quite possible another case of faux protesters. Remember the ones who tried to derail Glen Younkin in the Virginia governor's race? Perhaps another sign of the fear DeSantis brings to the hearts of Biden supporters. The last thing they would want to see is Biden get on a debate stage with a younger, sharper, more mentally agile opponent. I am not a huge DeSantis fan (he would be my 4th or 5th pick for the nomination), but he would crush Biden.

Thanks, I wasn't sure. If they were classified, not a big deal. Stupid but not serious Top secret, we have a problem. I wonder at the policital end game though. For the GOP, getting Trump out of the race is the best thing that could happen.

Just curious, is there any evidence that the well publicised photos of boxes of documents in the crapper and on the stage, or spilling onto the floor- any of those the "top secret" documents in the indictment? Or are they just photos of boxes that were stored haphazardly. No doubt Trump is a braggart and wanted to look like a big man by showing off to his friends. Not sure if he will see jail time over it. Problem is, that it would set a rather disturbing precedent for other Presidents and former presidents.

I wonder if Joe told any of his BS stories about his experience with the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. Like when he was a child, and saw two men kissing and asked his father about it. His father replied, "they love each other son". Never happened. Or his tales about gay people still being thrown out of restaurants. Come on, man.

A good man and a good choice for the parade.

So, walking slowly down a ramp is worse than pratfalling on a stage and needing 3 people to assist you in standing up again? I seem to recall the "ramp episode" triggering the media into a flurry of "use the 25th Amendment" stories, gleefully repeated ad nauseum.

How about instead comparing him to other previous Presidents for a more accurate assessment? To Presidents Obama or Bush for example. Using Trump exclusively is no more than damning Biden with faint praise.

This might be Biden's biggest weakness going forward into campaign season. He always made his image that of an Everyman type, old Joe from Scranton, a retail level politician. He is losing that common touch with his errors and petulance. He never was thought of as any great intellect, now he has nothing to fall back on other than 'at least I'm not The Other Guy'.

And it takes all of two comments before a "not as bad as Trump" appears. What a low standard you have, Tug! I guess Biden's handlers forgot to write "PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak" on the crib notes that he carries around. They are going to have to correct that. It would be an honest mistake IF it were the leader of some third world nowhere country, but not the case of one of America's most important friends.

I am impressed and surprised that you consider Senator Hawley a "political institution"!

Really? Tell that to the Ukranian victims of the famines in the 1930s. A genocide by starvation.

Killed millions of Germans, anyway. Definitely killed millions MORE of their own citizens. So do you want to ban Soviet symbology too?

Me too. They deserve it. Kind of surprised it has taken this long.

OK, "ejected and many arrested". Better? The point stands though. Congress did its job, the new president took office, there was no real danger to any American political institutions.

Somehow I am not surprised. So you would be OK with banning symbols of the Soviet Union as well? A seriously hate filled regime that killed millions of innocent people. Or Chairman Mao, another monster responsible for tens of millions of deaths. I am curious where your pruning of symbols from public view would end.

Actually it is worse than that. It is bringing the power of the State to bear on people for their choice of attire or for what they carry peacefully.

Actually it shows the opposite. The election result was ratified the next day. The inauguration of President Biden took place as scheduled. The threat was almost non-existent. The rioters were ejected and arrested within hours. The American system is far stronger than many people give credit for. This just proves it.

This article says the ISIS flag has been displayed more than 300 times in New South Wales alone. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/islamic-state-flag-flown-over-300-times-in-nsw-in-last-six-years-20211130-p59dje.html and with no penalty. And communism has been a hate group since its inception. Ask the 100 million who died as a result. The hammer and sickle are just as repugnant as the swastika. Nah, if you want to emasculate and lessen the impact of hate groups, the way to do so is not legal. Laugh at them, ridicule them, ignore them, defeat their ideas in the court of public opinion. But don't give them the 'cool factor' of being outlaws.

Would you say the same for symbols of communism? Al Qaeda? Any number of hate groups in the world. I would say that Naziism is definitely defeated. You could take every neoNazi in Australia and they wouldn't even fill a minor league soccer stadium. Any you won't do them any harm by this law either.

Those specific limits are also limits in most countries. But they do not apply to the new law. This legislation creates a talismanic kind of fear in certain articles that they dont deserve. I could be just walking down the street quietly, wearing my SS t-shirt, and be arrested. For wearing a t-shirt. I am always wary of bringing the power of the State against people for their thoughts, however repugnant. You can't kill an idea by removing its trappings.

Ask the OP, not me.

More the pity that the constitution does not do that. Sadly few countries do. But banning public display of symbols will do nothing to curtail the activities of these idiots. Just make them feel more outraged and feed their conspiracy theory nonsense. The only way to fight a bad idea is with a better one. Don't add fuel to the fire by giving them any reason to feel hard done by, especially by the government. Plus the law also bans the private sale of this kind of thing, for whatever the reason. So if collector A wants to sell his old German flag to collector B, he is breaking the law. So not just a speech issue, but one of business as well.