The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

Huckster supreme Kim Davis and her handlers con another dumbass. 

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jim-jordan-kim-davis-sotu

[DRW50]

As the public continues to not understand that he's supercool and awesome in spite of being told so for 6 years running, media darling Marco is lapsing into fear-mongering 101 and not even doing a good job of it.

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rubio-claims-terrorists-doctors-and-engineers

 

I still don't think Trump will get the nomination, but he did well at shutting Ted Cruz up about "New York values." I do wish someone had asked Ted about "Canadian values."

 

Then there's Carly Fiorina saying unlike Hilary she actually likes her husband. Which husband is that exactly? 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3156767/White-House-hopeful-Carly-Fiorina-s-claims-motherhood-secretary-CEO-rise-fire-ex-husband-ridicules-calculating-tragic-stepdaughter-s-mom-says.html

 

Speaking of Hillary, I think she has handled Bernie Sanders recent surge poorly, especially having her daughter go out and attack him, which is just terrible optics IMO. I still think she will be the nominee, as Bernie is just too weak to be able to duke it out, but she's doing herself no favors for the general.

Edited January 15, 2016 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

Carly Fiorina is a desperate dolt. She thinks she wants to go toe to toe with Hillary but she ain't ready for that. Hillary will eat her moronic a** alive. 

 

I'm not too keen on Hillary's antics towards Bernie either but I am not surprised. She's getting fearful that '08 is about to happen again and Bernie may steal the nomination from her. It's obvious she is gonna win, so I don't know why she's fretting.

 

I just hate that after this nomination that Bernie might once again fade into the background when his voice and views still need to be heard. I hope Hillary offers him a spot in her cabinet seeing as I doubt she'd ask him to be her running mate. I'm pretty sure that will go to someone else. I'm suspecting one of the Castro brothers.  

[DramatistDreamer]

Hillary frets excessively because 'Hillary gonna Hillary'. 

 

I agree with you in hoping that Bernie's ideas do not fade from consciousness after the election.  Some of his ideas may not be entirely workable within the current system but there are many variations that can be worked through and shaped into something workable and quite beneficial to the American public built from his ideas.

 

Did anyone see the front page of the NY Daily News?

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[DRW50]

I have a feeling Palin's endorsement of Trump will be the media whore whackadoo version of Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean - the last hurrah before the fast slide. 

 

So, now that Hillaryland is unveiling their "Bernie is a socialist and the GOP will bury him as a commie" (which is certainly true, but a very questionable attack to make in a primary full of angry liberals), I read this Atlantic piece that focused on her deluded, navel-gazing campaign staff that destroyed her, and each other, in 2008. I do think she will win the nomination this time around, but I worry that she is going to be as DOA in the general as he will likely be.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/09/the-front-runner-s-fall/306944/

 

And here's some silly poo-pooing from HRC (times two) and Planned Parenthood over Sanders calling Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood are part of the political establishment. 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/politics/clinton-sanders-establishment-endorsements/

 

I don't have any great support for Sanders, but he's telling the truth here. They are part of the political establishment, they are very well-funded and influential groups. What's with this wah-wah routine? HRC in particular has struggled so much to seem effective, they have better things to worry about than a basic truth.

Edited January 21, 2016 by DRW50

[quartermainefan]

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[Juliajms]

I've changed my mind and I'm going to vote for Bernie, even though I live in Nebraska so voting is basically pointless for me. I don't think Bernie is weak. He's just an idealist. I don't see him beating Hillary in the primary. Still, he's the one candidate that doesn't seem to completely revile the poor among us. I'll give him my protest vote.

 

People (particularly some Republicans) seem to be in deep denial about Trump even as the polls seem to show him winning. He's even doing fairly well in national polls when they show how various Republicans would do against HRC. I'm really concerned that some terrible perfect storm is going to occur and Trump or Cruz is going to take this thing. I'm not sure who scares me more. Trump is the better politician and a lot of people just don't seem to care that he's playing to the worst of people's fears. He's the exact opposite of what any leader should be, right or left aside.

[quartermainefan]

Watching his rallys reminds me of clips you see of Germany in the 1930s when Hitler was able to whip his followers up into a frenzy too.     Still, I would rather have him than Ted Cruz, who there is literally no way I would vote for him.     I feel the Bern but its hard to see people voting him into office.   I like his ideas but he needs to explain how his taxing and spending will pay for itself.  Even though the country was in better shape back in the midcentury, people are not going to want to go back to those tax brackets.   I don't think Cruz can win, never thought so.  The guy is just extremely unlikable and it comes across on screen.  Trump has a Barnum quality to him and you can fool all of the people some of the time.  Hillary is choking again but she can recover. 

 

I will say her troubles only reinforce my opinion that her being a woman is her greatest obstacle.   Here we are and the news is discussing whether she should be held responsible for the Monica Lewinski business.   Bill doesn't get held responsible and he is liked by 2/3 of the country, but Hillary will be judged.   If that's not enough to illustrate how tough women have it in politics then I don't know what is.  Even if she went along with it, claiming everyone was lying, so did Bill.  With Bill it is "good ol' horndog Bill, everyone's whacky lech uncle.   We'll get some laughs out of him on SNL" and with Hillary it is "how dare she do such a thing!"

[Juliajms]

Yes. I try not to compare anyone to Hitler, but the way he had that Muslim lady thrown out of his rally was sick. Then the time a Hispanic man has beaten up by his followers and he said maybe the guy deserved it. If you're on the watch for scapegoating you can see that Trump is definitely using that tactic.

 

Here's an interesting article on why people are still failing to go after Trump. I think it's pretty much spot on.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/why-does-everyone-still-treat-donald-trump-kid-gloves

 

[DRW50]

I still prefer Hillary as a candidate, and I still think a lot of Bernie supporters are quite nasty and smug, but she's just reminded me all over again that she is a poor candidate. She's good when she's down for the count, because her instincts come out, and I feel like she's someone who has been fighting her instincts for most of her career, but otherwise she's just a mess. Directionless, scared, and yet again she seems to be surrounded by questionable people (this time David Brock). 

 

The whole how-dare-you-criticize-Planned-Parenthood-and-Human-Rights-Campaign business leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's the utmost inside of the inside, and comes at a time when I would guess that many primary voters don't give a damn about treating these organizations as sacred cows, especially since he said nothing to criticize. He said they are establishment, and they are. I guess they want to act like they are outsiders because it gets the money rolling in, but the whole thing has been so badly handled I've seen some Bernie supporters having to beg others not to stop donating to Planned Parenthood or HRC. 

 

As for Trump and Cruz, it's been interesting, if not surprising, how many of the GOP hierarchy are mute about Trump, or tacitly supporting him over Cruz. I guess in this case, being the devil you know is not a good thing. Cruz's poisonous relationships with most of the party beyond the base starts to rot him away when the base begins to doubt him, which they have, somewhat, thanks to Trump's relentless attacks. 

 

The pseudo-intelligent brigades at National Review are hitting the panic button about Trump, likely as he is a finger in the eye to everything they've spent decades trying to push. 

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/trump-nationalreview-218079

 

Limbaugh, who like Palin is more on the carnival barker side, seems to be going toward Trump, I guess because he's in touch with the base. And the base is frothing-mouthed loons who want to know who can fling their sh!t the furthest. 

 

I'm not sure if the higher-ups have cooled on media darling Marco, or if they're just waiting until a few so-called "moderate" types drop out so he can coalesce support. Either way, his whole "I got a gun on Christmas Eve to stop ISIS!" routine shows a desperate campaign.

[marceline]

Personally Bernie's behavior toward Planned Parenthood just proves to me that they made a good decision in not endorsing him.

I'm getting very tired of people throwing around the word "establishment" like a slur.

[DRW50]

I'd be more bothered by it if these organizations didn't want to have that role - they are an establishment. That's why they made these endorsements. It's why they fight to be dominant organizations. In HRC's case, they often seem far more interested in that role than in actually doing anything to help with lgbt rights. 

 

If it was said in the context of establishment being a terrible thing, I'd be more bothered by the comments, but I generally saw it as him saying they are corporate organizations and she is along the same lines. I can see why they weren't happy about it, and I do think PP does good work, but I thought this time he had a point. 

[quartermainefan]

In the context of Bernie it is.   The establishment hasn't treated the middle class all that well these past 30 years and Bernie is the first one really to say it as a candidate.   The stats on CEO pay is insane, and yet those CEOs are exactly who every President turns to the write up economic policy.   The press hasn't been doing its job for 30 years, and the politicians would sell anyone out for a cjheck.  Bernie asks a pretty simple question in "why are they giving Hillary $200,000 a speech and what do they want in return?"   Hillary pathetically answers they want nothing, but that is ridiculous because nobody wants nothing.  Nobody pays for nothing, plain and simple.   She will make sure they get the best possible outcome when it comes to tax codes and reform.   She'll ding them a little, but only what she has to to stay in office, and compared to what Bernie wants they'll accept that.   Meanwhile the press are incompetent and report nothing. 

[marceline]

 

See that's another thing. I don't understand the freakout about Hillary's speaking fees. I've done event planning. Do people think someone like Clinton speaks for free? Besides, most of her fees go to the Clinton Foundation. If Bernie doesn't even understand the concept that getting paid to speak isn't new then I have to wonder what kind of cave he's been living in.

 

I used to really like Bernie. I was a big fan of his after his filibuster but now I can't stand the guy and a lot of that is because of his supporters who seem to have no problem indulging in misogyny and racism almost as easily as Trump's while somehow being just as clueless as the old Ron Paul fans.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2016 by marceline

[DramatistDreamer]

So apparently former NYC mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg is mulling a run but only if Hillary doesn't get the Democratic nomination and if Trump becomes the Republican nominee.  Nothing against billionaires (hey, I like Oprah) but I just don't believe they make the best public servants and yes, being an elected official is supposed to be in public service.

I was still in NYC when Bloomberg ran for his first term and I didn't vote for him.  He wasn't all bad as a mayor but he was pretty tone deaf to the needs of the working class and the poor.  Nothing ever came of his proposed solutions to homelessness which exploded during his three terms in office.  Speaking of that third term, it was a mistake for many reasons, the main one being that it was a unproductive waste.  I think he is better in an advocacy role, like he does with promoting sensible gun control legislation.  He's light years better than Trump but that's not saying much.