U.S. Politics: Oh Donnie Boy, the Feds are calling...

[lokisnow]

14 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

He either took or didn't take his own advice from Art of the Deal: "Know when to walk away from the negotiating table"

He probably has a superficial idea of what that means like everything else in his mind-cave, but it works best if the other side has something to lose from walking away. Here its just him.

Trump walks away from the table when he is bored and or not paying attention any more. He finds he can do it he shouts “No!l and bangs the table and rips off his bib and storms out. It works well.

but why does it work well? Because as a person of immense wealth managing big companies doing deals he has such an unbelievably robust safety net that it literally does not matter what he does or how he behaves, the safety net will take care of it, smooth out hurt feelings, iron out details, placate him with meaningless giveaways and otherwise the safety net system he has around him will continue to function no matter what he does, and it will make sure he always “succeeds”. And since all this is invisible to trump, he naturally thinks it’s himself accomplishing all this.

 

[James Arryn]

4 hours ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

He either took or didn't take his own advice from Art of the Deal: "Know when to walk away from the negotiating table"

He probably has a superficial idea of what that means like everything else in his mind-cave, but it works best if the other side has something to lose from walking away. Here its just him.

The problem he is encountering is that in the normal way of things we’ve passed the point where he usually declares bankruptcy and leaves others to clean up his mess while he’s onto the next project.

[Zorral]

Russia's buying up latin american resources and establishing itself big time, not just in Cuba again, and so is China,

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/19/us-military-targets-growing-russian-and-chinese-influence-in-latin-america/

while China already basically owns Africa now.

The latest is that Putin bought all of Venezuela's oil

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-russia/venezuela-signs-oil-gold-investment-deals-with-russia-maduro-idUSKBN1O51WX

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Maduro-Russia-Venezuela-Sign-5B-Deals-To-Boost-Venezuelan-Oil-Production.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-venezuela-russia-pockets-key-energy-assets-in-exchange-for-cash-bailouts/2018/12/20/da458db6-f403-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html?

As with Cuba, the orange nazi has just handed over and ceded all influence and presence in Latin America to his runner, Mr. Putin.

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

Although Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ team insists he has had nothing to do with the criticism and there is no evidence to suggest he has, many of his supporters have indeed been peeved by the boomlet of hype around O’Rourke following his 3-percentage-point loss in the race for a Senate seat in Texas.

But there is a specific factor driving the frustration of some diehard “Berniecrats” that has thus far received little attention: The defection of key alumni from Sanders’ 2016 presidential run to the O’Rourke camp and the resulting worry that they will provide a progressive coat of paint for the Texan’s more moderate record.

Becky Bond and Zack Malitz are two of those figures. The pair had a major role in shaping Sanders’ innovative “distributed” organizing model that the candidate used to empower decentralized, self-organizing groups of volunteers in lieu of a much larger, more expensive cohort of field staff. They masterminded a similar setup for O’Rourke in his 2018 Senate run.

Bond and Malitz have already pledged themselves to O’Rourke if he jumps into the presidential race.

“They are using their Bernie credibility to whitewash Beto’s policies,” said a progressive strategist sympathetic to Sanders who declined to be named for professional reasons. “It’s Bernie-washing.”

 

The Real Reason Why Some Bernie Sanders Fans Have It In For Beto O’Rourke
They worry that defections from Sanders’ 2016 team will “whitewash” O’Rourke’s policy record.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-beto-orourke-presidential-primary-feud-former-staff_us_5c27d084e4b08aaf7a91035a

[Mexal]

Just another day in the Trump Organization.

 

[all swedes are racist]

25 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

The Real Reason Why Some Bernie Sanders Fans Have It In For Beto O’Rourke
They worry that defections from Sanders’ 2016 team will “whitewash” O’Rourke’s policy record.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-beto-orourke-presidential-primary-feud-former-staff_us_5c27d084e4b08aaf7a91035a

uhhhh

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

57 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Not even the #1 AOC fan, but fuck Claire McCaskill.  What a pathetic, sore loser.  It's not AOC's fault that Missouri turned red as fuck, and it's not through Missouri that we'll get the nation turned back in the right direction.  

 

What?

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

Not even the #1 AOC fan, but fuck Claire McCaskill.  What a pathetic, sore loser.  It's not AOC's fault that Missouri turned red as fuck, and it's not through Missouri that we'll get the nation turned back in the right direction.  

 

 

44 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

What?

 

37 minutes ago, Triskele said:

McCaskill took parting shots at Ocasio-Cortez calling her the new shiny object and stuff.  

Ahhh.

Didn't McCaskill lose? Cut her worthless fucking tongue out.

[SkynJay]

0% chance I assume.  Am I wrong? 

I read up on what statehood takes and it seems less defined than I realized.  Seems a simple majority in both chambers can technically get it done.  If that is the case is it given if the Dems ever sweep again?

[lokisnow]

35 minutes ago, SkynJay said:

0% chance I assume.  Am I wrong? 

I read up on what statehood takes and it seems less defined than I realized.  Seems a simple majority in both chambers can technically get it done.  If that is the case is it given if the Dems ever sweep again?

Dems could have done it in 2009 and here is why they did not.

the fossilized white men that comprised the vast majority of the democrat senators measure their power by being one of 100. By allowing statehood for Puerto Rico and dc, these old white democrat dudes would have infinitesimally reduced their own power to now be merely one of 104. And they absolutely virulently, and unanimously hated that idea.

They will never do the right thing and vote these two statehood, because doing so means symbolically reducing their own power, and the only thing that olde democrat white dudes in the senate Value  is power. 

[Altherion]

35 minutes ago, SkynJay said:

I read up on what statehood takes and it seems less defined than I realized.  Seems a simple majority in both chambers can technically get it done.

That works for everywhere except DC. Here's the relevant part of the Constitution:

Quote

The Congress shall have Power

...

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States

It's not obvious how you can have a state in a territory where Congress is supposed to be the exclusive legislative authority. Of course, the Constitution has been "interpreted" away in more open-and-shut cases than this, but there will be a debate and possibly a Supreme Court case if Congress ever gets around to making it a state.

[Zorral]

Russia TV's epic troll of the obese idiot in the Oval Office -- which also brings up again the conspiracy theory that it is Malania who is his handler here in the USA:

 

[Fragile Bird]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Russia TV's epic troll of the obese idiot in the Oval Office -- which also brings up again the conspiracy theory that it is Malania who is his handler here in the USA:

 

The actor playing the Donald grunts like a Russian. And brown paper wrapping? Lol!

[Zorral]

Around here, brown paper wrapping with good ribbon is considered pretty cool, if one wishes to go that way.  It also meant the wrappers were recycling their paper bags!  Or was at least in the past.  But then so were newspapers used as wrapping, but newspapers are deader now than dead trees . . . .

 

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

Some of the people thrown off the program describe a nightmarish, confusing experience with clunky technology and no one to help them. Individuals who don't adhere to the new rules for three months get removed from Medicaid for the rest of the year.

 

“I have pre-existing conditions. But all they could tell me was, 'sorry, you didn’t comply,'” said Jamie Deyo, who lost coverage and suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and back problems stemming from a 2013 car accident. “It just was a slap in the face.”

 

Deyo is one of nine Arkansas Medicaid enrollees who sued the Trump administration in August to block the rules. She said a state letter notifying her about the work requirements was sent to the wrong address, leaving her completely unaware of the new terms. After losing coverage, the 38-year-old was unable to go to physical therapy or see her doctor to schedule surgery to repair a broken screw in her back. She’s also had to pay more for medication.

 

Conservative health care experiment leads to thousands losing coverage

'I have pre-existing conditions. But all they could tell me was, 'sorry, you didn’t comply,'' said one Arkansan who lost coverage.

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/30/conservative-health-care-experiment-leads-to-thousands-losing-coverage-1076876

[HoodedCrow]

Don’t Republicans think it’s a win for people to be denied medical coverage?

[Martell Spy]

1 hour ago, HoodedCrow said:

Don’t Republicans think it’s a win for people to be denied medical coverage?

Why, yes. It's a triple win. Non-rich people suffer, money is saved that can be distributed to the rich, and it makes government look both vicious and stupid.

[HoodedCrow]

Yes, they can cut down on the numbers of people with pre-existing conditions, by blaming them as having been divinely judged. Deaths do not count because of their heavenly rewards for submitting to authorities.

Also, they can rejoice that kids are taken from their parents into the hands of faith based adoption agencies or foster care...for money per child. The prison system makes a new market out of refugees, because of the slip in drug related crimes. The wall, whatever that is, funding, can go to Trump toadies. And Trump will have an everlasting monument to his great stable genius leadership, because he doesn’t believe in libraries.

Russia can rebuild its empire because Trump will be their number one global supporter.

MAGA

 

 

[OldGimletEye]

The Seattle mininum wage study.

Recall how conservatives went ape shit over it, like say Ted Cruz saying it just shows how well intentioned liberal policies end up causing harm to the people it's supposed to help. You know, the same old conservative horseshit.

An update:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-24/what-minimum-wage-foes-got-wrong-about-seattle

Quote

The dire warnings about minimum-wage increases keep proving to be wrong. So much so that in a new paper, the authors behind an earlier study predicting a negative impact have all but recanted their initial conclusions. However, the authors still seem perplexed about why they went awry in the first place

 

Quote

Those ideologically opposed to mandated minimum-wage increases freaked out when a Seattle pizza parlor closed. Meanwhile, they ignored data showing Seattle-area employment in the restaurant industry on the rise. The critics even blamed Seattle’s minimum wage law for unemployment in suburbs not covered by Seattle’s laws. 

 

Quote

Much of the hand-wringing was based upon a deeply flawed University of Washington study. As we noted in 2017, the study’s fatal flaw was that its analysis excluded large multistate businesses with more than one location. When thinking about the impact of raising minimum wages, one can’t simply omit most of the biggest minimum-wage employers in the region, such as McDonald’s and other fast-food chains, or Wal-Mart and other major retailers. These are the very employers that were the main target of the minimum-wage law;

 

Now gather around the camp fire kids and let me tell you a very scary story.

It's the story of Dr. Franken-Republican.

It's about the conservative that created a monster he could not control. 

At the time it seemed like a good idea, until shit got way, way out of hand.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2018/12/14/feature/anti-trump-conservatives-want-to-reverse-the-gops-destruction-but-they-helped-light-the-fuse/

 

Quote

for me 2016 was a brutal, disorienting, disillusioning slog,” Sykes, a former longtime conservative radio host, writes in the introduction to his 2017 book, among the earliest of the genre. “There came a moment when I realized that conservatives had created an alternative reality bubble and that I had perhaps helped shape it . . . Did we — did I — contribute to this prairie fire of bigotry and xenophobia that seemed to grip so many on the Right?”

 

Quote

And he does so in the crudest terms. First there is Trump, whom Wilson never ceases to insult. “A monster from the laboratory of a jackass mad scientist . . . the living, s—-y embodiment of a culture that’s more Real Housewives and less Shining City on a Hill . . . a self obsessed Narcissus in a fright wig” with a “Liberace-meets-Saddam decorating style” — and all that’s just on Page 86.

 

[OldGimletEye]

The Alt Right's relationship with Neitzsche.

https://www.vox.com/2017/8/17/16140846/alt-right-nietzsche-richard-spencer-nazism

Quote

You could say I was red-pilled by Nietzsche.”

That’s how white nationalist leader Richard Spencer described his intellectual awakening to the Atlantic’s Graeme Wood last June. “Red-pilled” is a common alt-right term for that “eureka moment” one experiences upon confrontation with some dark and previously buried truth.

 

Quote

For Spencer and other alt-right enthusiasts of the 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, that dark truth goes something like this: All the modern pieties about race, peace, equality, justice, civility, universal suffrage — that’s all bullshit. These are constructs cooked up by human beings and later enshrined as eternal truths.

The alt right may misunderstand Neitzsche, but it does seem to me they did take the epistemological stance of post modernism. And that is something that some elements of the left might want to think about.