U.S. Politics; Who Watches the Watchers?

[Darth Richard II]

4 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

No way that's real. 

If I had a PENNY, a PENNY for every time I;ve said that and its turned out to be wrong with regards to this...administration...I'd be a fucking millionaire.

[Jaxom 1974]

1 hour ago, Pony Empress Jace said:

Leakers are Treason!!!

I thought the leakers were Russian prostitutes...?

[DanteGabriel]

6 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

I thought the leakers were Russian prostitutes...?

Awfully disrespectful way to refer to our President.

[LongRider]

On I think it was CBS the talking head reported that 45 was mad because Kim Jong Il called Mikey a dummy.*  Bad move!  Look, KJI, you need to remember to address our piss soaked leader at all times (never Mikey) and if you want to call anyone a dummy that would him, 45.  So the whole meeting is off because you called the wrong man a dummy.  In the future, refer to our glorious leader with the hair the color of weak piss, as 'Dummy' (be sure it's capitalized) and our brave Mommy's Boy VP as "Dipshit Cowpoke."  He is after all, from Arkansas I mean, Indiana.   

 

*this is true, that's what they reported

[TheKitttenGuard]

1 hour ago, LongRider said:

On I think it was CBS the talking head reported that 45 was mad because Kim Jong Il called Mikey a dummy.*  Bad move!  Look, KJI, you need to remember to address our piss soaked leader at all times (never Mikey) and if you want to call anyone a dummy that would him, 45.  So the whole meeting is off because you called the wrong man a dummy.  In the future, refer to our glorious leader with the hair the color of weak piss, as 'Dummy' (be sure it's capitalized) and our brave Mommy's Boy VP as "Dipshit Cowpoke."  He is after all, from Arkansas I mean, Indiana.   

 

*this is true, that's what they reported

It was a Senior Official and not Kim Jong-Un.

Kim Jong Il was Un's father, and died in 2011.

[Martell Spy]

The Social Shaming of Racists Is Working

Now, when white people assert private authority over public space, there’s a cost.

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-social-shaming-of-racists-is-working/

Quote

In the cell-phone footage of Schlossberg’s rant, for example, an Asian man can be seen interposing himself between the lawyer and one of the Spanish-speaking women he’s verbally abusing. In the Philadelphia Starbucks incident, an older white man repeatedly challenged police officers about why they were arresting the two black men when they’d done nothing wrong.

 

[LongRider]

4 minutes ago, TheKitttenGuard said:

It was a Senior Official and not Kim Jong-Un.

Kim Jong Il was Un's father, and died in 2011.

I get his darn name wrong all the time. 

[TheKitttenGuard]

13 minutes ago, LongRider said:

I get his darn name wrong all the time. 

Well it is an all Kim Dynasty so I can see it (Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il, and Kim Jong-Un).

Lucky the summit is off or you may have gotten a visit from someone at the behest of our Most Glorious leader for such a slight of such an honorable man.

 

[Yukle]

In the arrogance of their beloved Fuehrer speaking, the Republicans seemed to have forgotten that one power has ruled North Korea with an iron fist against the wishes of the people for far longer than the Republicans have done the same thing.

It's a sad but common historical viewpoint that free democracies are stable, and absolute autocracies are stable and that everything in between is violent and dangerous.

I think Republicans genuinely want to help the USA to make such a transition. Trump is their enabler, not the other way around. He will allow the continued losses at the polls to translate into parliamentary majorities anyway, for the courts to become dominated by extremists who will rule in favour of autocratic policies over civil liberties, for organisations to be absolved of any collective responsibility to the public good, for the suppression of non-white non-male communities and for the burdens of state - taxes, public works, military service and agriculture - to be transferred from the state itself to its urban and rural poor.

It's not a fantasy. It's the model of autocracy. It's stable, dangerous and very hard to break. Generally autocrats don't fall to popular revolts, but when they lose control of their military, who will instill public resentment so as to have an excuse to engineer a coup.

It may sound extreme, but I was discussing with my friends what will happen to the USA and our outlooks were quite radical. Over the next 50 years, since the USA is clearly on an unsustainable path, we said that one of the following would happen:

1) Transition to autocracy.

or

2) Fragmentation into separate states (likely following the rough geographic regions of the West, the East and the South).

or

3) Economic collapse and the splintering of the union, similar to the fallout of the USSR, with a rump state assuming the old duties of the USA as a while (like Russia does for the old USSR now).

or

4) Popular revolt leading to a brutal military crackdown and a lengthy period of violent instability with no clear centralised power.

[Jace, Extat]

5 minutes ago, Yukle said:

In the arrogance of their beloved Fuehrer speaking, the Republicans seemed to have forgotten that one power has ruled North Korea with an iron fist against the wishes of the people for far longer than the Republicans have done the same thing.

It's a sad but common historical viewpoint that free democracies are stable, and absolute autocracies are stable and that everything in between is violent and dangerous.

I think Republicans genuinely want to help the USA to make such a transition. Trump is their enabler, not the other way around. He will allow the continued losses at the polls to translate into parliamentary majorities anyway, for the courts to become dominated by extremists who will rule in favour of autocratic policies over civil liberties, for organisations to be absolved of any collective responsibility to the public good, for the suppression of non-white non-male communities and for the burdens of state - taxes, public works, military service and agriculture - to be transferred from the state itself to its urban and rural poor.

It's not a fantasy. It's the model of autocracy. It's stable, dangerous and very hard to break. Generally autocrats don't fall to popular revolts, but when they lose control of their military, who will instill public resentment so as to have an excuse to engineer a coup.

It may sound extreme, but I was discussing with my friends what will happen to the USA and our outlooks were quite radical. Over the next 50 years, since the USA is clearly on an unsustainable path, we said that one of the following would happen:

1) Transition to autocracy.

or

2) Fragmentation into separate states (likely following the rough geographic regions of the West, the East and the South).

or

3) Economic collapse and the splintering of the union, similar to the fallout of the USSR, with a rump state assuming the old duties of the USA as a while (like Russia does for the old USSR now).

or

4) Popular revolt leading to a brutal military crackdown and a lengthy period of violent instability with no clear centralised power.

If it helps, this is pretty much my read as well. I've spent quite a bit of time reflecting and an outcome that sees even a shadow of democracy has not occurred to me. Not for lack of trying, either. I definitively reached the conclusion that America is not salvageable about three weeks ago.

Not much to be done about it now.

But I'm a crazy stupid person, so whatever.

[Jaxom 1974]

11 hours ago, DanteGabriel said:

Awfully disrespectful way to refer to our President.

Oddly enough, that wasn't what I was going for, but if the shoe fits...

I meant the comment about the Steele Dossier...

[DanteGabriel]

55 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Oddly enough, that wasn't what I was going for, but if the shoe fits...

I meant the comment about the Steele Dossier...

I know

[LongRider]

Omg this is being reported in the NYT as well. 

 

[Holy Sith!]

It would have been so funny if Kim had beaten our so-called president to the punch and canceled the summit.

As things stand, I think that China, North Korea and South Korea mayrealize that they don't need Donald to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Why let Donald ride on their coattails to a historic moment?

Donald had done his best to isolate the US from the rest of the world. He can't just cherry pick foreign policy opportunities which might make him look like a real president. The Nobel Peace Prize committee can rest easier that they won't be forced to make a decision which would forever tarnish the award.

Congratulations, Captain Dunsel.

[Jace, Extat]

3 minutes ago, LongRider said:

Omg this is being reported in the NYT as well. 

 

This is where that whole "dehumanizing" thing is going to pay off.

[Maithanet]

3 minutes ago, Holy Sith! said:

It would have been so funny if Kim had beaten our so-called president to the punch and canceled the summit.

I think that Kim would greatly prefer the US withdrawing than doing it himself.  This way the US looks like a petulant child. 

I've little doubt that the next step is NK approaching China and ROK about making a deal without the US.  And such a deal would probably be much more favorable to them.  A limited trade deal with ROK and a peace treaty between the countries would be a HUGE win for NK and China, and there's a reasonable chance ROK would go for it even without any denuclearization elements. 

[TheKitttenGuard]

7 minutes ago, Holy Sith! said:

The Nobel Peace Prize committee can rest easier that they won't be forced to make a decision which would forever tarnish the award.

The Noble Peace Prize been given to all sorts of unsavory individuals. This is an award was created by the a man who wealth was due to dynamite and weapon manufacturing whom, reportedly, saw his obituary and was concern that will be his legacy.

So it is an award based on a weapons dealer wanting to control his image and legacy. 

[DanteGabriel]

34 minutes ago, Holy Sith! said:

It would have been so funny if Kim had beaten our so-called president to the punch and canceled the summit.

Trump basically did the same thing he did when he cancelled the Golden State Warriors' invitation to the White House after some players said they wouldn't go. A transparent attempt to save face before someone else could make him look bad.

He's a sad insecure child who's never had to grow up. Fuck the people who couldn't see this and thought he'd be a sane choice as a world leader, and fuck the people who helped him get this far in the first place.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

15 hours ago, Zorral said:

Because the Powers that Pee on us all don't think there is any other role for women in sports other than this -- despite being shown over and over otherwise.  Realize, for just one single instance, girls couldn't play in Little League until 1976.  OK?

No other role in sport as in there are no female athletes? (I don't mean to diminish the atheltic acumen of cheerleaders, who are all fine gmynasts, I couldn't do their stunts).

So because girls couldn't play little league some forty years ago, that means they are reduced to beautiful accessories for major sporting events in perpetuity?

17 minutes ago, TheKitttenGuard said:

So it is an award based on a weapons dealer wanting to control his image and legacy. 

That's an awfully cynical view. I prefer the (more optimistic) narrative that Nobel himself was horrified, of what he unleashed. Afterall dynamite also had civil use (aside from the obvious military one). I am thinking of mining and tunnel constructions, if I am not mistaken, the explosive they used before were far more volatile and dangerous to handle.

 

[Jace, Extat]

7 minutes ago, Notone said:

No other role in sport as in there are no female athletes? (I don't mean to diminish the atheltic acumen of cheerleaders, who are all fine gmynasts, I couldn't do their stunts).

So because girls couldn't play little league some forty years ago, that means they are reduced to beautiful accessories for major sporting events in perpetuity?

That's an awfully cynical view. I prefer the (more optimistic) narrative that Nobel himself was horrified, of what he unleashed. Afterall dynamite also had civil use (aside from the obvious military one). I am thinking of mining and tunnel constructions, if I am not mistaken, the explosive they used before were far more volatile and dangerous to handle.

 

1) Yeah, dude. The only way chicks can play football is to do it in a goddamn panty league. The WNBA was a punchline until less than 5 years ago, and it's not really the quality of play that changed.

2) Pretty much. Bitches can't even play baseball, yo.

And Dynamite is nitroglycerin stabilized with clay. Nitroglycerin is one of the most unstable compounds ever created by man.