Random Politics Thread

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I consider whatever Harris was doing to fall under the heading of 'political theater'. Reminds me of Blinken's numerous trips for ceasefire negotiations in the middle East (all unproductive). I'm fine with sending someone out to do these things, but at the same time, the border should have been secured. No reason one can't stop the bleeding AND address the long term cause of the problem. The Dems failed to stop the bleeding, and it cost them.

@JVB - we are talking about the same bill. When I say Trump scuttled it I just meant he used his influence to stop the Republicans in congress from voting for it.

If Biden and the Dems had any political savvy, they would have passed executive action after the bill failed. I believe Biden did do something along these lines (I recall something about more restrictions if border crossings surged on any given day). However, it was a lame half measure which tried to please his progressive base at the same time as making the general public feel something was being done, but pleased no one as far as I could tell. It also came too late in the game.

I don't think anything they would have done would have worked. It would have turned out that same. The Democrats would have kept pointing out how serious they are on immigration, and the Republicans would have kept paying these statements no mind. I've seen this movie before.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Australia approves ban on social media for under-16s

 

[The Cat]

 

[ygolo]

 

[ygolo]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Australia approves ban on social media for under-16s

Australia PM says Musk pushing agenda after social media ban

 

[Totenkindly]

The way these new men in charge joke on X like 12-year-old boys makes me feel the same way I would feel if I was about to have major surgery and the surgeons and nurses were goofing off joking around with off-colored jokes right before the anesthesia kicks in.

yeah it is really a crazy place we have reached. There were still evil, controlling, or shithead-y politicians in our past, but they typically would maintain the pretense publicly of being decent people and the adults in the room. I remember Nixon resigning to avoid impeachment just because he had people break into the DNC offices -- such a small crime compared to what today's current batch is accused of and/or guilty of -- and because they got all of his private tapes with him saying some pretty terrible things.

Now Trump publicly mocks a disabled reporter in the very start of his campaign in 2016 and only gets far worse from there, and there are no repercussions. Just the unprofessionalism, the callowness, the crudeness, all on brazen public display now in 2024. And these are the people wanting to fire a lot of people for political reasons and/or claim they can fix our country's complex problems. Can we vote "no confidence"?

 

[The Cat]

Every republican who takes issue with Biden pardoning his son. Can go fuck themselves. But not harder than the msm. Equally hard though.

 

[Totenkindly]

Every republican who takes issue with Biden pardoning his son. Can go fuck themselves. But not harder than the msm. Equally hard though.

Yeah, there's room for criticism there, but frankly the loud ones right now seem to be pearl-clutching hypocrites and/or double-standard.

 

[ceecee]

Every republican who takes issue with Biden pardoning his son. Can go fuck themselves. But not harder than the msm. Equally hard though.

If Democrats can take any lesson away from all of this - it's that left populism will win elections. And that you don't apologize for anything, including pardoning his kid. But in this case, Biden should tell them - suck my dick.

 

[The Cat]

My only criticism is he said he wouldn't pardon his son in the first place because it was too much like capitulating to a disingenuous mob. I'm to the point where I want dems to start acting like republicans and doing whatever the fuck and telling the rest of the world to fuck off its happening. And the fact that the MSM is acting like Biden did something wrong given who Trump has and will pardon when all is said and done, might as well just start wearing the red ball caps. Because they're complicit at this point.

 

[The Cat]

If Democrats can take any lesson away from all of this - it's that left populism will win elections. And that you don't apologize for anything, including pardoning his kid. But in this case, Biden should tell them - suck my dick.

Full on in aviators with an ice cream bar in the shape of a middle finger.

 

[Totenkindly]

My only criticism is he said he wouldn't pardon his son in the first place because it was too much like capitulating to a disingenuous mob.

Yeah, that was mainly my thought.

I'm to the point where I want dems to start acting like republicans and doing whatever the fuck and telling the rest of the world to fuck off its happening.

its all so reedic, and dems just habitually shoot themselves in both feet. What Biden said wasn't wrong, in terms of how his son's case was handled differently than similar cases, mainly as an attack against Biden. Basically the wolves complaining when one of the sheep has the audacity to try to escape

And the fact that the MSM is acting like Biden did something wrong given who Trump has and will pardon when all is said and done, might as well just start wearing the red ball caps. Because they're complicit at this point.

Yeah fuck the MSM. They have no compass and are complicit in all of this. Trump will do far worse and has already, yet they try to portray this as somehow comparable.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I understand why the voters of the Democratic party are upset about all of this. I really do.


However I am also under the impression that people due to current social atmosphere don't see what I would define as "the big picture". It is true, Republicans won. However they have sent their strongest face into the race and barely won against a candidate that Democrats had to pull out of the hat due to circumstances. Republican and the public discourse is constantly pushing this idea that this is some kind of historic landslide. While in reality Trump got the swing states by a point or two. House is currently 220 vs 214 (while one seat is still in the air and it leans D). In the senate it is 53 vs. 47, since Republicans had very very favorable map on their side. Because all competitive seats were basically on the defense for the Democrats. I mean what they flipped ? West Virginia, the Trump 30+ state where Democrats shouldn't even have a senate seat. The same goes for Montana, which is just Trump 20+ state. Ohio is also evidently a red state at this point. What means that the only "genuine" flip was Pennsylvania. What was by tilt margin and simply because so much money was invested into this state. While out of competitive governor races New Hampshire went red and North Caroline went blue. Therefore overall this was quite mild victory when you go into details.



What actually leads to the big picture.
They have thrown their strongest card by far and just barely managed to get through. But the mother of all questions is "what is actually the follow up of all this?" Trump will soon be 80 and simply can't be genuinely replaced. Generic Republicans aren't really electable anymore country wide. Just about everything suggests that what is coming will be a complete disaster made on evident political incompetency. Generational changes will continue no matter what, since that is just biology. If Ukraine remain standing the whole trolling thing from abroad may not be there any more. Climate change will only get worse with time .... etc. Therefore I really do think that the question of "follow up" is totally legit if we consider how all the pieces are spread over the board. Republicans got the shoot until 2026 to try changing something but that is kinda it. Especially in the case that the next 2 years will be a disaster to the degree as it seems for now. What means that there isn't sound long term plan behind any of this. So if next 2 years can be survived the odds are that Republicans will become kinda none electable due to all the baggage and generational changes. What means that they will be forced to genuinely evolve and modernize. What is a form of political bankruptcy. Which is actually fairly likely since there is no sound follow up behind any of this. Especially since baby boomers are getting out of the picture due to age. The tectonic shift that is just starting to come into the picture, because that generation is now between 79 and 64 years old. While older and truly conservative generations will simply disappear completely. This is indeed kinda politically incorrect argument to use but the demographic is what actually decides all of this.


So yeah, I think that you guys are kinda too gloomy about all of this. If we were talking about a band all of this could be considered to be the start of "farewell tour".

 

[The Cat]

I understand why the voters of the Democratic party are upset about all of this. I really do.


However I am also under the impression that people due to current social atmosphere don't see what I would define as "the big picture". It is true, Republicans won. However they have sent their strongest face into the race and barely won against a candidate that Democrats had to pull out of the hat due to circumstances. Republican and the public discourse is constantly pushing this idea that this is some kind of historic landslide. While in reality Trump got the swing states by a point or two. House is currently 220 vs 214 (while one seat is still in the air and it leans D). In the senate it is 53 vs. 47, since Republicans had very very favorable map on their side. Because all competitive seats were basically on the defense for the Democrats. I mean what they flipped ? West Virginia, the Trump 30+ state where Democrats shouldn't even have a senate seat. The same goes for Montana, which is just Trump 20+ state. Ohio is also evidently a red state at this point. What means that the only "genuine" flip was Pennsylvania. What was by tilt margin and simply because so much money was invested into this state. While out of competitive governor races New Hampshire went red and North Caroline went blue. Therefore overall this was quite mild victory when you go into details.



What actually leads to the big picture.
They have thrown their strongest card by far and just barely managed to get through. But the mother of all questions is "what is actually the follow up of all this?" Trump will soon be 80 and simply can't be genuinely replaced. Generic Republicans aren't really electable anymore country wide. Just about everything suggests that what is coming will be a complete disaster made on evident political incompetency. Generational changes will continue no matter what, since that is just biology. If Ukraine remain standing the whole trolling thing from abroad may not be there any more. Climate change will only get worse with time .... etc. Therefore I really do think that the question of "follow up" is totally legit if we consider how all the pieces are spread over the board. Republicans got the shoot until 2026 to try changing something but that is kinda it. Especially in the case that the next 2 years will be a disaster to the degree as it seems for now. What means that there isn't sound long term plan behind any of this. So if next 2 years can be survived the odds are that Republicans will become kinda none electable due to all the baggage and generational changes. What means that they will be forced to genuinely evolve and modernize. What is a form of political bankruptcy. Which is actually fairly likely since there is no sound follow up behind any of this. Especially since baby boomers are getting out of the picture due to age. The tectonic shift that is just starting to come into the picture, because that generation is now between 79 and 64 years old. While older and truly conservative generations will simply disappear completely. This is indeed kinda politically incorrect argument to use but the demographic is what actually decides all of this.


So yeah, I think that you guys are kinda too gloomy about all of this. If we were talking about a band all of this could be considered to be the start of "farewell tour".

These must be trying times for you, but be brave.
​

 

[ygolo]

I understand why the voters of the Democratic party are upset about all of this. I really do.


However I am also under the impression that people due to current social atmosphere don't see what I would define as "the big picture". It is true, Republicans won. However they have sent their strongest face into the race and barely won against a candidate that Democrats had to pull out of the hat due to circumstances. Republican and the public discourse is constantly pushing this idea that this is some kind of historic landslide. While in reality Trump got the swing states by a point or two. House is currently 220 vs 214 (while one seat is still in the air and it leans D). In the senate it is 53 vs. 47, since Republicans had very very favorable map on their side. Because all competitive seats were basically on the defense for the Democrats. I mean what they flipped ? West Virginia, the Trump 30+ state where Democrats shouldn't even have a senate seat. The same goes for Montana, which is just Trump 20+ state. Ohio is also evidently a red state at this point. What means that the only "genuine" flip was Pennsylvania. What was by tilt margin and simply because so much money was invested into this state. While out of competitive governor races New Hampshire went red and North Caroline went blue. Therefore overall this was quite mild victory when you go into details.



What actually leads to the big picture.
They have thrown their strongest card by far and just barely managed to get through. But the mother of all questions is "what is actually the follow up of all this?" Trump will soon be 80 and simply can't be genuinely replaced. Generic Republicans aren't really electable anymore country wide. Just about everything suggests that what is coming will be a complete disaster made on evident political incompetency. Generational changes will continue no matter what, since that is just biology. If Ukraine remain standing the whole trolling thing from abroad may not be there any more. Climate change will only get worse with time .... etc. Therefore I really do think that the question of "follow up" is totally legit if we consider how all the pieces are spread over the board. Republicans got the shoot until 2026 to try changing something but that is kinda it. Especially in the case that the next 2 years will be a disaster to the degree as it seems for now. What means that there isn't sound long term plan behind any of this. So if next 2 years can be survived the odds are that Republicans will become kinda none electable due to all the baggage and generational changes. What means that they will be forced to genuinely evolve and modernize. What is a form of political bankruptcy. Which is actually fairly likely since there is no sound follow up behind any of this. Especially since baby boomers are getting out of the picture due to age. The tectonic shift that is just starting to come into the picture, because that generation is now between 79 and 64 years old. While older and truly conservative generations will simply disappear completely. This is indeed kinda politically incorrect argument to use but the demographic is what actually decides all of this.


So yeah, I think that you guys are kinda too gloomy about all of this. If we were talking about a band all of this could be considered to be the start of "farewell tour".

I think, around the world, people have been going hard on being anti-establishment though. I see the US election is more of that global populist backlash against establishment powers.

The fact that despite this, that the election was so close, should tell us how much Trump himself is disliked.

If Sanders and others on the Left keep calling their bluff on their populist promises, I think you'll see a complete turnaround.

If their meme coin themed commission decides to cut veteran benefits rather than military boondoggles, we know they'll have no leg to stand on.

 

[Lark]

The world seems to be being overrun by oligarchs and their stupid ass followers who are easily duped by stupid commie or nazi ideas.

 

[SensEye]

Every republican who takes issue with Biden pardoning his son. Can go fuck themselves. But not harder than the msm. Equally hard though.

Are you going to say the same thing if Democrats take issue with Trump pardoning all the Jan 6 goons? Because he surely will now (I mean he probably would have anyway, but this gives him a free pass).

Personally, I feel the Presidential pardon power is completely inane. I have no idea how it ever came to be. I suspect the 'founding fathers' wanted a get of jail free pass to cover their own asses should they ever run afoul of the law. This power makes a mockery of the notion everybody is equal under the law and nobody is above it. Any sort of "clemency" argument carries no weight in my opinion. Appeal to the courts, sure, allow one individual to pick and choose at his will, stupid.

 

[The Cat]