U.S. Politics

[Unchained]

I can hardly see what all the fuss is about over Roy Moore's son being arrested for the 8th time. Roy Moore was told by the court not to break the law not once but 4 times..he broke the law even after swearing he wouldn't in court.
Joe Arpaio promised not to break the law but walked out of court with a second script, waaay. different from what was sworn on the Bible to in court.. both guys..have some pretty selective views on biblical principles.. promise on the Bible and then immediately after their hand is not physically resting on the book..live a lie..Roy Moore's son didn't fall far from the tree.. Dad's a liar why the surprise at the son..
Our President is caught in multiple lies per month.. it's the new American norm.. the Democratic party should feel an utter sense of shame.. If this run of the mill Republican offering can't be out smarted we are doomed.

[Merckx index]

FB is going absolutely bonkers over the Rand Paul assault. I've never seen anything like it. It sounds like it was a quarrel between two neighbors, with this guy snapping and punching Paul or something. He was arrested for "fourth degree assault", which sounds pretty minor. Probably nothing to do with politics, though it seems that this guy is anti-Trump.

But of course Republicans are building this up as the loony left being violent against people they don't agree with. And Dems are chuckling that Mr. Libertarian and gun advocate calls in the government to protect him. And on and on.

[red_flanders]

Two popular right wing political commentators outed as Russian trolls. Wonder how many of their stories were repeated here...
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/russia-fake-twitter-facebook-posts-accounts-trump-election-jenna-abrams-20171103.html

Donna Brazille story on Clinton now debunked:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/358748-howard-dean-clinton-dnc-agreement-was-standard-operating

"Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to violate the DNC's obligation of impartiality and neutrality through the Nominating process," the memo says. "All activities performed under this agreement will be focused exclusively on preparations for the General Election and not the Democratic Primary,” the agreement read.

"Further we understand you may enter into similar agreements with other candidates," it read.

Had nothing to do with the primary or the DNC's treatment of Bernie during that time.

[aphronesis]

https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/wayne-allyn-root/commentary-heres-plenty-of-proof-that-liberals-are-just-plain-nuts/

https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/wayne-allyn-root/commentary-donald-trump-is-the-picasso-of-tweets/

hey ho

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/04/donald-trump-saudi-oil-company-new-york-stock-exchange?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[aphronesis]

woot woot. god bless america

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/us/church-shooting-texas.amp.html

[djpbaltimore]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/29/hail-to-the-chief-cyclist-gives-trump-the-middle-finger?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Update. She was fired for doing this.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/she-flipped-off-president-trump--and-got-fired-from-her-government-contracting-job/2017/11/06/4cf1af9a-c2da-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html?utm_term=.a663f906e856

[Jagartrott]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/29/hail-to-the-chief-cyclist-gives-trump-the-middle-finger?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Update. She was fired for doing this.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/she-flipped-off-president-trump--and-got-fired-from-her-government-contracting-job/2017/11/06/4cf1af9a-c2da-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html?utm_term=.a663f906e856

A company can fire her for her being photographed in public, in her free time, giving Trump the finger?
Amazing.
#freedomfries

[Echoes]

Shooter is white-skinned, so it's not terrorism (even if the shooter committed suicide), just a shooting. Gun control debate is re-opened and within a few days, everything will be forgotten... (Edit: there's sarcasm in my post, it's not my own opinion, of course)

[djpbaltimore]

Apparently, the lesson to be learned was that more people should go to church armed to prevent future mass shootings. (Not joking. This was suggested by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton)

Then there is this silver lining put forward by Ainsley Earhardt at Fox News.

“But I was downstairs talking with some people that work here that we all talk about our faith and we share the same beliefs. We were saying there’s no other place we would want to go other than church, because I’m there asking for forgiveness.”

[Archibald]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/29/hail-to-the-chief-cyclist-gives-trump-the-middle-finger?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Update. She was fired for doing this.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/she-flipped-off-president-trump--and-got-fired-from-her-government-contracting-job/2017/11/06/4cf1af9a-c2da-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html?utm_term=.a663f906e856

A company can fire her for her being photographed in public, in her free time, giving Trump the finger?
Amazing.
#freedomfries

yep, company in no way connected with anything to do with the picture of the woman on the bike, decides to announce to the world that they're complete idiots... genius advertising...

[Archibald]

Apparently, the lesson to be learned was that more people should go to church armed to prevent future mass shootings. (Not joking. This was suggested by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton)

Then there is this silver lining put forward by Ainsley Earhardt at Fox News.

“But I was downstairs talking with some people that work here that we all talk about our faith and we share the same beliefs. We were saying there’s no other place we would want to go other than church, because I’m there asking for forgiveness.”

a bit old, but anyway, you'll work out the song easily enough... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9XEmp_iRP4

[aphronesis]

Of course she could have kept the photo off her feed and nothing would have happened either. Not that that justifies thecompany’s response. Part of a larger dynamic.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/americas-war-terror-become-reign-terror/

[djpbaltimore]

There was definitely some degree of self-inflicted wounding with that whole incident.

@RepChrisCollins (R-NY) on tax reform: "My donors are basically saying, 'Get it done or don’t ever call me again.'" An unusually honest response about why this bill will ultimately pass in the House. Also helps to explain how the loophole that allows Corporations and Pass-throughs businesses (e.g. Trump and Kushner) to deduct state and local taxes while their workers cannot made it into the final product.

One from the 'America First' wing of the GOP.

But the financial arrangements of another foundation, which bankrolled Bannon’s creation of the book, Clinton Cash, have received less scrutiny. Leaked documents and newly obtained public filings show how the billionaire Mercer family built a $60m war chest for conservative causes inside their family foundation by using an offshore investment vehicle to avoid US tax. The offshore vehicle was part of a network of companies in the Atlantic tax haven of Bermuda led by Robert Mercer, the wealthy hedge-fund executive and Bannon patron whose spending helped put Trump in the White House and aided a resurgence of the Republican right.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/07/steve-bannon-bermuda-robert-mercer

[aphronesis]

Hoo-ray. Dems rallied. Now we can put a feel-good smiley face back on the proceedings. Rainbow colored and non-sexist of course.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/disposability-age-disasters/

[djpbaltimore]

Last night pointed the way forward for the dems. The question is whether the same trend will be present in the rest of the country. The winning recipe in Virginia in the state and local races was strengthening support from the suburbs and more millennials showing up to vote. The conservative rural areas seemed to go GOP as much as they did in 2016. I think it will be tough to make much headway there, even with a better economic message. The bar is set pretty low for him there.

A year later, the local unemployment rate has ticked down, and activity in a few coal mines has ticked up. Beyond that, though, not much has changed—at least not for the better. Johnstown and the surrounding region are struggling in the same ways and for the same reasons. The drug problem is just as bad. “There’s nothing good in the area,” Schilling said the other day in her living room. “I don’t have anything good to say about anything in this area. It’s sad.” Even so, her backing for Trump is utterly undiminished: “I’m a supporter of him, 100 percent.” What I heard from Schilling is overwhelmingly what I heard in my follow-up conversations with people here that I talked to last year as well.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was how readily these same people had abandoned the contract he had made with them. Their satisfaction with Trump now seems untethered to the things they once said mattered to them the most....Johnstown voters do not intend to hold the president accountable for the nonnegotiable pledges he made to them. It’s not that the people who made Trump president have generously moved the goalposts for him. It’s that they have eliminated the goalposts altogether.

He added: “Some of these things are like that thing he said to Billy, Billy Bob, Billy Bud”—searching, unsuccessfully, for the name Billy Bush—“on the bus, that comment he made.” Del Signore shrugged. “He’s a human male. I’m glad he wasn’t saying, ‘Hey, I like little boys.’ You know? So he’s not perfect.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800

[aphronesis]

Last night pointed the way forward for the dems. The question is whether the same trend will be present in the rest of the country. The winning recipe in Virginia in the state and local races was strengthening support from the suburbs and more millennials showing up to vote. The conservative rural areas seemed to go GOP as much as they did in 2016. I think it will be tough to make much headway there, even with a better economic message. The bar is set pretty low for him there.

A year later, the local unemployment rate has ticked down, and activity in a few coal mines has ticked up. Beyond that, though, not much has changed—at least not for the better. Johnstown and the surrounding region are struggling in the same ways and for the same reasons. The drug problem is just as bad. “There’s nothing good in the area,” Schilling said the other day in her living room. “I don’t have anything good to say about anything in this area. It’s sad.” Even so, her backing for Trump is utterly undiminished: “I’m a supporter of him, 100 percent.” What I heard from Schilling is overwhelmingly what I heard in my follow-up conversations with people here that I talked to last year as well.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was how readily these same people had abandoned the contract he had made with them. Their satisfaction with Trump now seems untethered to the things they once said mattered to them the most....Johnstown voters do not intend to hold the president accountable for the nonnegotiable pledges he made to them. It’s not that the people who made Trump president have generously moved the goalposts for him. It’s that they have eliminated the goalposts altogether.

He added: “Some of these things are like that thing he said to Billy, Billy Bob, Billy Bud”—searching, unsuccessfully, for the name Billy Bush—“on the bus, that comment he made.” Del Signore shrugged. “He’s a human male. I’m glad he wasn’t saying, ‘Hey, I like little boys.’ You know? So he’s not perfect.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800

I would think the question is whether Dems will stop tacking rightward.

In case you miss this

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/08/bernie-would-have-won-california/

[djpbaltimore]

I hope Donna Brazile has been alerted about what happened in California.

If the dems want to move forward with a 50 state strategy, tacking to the right is almost inevitable. The upshot of that is that you can get Democratic senators in places like Arkansas. The downside is that the senator may be someone like Mark Pryor and will be almost worthless for the tough votes.

[aphronesis]

The downside is that “progrssivism” and “activism” will be ever more corporatized and Dems will keep selling people on lifestyle flavors while doing little for them.

[djpbaltimore]

Yes, that too. Like I said, it is almost inevitable. Look how much credit Northam is already getting for pivoting away from sanctuary cities (of which there are none in VA) in the week leading up to election when it looked like Gillespie was making inroads due to that issue. The party will be a big tent in theory, but I would expect neoliberalism to still exert the most influence in practice.

[red_flanders]

If the dems want to move forward with a 50 state strategy, tacking to the right is almost inevitable. The upshot of that is that you can get Democratic senators in places like Arkansas. The downside is that the senator may be someone like Mark Pryor and will be almost worthless for the tough votes.

This is the problem with tacking right...if you don't do it for the right reasons. What democrats need to do is make clear what they stand for and stand behind it with conviction and courage. This is why Bernie appealed to so many, because people believed that HE believed what he was saying. It matters somewhat less what you believe, rather that if you believe in what you say. Quite the opposite of Clinton, which is really her biggest fault. Too calculating, too beholden to the opinion of others and the winds of change. Leaders lead, they don't follow.

Just as in human interaction, sincerity, courage, and vision will get you most of the way there. This is what the Dems have lacked for too long.

People are tired of the political calculations. You can't ignore them, but you can subsume them under a greater vision and set of principles.