US Politics XXV: At Least We're Not Australia

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I could buy the argument that the centrist posture in the convention is designed purely as a tactical move, and does not compromise Biden's platform, which on paper is more liberal than any other recent years. I don't think it's a particularly good argument (have you seen the Democratic leadership's actions in recent years?), or that it's a particularly good tactic (we no longer live in an age where independents/undecideds are kingmakers because there are so few of these in the polarized politics era) but I'll grant that it's a possibility.

Optics aside, my sense - and the convention is just another data point - is that if Biden gets elected, Democrats will lead the revisionist process that will immediately point to the last four years as an aberration, and not as a natural consequence of various political and policy decisions they and the Republicans have taken over the years. In the name of bipartisanship and unity, they will offer Republicans a way to save face from their misguided choices these last four years - while not getting any meaningful conservative support for their actual policies. They will want to show that the US is back to normal, whereas the reasonable approach would be to question why they got to this place. For Christ's sake, they introduced John McCain as this honorable politician who could do bipartisan deals, forgetting that he chose Sarah Palin as his VP candidate, thereby introducing the contemporary template for Trumpism.




This is probably accurate.

Being a good winner and not lining people up and putting them against the wall and pulling the trigger is probably the best way to go about making the country governable again. Presently, the federal government is barely functioning.

It reminds me of when Obama basically set aside the Bush administration’s torture program. If anyone in here was around back then, it was probably the thing I hated most about Bush/Cheney and often wrote fairly ballistic posts on the subject.

However, from a governing viewpoint, maybe what Obama did was the expedient thing to do, at least from where he was sitting. I found it very disappointing. But I’m not trying to govern a stunningly diverse country of 320m people. We aren’t 10m socially cohesive Danes living on a Penninsula in the North Sea.

It’s a difficult thing. From where you and I sit, of course I want heads on a platter, especially on the Russia collusion and children-in-cages. But the country also needs to function.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But I’d also look at a split within the GOP. The Trumpers will go with him, and who will be left?
 
Optics aside, my sense - and the convention is just another data point - is that if Biden gets elected, Democrats will lead the revisionist process that will immediately point to the last four years as an aberration, and not as a natural consequence of various political and policy decisions they and the Republicans have taken over the years. In the name of bipartisanship and unity, they will offer Republicans a way to save face from their misguided choices these last four years - while not getting any meaningful conservative support for their actual policies. They will want to show that the US is back to normal, whereas the reasonable approach would be to question why they got to this place. For Christ's sake, they introduced John McCain as this honorable politician who could do bipartisan deals, forgetting that he chose Sarah Palin as his VP candidate, thereby introducing the contemporary template for Trumpism.


If Dems win the Senate as well, do you think the revisionism you mention would still happen? In that case, the incentive to "reach across the aisle" would be significantly reduced.
 
Assuming Trump and GOP actually leave office, they will call out for UNITY, and HEALING. This isn’t the time for partisan politics. We are united, America!! Blah blah.

And if Biden takes the bait then we won’t really make much progress.

What the GOP are becoming, with Lara Loomer winning primaries (doubt she wins in general), the Q folk

We will see another slow takeover a la Tea Party, and we’ve already seen what frauds they are and what they’ve become.

We cannot allow this new batch to ever get close to having power.

It’ll probably be tough to heal when the militias spend every day marching on DC with their guns in the streets too.

We have a lot of pain to go through before there can be any healing done.

But we must stop the bleeding.
 
It reminds me of when Obama basically set aside the Bush administration’s torture program. If anyone in here was around back then, it was probably the thing I hated most about Bush/Cheney and often wrote fairly ballistic posts on the subject.

This also set in motion what was to come with Trump.

Letting these criminals walk away with ZERO consequence is not only immoral, but Banana Republic-ish. Where the president can behave like a monarch and his party like a band of criminals. Let the Dems roll over and see what you'll get in 2024.

The naivete of believing that the 30% of country that supports Trump is interested in good governance is just shocking to me.

Is there really no line in the sand?
 
So Trump follows his genius plan to piss off another swing state because of his delicate ego.
First Florida with Puerto Ricans and seniors, then Michigan, then North Carolina and now Ohio.

Calling to boycott the largest and one of only two American made tire companies.
Goodyear, based in Ohio and employing thousands of workers. Because if his hats.

https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1296115859870679042
 
This also set in motion what was to come with Trump.



Letting these criminals walk away with ZERO consequence is not only immoral, but Banana Republic-ish. Where the president can behave like a monarch and his party like a band of criminals. Let the Dems roll over and see what you'll get in 2024.



The naivete of believing that the 30% of country that supports Trump is interested in good governance is just shocking to me.



Is there really no line in the sand?




I do think it was immoral of Obama not to go after those folks. But another characteristic of autocratic nations is jailing people who lose elections. It’s a fine line.

I don’t think failing to prosecute people like John Yoo or sending Cheney to The Hague is what led to Trump. The immovable 30% are motivated by white identity issues and a sense of grievance. They want their government to work. They aren’t inspired by criminality. But the criminals know what inspires them.
 
https://twitter.com/_heatherwalker/status/1296109536164679681?s=21

DeJoy still ordering dismantling of equipment after saying he’d stop

If there are no consequences then why would he ?

Yep. My best guess is that Trump, or most likely a person Trump has chosen to be the fall guy that he can deny knowing 2 weeks from now, told DeJoy to just say that they are stopping the destruction, but keep doing it and no one will know.

Pelosi called him today and he said he has no plans on restoring what’s already been destroyed.
 
Yep. My best guess is that Trump, or most likely a person Trump has chosen to be the fall guy that he can deny knowing 2 weeks from now, told DeJoy to just say that they are stopping the destruction, but keep doing it and no one will know.

Pelosi called him today and he said he has no plans on restoring what’s already been destroyed.

DeJoy is supposed to be testifying in DC this week, I think Friday? Of course it's in front of a Republican led committee.

Lie, deny, cover up
 
Just frightening


(CNN)After skirting the issue for weeks, President Donald Trump offered an embrace Wednesday of the fringe internet phenomenon QAnon, praising its followers for supporting him and shrugging off its outlandish conspiracies.

His comments reflected the highest-profile endorsement to date of the group, which has infiltrated Republican circles even as party leaders attempt to distance themselves.

"I don't know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate," Trump said in the White House briefing room.

It was a striking nod to a group that has been likened to a virtual cult and has been labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat by the FBI.

Trump admitted he wasn't intimately familiar with some of the sprawling conspiracies offered by the group's followers but said he understood it was becoming more widespread.

"I have heard that it's gaining in popularity," Trump said, suggesting QAnon followers approved of how he'd handled social unrest in places like Portland, Oregon. "I've heard these are people that love our country and they just don't like seeing it."

QAnon's prevailing conspiracy theories — none based in fact — claim dozens of Satan-worshipping politicians and A-list celebrities work in tandem with governments around the globe to engage in child sex abuse. Followers also believe there is a "deep state" effort to annihilate Trump.

But followers of the group have expanded from those beliefs and now allege baseless theories surrounding mass shootings and elections. Followers have falsely claimed that 5G cellular networks are spreading the coronavirus.

The group has also peddled conspiracies about coronavirus, the Black Lives Matter movement and vaccines -- none grounded in reality.

Trump is revered among the conspiracy's followers, who believe he was recruited to help eliminate the controlling criminal conspiracy they allege is gripping the world's power structures.

Trump did not seem entirely familiar with all that on Wednesday. Instead he focused on the group's praise for him -- which was enough, apparently, to overlook the cultish beliefs.


Asked if he believed the crux of the theory, described by a reporter as the belief that the President "is secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals," Trump said: "Well, I haven't heard that, but is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?"

"If I can help save the world from problems, I'm willing to do it," he went on. "I'm willing to put myself out there. And we are, actually, we're saving the world from a radical left philosophy that will destroy this country."
 
The #1 priority, after securing SCOTUS replacements, should be getting rid of the fillibuster and making DC and PR states. The Senate must become more representational.



Don’t disagree but we have one shot at this. The next wave that could take over won’t be as inept as Trump world.

Yes the bigots, conspiracy folk aren’t bright at all. But you put a sharper person in charge (like a Tom Cotton) and those minions will do whatever is asked.
 
This is probably accurate.

Being a good winner and not lining people up and putting them against the wall and pulling the trigger is probably the best way to go about making the country governable again. Presently, the federal government is barely functioning.

]It reminds me of when Obama basically set aside the Bush administration’s torture program. If anyone in here was around back then, it was probably the thing I hated most about Bush/Cheney and often wrote fairly ballistic posts on the subject.

However, from a governing viewpoint, maybe what Obama did was the expedient thing to do, at least from where he was sitting. I found it very disappointing. But I’m not trying to govern a stunningly diverse country of 320m people. We aren’t 10m socially cohesive Danes living on a Penninsula in the North Sea.

It’s a difficult thing. From where you and I sit, of course I want heads on a platter, especially on the Russia collusion and children-in-cages. But the country also needs to function.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But I’d also look at a split within the GOP. The Trumpers will go with him, and who will be left?

Here is the problem with this argument. There is a huge area between saying "let's forget what happened" and "let's put them against the wall". Reducing it to these two choices - even metaphorically - really obscures the range of things that can be done.

On the political track, Democrats should not delude themselves into thinking that most Republicans are a legitimate political force that operates within the parameters of a democratic society. Some of their core policy views - making it difficult for people to vote, using Republican-packed courts to maintain themselves in power at the local level, etc - are undermining democracy in the country and making it less "governable" by making this a minority-rule society.

On the legal track, I'm of the strong belief that you cannot have true reconciliation without a modicum of accountability. I find it highly unlikely that the next administration will decide to seriously pursue Trump's various crimes, or Bill Barr's actions as AG, or any of the corruption of the current administration. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. Barring some form of accountability, the erosion of the rule of law under the current administration will become crystalized and continue to shape the US political system going forward.


If Dems win the Senate as well, do you think the revisionism you mention would still happen? In that case, the incentive to "reach across the aisle" would be significantly reduced.

Perhaps. But are they going to do what is needed to govern when a bad faith opposition is trying to block everything? Will they end the filibuster? I am not sure. Compare the way the Dems acted as opposition party in the last two years with the Republicans during Obama. I find the Dems too shy to play hardball, and they seem to think that their core constituency is made up of moderate voters.
 
It physically pains me to see Obama and hear him speak. He was nowhere near perfect, nobody is, but the horror that has followed is unspeakable.

Donald Trump isn’t fit to hold Obama’s shit in a shovel.
 
It physically pains me to see Obama and hear him speak. He was nowhere near perfect, nobody is, but the horror that has followed is unspeakable.

Donald Trump isn’t fit to hold Obama’s shit in a shovel.

Exactly, and I just love your expression shit in a shovel.

All kinds of talk about how Obama violated the protocol by criticizing the sitting President. Screw that-what's left of this country is literally at stake.

Kamala killed it too.
 
All of a sudden presidential protocol matters. GTFO.

I know, they don't even see how hypocritical and ludicrous and insane that is. Heard that Cheeto McTweeto was tweeting up a storm during Obama's speech, I can only imagine the crazy.

And shit in shovel definitely has to be the next thread title.
 
I think we need a separate thread to debate whether or not said shitting should take place in your own shovel (shit in their shovel), any shovel (shit in a shovel), or, for the far left leaning folks, a collective shovel (shit in our shovel).

And shit in shovel definitely has to be the next thread title.

Perhaps shit in an Australian shovel.
 
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