US politics: No sub rosa Omarosa

[Martell Spy]

Conservatives Can’t Decide If Nordic Socialism Is a Totalitarian Nightmare or Actually Capitalist

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/democratic-socialism-nordic-model-conservatives-social-democracy-scandinavia.html

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Option No. 2: Nordic economic policies are actually capitalist.

Some conservatives are willing to acknowledge the existence of Scandinavia. In fact, the right’s most agile thinkers are even willing to concede the Nordic model’s success — they just insist on (bizarrely) claiming that success as a vindication of their ideology.

The libertarian Cato Institute tweeted out its version of this argument Tuesday evening.

 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

38 minutes ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

It’s hard to imagine many people who could fit that bill. Republican nominee Louie Gohmert?

Remember how close Santorum came in 2012?

[Mexal]

2 hours ago, Frog Eater said:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/08/16/sen-bill-nelson-admits-no-evidence-2018-election-hacking/

Bill Nelson is now backing completely away from his claims that the Russians have penetrated Florida's election system. 

His backing away from those claims wont get the coverage his initial claims made

Umm, did you watch the video? I'm not sure this is backing away at all. If it's been documented twice that the Russians were in the election system in 2016, it makes perfect sense that they are still there or still have access. If Florida hasn't done anything to close the attack vectors that the Russians used to get in the first time, they still have access and he's right to warn Florida about that.

[Mexal]

In other news, military parade Trump wants is going to cost taxpayers over 90m, more than 80m more than original estimates. It's too bad we're going to have to cut the budgets of ever administrative investigative agencies or stop doing audits on predatory military lenders.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

8 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Conservatives Can’t Decide If Nordic Socialism Is a Totalitarian Nightmare or Actually Capitalist

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/democratic-socialism-nordic-model-conservatives-social-democracy-scandinavia.html

 

https://crooksandliars.com/2018/08/fox-friends-proudly-recalls-when-united

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 minute ago, Mexal said:

In other news, military parade Trump wants is going to cost taxpayers over 90m, more than 80m more than original estimates. It's too bad we're going to have to cut the budgets of ever administrative investigative agencies or stop doing audits on predatory military lenders.

 

What part of "greatness" don't you understand?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

35 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

Wait. Are we no longer calling it War Plan Crimson?

Nah, this is a special plan for The Bird when she starts cracking her whip.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

29 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

I probably would have said something similar after Bush in '08, and in both cases it just shows a lack of imagination.  Trump could be much worse. 

- He could have ignored the judicial orders to halt the Muslim ban as "infringing on his responsibility to protect the country".  Andrew Jackson demonstrated that if the President ignores the court, the courts don't have a lot of recourse. 

 - He could start (big, costly) wars of convenience for political gain. 

 - He could use the pardon power far more aggressively than he currently is to demonstrate that anyone acting on his behalf needs not fear the law. 

I wouldn’t have because I saw Sarah Palin. Dubya was a deeply flawed president, most likely bottom five all time, but he wasn’t crazy. Palin and the clown car that’s followed her are, and Trump appears to be close to the final destination of how crazy politics can get. I just can’t see any current figures who surpass him and have an outside shot at the presidency. Hopefully Trump is the end of that road, and that his presidency fails spectacularly while doing the least amount of damage to the country. That seems like the only way the right can pivot back to a path of sanity.

And as to the list you laid out, give it time. All three are still very realistic possibilities.

[Maithanet]

Fivethirtyeight just released their House Forecast Model.  It's about what you'd expect if you've been following Cook and Sabato forecasts closely (as one does).  One interesting thing is that it forecasts the democrats as approximately 75% to take the House, but if you look at the race by race favorites, Democrats are only favored in the model in 220 of the 435 races.  The reason the Democrats are favored by as much as they are is that they have at least a 1 in 4 chance in an additional 29 races, whereas that number for the Democrats is only 20 races. 

[Maithanet]

1 minute ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

I just can’t see any current figures who surpass him and have an outside shot at the presidency.

Would you have said that Trump had even an "outside shot" at the Presidency in summer 2014?  I know I wouldn't have.

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And as to the list you laid out, give it time. All three are still very realistic possibilities.

Oh, I know.  It's hard to tell if Trump is getting worse or not.  In some ways he is, but in other ways his administration looks exhausted already and it's only 19 months in.   He's certainly capable of getting worse. 

[oberonus]

44 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Umm, did you watch the video? I'm not sure this is backing away at all. If it's been documented twice that the Russians were in the election system in 2016, it makes perfect sense that they are still there or still have access. If Florida hasn't done anything to close the attack vectors that the Russians used to get in the first time, they still have access and he's right to warn Florida about that.

I'm pretty sure Marco Rubio came out and said the same thing 

[S John]

22 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Would you have said that Trump had even an "outside shot" at the Presidency in summer 2014?  I know I wouldn't have.

I thought he was definitely going to lose right up until the election results started coming in. 

[Zorral]

5 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

There is context for that.  If you take as a given that State's have the power to leave the Union, as many did at that time, then his position is reasonable from that perspective.  At that time there was no guarantee of what would transpire if a State chose to leave the Union as it hadn't ever been attempted.  Therefore, while I understand what you are saying, if it is within the aegis of the Constitution for a State to voluntarily leave the Union what they are doing can constitute a loyal act if the Constitution allows for such a voluntary separation.  

I do not want to get into a huge debate about whether such a separation was Constitutionally allowable because we have been through that about a million times over the last 15 years.  I simply want to point out that loyalty to the US over loyalty to individual States was not viewed the same way in 1860 as it is today.

Only by the treasonous.  Which conviction is all the more strong today after spending several hours in the Saratoga Cottage where President Grant finished his brilliant Personal Memoirs, and then died of throat and tongue cancer.

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

1 hour ago, Martell Spy said:

Conservatives Can’t Decide If Nordic Socialism Is a Totalitarian Nightmare or Actually Capitalist

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/democratic-socialism-nordic-model-conservatives-social-democracy-scandinavia.html

 

Their argumentation is contradictory and bizarre, however, all Nordic countries are capitalist. Just not in the same way as the USA is. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, Khaleesi did nothing wrong said:

Their argumentation is contradictory and bizarre, however, all Nordic countries are capitalist. Just not in the same way as the USA is. 

As is the argument that Some European countries (Denmark for example) are hell holes, despite having some of the highest standards of living in the world.

These are the kinds of contortions the true believers are forced into by their ideology.  Otherwise, they have to concede that a degree of "socialism", or mixed economy, is actually a good thing; if not ideal.

Any country in the world where a sane person would want to live lies somewhere on this spectrum.  That is the argument.  Not Capitalism vs socialism.

Now if we could only convince the Republican party (and to a lesser extent the Democrats) that a properly functioning political economy is also essential to avoid a Mad Max hellscape, we'll be alright.

[James Arryn]

1 hour ago, Khaleesi did nothing wrong said:

Their argumentation is contradictory and bizarre, however, all Nordic countries are capitalist. Just not in the same way as the USA is. 

The last sentence contradicts the first in the minds of many Americans. 

Edit: from the ‘examples taken from just today’ file: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/fox-friends-recalls-that-time-the-us-defeated-communist-japan_us_5b7582b4e4b02b415d76210a

[Jaxom 1974]

2 hours ago, Mexal said:

In other news, military parade Trump wants is going to cost taxpayers over 90m, more than 80m more than original estimates. It's too bad we're going to have to cut the budgets of ever administrative investigative agencies or stop doing audits on predatory military lenders.

 

This would be an occasion for the media to take a stand and not cover the event, if it happens, or do any kind of broadcast from it...

[Week]

6 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

As is the argument that Some European countries (Denmark for example) are hell holes, despite having some of the highest standards of living in the world.

Hoo manny gunz they haz? Fake NOOS!

[Darth Richard II]

2 hours ago, S John said:

I thought he was definitely going to lose right up until the election results started coming in. 

Fuck, I thought he was going to lose even as they came in.

[James Arryn]

Hey Ty:

Remember when we were talking about Operation Ajax? Well...

1) Turns out today is the anniversary.

2) Turns out that Trump et al chose to commemorate that horrible self-serving intrusion into Iran’s political life (and the decades of murderous police state that followed) by announcing:

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/402205-pompeo-announces-creation-of-iran-action-group-to-coordinate-post-nuclear-deal

...a program whose stated purpose is to ‘see major changes in the regime’s behaviour both inside and outside it’s borders’ so that Iran ‘finally act like a normal nation.’

It’s bad when your most optimistic version is ‘taking tone deaf to a whole new level’.