U. S. Politics: A noun, a verb and no collusion.

[Shryke]

3 hours ago, Pony Empress Jace said:

"The Republic suffers neither tyrants nor fools. Donald Trump was both." - Please god, let somebody say this one day.

Don't kid yourself. The US loves both. Trump is one of America's truest sons. A racist white moron born into wealth and privilege who has evaded accountability his entire life and then ascended to the highest office in the land based on no qualifications but being racist white and wealthy.

Trump is like multiple actually existing "it funny hurts because it's too true" Onion articles come to pass.

[DMC]

On 4/28/2018 at 1:33 PM, Kalbear said:

You literally said it was the primary factor.

Funny thing is, I think I have said it was the primary factor in past iterations of these arguments we've had - albeit in different contexts - but I definitely did not in the post.  This entire tangent was based on me simply saying I think Trump's margin with uneducated whites had as much to do with the economy as racial resentment, as stated in this post.  Thing is, you run an individual-level survey and you're gonna get a lot of, if not multicollinearity, endogeneity between anger towards the economy and white racial resentment.  Interacting the two would probably gain the most explanatory power.

On 4/28/2018 at 1:33 PM, Kalbear said:

So far, it's not been supported by any facts you supplied.

It's cute that you think I'm angry. 

First, that's not what I said, but great misrepresentation.

Second, hohkay there buddy.

[ThinkerX]

Ok.  I am still reading the 'comments' sections to a great many political articles.   

As of late, mostly on Facebook, I have seen a growing number of 'Democracy in Peril' type articles.

The Conservative comments on these articles is almost always a close variant of this:

'The US is a Republic, not a democracy.  Mob rule is bad.'  Further unwritten subtext: 'Elections are suspect.'

[DMC]

7 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

We only have 2 1/2 years left to mock this administration before they will appear on 2020 ballots in the next round of election theft attempts. I say to the Kathy Griffins and Michelle Wolfes of the World, continuing mocking, continue roasting, till the images are seared into the American conciousness. They are performing a patriotic duty, beautiful Americans, we need more of their voices everywhere and often, till these people are out of office.

Yep.  As has been said, Colbert got lambasted for telling Dubya how ludicrously horrific his administration was - in character - and it did wonders for his career.  Good for Michelle Wolf, and I think it was excellent counter-programming for Comedy Central to air the Trump Roast this weekend, which makes everything she said look like Mr. Rogers.  As Jon Favreau (former Obama speechwriter, not Happy Hogan) said: 

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

9 hours ago, LongRider said:

Here is a vid of Michelle Wolf if you haven't seen her.  

Judge for yourself.  

She's maybe the funniest person I've ever seen. She killed it, and she has guts.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

8 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Now that I have finally had a chance to read what she said, I don't think the comments were as bad as I originally thought. This is what she said about Huckabee:

Maybe it was the microphone, maybe it was Michelle's accent, but I honestly thought she said "Like she burns fat, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smoky eye". I thought, WTF, she's mocking the woman's weight? Screw you, that's grotesque. And do we have to be as grotesque as Trump.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one  who thought she said that, because the audience went very quiet and afterwards a number of people being interviewed by CNN said the comments about her weight and her personal appearance were uncalled for.

I don't think that was an unreasonable mistake to make, because you can't burn facts and get ashes. Maybe the comment was clarified afterwards, but I had waited all evening for her appearance and then shut off the tv to go out to catch some Pokémon.

I thought she said that too when I listened, and this was after reading the transcript. It sounds like fat (unfortunately). And I think some dishonest members of the media used that feeling to critique Michelle Wolf's performance.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

6 hours ago, Pony Empress Jace said:

America: Civil War

This Time it's Hilarious

Where's the damned thumbs up button.

[OldGimletEye]

Our Ayn Rand who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy tax cut come. Thy tax cut will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us our daily tax cut and forgive us for our social insurance programs. Lead us not into “socialism” but deliver us to a tax cut for the wealthy. Amen.

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/27/17290610/paul-ryan-fire-house-chaplain-tax-cuts-pat-conroy-priest

Quote

A controversy is brewing in Congress: Why did House Speaker Paul Ryan force the House chaplain, Father Patrick Conroy, to resign? Could it be because — as Conroy suggested to the New York Times — the priest slipped a veiled criticism of GOP tax cuts into a prayer?

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Clown State goes all in for Trump.

https://www.vox.com/2018/4/27/17292068/redstate-mass-firing-trump-conservative-media

Quote

RedState, the influential conservative media outlet, has dismissed many of its writers in a “mass firing” that some site contributors say was a purge of anti-Trump sentiment on the site.

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In which I’m sitting here like Galadriel, saying to myself I don’t deny my heart has greatly desired this. 

But, Booker and Sanders and others need to think about this very carefully. Left wing screw ups probably get punished more harshly in this country as the Democratic Party simply can’t fall back on white identarian politics, like the Republican Party can.

The Republican Party can keep screwing the pooch for almost 20 years and still find itself holding more power than it has in a century. I don’t think the same is true for the Democratic Party.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/27/sanders-booker-offer-democrats-a-bold-economic-vision-and-expose-a-potential-rift-in-the-party/

Quote

An idea for decades confined to academic circles and lefty fantasies burst into the mainstream of American politics this week, with the backing of four rumored Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential nomination.

The proposal — for a “jobs guarantee” in which the federal government promises every American a job — has won the support of Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), with both Booker and Sanders promising to announce proposals in the coming months. At least two other Democratic senators have been briefed on the idea by Darrick Hamilton, an economist at the New School in New York who has pushed the jobs guarantee program.

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https://voxeu.org/article/revisiting-1990s-debate-globalisation

Quote

Some people, economists included (for example, Colantone and Stanig 2017), attribute recent populist upheavals – Brexit, Trump, Le Pen, AfD – to the harm that globalisation has inflicted on workers in developed countries. Other economists (Helpman 2017 is one of them) reject this claim. These events have revived a debate among economists that occurred – and apparently was settled – 20 years ago. Did the economics profession get it wrong in the 1990s? I address that question in a new paper (Wood 2018).

 

Quote

The trade and wages debate of the 1990s was the first stage of a much larger academic research programme. But, more important, did the economic consensus that emerged from that debate help or harm at a practical level?

We can argue that the outcome did not matter. The protagonists, though they disagreed about causes, largely agreed about policy responses. These were to increase the supply of skilled workers, stimulate demand for unskilled workers, and redistribute from gainers to losers. All these policy responses, moreover, would have required higher taxes on the gainers. This did not have sufficient political support.

 

Quote

The economic consensus that globalisation was not the main cause of increasing inequality in the north encouraged policymakers to tune out. It undermined the argument for using a crucial political lever for action, namely fear of protectionism. It was comforting to believe that the problems of the unskilled were caused by new technology, because there was no risk of neo-Luddites smashing computers. If policymakers and self-interested gainers had recognised the risk of a powerful political backlash against globalisation, it might have attracted their attention. Eventually it did, too late, in 2016 and 2017.

The result of a different outcome to the debate of the 1990s would probably have been better policies, but those policies might not have been effective enough to avoid the current social and political problems in developed countries. The future policy challenge in these countries remains basically the same as it was in the 1990s. Whatever the causes of aggregate economic progress, policymakers must find ways to spread the gains from that progress that will work both economically and politically.

I don’t thing globalization explains everything particularly here in the US. But, even the perception it has creates some problems.

Here is hoping we have something better than "multi stake holder solutions".

[Morpheus]

The Correspondants Association has debased themselves further and apologized for Wolf’s set. Have to keep our Dear misogynist and disabled-mocking leader happy or his own pet Goebbels might refuse to lie to their faces daily.

The time for civility is long past. Same with concerns for “stooping to their level”. And worrying about how anything looks to Trump supporters? Fuck ‘em, these people will not be swayed, they are just as complicit as everyone in the administration and much of the media. Trump doesn’t get taken down by turning the other cheek and treating him with a respect he does not deserve.

[OldGimletEye]

1 hour ago, Morpheus said:

The time for civility is long past. Same with concerns for “stooping to their level”. And worrying about how anything looks to Trump supporters? Fuck ‘em, these people will not be swayed, they are just as complicit as everyone in the administration and much of the media. 

I kind of like the idea being part of the "dirt bag" left.

And I agree, that polite parlor talk isn't going to sway hardcore Trump supporters or Republican Party supporters.

[mormont]

Sanders has gone out and defended Trump for insulting women's appearance before. This furore is a whole bag of nothing. 

[OldGimletEye]

10 hours ago, Sword of Doom said:

Lol, fragile entitled douchebags. 

Sounds to me like the case of conservative snowflakes.

[Martell Spy]

GOP civil war in Ohio threatens another special election loss

Outside groups are pouring in money as prominent Republicans say nominating the wrong candidate could cost the GOP the district.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/30/ohio-special-election-republicans-559697

Quote

But some of Balderson’s backers say there is more than intraparty politics at stake: They argue that a Leneghan primary win would put the GOP in danger of losing another special election this summer, in a district that’s been held for decades by Republicans like Tiberi and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Democrats have already flipped a Senate seat in Alabama and a House seat in Pennsylvania in recent months, and House Republicans would dearly love to avoid a repeat in August.

 

[Martell Spy]

Mick Mulvaney Used Old Campaign Funds to Cover Interest Payments on His Loans

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mick-mulvaney-used-old-campaign-funds-to-cover-interest-payments-on-his-loans?ref=home

Quote

 

When White House budget director Mick Mulvaney repaid personal loans to his state Senate campaign in September, he was digging himself out of a bit of a financial hole.

Mulvaney had loaned his South Carolina state Senate campaign thousands of dollars to cover interest payments on other six-figure loans that he used to finance his state-level campaigns before being elected to Congress in 2010.

 

 

[OldGimletEye]

1 hour ago, Martell Spy said:

GOP civil war in Ohio threatens another special election loss

Outside groups are pouring in money as prominent Republicans say nominating the wrong candidate could cost the GOP the district.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/30/ohio-special-election-republicans-559697

 

Grab the popcorn and watch the conservative clown crew go at it with each other. Should be fun.

[OldGimletEye]

1 hour ago, Martell Spy said:

Mick Mulvaney Used Old Campaign Funds to Cover Interest Payments on His Loans

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mick-mulvaney-used-old-campaign-funds-to-cover-interest-payments-on-his-loans?ref=home

 

Well, that doesn't seem very libertariannnish of him. 

Sounds like the ol' socialism for me, but libertarianism for ya all, thingy.

[Martell Spy]

1 hour ago, OldGimletEye said:

Well, that doesn't seem very libertariannnish of him. 

Sounds like the ol' socialism for me, but libertarianism for ya all, thingy.

Well, there is an exemption for the servants of the rich. He gets his butcher's fee for carving up the poor. There's a really deep irony though with this guy regulating payday lenders and student loan servicing companies. Similar to much in the Trump era, it's cartoon evil. Lot of resemblance to Rubio's struggles as well. Remember his financial problems in the campaign? I think he's debt free now, thanks to his wealthy donors.

 

Trump May Already Be Violating the Iran Deal
The deal’s opponents keep saying Tehran has failed to live up to its commitments to the U.S. But what if it’s the other way around?

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/iran-deal/559235/

Quote

 

The more interesting question isn’t whether Iran has been complying with the nuclear deal. It’s whether America has. American journalists often describe the agreement as a trade. In the words of one CNN report, it “obliges Iran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the suspension of economic sanctions.” But there’s more to it than that. The deal doesn’t only require the United States to lift nuclear sanctions. It requires the United States not to inhibit Iran’s reintegration into the global economy. Section 26 commits the U.S. (and its allies) “to prevent interference with the realisation of the full benefit by Iran of the sanctions lifting specified” in the deal. Section 29 commits the U.S. and Europe to “refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation of trade and economic relations with Iran.” Section 33 commits them to “agree on steps to ensure Iran’s access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy.”

The Trump administration has likely been violating these clauses. The Washington Post reported that at a NATO summit last May, “Trump tried to persuade European partners to stop making trade and business deals with Iran.” Then, in July, Trump’s director of legislative affairs boasted that at a G20 summit in Germany, Trump had “underscored the need for nations … to stop doing business with nations that sponsor terrorism, especially Iran.” Both of these lobbying efforts appear to violate America’s pledge to “refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalisation of trade and economic relations with Iran.”

 

 

[DMC]

The Caravan Arrives

Quote

A group of immigrants from Central America, whose caravan north drew the ire of President Trump and became a flash point in the roiling debate over illegal immigration, converged at the California border Sunday to request asylum in a scene marked by emotion and theater.

As the boisterous gathering at the border fence in Playas de Tijuana grew to hundreds, some waved Honduran flags, called out chants and waved bouquets of yellow flowers. Younger migrants climbed to the top of tall gates dividing the U.S. and Mexico, fist-pumping to crowds gathered on the American side. Others quietly clutched infants, wondering about their future.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, mormont said:

Sanders has gone out and defended Trump for insulting women's appearance before. This furore is a whole bag of nothing. 

Sanders sells herself as a holier than thou daughter of a preacher while spending her days lying for a pathological liar who has most likely sexually assaulted multiple women and who more likely than not colluded on some levels with a hostile nation to become president.

I hope more people destroy her to her face like that.  She’ll get no sympathy from me.

4 hours ago, OldGimletEye said:

Sounds to me like the case of conservative snowflakes.

I always find it funny when conservatives call liberals snowflakes who traffic in identity politics. Because it’s not like they’re super sensitive people who traffic in white and Christian identity politics.

[Martell Spy]

Trump Handed the Agenda to Conservatives and They Blew It

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/trump-handed-the-agenda-to-conservatives-and-they-blew-it.html

Quote

 

But these measures are easily reversed and will not leave much of an imprint on the role of government in American life. Is this all there is?

“The truly extraordinary aspect of the current situation,” lamented National Review editor Rich Lowry in a recent column, is that “Republicans are content not to do anything else of significance in Congress this year … They aren’t trying to wring every last ounce of what could be their waning months of unified control of Washington.” Despite giving over his entire column to this theme, Lowry did not propose even a single example of a policy goal Republicans should be pursuing. Perhaps the lack of legislative action is not extraordinary at all!