US Politics: A Mickey Mouse Operation

[Zorral]

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

[argonak]

2 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

Yeah.  I've been very frustrated with NPR, they too often let people just come on and spew talking points on the radio without being challenged.  Fair journalism is NOT standing by and letting two people argue about whether the sky is blue or green.

[Larry of the Lawn]

15 minutes ago, argonak said:

Yeah.  I've been very frustrated with NPR, they too often let people just come on and spew talking points on the radio without being challenged.  Fair journalism is NOT standing by and letting two people argue about whether the sky is blue or green.

Yeah earlier I heard an update on the impeachment proceedings (on npr) that was just an audio clip of Kelly Anne Conway saying how "it's too late for due process this impeachment inquiry has been unconstitutional and illegal front he start" with no context or explanation.  Wtf.

I

[DanteGabriel]

 

22 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

"Nice Polite Republicans"

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, Durckad said:

Pretty sure everything to the left of Reaganomics leads to single payer and Pol Pot according to the Heritage Foundation. 

Bruh, where have you been? Reagan is now a flaming liberal on the modern political spectrum. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

40 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

Most crimes stem from errors in judgement….

We all knew they lived in a bubble, but I could never have imagined it would ever get this thick when I first got into politics in high school….

[Martell Spy]

46 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

A direct consequence of what the Republican party has become. They can't just go up there and try to win elections by saying they want to strip healthcare from tens of millions as an experiment, or prop up a criminal President. There is no where to go, but to become huge liars, even by politician standards. And then, any media figure that isn't a straight-up Republican mouthpiece has to walk this field of landmines. Do you call it a lie? An "inaccurate" statement? Do you give time equally to both sides?

And of course the experts know nothing and are part of the deep-state conspiracy, anyway.

[Durckad]

31 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Bruh, where have you been? Reagan is now a flaming liberal on the modern political spectrum. 

Real Reagan or the Phantom Reagan that never raised taxes, lowered the debt, and made everyone free again by crotch-kicking communism into oblivion? There's an ever-so slight difference between the two of them.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

10 minutes ago, Durckad said:

Real Reagan or the Phantom Reagan that never raised taxes, lowered the debt, and made everyone free again by crotch-kicking communism into oblivion? There's an ever-so slight difference between the two of them.

Ronald Reagan the man never existed if we were to believe most Re[publicans. However, you did correctly identify that Ronnie Raygun kicked communism in the nuts. But even that guy couldn't win in a lot of places today. 

[The Anti-Targ]

5 hours ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

I got into a car drunk and drove and killed someone. That's not a crime, that's just an innocent error of judgement.

[sologdin]

is that 40% lacking excitement because it is moderate and reasonable, or is it annoyed that he hasn't yet announced the day of the rope?

[DanteGabriel]

2 hours ago, sologdin said:

is that 40% lacking excitement because it is moderate and reasonable, or is it annoyed that he hasn't yet announced the day of the rope?

There's at least a few percentage points' worth of "He let his daughter marry a Jew" in there.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

26 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

There's at least a few percentage points' worth of "He let his daughter marry a Jew" in there.

Yeah, those are the Christians that call us the chosen people to our faces with a clear amount of derision.

But hey, you suckers need us to control Israel for you to get in to heaven. We have a direct pass.

Suck it.

[Ormond]

10 hours ago, Triskele said:

Maybe Trump's base isn't as fired up as we fear?  (WaPo, limited clicks)

 

 

 

The problem with that article is not only that it doesn't have any past data on the "excitement" question for Trump himself, but it does not give any comparative data for how many Democrats were "excited" about Obama in October of 2011 or how many Republicans were "excited" about Bush in October of 2003. It's a lot harder to be "excited" about someone who isn't "new" on the political scene whether you like them or not.

[Fez]

I wonder about this...

I could easily see this being true or being wishful thinking. It does seem the case that members of congress see process votes as different from underlying votes, even though the underlying vote could be blocked entirely if the process vote failed (e.g. McCain voting to allow the ACA repeal bill to come to the floor but then voting against the bill on the floor). And I could believe that those few House Republicans who might be open to impeaching Trump wanting to wait until the last minute to actually do it. But I simply lack all faith in any of them to do the right thing ever.

Also, I have no idea how well plugged-in Bill Kristol is to House Republicans anymore. He's been so stridently anti-Trump that I feel like he's persona non grata in most GOP circles.

[Maithanet]

5 minutes ago, Fez said:

I could easily see this being true or being wishful thinking.

I'll believe it when I see it, and not a moment before.  Look for anybody that is going to make that vote to switch to become independent either immediately before or after the vote.  But I'll be surprised if even a single Republican votes for impeachment. 

 

[argonak]

11 minutes ago, Fez said:

I wonder about this...

I could easily see this being true or being wishful thinking. It does seem the case that members of congress see process votes as different from underlying votes, even though the underlying vote could be blocked entirely if the process vote failed (e.g. McCain voting to allow the ACA repeal bill to come to the floor but then voting against the bill on the floor). And I could believe that those few House Republicans who might be open to impeaching Trump wanting to wait until the last minute to actually do it. But I simply lack all faith in any of them to do the right thing ever.

Also, I have no idea how well plugged-in Bill Kristol is to House Republicans anymore. He's been so stridently anti-Trump that I feel like he's persona non grata in most GOP circles.

I have no faith in the GOP anymore.  You don't get much credit for doing good when its easy.  You get credit when its hard.  

Anyone can be good when its in their own self interest.

[sologdin]

no faith in the GOP anymore

am trying to recall a time in the last thirty years that they have not been assholes, every single one.

[Paladin of Ice]

19 hours ago, Zorral said:

Just heard Public Radio's All Things Considered segment on the impeachment vote, etc.  The only person they talked to was a Republican whose entire spiel was "This is only about one party wanted to removed the president for its own reasons; he did nothing wrong; he did nothing impeachable; nothing was a crime; at most IF -- IF, I SAY -- at some point he made an error of judgment that is certainly neither criminal nor impeachable; error of judgment is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.  It's all political."

Thank you very much.  Next news segment coming right up!

Maybe they spaced out the different segments, but that wasn’t the only they had. They also an interview with a Democratic Representative who was on the committees taking depositions, and two different segments talking to NPR reporters with a “How are people from the parties reacting behind closed doors” kind of thing.

Plus the host did a fair amount of pushback and questioning of both interviewees. Not perfect, by any means, but I wouldn’t count it as rolling over for Republicans, and it’s probably about as good as can be hoped for these days.

[argonak]

1 hour ago, sologdin said:

no faith in the GOP anymore

am trying to recall a time in the last thirty years that they have not been assholes, every single one.

There was that one time where McCain defended Obama in front of his own followers.  That one always stuck out on me.  I think a lot of GOP folks start out with good intentions, but the toxic beliefs that they have to subscribe to simply pull them downwards into a spiral of hate and rage.  When you believe that lower taxes = prosperity, but the lower taxes don't bring it, you  have to assume you didn't lower them enough.  When you believe guns will lower crime, but they don't, you have to bleieve there just aren't enough guns.  And so on and on.  When your positions are based on beliefs, rather than logical determinations, its very difficult to realize that you're wrong.

As a former republican, it wasn't easy breaking out of that brainwashed mindset.  Everything they have is designed to feed back and strength the foundation beliefs, because the leadership knows that keeps people locked into the cult.  All you have to do is find the one issue people care most about, and you'll keep them in the tent. 

That's how I see it anyway.