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U.S. Politics: Can't Stand It, I Know Ya Planned It, Gotta Set It Straight this Morongate


Manhole Eunuchsbane

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1 hour ago, denstorebog said:

To be fair, we can still donate to a shitload of ActBlue causes. I've done that myself over the last year.

Apart from that, the rest of the world need to make sure that once Trump is replaced by someone who actually knows what transatlantic means and what NATO stands for, Europe et. al. still has leaders of the non-fascist variety who are willing to pick up their end of the phone line and start mending fences

Yup, my bad on being unclear - I just meant in terms of "we can't show up and vote" so talking about this stuff isn't a sign of not showing up. My country has compulsory voting which I am a huge supporter of so I'll always be turning out to vote. My country also has its own fight against the new wave of fascism and I know that needs to be given it's all here too.

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30 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

And to that point, I heard a fascinating comment yesterday on Bomani Jones’ radio show. He was reading an article on the air about players kneeling in the NFL, and as he was doing it he did a double take and said (paraphrasing), “Wait, has the “a” in anthem always been capitalized? Wait a minute, hold up, I see what’s happening here. They’re trying to subtly changing the language. They’re idolizing the anthem. Next it will be the flag.” So to segue back to what I said before, that’s how Conservatives do it. They use subtle, precise linguistic tricks to condition people to their brand of patriotism.

Lol, brilliant. Yet another time I wish Umberto Eco were still around.

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3 minutes ago, karaddin said:

Yup, my bad on being unclear - I just meant in terms of "we can't show up and vote" so talking about this stuff isn't a sign of not showing up. My country has compulsory voting which I am a huge supporter of so I'll always be turning out to vote. My country also has its own fight against the new wave of fascism and I know that needs to be given it's all here too.

Australia has compulsory voting? How did I not know this?

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40 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Seemingly on cue, Vox's lead story right now is on how Gillespie's campaign demonstrates how the batshit GOP base is entirely of the elites' own making:

 

Yup. The establishment has always ran on white racial resentment. The only difference is it used to be more subtle. Again, recall the Lee Atwater quote. There were seven n-bombs in one paragraph. That statistic is almost as shocking as this one: Aaron Judge struck out more times in 5 games (16) than Joe DiMaggio did in 139 games (13) in 1941.

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16 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

That statistic is almost as shocking as this one: Aaron Judge struck out more times in 5 games (16) than Joe DiMaggio did in 139 games (13) in 1941.

Or, say, that Judge's OPS against the Twins in the postseason (2.000) is nearly twice Joe D's in 41 (1.083).  :P

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5 hours ago, dmc515 said:

Sorry, I kind of agree with @GornNot that anybody deserves to be ridiculed, can't get behind that, nor any compulsory voting type thing.  However, if you're able to identify and describe the problem of gerrymandering, in all likelihood you are more than capable of overcoming any voter suppression effort, and thus you relinquish any highground in complaining about the system if you refuse to participate in it.

That was my point.

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59 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Or, say, that Judge's OPS against the Twins in the postseason (2.000) is nearly twice Joe D's in 41 (1.083).  :P

You should know better than to compare a single game sample with an entire season. I hope you aren’t teaching your students to do that. Won’t you think of the children? Won’t you?!?!?

:P

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

You should know better than to compare a single game sample with an entire season. I hope you aren’t teaching your students to do that. Won’t you think of the children? Won’t you?!?!?

:P

Lucky for them, and me, no teaching this academic year.  (Well, maybe summer.)

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21 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Lucky for them, and me, no teaching this academic year.  (Well, maybe summer.)

Poor them. I would’ve loved to have had a professor that was like a smart person with a very good brain who had the best words. You missed your chance to Make Graduate Student Teaching Great Again!

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He was never raveled. Republicans suddenly now realizing he is an incompetent monster who'd destroy the world to avenge a petty slight is up there with "I am shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" 

And Republican politicians, and all the White House staff who've been trying to conceal his nature, have participated in a treasonous gaslighting campaign against the nation.

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John Kelly tried to do damage control today with his first press conference. Everything is fine, no turmoil in WH, Trump loves America wants what is best, Kelly was never meant to corral him, Trump listens to advice and is right about Puerto Rico, the media needs better sources, etc.

Underlying all of that, this was a speech meant to reassure people, and Trump has no credibility to assuage fears himself.

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6 hours ago, James Arryn said:

Australia has compulsory voting? How did I not know this?

I have no idea, most of us are pretty big fans of it :P I've argued for it several times, but most people that don't have it seem to hate the idea.

I like how it changes the focus from GOTV to win over the undecided voters. It's not perfect, but when it works it moderates some of the more extreme voices.

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1 hour ago, Ser Reptitious said:

Shortly after the election I posted an article about an interview with Howard Stern. He and Trump used to be really close, but he said their friendship soured after Trump did a complete 180 on his views (in the interview he said that Trump had always been fairly liberal, except on taxes and regulations, which makes sense for a rich businessman). Anyways, he predicted that Trump wouldn't make it through the term, specifically because he would have some type of mental breakdown and either resign or engage in self destructive behaviors. It seems like HS was spot on. And he said this would happen because Trump, at his core, just wants to be loved by everyone, and that that is simply not possible in politics, especially when your political style is to be as divisive as possible (he also intimated that this divisive nature was a new trait in Trump. He recognized that Trump had always been petty and vindictive, but he never saw Trump behave like the way he is now).

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10 minutes ago, karaddin said:

I have no idea, most of us are pretty big fans of it :P I've argued for it several times, but most people that don't have it seem to hate the idea.

Yeah, I think it should be a trait in every democracy, so long as there's always an option to vote for no one, and that if enough people vote for no one, a new timely election must be held. 

12 minutes ago, karaddin said:

I like how it changes the focus from GOTV to win over the undecided voters. It's not perfect, but when it works it moderates some of the more extreme voices.

Hush now, you trying to put people like me out of a job? 

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18 hours ago, S John said:

I don't know how long the Trump experiment will last.  I hope to Christ not past 2020, but there is zero doubt that this country will be much worse in so many ways than what he inherited.  I remember in 2008 thinking Obama was probably going to be the most historically significant presidency of my lifetime as a positive historical landmark and all the optimism he brought to the table.

 But now I'm thinking that the most historic presidency in my lifetime could very well be Trump's  and for the exact opposite reasons - the division, lies, the impulsiveness, the lack of compassion, the inability to apologize or take responsibility, the incredible narcissism, disregard for social norms, inability to handle criticism, threatening global posture, and downright childish antics.  The guy is dangerous in so many ways.  He's the only president who I've ever seriously thought that the worst case scenario is that this guy gets us all killed, that's where the bar is on Trump and I can't recall a lower one.

They're remarkably similar in that respect: both promised major changes and both were constrained by the existing systems to the point where the changes they brought were well within the tolerance of those systems.

18 hours ago, S John said:

If he had sloughed off 75% of his followers by now I'd be less concerned, but since he hasn't I can only conclude that even if we survive Trumps term(s) the country is still more than ripe for the next demagogue to take up where he left off.

Indeed, there's a pretty good chance that the next one will be a great deal worse. Imagine somebody without Trump's baggage -- no history of infidelity, three marriages, bankruptcies, endless supply of vulgar and offensive quotes, etc. -- who, at the same time, is willing to do what Trump has thus far has not been: tell the courts that they can go enforce their own decisions (a-la Trump's favorite 19th century President), arrange raids at dawn on the homes of political adversaries (a-la Wisconsin) and so on. In the worst case, somebody like that working with the intelligence community (rather than against them, as Trump is currently doing) should have a surprisingly easy time turning the US into some variant of a sovereign democracy.

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3 hours ago, karaddin said:

I have no idea, most of us are pretty big fans of it :P I've argued for it several times, but most people that don't have it seem to hate the idea.

I like how it changes the focus from GOTV to win over the undecided voters. It's not perfect, but when it works it moderates some of the more extreme voices.

I've heard of it and think it's a great idea.  Can't see if flying in the USA any time soon, unfortunately.

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4 hours ago, DanteGabriel said:

He was never raveled. Republicans suddenly now realizing he is an incompetent monster who'd destroy the world to avenge a petty slight is up there with "I am shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" 

And Republican politicians, and all the White House staff who've been trying to conceal his nature, have participated in a treasonous gaslighting campaign against the nation.

This is the second time he's walked away from a signing ceremony without signing and Pence had to chase him down.  Unraveled is right.

 

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