The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

It's so bizarre how unsustainable a course this Trump administration seems to be on already!  I mean, it really looks crazy!!

From everything I'm reading, it just seems like a complete clusterf*ck behind the scenes. I cannot imagine how things continue this way.

[Roman]

.@SenBobCasey left wherever he was in white tie & tails 2 join protest at PHL to get detainees released.

 

Crazy people all of them. I mean out of their minds. 

[Vee]

 

It can't or we can't.

[JaneAusten]

I don't know somewhere in the back of my mind this was by design. Or at least part of it. I think the signing of the executive orders one after the other makes it appear as if he's getting a lot done when in fact most of them will not stand up or are unneeded. Like the EO on prohibiting lobbyists to interact or work with members of his cabinet and then after for 5 years. I don't know why an EO is needed for that plus why does it matter when you're still not getting rid of lobbyists influencing congress. And the one for building the wall, there have been several GOP house members saying that they don't want it because most of the residents of Texas don't want it. Not sure if the money can be officially appropriated without House approval.

 

The problem is Trump's own fixations with crowd sizes, fake voter fraud, Neilson ratings have overshadowed all this.

[Vee]

It wasn't planned by Trump. He's an idiot. Bannon may have planned some of this, but he's not a genius either. The mistake is assuming these people are calculating, skilled villains.

 

 

[Vee]

[Khan]

Jesus, take the wheel, because the S.O.B. is about to start a holy war.

[ReddFoxx]

All I can say is that some of the voters will reap what they sow.

[JaneAusten]

• The worst part of Iraq is that we are there working side by side with Iraqi troops helping to combat ISIS. I wonder if Mattis was involved or approved this.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I think the fact that less than 48 hours after this EO went into effect the ACLU was able to get a stay to block it temporarily. That, to me, shows that although it was by design, it was haphazardly executed, nonetheless.

 

The design part? If you think about what was the main topic of conversation, even 24 hours ago, the fact that the WH leaker indicated that Trump had no idea how to "repeal and replace Obamacare" after he had given Republicans a January 27th deadline to have a plan up. 

 

Also, the other things that Trump was under the microscope for (broken promises about taxes, ongoing lawsuits), seemed like the perfect time to create diversions while appearing to 'get things done'. 

 

Bannon may be advising these directives but the frenetic style seems to have the characteristics of Trump all over it.

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

 

That was the tone I got from some of the stuff about their clean energy plans and so on. 

 

The only real problem I had with Obama's approach to China is that I think at best we were able to put on a good public face as our influence steadily shrank and China took more and more control over Asia, especially once Duterte became President of the Philippines. Unfortunately Trump's "solution" is about 5000000 times worse, as he clearly thinks all we need to do is shake our jowels.

 

Regarding TPP and trade, I think both parties, through poor handling of past trade deals and continued ignorance of why many in the public object to them, were backed into a corner, and I'm not sure if we would have gotten anything out of it.

Edited January 29, 2017 by DRW50

[Vee]

CNN on this clusterfûck.

 

[DRW50]

 

The scary part (well there are a lot of scary parts about this) is that this is one of the views that some on the extreme anti-Semetic left have as well (the need to downplay how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust because "they weren't the only ones"). It's very sick. It's something Republicans used to beat the left over the head with. I have a feeling they won't be saying a word now.

[DramatistDreamer]

@DRW50Duterte is an opportunist who looks to thumb his nose at the West.

 

The irony is that as the U.S. now strives to lessen access to birth control, family planning and sex education, Duterte is seeking to give access to free birth control and family planning counselling as well as more expansive sex education, particularly to the poor. 

Much of it is to thumb his nose at the Catholic Church, since it has been the church that has been delaying the implementation of this initiative that was actually approved under his predecessor's government. By the way, like he referred to Obama, Duterte has also called Pope Francis "a son of a whore". 

 

Duterte is really trying to play China and the U.S. off one another. Since the U.S. had too many stipulations (those pesky human rights considerations again), naturally a man like Duterte would go straight in China's direction as they will never emphasize human rights or ethical stipulations.

 

And while people like to claim that Obama was naive, at least he knew that offending China was not smart either. Trump is actually offending the Chinese right now.

And neighboring Asian countries looked to the U.S. as a buffer between them and China, they surely no longer will look to the U.S. in this regard anymore.

[DRW50]

 

They may not have a lot of options, even with Trump. 

 

I think Obama had a lot of bad luck in geopolitical events, and I think racism made foreign leaders more willing to ignore or belittle him. The only real criticism I had of him is I think he just never really got the base connection that would have stopped some of the bigger gaffes like going to the UK and telling voters, in so many words, that he'd be flushing them down the toilet if they didn't do what he wanted on Brexit. That wasn't what he meant, of course, but that seemed to be how it came across to many over there. I think he did mean well and had a lot of smart plans and was ultimately just somewhat frozen by exactly what to do in an increasingly unstable world. I'd love to say Hillary would have been better, but with Hillary we'd likely be lurching toward a nuclear arms race with Russia. And then of course there's Trump...

 

Anyway, have any Republicans spoken out about the last few days, or gone to any airports or anything? What about those "thoughtful" Republicans who are going to be "a thorn in Trump's side," like maverick McCain and media darling Marco? Or are they mostly just hoping we'll ban anyone from Cuba?