rise of reform - & its english nationalist roots - in wales is absolutely newsworthy. but plaid are also in a historic and apparently sustained surge. evidence is reform are largely taking votes from tories. in a proportional senedd election they're unlikely to have a path to govern.

i like your analysis overall but i think this is a skewed view. this is voting for westminster in 2029. senedd intention for may 2026 shows a narrow lead for plaid cymru (election next year) - as yougov has shown since april. this is ALSO unprecedented but gets no coverage. cus reform is spicier.

as you say it seems like such an abrogation of public duty and principle. but honestly, i didn't think i could be more shocked at liz truss' conduct but i was clearly very, very wrong.

this is somewhat reassuring thank you. i mean i do feel rationally this just clearly could not have stood. the public outrage would have been inconceivable. but it's just...terrifying. and i am relieved to hear that some sort of judicial review would likely have been on the cards.

it just makes you feel so utterly vulnerable and at the mercy of someone over whom you have no control. would this have been illegal? if not, can we make sure that it is in the future? can we put her in prison *for fucking suggesting it*?

and like i said, i'm... i'm american enough to care and follow US politics closely, but i *don't* live there & i'm sorry if i come off as an armchair quarter back. it's your place to yell louder than me. i'm just... actively struggling to reconcile the behaviour i'm seeing with my previous opinions.

so many people i otherwise thought were decent people have thrown him under the bus i honestly started wondering if there was something going on medically that was being hidden. but this latest shit about throwing harris under a bus makes it really hard to believe it's not just a power grab.

look the guy's old, older than he should be to do this job. but the die has been cast. i cannot see any scenario where the chances of beating trump are *improved* by a contested convention and loss of incumbency. i just honestly don't understand what the fuck they're thinking.

this bullshit about how it has to be an "open primary" (when no one's fucking stood down) so it doesn't look like a coronation? what so when it's a woman of colour, the appearance of democracy suddenly matters. but when it's booting out the dude who won the actual votes, who gives a shit, right?

the closest i've come is that he sees moral standards as something we aspire to based on past example - the powerful dream of better days. and i think moral standards are developed in service to a better future - past example implies a direction of travel. the past has little to offer many of us.

ooh, that's really interesting thanks for the additional insight. i mean i suppose you could say they're assuming most people will take the non-military option but honestly it sounds more like he's just throwing shit at the wall under the assumption he's never gonna have to actually do any of it.

but of course the ageist crap is the *point*. tories are only into the nanny-state when it's about forcing *other* people to do things.

idk. i just feel this encapsulates so much about how their only offer is nostalgia for a time that never was. at the expense of those who don't get a say.

not that this makes it a good idea, or a fair one. if you're going to mandate, by law, that people contribute like this, then fuck it, make it an expectation that EVERYONE does 25 days of community service per year. see how that goes down. otherwise it's just ageist crap.

you can join cyber security (non combat/non physical) instead of the army for a year or you can do neither and do 25 days of community service in a year. that's a pain in the ass but at least is probably a net benefit to various groups and is doable without having to participate in state violence.

but it's for their own good! it'll build character and community! yes, again, by declaring someone else the problem, and their lack of effort and hard graft the thing that needs fixing. this time it's the damn kids.

i will say the actual scheme seems less horrible than i initially assumed.