US Politics: 40 Acres and Barack Obama

[Zorral]

Booker did well too. Among take-aways he got across to this national audience -- as much as paid attention anyway -- is that he too, like Beto and Julian, speaks Spanish.

I still don't like Klobuchar.  She reminds me of de Blasio.

Of course I'm already thinking of the many ways el rompero will / would go after Castro, to make voters dislike him, to demean him etc., with that family name, even though he's not a Cuban.

 

 

[Jace, Extat]

I was shocked by de Blasio, I thought he'd be an utter nothing. Pleasantly surprised by Booker, he didn't ever come across as flat and fake but kept his energy and passion (his best attributes) high. I think E-Warren won this one in the first 30 minutes and shouldn't be penalized for letting the kids fight it out over table scraps. Gabbard also surprised the fuck out of me there towards the end.

I was very pleased to see them use the kids in cages as a political stiletto without promising definitive action that would put immediate pressure on Democrats in the House. Good politics.

[Gertrude]

What impressed you about De Blasio? I don't really remember what he said, just that he was loud and interrupted someone (I think?)

[Jace, Extat]

40 minutes ago, Gertrude said:

What impressed you about De Blasio? I don't really remember what he said, just that he was loud and interrupted someone (I think?)

Oh, "impressed" has connotations that are far too positive for me. That being said, he did leave an impression. He was able to speak with a level of energy I was expecting not at all and he was very aggressive to my eye. Swinging for the fences. He also tripped over his own dick a couple of times with this approach ("I've been raising a black son" just sounded fucking weird, like something Selena Meyer would say about Little Richard) so it's not that he made a good impression but rather that he made one at all which surprised me.

3 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Is it not a bit remarkable the extent to which people didn't make the night all about Trump?  Sure, we heard about him a bit.  But I think the base is looking for not just "here's that I'm for" but also combining it with "and here's how terrible Trump has been on this" which got little love tonight.  

Possibly an enormous opportunity for Biden tomorrow night.  

Tom Perez said clearly last week that the DNC was not interested in making their debates about Trump, and instead wanted to focus on the candidates themselves.

[Jace, Extat]

17 minutes ago, Triskele said:

That's good feedback to the question I'd posed, thanks.  I wasn't aware of that.  I still find it surprising.  Like, are all these candidates controlled by Tom Perez?  If so, then your recent message of doom is more prescient than ever.  

I think that a strong party apparatus is the only hope of Democrats. Now, making sure that the apparatus is not overly hospitable to non-liberal elements is the problem. And likely impossible. But if you wanna win with coalitions you need clear lines of authority, adversaries in common, and agreeable directives.

23 or 25 or whatever candidates all doing their own thing is a bad idea unless you're actually going for what I joked about a few pages back and want a circus. We don't want John Delaney to get five minutes talking about how bi-partisan he is if the others know being bi-partisan is a bad thing, similarly there's no room for anti-abortion Democrats on a Presidential debate stage. A strong party should be able to tell candidates that they have to denounce Assad as a war criminal and committer of atrocities and they should fucking do it. It should be able to tell Beto to shut the fuck up and go win a race before he damages his brand irreparably, or de Blasio to kick rocks. The fact that Gabbard can be on that stage with endorsements from Bannon and his ilk is a sad, sad, reflection on the state of the party. Everyone should be working from the same playbook with the same party-approved messages. Diversity in what they call is fine, but the only Philly Special I want to see from a Democratic candidate is to carry Pennsylvania.

Now with all that said. You couldn't trust such a reinvigorated Democratic party, of course. But this is all for fun.

 

[DireWolfSpirit]

8 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

This is terrible reasoning. Because you were the victim of an unfairness or injustice, others should be too? That is essentially what you are saying

I don't see where you got the impression I was a victim. I took on debt to fund some of my schooling and repaid it when I joined the workforce. I don't think it's an unfairness or injustice to pay back loans whether they be for home's, vehicles, education or any other reason. Its important to the economy that people do pay back their loans or we wind up in the kind of fiscal crisis we saw in 2008.

[mormont]

2 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Its important to the economy that people do pay back their loans or we wind up in the kind of fiscal crisis we saw in 2008.

How is forgiveness of student loan debt going to lead to a fiscal crisis? Please explain your reasoning. Do you understand the difference between default on debt and forgiveness of debt, and why the first is a problem in ways the second isn't? 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

12 hours ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

All of that. Yes, please! And more! The bigger the circus the greater the emotional investment. I don't give a fuck if you loathe the eventual nominee who is a puppy killing rapist as long as I can make you loathe the Republicans more. The theme of every DNC event should be attacking Republicans. And if a Dem candidate wants to play nice, all the others should gang up on them.

I've never seen the Kardashian program and I never will. I know their ratings because I know everything. Including what you did last night. And Tywin, you should be ashamed. Very. Ashamed.

You want to embrace the President Camacho demographic?

[Martell Spy]

Quote

The fact that Gabbard can be on that stage with endorsements from Bannon and his ilk is a sad, sad, reflection on the state of the party.

Agreed, it was an embarrassment for the party. She has cool hair though.

 

[Spockydog]

What the actual fuck, America?

Woman indicted for manslaughter after miscarrying when shot

Quote

 

An Alabama woman was indicted for manslaughter after she was shot and her unborn child died because a grand jury said she initiated the confrontation, according to AL.com.

Marshae Jones of Birmingham was five months pregnant when Ebony Jemison shot her in the stomach in December 2018. Jemison was charged with manslaughter by police, but the grand jury did not indict her, leading to the dismissal of the charges, AL.com reported.

 

 

[Maithanet]

My takeaway from the debate is that I can divide the candidates into three camps:

People I want to hear more from, and could possibly vote for:  Warren, Booker, Castro, Inslee

People I don't need to hear more from:  Klobuchar, Beto

People I don't even know why you're running and want you to stop:  Ryan, DeBlasio, Delaney, Gabbard

I was actually disappointed that Inslee didn't get to talk more (he spoke the least of any of the ten candidates) because I thought his answers were solid and he has some presence.  Castro, Booker and Warren were the candidates I expected to like going in, and they delivered for the most part.   

[lancerman]

Warren won. Castro boosted his profile and raised his chances a few points. Booker justified his existence and gave himself a punchers chance.

Ryan torpedoed his campaign in that exchange with Gabbard. Delaney died a death of futility. Beto showed he was dumb for listening to whoever said he should run. 

Everyone else did some good things but I couldn’t help but feel they are Cabinet position fodder. Even Castro I think would be better suited towards Secretary of Homeland Security or a focused immigration position. 

Either way I think Warren was the big winner last night. Others shined, but there is another debate to make people forget about some of the smaller splashes

[Mexal]

30 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

What the actual fuck, America?

Woman indicted for manslaughter after miscarrying when shot

More like, what the actual fuck, Alabama?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

What the actual fuck, America?

Woman indicted for manslaughter after miscarrying when shot

 

Yeah, that is a giagantic load of crap in any prosecutor bringing that case.  It has to be politically motivated.  Are we going to start indicting women for murder after a miscarriage if they were working too much or didn’t follow their OB’s instructions regarding the pregnancy?

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Are we going to start indicting women for murder after a miscarriage if they were working too much or didn’t follow their OB’s instructions regarding the pregnancy?

It would seem as if the ultimate goal is to charge women for having the gall to get pregnant in the first place without proper say so.  Pretty sure prima nocta is going to be an initiative on the ballot in Mississippi next cycle.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 hours ago, Jace, Basilissa said:

All of that. Yes, please! And more! The bigger the circus the greater the emotional investment. I don't give a fuck if you loathe the eventual nominee who is a puppy killing rapist as long as I can make you loathe the Republicans more. The theme of every DNC event should be attacking Republicans. And if a Dem candidate wants to play nice, all the others should gang up on them.

Want to turn it up to 11? If so, we need to recreate The Legend of Visanthe Shiancoe’s Penis.

Quote

I've never seen the Kardashian program and I never will. I know their ratings because I know everything. Including what you did last night. And Tywin, you should be ashamed. Very. Ashamed.

I was helping my buddy plan his wedding. I’m sure that’s shameful in your view.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

From last night…

 

Winners: Warren and Gabbard

Warren had a good performance and Gabbard had the desirable “moment.”

 Survivors: Booker and Castro

They did enough to stay above water.

Losers: Everyone else except….

Dead: Tim Ryan and Beto

They won’t make the next round of debates given their horrifically bad performances.

[Mexal]

We are so fucked. SCOTUS just ruled (5-4 along ideological lines) that partisan gerrymandering cannot be taken up by federal courts and therefore is legal, no matter how extreme. The practice of politicians picking voters and being insulated from voter accountability is going to get a whole lot worse.

They're going to do the same with the Census case, no matter how much the Commerce Dept violated the law. Elections have major major consequences.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 minutes ago, Mexal said:

We are so fucked. SCOTUS just ruled (5-4 along ideological lines) that partisan gerrymandering cannot be taken up by federal courts and therefore is legal, no matter how extreme. The practice of politicians picking voters and being insulated from voter accountability is going to get a whole lot worse.

They're going to do the same with the Census case, no matter how much the Commerce Dept violated the law. Elections have major major consequences.

I guess it’s time to play hardball then. Sweep the 2020 elections and do them dirty in every state in redistricting.   

[DMC]

Very sad and very unsurprising.