US Politics XIII: Don Jr. The Worst Judgment of Anyone in the World.

[Danny Boy]

What's wrong with this?

Mexico, New Mexico and Old Mexico.

Oh, thanks. I didn't know about Old Mexico. I thought maybe Baja California counted as a Mexican country.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The third could be Tex Mex, actually

 

[Hewson]

The 3rd country is Ron Mexico

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Ahh. That makes sense

 

[Popmartijn]

Trump's criminal justice reform bill (Almost zero coverage

Yeah, he can't help it but to shoot himself in the foot, even when there are opportunities to celebrate. Not sure how much he was responsible for it himself, but getting that bipartisan bill approved through Congress was a good win nevertheless. However, it got overshadowed quickly by yet the latest scandal involving Trump. Same what happened when the Barr summary of the Mueller report got published. Though it did not exonerate him, it did not find enough airtight evidence to indict him. However, instead of celebrating that part Trump immediately went for the Affordable Care Act, waging his vengeance on the press and defunding the Special Olympics. Who is then still talking about the positive outcome (according to Barr) of the Mueller investigation.

Anyway, might another reason for the limited coverage of the criminal justice reform bill be this...?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/trump-first-step-act.html

Despite the high-profile party and round tables — and the White House releasing a presidential proclamation declaring April “second chance month” — Mr. Trump’s budget, released last month, listed only $14 million to pay for the First Step Act’s programs. The law passed in December specifically asked for $75 million a year for five years, beginning in 2019.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

In news that should surprise absolutely nobody:

https://news.yahoo.com/career-offic...-security-clearances-140038551--politics.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — A career official in the White House security office says dozens of people in President Donald Trump's administration were granted security clearances despite "disqualifying issues" in their backgrounds, such as concerns about foreign influence, drug use and criminal conduct.

Tricia Newbold, an 18-year government employee who oversees the issuance of clearances for some senior White House aides, says she compiled a list of at least 25 officials who were initially denied security clearances last year because of their backgrounds. But she says senior Trump aides overturned those decisions, moves that she said weren't made "in the best interest of national security."

Newbold's allegations were detailed in a letter and memo released Monday by Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform committee. Cummings panel has been investigating security clearances issued to senior officials including Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and former White House aide Rob Porter.

The documents don't identify the officials on Newbold's list but they note that two are "current senior White House officials."

Surely all those people who said that Hillary posed a national security threat with her e-mails will be right on top of this news, too, right?

 

[Jerry Dunk]

i agree with what you're saying. but you and i both know that political revolution isn't happening any time soon in america, the conditions aren't right for it at the moment (though i think they could be in a couple of decades). so what do you think we should do in the meantime? throwing up our hands and saying "they all suck and we refuse to participate" just hands over all the power to the other side, who obviously is more than happy to gleefully abuse it. we have to do something and that something has to be practical and effective and not just something idealistic. so what is it? (this is a genuine question)

What is the point of a primary if we're not allowed to have it out over the issues that matter, and the records of the people running? I think it is dangerous, destructive, and counter-intuitive to bury legitimate criticisms because we are worried about "negativity" or something like that.

Look, I'll be the first to say that I'm sick to death of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict because in my view we have a small group of people holding the rest of the world hostage in terms of geopolitics while they fight over shit land because of what's written in some old books and passed down in stories similar to the Easter bunny. I absolutely have very little patience for that part of the Middle East.

But it is a far more complex issue than "what do I tell my Palestinian friends?" Yes, Israel has essentially set up a situation that mirrors the Bantustans of South Africa and with every passing year and changing demographics things become that much more untenable. I am not even sure a two-state solution is feasible at this point, and the blame for that I largely put on Israel, because the Palestinians have not had true, unified and competent leadership, basically ever. Israel has and has instead chosen to repeatedly vote in people like Netanyahu to make the situation 100x worse. ON the other hand, there is no nation in the world, and especially not the US, who would put up with indiscriminate bombing of civilians, buses exploding, night clubs terrorized, schools terrorized. Come on - would YOU live like that and react in any other way?

I don't think a two-state solution has been possible for quite a while now. The Israeli settlements make it pretty much a non-starter.

I don't endorse bombing civilians at all, but then again, I'm not sure how I would respond if treated the way Israelis treat Palestinians. Frankly, until Israel changes its course in dealing with Palestine, I don't really think the reactions of the Palestinians should even factor into the conversation. Operating open air prisons and mowing down children, medics, and journalists along the border with impunity must be the start of the conversation.

 

[anitram]

I stopped reading Gzusfrk’s first post after “Democrat plantation”. Did it get less racist after that?

 

[DaveC]

Did it get less racist after that?

it did actually - he proclaimed that no one is oppressing black people in america, so it seems that in fact racism is over (unless you're a racist oppressive democrat).

 

[Gzusfrk]

I'm using words used by African Americans who were former Demecrsts, i.e. Candace Owens, Adrian Norman, James Harris.

If the word plantation fits to what the Democratic Party has done for the poor, and minorities, they should wear it. Just look up the definition.

But of course, it could just be easier to blurt out "racist", because, you know, liberal playbook

 

[Gzusfrk]

So you get to decide who is oppressed, even if that person says they're not oppressed.

Pure genius, and proves my point. If you say it often enough, I guess it's true, or something.

Poor African Americans and Hispanic Americans who are leaving the Democratic Party and are successful are oppressed, and they don't even realize it. How sad.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I’m still not following your logic. I’m fairly certain we’ve established that this minority departure from the Democratic Party is not a thing. Voting numbers clearly indicate blacks have remained and Hispanics have moved to the left.

??

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I’m still not following your logic. I’m fairly certain we’ve established that this minority departure from the Democratic Party is not a thing. Voting numbers clearly indicate blacks have remained and Hispanics have moved to the left.

[emoji1744]

Explain Diamond and Silk then... boom argument over ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[DaveC]

But of course, it could just be easier to blurt out "racist", because, you know, liberal playbook

it's easy to blurt out "racist" because, you know, you're a racist.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Guys, the US can't be oppressive to minorities. We've got black friends.

 

[Irvine511]

I'm using words used by African Americans who were former Demecrsts, i.e. Candace Owens, Adrian Norman, James Harris.

If the word plantation fits to what the Democratic Party has done for the poor, and minorities, they should wear it. Just look up the definition.

But of course, it could just be easier to blurt out "racist", because, you know, liberal playbook

You realize these are grifters, people selling snake oil to someone such as yourself, someone who is probably bothered by the fact that the GOP is increasingly old and white and overtly racist, so they are giving you something to show to your liberal friends so you can say “SEE?!?!?!”

 

[BVS]

I'm using words used by African Americans who were former Demecrsts, i.e. Candace Owens, Adrian Norman, James Harris.

If the word plantation fits to what the Democratic Party has done for the poor, and minorities, they should wear it. Just look up the definition.

But of course, it could just be easier to blurt out "racist", because, you know, liberal playbook

Your obsession with this Trumpists Grifter is odd given you “don’t support him”, she’s basically a megaphone for the worst parts of Trumpism and has no true conservative principles. Weird.

https://spectator.us/candace-owens-con-artist/

I mean she calls the women who started ‘me too’ prostitutes, said Hitler was only evil because of his “globalism”, claims racism is over since she’s never been a slave, and responded with a “lol” to the recent Mosque shooting. But she’s young, black, and female so when she echoes the bullying and authoritarian bs of Trump, conservatives can say, “see we’re not racist or sexist”.

But tell me more about this playbook, lol

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I'm still waiting for a response to his assertion that

a) cities are riddled with crime (actually violent crime has been decreasing in cities for 30 years)

b) Red States like Indiana and Texas are the way to go in order to fight poverty! (actually these states are in the lower half of all US states in poverty rate, 8 of 10 states with lowest poverty rate are blue, 9.5 of 10 states with highest poverty rate are red)

 

[anitram]

b) Red States like Indiana and Texas are the way to go in order to fight poverty! (actually these states are in the lower half of all US states in poverty rate, 8 of 10 states with lowest poverty rate are blue, 9.5 of 10 states with highest poverty rate are red)

Because we coastal ELITES are robbing them blind, duh.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

The liberal wealthy coastal elites are ruining Murica with their coastal poverty.

 

[Irvine511]

i'm not usually one to usually take Frank Bruni seriously on politics (wish he stayed with food). but he does get this part right, given what's going on this week:

How do Democrats properly vet their candidates for president without cannibalizing them? How do they rightly insist on sensitive and inclusive leaders while making allowances for past mistakes, present quirks, human messiness and the differences in the conversation and the culture now versus 10 or 20 or 40 years ago?

That’s emerging as a central challenge of the Democratic presidential primary. And it’s worrying me.

I’m worried because there was an actual mini-debate on the left recently over whether Pete Buttigieg is gay enough. Do his whiteness, upper-middle-class background and Harvard and Oxford degrees nullify his experience as a minority and undercut his status as a trailblazer? This question is out there, in both senses of that phrase.

I’m worried because it in some ways echoes an earlier question about whether Kamala Harris — whose father came from Jamaica, whose mother came from India and whose husband is white — is black enough.

And I’m worried because of what Joe Biden is going through — because of the intensity of the censure that he faced after the Nevada politician Lucy Flores’s allegation and because of the fixation on precisely what kind of apology he must issue.

Flores of course accused him of coming up behind her, touching her shoulders and kissing the back of her head: a gesture that’s inappropriate and demeaning. Biden says that he doesn’t recall the incident, from 2014. The media has given this breathless coverage.

I’ve written that I don’t think Biden, 76, should run, for many reasons, including that someone in politics as long as he has been carries too much baggage; that Democratic voters have generally preferred candidates significantly younger than he is; and that he mismanaged and failed miserably in his two prior presidential campaigns.

But I feel just as strongly that Democrats need to show some proportion, realism and reason as they assess and react to candidates (or, in Biden’s case, probable candidates). With Biden especially but with others as well, too many Democrats aren’t doing that.

It’s nonnegotiable that Democrats hold their presidential aspirants to high standards on issues of racial justice, gender equality and more. It’s crucial that the party nominate someone who can credibly represent its proudly diverse ranks. But it’s also important that the party not demand a degree of purity that nobody attains.

I’m not recommending the Republicans’ course in accepting and protecting Donald Trump, which was to bury principles so deep that they may never be exhumed. I’m saying that to turn the Democratic primary into a nonstop apology tour when the nominee will be going up against a president never expected to apologize for anything is a risky strategy. It obsesses over the flaws in candidates who have many strengths, defining them in terms of what they seek forgiveness for. It blurs the line between job interview and inquisition. Taken too far, it rips contenders to shreds before Trump even takes out his scissors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/...l?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

 

[dazzledbylight]

qArg lost my whole multi-post.

For now i'll just say above article- yes, so true!

And that ex-San Antonio, ex HUD Secretary Julian Castro seems promising too.

 

[BEAL]

i'm not usually one to usually take Frank Bruni seriously on politics (wish he stayed with food). but he does get this part right, given what's going on this week:

I don’t see this changing at all next year. If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination I’m afraid he’ll pull the same tactics he did last time. His most extreme followers, on top of any foreign troll campaign/influence will fracture an already sensitive and weak party compared to the GOP

 

[Vlad n U 2]

If Bernie doesn't win he'll probably retire, lol.

"His most extreme followers" - got to love the threat of social democracy. I love you McBeal.

 

[dazzledbylight]

NYT

Committee, using a little-known provision in the federal tax code, formally requested on Wednesday that the I.R.S. hand over six years of President Trump’s personal and business tax returns, starting what is likely to be a momentous fight with his administration.

Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, hand-delivered a two-page letter laying out the request to Charles P. Rettig, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, ending months of speculation about when he would do so and almost certainly prompting a legal challenge from the Trump administration.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I don’t see this changing at all next year. If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination I’m afraid he’ll pull the same tactics he did last time. His most extreme followers, on top of any foreign troll campaign/influence will fracture an already sensitive and weak party compared to the GOP

You really need to let it go. The article Irvine posted is making an exact example out of you right now.

 

[BEAL]

I’m not the one who demands my candidates be saints. I hope they are good people, haven’t broken any laws, and have ideas or policies i feel is best for advancing society and making the world a better place.

There are many ways to accomplish this and if they don’t match up with every belief or ideal i have, they’re still better than the GOP

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1113565589836972033?s=21

And there’s this

 

[dazzledbylight]

Fox News has had a habit of "misleading" graphics in the past. They showed a picture of Patti LaBelle when Aretha Franklin died, and put up a graphic a while back claiming that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had died. And those are just a couple of the more recent examples I can think of. I'm sure others can list more.

So either they really need to fire the person(s) who work in their graphics department, or they're pulling this shit intentionally. Given the kind of commentary they push on their network in general, it's not exactly a stretch to assume the latter is the case.

Didn't know that they showed Patti Labelle's photo instead of Aretha's!
(I have worked in several GDs not tv, tho )

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me much if they did this stuff on purpose!
I mean, i practically screamed when i "heard" that rgb had "died". Emotional Terrorism, i say.

It's sad that it's taking people this long that they've been lied to for 50 years by the Dems, since LBJ, and that they have been poor for 50 years, voted for Dems, and are still poor because that's how the Dems designed "The Great Society", for control, for votes, zero empowerment.

Explain why most urban cities are rum by Democrats, yet they are still poor, crime ridden, and filthy. Things will never improve for the poor, or minorities under Democrat rule. 50 years of history.

Oh, pleeeease, bs!

A bunch of the GS programs were cut way too short into their process, probably by Republicans, Conservatives, and probably a few Dems in Congress being impatient. Maybe Nixon, too? idk.
You think poverty that could back decades, hundreds of years is that easily earased? I was a ( middle class ) young teen then. I remember some of this, though didn't follow it closely.

Is it possible that that "impatience" masked a desire to squelsh these programs before they showed sucesses? Or could they have even started to show progress - and the more racist amongst the bunch maybe
thought 'wait, poor poc are doing better ? Oh, no, we can't have that now, can we? And probably a few didn't want the white poor to do better, either
*puts this on research mid-burner*

Let's not also forget that at least up here in NYC black & lantinx people a fair amount of them rose up into the middle class through through public sector jobs in the ?early 70's onward. Then came Reagan's "voodoo economics", and the Great Recession of 2008.

Oh, yes, let us also remember that poor white also commit crimes. It's poverty that is the biggest generator of crime. Though there is also genuine uber greed in some people in any type of "group".
Like u know who - the ubergreedy white guy well off to begin with.

All I'm going to say is I said the movement for minorities becoming conservatives is growing,

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

WASHINGTON — Some of Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators have told associates that Attorney General William P. Barr failed to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry and that they were more troubling for President Trump than Mr. Barr indicated, according to government officials and others familiar with their simmering frustrations.

At stake in the dispute — the first evidence of tension between Mr. Barr and the special counsel’s office — is who shapes the public’s initial understanding of one of the most consequential government investigations in American history. Some members of Mr. Mueller’s team are concerned that, because Mr. Barr created the first narrative of the special counsel’s findings, Americans’ views will have hardened before the investigation’s conclusions become public.

So wait... an administration who has lied about literally fucking everything may have had an AG that was specifically put in place to protect Trump from the Mueller Report be less than honest about what was in the Mueller Report?

No. Fucking. Way.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Better launch another investigation.