Donald Trump 2018

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/american-democracy-is-in-crisis/570394/

 

 

It’s been nearly two years since Donald Trump won enough Electoral College votes to become president of the United States. On the day after, in my concession speech, I said, “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” I hoped that my fears for our future were overblown.

They were not.

In the roughly 21 months since he took the oath of office, Trump has sunk far below the already-low bar he set for himself in his ugly campaign. Exhibit A is the unspeakable cruelty that his administration has inflicted on undocumented families arriving at the border, including separating children, some as young as eight months, from their parents. According to The New York Times, the administration continues to detain 12,800 children right now, despite all the outcry and court orders. Then there’s the president’s monstrous neglect of Puerto Rico: After Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, his administration barely responded. Some 3,000 Americans died. Now Trump flatly denies those deaths were caused by the storm. And, of course, despite the recent indictments of several Russian military intelligence officers for hacking the Democratic National Committee in 2016, he continues to dismiss a serious attack on our country by a foreign power as a “hoax.”

Trump and his cronies do so many despicable things that it can be hard to keep track. I think that may be the point—to confound us, so it’s harder to keep our eye on the ball. The ball, of course, is protecting American democracy. As citizens, that’s our most important charge. And right now, our democracy is in crisis.

I don’t use the word crisis lightly. There are no tanks in the streets. The administration’s malevolence may be constrained on some fronts—for now—by its incompetence. But our democratic institutions and traditions are under siege. We need to do everything we can to fight back. There’s not a moment to lose.

As I see it, there are five main fronts of this assault on our democracy.

First, there is Donald Trump’s assault on the rule of law.

John Adams wrote that the definition of a republic is “a government of laws, and not of men.” That ideal is enshrined in two powerful principles: No one, not even the most powerful leader, is above the law, and all citizens are due equal protection under the law. Those are big ideas, radical when America was formed and still vital today. The Founders knew that a leader who refuses to be subject to the law or who politicizes or obstructs its enforcement is a tyrant, plain and simple.

That sounds a lot like Donald Trump. He told The New York Times, “I have an absolute right to do what I want to with the Justice Department.” Back in January, according to that paper, Trump’s lawyers sent Special Counsel Robert Mueller a letter making that same argument: If Trump interferes with an investigation, it’s not obstruction of justice, because he’s the president.

The Times also reported that Trump told White House aides that he had expected Attorney General Jeff Sessions to protect him, regardless of the law. According to Jim Comey, the president demanded that the FBI director pledge his loyalty not to the Constitution but to Trump himself. And he has urged the Justice Department to go after his political opponents, violating an American tradition reaching back to Thomas Jefferson. After the bitterly contentious election of 1800, Jefferson could have railed against “Crooked John Adams” and tried to jail his supporters. Instead, Jefferson used his inaugural address to declare: “We are all republicans, we are all federalists.”

Second, the legitimacy of our elections is in doubt.

There’s Russia’s ongoing interference and Trump’s complete unwillingness to stop it or protect us. There’s voter suppression, as Republicans put onerous—and I believe illegal—requirements in place to stop people from voting. There’s gerrymandering, with partisans—these days, principally Republicans—drawing the lines for voting districts to ensure that their party nearly always wins. All of this carries us further away from the sacred principle of “one person, one vote.”

Third, the president is waging war on truth and reason.

Earlier this month, Trump made 125 false or misleading statements in 120 minutes, according to The Washington Post—a personal record for him (at least since becoming president). To date, according to the paper’s fact-checkers, Trump has made 5,000 false or misleading claims while in office and recently has averaged 32 a day.

Trump is also going after journalists with even greater fervor and intent than before. No one likes to be torn apart in the press—I certainly don’t—but when you’re a public official, it comes with the job. You get criticized a lot. You learn to take it. You push back and make your case, but you don’t fight back by abusing your power or denigrating the entire enterprise of a free press. Trump doesn’t hide his intent one bit. Lesley Stahl, the 60 Minutes reporter, asked Trump during his campaign why he’s always attacking the press. He said, “I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”

When we can’t trust what we hear from our leaders, experts, and news sources, we lose our ability to hold people to account, solve problems, comprehend threats, judge progress, and communicate effectively with one another—all of which are crucial to a functioning democracy.

Fourth, there’s Trump’s breathtaking corruption.

Considering that this administration promised to “drain the swamp,” it’s amazing how blithely the president and his Cabinet have piled up conflicts of interest, abuses of power, and blatant violations of ethics rules. Trump is the first president in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns. He has refused to put his assets in a blind trust or divest himself of his properties and businesses, as previous presidents did. This has created unprecedented conflicts of interest, as industry lobbyists, foreign governments, and Republican organizations do business with Trump’s companies or hold lucrative events at his hotels, golf courses, and other properties. They are putting money directly into his pocket. He’s profiting off the business of the presidency.

Trump makes no pretense of prioritizing the public good above his own personal or political interests. He doesn’t seem to understand that public servants are supposed to serve the public, not the other way around. The Founders believed that for a republic to succeed, wise laws, robust institutions, and a brilliant Constitution would not be enough. Civic, republican virtue was the secret sauce that would make the whole system work. Donald Trump may well be the least lowercase-R republican president we’ve ever had.

Fifth, Trump undermines the national unity that makes democracy possible.

Democracies are rowdy by nature. We debate freely and disagree forcefully. It’s part of what distinguishes us from authoritarian societies, where dissent is forbidden. But we’re held together by deep “bonds of affection,” as Abraham Lincoln said, and by the shared belief that out of our fractious melting pot comes a unified whole that’s stronger than the sum of our parts.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Trump doesn’t even try to pretend he’s a president for all Americans. It’s hard to ignore the racial subtext of virtually everything Trump says. Often, it’s not even subtext. When he says that Haitian and African immigrants are from “shithole countries,” that’s impossible to misunderstand. Same when he says that an American judge can’t be trusted because of his Mexican heritage. None of this is a mark of authenticity or a refreshing break from political correctness. Hate speech isn’t “telling it like it is.” It’s just hate.

I don’t know whether Trump ignores the suffering of Puerto Ricans because he doesn’t know that they’re American citizens, because he assumes people with brown skin and Latino last names probably aren’t Trump fans, or because he just doesn’t have the capacity for empathy. And I don’t know whether he makes a similar judgment when he lashes out at NFL players protesting against systemic racism or when he fails to condemn hate crimes against Muslims. I do know he’s quick to defend or praise those whom he thinks are his people—like how he bent over backwards to defend the “very fine people” among the white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. The message he sends by his lack of concern and respect for some Americans is unmistakable. He is saying that some of us don’t belong, that all people are not created equal, and that some are not endowed by their Creator with the same inalienable rights as others.

And it’s not just what he says. From day one, his administration has undermined civil rights that previous generations fought to secure and defend. There have been high-profile edicts like the Muslim travel ban and the barring of transgender Americans from serving in the military. Other actions have been quieter but just as insidious. The Department of Justice has largely abandoned oversight of police departments that have a history of civil-rights abuses and has switched sides in voting-rights cases. Nearly every federal agency has scaled back enforcement of civil-rights protections. All the while, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is running wild across the country. Federal agents are confronting citizens just for speaking Spanish, dragging parents away from children.

How did we get here?

Trump may be uniquely hostile to the rule of law, ethics in public service, and a free press. But the assault on our democracy didn’t start with his election. He is as much a symptom as a cause of what ails us. Think of our body politic like a human body, with our constitutional checks and balances, democratic norms and institutions, and well-informed citizenry all acting as an immune system protecting us from the disease of authoritarianism. Over many years, our defenses were worn down by a small group of right-wing billionaires—people like the Mercer family and Charles and David Koch—who spent a lot of time and money building an alternative reality where science is denied, lies masquerade as truth, and paranoia flourishes. By undermining the common factual framework that allows a free people to deliberate together and make the important decisions of self-governance, they opened the way for the infection of Russian propaganda and Trumpian lies to take hold. They've used their money and influence to capture our political system, impose a right-wing agenda, and disenfranchise millions of Americans.

I don’t agree with critics who say that capitalism is fundamentally incompatible with democracy—but unregulated, predatory capitalism certainly is. Massive economic inequality and corporate monopoly power are antidemocratic and corrode the American way of life.

Meanwhile, hyperpolarization now extends beyond politics into nearly every part of our culture. One recent study found that in 1960, just 5 percent of Republicans and 4 percent of Democrats said they’d be displeased if their son or daughter married a member of the other political party. In 2010, 49 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats said they’d be upset by that. The strength of partisan identity—and animosity—helps explain why so many Republicans continue to back a president so manifestly unfit for office and antithetical to many of the values and policies they once held dear. When you start seeing politics as a zero-sum game and view members of the other party as traitors, criminals, or otherwise illegitimate, then the normal give-and-take of politics turns into a blood sport.

There is a tendency, when talking about these things, to wring our hands about “both sides.” But the truth is that this is not a symmetrical problem. We should be clear about this: The increasing radicalism and irresponsibility of the Republican Party, including decades of demeaning government, demonizing Democrats, and debasing norms, is what gave us Donald Trump. Whether it was abusing the filibuster and stealing a Supreme Court seat, gerrymandering congressional districts to disenfranchise African Americans, or muzzling government climate scientists, Republicans were undermining American democracy long before Trump made it to the Oval Office.

Now we must do all we can to save our democracy and heal our body politic.

First, we’ve got to mobilize massive turnout in the 2018 midterms. There are fantastic candidates running all over the country, making their compelling cases every day about how they’ll raise wages, bring down health-care costs, and fight for justice. If they win, they’ll do great things for America. And we could finally see some congressional oversight of the White House.

When the dust settles, we have to do some serious housecleaning. After Watergate, Congress passed a whole slew of reforms in response to Richard Nixon’s abuses of power. After Trump, we’re going to need a similar process. For example, Trump’s corruption should teach us that all future candidates for president and presidents themselves should be required by law to release their tax returns. They also should not be exempt from ethics requirements and conflict-of-interest rules.

A main area of reform should be improving and protecting our elections. The Senate Intelligence Committee has made a series of bipartisan recommendations for how to better secure America’s voting systems, including paper ballot backups, vote audits, and better coordination among federal, state, and local authorities on cybersecurity. That’s a good start. Congress should also repair the damage the Supreme Court did to the Voting Rights Act by restoring the full protections that voters need and deserve, as well as the voting rights of Americans who have served time in prison and paid their debt to society. We need early voting and voting by mail in every state in America, and automatic, universal voter registration so every citizen who is eligible to vote is able to vote. We need to overturn Citizens United and get secret money out of our politics. And you won’t be surprised to hear that I passionately believe it’s time to abolish the Electoral College.

But even the best rules and regulations won’t protect us if we don’t find a way to restitch our fraying social fabric and rekindle our civic spirit. There are concrete steps that would help, like greatly expanding national-service programs and bringing back civics education in our schools. We also need systemic economic reforms that reduce inequality and the unchecked power of corporations and give a strong voice to working families. And ultimately, healing our country will come down to each of us, as citizens and individuals, doing the work—trying to reach across divides of race, class, and politics and see through the eyes of people very different from ourselves. When we think about politics and judge our leaders, we can’t just ask, “Am I better off than I was four years ago?” We have to ask, “Are we better off? Are we as a country better, stronger, and fairer?” Democracy works only when we accept that we’re all in this together.

In 1787, after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a woman on the street outside Independence Hall, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” That response has been on my mind a lot lately. The contingency of it. How fragile our experiment in self-government is. And, when viewed against the sweep of human history, how fleeting. Democracy may be our birthright as Americans, but it’s not something we can ever take for granted. Every generation has to fight for it, has to push us closer to that more perfect union. That time has come again.

 

 

[Burt 4062]

6 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

Newfound wealth?  Was I suppose to pick up one of those treasure maps at the door so I'd know where to dig?

[HenryJames 65848]

 

[Francisco 2.0 32290]

I guess someone should try to tell him that tariffs are not "billions flowing into the country".  Wait, someone probably already has, multiple times:

 

[Francisco 2.0 32290]

How fascinating.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tom-arnold-and-mark-burnett-fight-over-trump-tapes-at-emmys-party?ref=home

Quote

Twitter was doing what it does best in the early hours of this morning as recriminations flew in real time following a scuffle between Tom Arnold and MGM Chairman and The Apprentice producer Mark Burnett.

There is bad blood between the two because of Arnold’s new show, The Hunt for the Trump Tapes, which investigates, among other issues, whether Burnett has suppressed Apprentice-era outtakes of Trump using the N-word, according to the show’s website.

The show premieres today on Viceland.

The two were walking into Sunday’s Evening Before Emmy party, a fundraiser for the Motion Picture Television Fund, after having arrived at the same time, when the fight kicked off, according to Variety, which reported it was “unclear who made the first move.”

Variety said, “One attendee who was within earshot of the scuffle said Arnold could be heard challenging Burnett regarding the outtakes of Apprentice.”

Needless to say, events were more dramatically recounted on Twitter.

 

Quote

Arnold has alleged that there are outtakes from The Apprentice that show Trump using sexist and racist language, including the N-word. Arnold claims that Burnett, who created the reality-TV show, won’t release the tapes because he’s protecting Trump.

Trump denied the existence of the alleged “N-word tape” last month when former Apprentice star turned Trump aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman published her memoir, Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.

In the book, she discusses her efforts to learn more about the rumored recording.

Trump has denied the existence of any tapes of its kind.

Burnett and MGM, which owns the Apprentice franchise, have said the studio does not in any case have the legal right to release outtakes and unused footage from the show.

Quote

 

 

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

[HenryJames 65848]

Dan Bongino!

[4th&Five 41444]

 

[Chuckie Finster 22571]

17 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

senior HUD official/event planner*

[retread 2951]

Looks like Ms. Patton was up early this morning doing damage control on Twitter.

Quote

Lynne Patton✔@LynnePatton
This was not an attempt to diminish sexual assault. To the contrary, my post was in response to the hypocrisy highlighted by @DonaldJTrumpJr inasmuch that @SenFeinstein concealed Ms. Ford’s letter for 2 mos, releasing it only when the timing best suited her own. True exploitation pic.twitter.com/8Wv93MFJ96

5:11 AM - Sep 17, 2018

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by retread

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

Because it would have been better if Dr. Ford came forward after Kavanaugh was confirmed for a lifetime appointment to the highest court of the land.

[Bozo_Casanova 26180]

Come back Joey Joe Jones!

[Lurch 5918]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/american-democracy-is-in-crisis/570394/

She absolutely nailed this.

It’s not easy to distill the voluminous disasters in/of this administration into an easily consumable list of critical categories and calls to action.

Unfortunately, those that need to read it will never get past the byline.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

2 minutes ago, Lurch said:

 

She absolutely nailed this.

It’s not easy to distill the voluminous disasters in/of this administration into an easily consumable list of critical categories and calls to action.

Unfortunately, those that need to read it will never get past the byline.

 

The thing you have to remember is she was the worst candidate of all time.

/dark sarcasm 

[NameAlreadyInUse 5102]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

 

I read "president's son" and saw the handwriting and thought they were talking about the little kid, and I thought 2 things, "Isn't he too young to be on instagram, AND, isn't he old enough to have better handwriting?"  Then I saw it was DTJR and I realized that no, that's the handwriting I'd expect from that raging moron.

[NameAlreadyInUse 5102]

4 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The thing you have to remember is she was the worst candidate of all time.

/dark sarcasm 

Hugo, but she was.  Only the worst candidate in history could lose to Trump.  Whether she earned being the worst candidate ever or whether there was really just a great disinformation campaign put in place to make her artificially toxic, the results are the same.  She was a terrible candidate and she proved it by losing to what most people could see would be the worst president in the history of the US.

[TornACL 7666]

10 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

I read "president's son" and saw the handwriting and thought they were talking about the little kid, and I thought 2 things, "Isn't he too young to be on instagram, AND, isn't he old enough to have better handwriting?"  Then I saw it was DTJR and I realized that no, that's the handwriting I'd expect from that raging moron.

Ha, I did the same. I was about to rage that the Trump Crime Syndicate already has Barron spreading propaganda for them.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

Quote

Hugo, but she was.  Only the worst candidate in history could lose to Trump.  Whether she earned being the worst candidate ever or whether there was really just a great disinformation campaign put in place to make her artificially toxic, the results are the same.  She was a terrible candidate and she proved it by losing to what most people could see would be the worst president in the history of the US.

 

Yeah, okay whatever.  Hillary was the worst candidate because our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.

That’s the argument you’re making and it’s dumb. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[conVINCEd 21468]

Ignore

Edited September 17, 2018 by conVINCEd
Stupidity

[NameAlreadyInUse 5102]

11 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

Yeah, okay whatever.  Hillary was the worst candidate because our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.

That’s the argument you’re making and it’s dumb. 

Have you not been paying attention to politics at all since Trump got elected?  I think its easy to say our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.  The proof of that statement is that Trump not only got elected, but he has overwhelming support from within his own party and overall hovers in the 30-40% support range.  He is demonstrably unfit for office, he's demonstrably the worst president in our history, and 80+% of Republicans think he's doing a great job.  They are demonstrably fucking stupid and falling for his bullshit.  Its inexplicable that this is where we are.  But all the same, this is where we are.

[Biff Tannen 45439]

3 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Have you not been paying attention to politics at all since Trump got elected?  I think its easy to say our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.  The proof of that statement is that Trump not only got elected, but he has overwhelming support from within his own party and overall hovers in the 30-40% support range.  He is demonstrably unfit for office, he's demonstrably the worst president in our history, and 80+% of Republicans think he's doing a great job.  They are demonstrably fucking stupid and falling for his bullshit.  Its inexplicable that this is where we are.  But all the same, this is where we are.

Correct.  And in less than two months we will know what we are really made of.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

Just now, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Have you not been paying attention to politics at all since Trump got elected?  I think its easy to say our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.  The proof of that statement is that Trump not only got elected, but he has overwhelming support from within his own party and overall hovers in the 30-40% support range.  He is demonstrably unfit for office, he's demonstrably the worst president in our history, and 80+% of Republicans think he's doing a great job.  They are demonstrably fucking stupid and falling for his bullshit.  Its inexplicable that this is where we are.  But all the same, this is where we are.

All true, it’s just the people that say “Hillary was the worst candidate ever” only say that to rationalize Trump winning and ignore the underlying problem, which wasn’t Hillary.  

Hillary has plenty of short comings and political baggage but the “worst candidate” narrative is mental comfort food for people that don’t want to take any responsibility for Trump.  

Hell, I voted for Hillary and, as an American, I still feel guilty and embarrassed Trump won.

But it wasn’t because Hillary was a terrible candidate.  

It was because people chose to vote for Trump. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19111]

37 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Hugo, but she was.  Only the worst candidate in history could lose to Trump.  Whether she earned being the worst candidate ever or whether there was really just a great disinformation campaign put in place to make her artificially toxic, the results are the same.  She was a terrible candidate and she proved it by losing to what most people could see would be the worst president in the history of the US.

Thing is no matter who the worst president in the history of the US is / was, someone lost to them.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

17 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Have you not been paying attention to politics at all since Trump got elected?  I think its easy to say our population is fucking stupid and falls for bullshit too easily.  The proof of that statement is ...

( this is a little cross-topic pollination, but )  I think the proof of the overall system’s stupidity is in the cruz campaign.  Ted Cruz is it legitimately smart person, but he absolutely forgoes the smart person vote and only panders to morons. Because he knows that more morons exist than smart people. And a moron vote is worth just as much is a smart person vote. 

[NameAlreadyInUse 5102]

5 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

All true, it’s just the people that say “Hillary was the worst candidate ever” only say that to rationalize Trump winning and ignore the underlying problem, which wasn’t Hillary.  

Hillary has plenty of short comings and political baggage but the “worst candidate” narrative is mental comfort food for people that don’t want to take any responsibility for Trump.  

Hell, I voted for Hillary and, as an American, I still feel guilty and embarrassed Trump won.

But it wasn’t because Hillary was a terrible candidate.  

It was because people chose to vote for Trump. 

No, that's bullshit.  I'm stating a fact.  If she couldn't beat someone who most people knew going in would be the worst president ever, she was a terrible terrible candidate.  I'm not clear how you make the leap that this means we can now absolve ourselves from taking any responsibility.  Trump is still terrible regardless of who he had to beat to become president.  He would've been terrible had he beat Obama.

And there are people who voted for Trump because they fell for the bullshit and believed Hillary was terrible.  Or they had their own reasons for thinking she was terrible that were bright lines for them.  Or they just liked Trump.  It was that combination of motivations that led to a Trump victory.  This doesn't absolve anyone of any kind of responsibility.

[Mdhorn 5897]

29 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

All true, it’s just the people that say “Hillary was the worst candidate ever” only say that to rationalize Trump winning and ignore the underlying problem, which wasn’t Hillary.  

Hillary has plenty of short comings and political baggage but the “worst candidate” narrative is mental comfort food for people that don’t want to take any responsibility for Trump.  

Hell, I voted for Hillary and, as an American, I still feel guilty and embarrassed Trump won.

But it wasn’t because Hillary was a terrible candidate.  

It was because people chose to vote for Trump. 

it sure didn't help that both candidates were being investigated but the FBI only went public about Hillary...with the second time coming right before the election.  That's a strong wind aided victory for one. Throw in some campaign contributions when they were broke and hell, Trump was carried over.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Mdhorn

[jimmyjazz 45428]

16 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

No, that's bullshit.  I'm stating a fact.  If she couldn't beat someone who most people knew going in would be the worst president ever, she was a terrible terrible candidate.

Not to defend one of the least likable candidates for POTUS in my lifetime, but your perspective implicitly assumes that voting wasn't tainted.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

Not to mention the person with the most votes lost.

Because that makes perfect sense.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

32 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

No, that's bullshit.  I'm stating a fact.  If she couldn't beat someone who most people knew going in would be the worst president ever, she was a terrible terrible candidate.  I'm not clear how you make the leap that this means we can now absolve ourselves from taking any responsibility.  Trump is still terrible regardless of who he had to beat to become president.  He would've been terrible had he beat Obama.

And there are people who voted for Trump because they fell for the bullshit and believed Hillary was terrible.  Or they had their own reasons for thinking she was terrible that were bright lines for them.  Or they just liked Trump.  It was that combination of motivations that led to a Trump victory.  This doesn't absolve anyone of any kind of responsibility.

How many states would Republican Vladimir Putin carry over any Democrat? 

[pyrohornIII 4783]

34 minutes ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

( this is a little cross-topic pollination, but )  I think the proof of the overall system’s stupidity is in the cruz campaign.  Ted Cruz is it legitimately smart person, but he absolutely forgoes the smart person vote and only panders to morons. Because he knows that more morons exist than smart people. And a moron vote is worth just as much is a smart person vote. 

I see where you are going, but at the same time I think there is something there in the ranks of us who feel the need to stand up to those who want to fuck everyone over so they can get theirs.  Enough of us have realized how greedy people disguised as corporations have pushed aside many social and moral standards in service to the almighty dollar.   

Yes Cruz feels the morons will carry him, and maybe they will.  But the morons aren't the majority.  Up until now they have been the majority of voters.  Until now we haven't had many alternatives on either side of the aisle.  Beto and those like him are offering fresh ideas and plans, and Cruz simply can't accept that people might rise up and over vote the moronic status quo. 

Maybe those new plans and ideas won't work, but at least they are better than the old "stalemate things while i stuff my pockets"  we have grown accustomed to.  

Cruz is like Trump, he has no empathy, he only sees himself as the smartest of the batch and will not adjust.  He has no ability to make in game adjustments.  Whether that is out of hubris or lack of optional plays on his part (like not slinging mud and actually talking progressive platform ideas) I do not know.

[pyrohornIII 4783]

32 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

it sure didn't help that both candidates were being investigated but the FBI only went public about Hillary...with the second time coming right before the election.  That's a strong wind aided victory for one. Throw in some campaign contributions when they were broke and hell, Trump was carried over.

I think the Bernie and Super delegate thing hurt her more than anything.  She came off as condescending and arrogant towards the upstart Sanders. 

[yaqdum 182]

can someone direct me to the hillary thread?  last time you said throw a dart.  i don't know what you meant by that.

[Lurch 5918]

Again, the byline problem. We should be talking about the fucking dead on assessment of the state of democracy under this abhorrent administration...not her!

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/american-democracy-is-in-crisis/570394/

[NameAlreadyInUse 5102]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not to defend one of the least likable candidates for POTUS in my lifetime, but your perspective implicitly assumes that voting wasn't tainted.

Hillary Clinton is not currently running for any office, and likely will never run for another office ever, and she's still almost a daily topic of conversation on right wing news sources, where she is called every name in the book.  She has a great deal of mindshare among right wingers, and its 100% negative.  That's a lot to overcome even if she was the personification of Jesus on earth.  Overcoming that would be a challenge, because a certain amount of that negative mindshare is going to leak out to independents and even liberals and progressives.  It's just the way it works. 

I'm making the assumption that this negative perception was enough of a hindrance that voting didn't need to be tainted for us to get the result we got.  And I hope I'm right on that because I don't even want to think about the implications of Trump winning because of vote manipulation.  

And I will now stop with the Hillary derail.

[pyrohornIII 4783]

Quote

I don’t agree with critics who say that capitalism is fundamentally incompatible with democracy—but unregulated, predatory capitalism certainly is. Massive economic inequality and corporate monopoly power are antidemocratic and corrode the American way of life.

To me, this is the root of all of it.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

This story conflicts with the “Lindsey Graham is compromised” theory.

 

Here’s the deal on Graham:  

From the Woodward book you can tell Graham is very close to Trump.  He’s worked hard to get in the inner circle.  I’d go so far as to call him the Trump whisper when it comes to some topics.  Not that Graham controls Trump but he can persuade Trump out of making some stupid decisions.  Trump actually calls Graham for advice and listens, which is remarkable. 

  Something else I picked up from the book is Melania is kinda Trump’s bullshit detector.  She can tell when people are being sycophants or if they’re giving it straight.  Graham won over Melania early for standing up for the DACA kids and holding his ground with “shithole gate”.  I think Trump also latently respects there are some lines Graham will not cross. 

So, while Graham’s public behavior seems odd and sometimes treacherous to the casual observer, he’s really playing to an audience of one and trying to remain in Trump’s good graces to retain influence.

I’m not saying I approve of this approach, quite the opposite as it’s really just more Trump enabling and normalizing.  However, I do understand it.  Instead of being overtly belligerent and critical like McCain, Graham approach seems to be, “make the best of a very bad situation”.  If life hands you a pile of shit, make a shit salad. 

Again, not condoning Graham but just trying to give some perspective as to why he’s behaving like he is. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Hugo Stiglitz

[jimmyjazz 45428]

How ironic is it that his eastern European trophy wife is actually the voice of reason in that family?

[Lurch 5918]

How ironic is it that his eastern European trophy wife is actually the voice of reason in that family?

To be fair, Trump struggles with her accent and misunderstands much of what she says.

[Nolacycling 893]

 She can tell when people are being sycophants.

Multiple choice:

     A) takes one to know one

     B) ain't nobody getting a piece of my pie

     C) The man who marries his mistress creates an opening for the job

     D) fuck her

Is dotard surrounded by anything but sycophants? 

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Nolacycling

[Hugo Stiglitz 23355]

 

[AbeFroman 2086]

6 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

First off, who the hell even knows what they mean by any of this.

Also, I would look for that number to at least quadruple if they really go forward with whatever they're doing.

 

 

[jimmyjazz 45428]

Using the commonly accepted 3X multiplier, that means the Space Force will cost $39B over 5 years.

[woohorn 1131]

He should make the Martians pay for the Space Force.

[SameSame 1683]

Get your check book Mexico

[Incredulity 11441]

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Using the commonly accepted 3X multiplier, that means the Space Force will cost $39B over 5 years.

I think the years multiply too.  It is a government project.

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

Does anyone have any idea what its mission is?  Is it any different than the space command? 

[Incredulity 11441]

1 minute ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Does anyone have any idea what its mission is?  Is it any different than the space command? 

Infinity and beyond!

[Bozo_Casanova 26180]

6 minutes ago, woohorn said:

He should make the Martians pay for the Space Force.

Let the bears pay the bear tax.

[Mojo Hand 4580]

There is no possible military-related cost that would make Republicans have a second thought about spending taxpayer dollars on it. 

[SameSame 1683]

3 minutes ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Does anyone have any idea what its mission is?  Is it any different than the space command? 

You take NASA, DARPA & SETI and slap new labels on everything.....Voila  SPAAAAAACE FOOOORCE