The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Hmm, interesting article by Frank Rich.

 

No Sympathy for the Hillbilly

" Democrats need to stop trying to feel everyone’s pain, and hold on to their own anger."

[DRW50]

I don't really understand why he is still using the "she won far more votes than were in the states she lost." Yes, she did...and that means absolutely nothing as that isn't how we elect Presidents. Not once does he suggest how we are supposed to win an election, unless he thinks California is the only state.

I certainly agree that Democratic politicians need to talk like real people, but he spends the entire article basically telling Democrats to not listen to anyone but themselves and assures them that this is perfectly fine because Republicans are worse at not caring about poor people and that these people are worthless anyway.

 

It's a good way to feel morally superior, and that's about it. He seems far more interested in making sure liberals don't feel guilty than in actually caring about anything else. He doesn't have to worry about that - a lot of the loudest liberals out there only really care about other people when it makes them feel better about themselves. The rest of the time, they just want everyone to burn.

Edited March 27, 2017 by DRW50

[DRW50]

That article managed to make me find something worth reading at Salon, which is a feat.

 

http://www.salon.com/2017/03/21/liberal-shaming-of-appalachia-inside-the-media-elites-obsession-with-the-hillbilly-problem/

 

It's always interesting to me when you have very rich liberals (often white liberals) feeling like this is their big opportunity to tell most of America to go to hell. That's what this type of thinking does. It's couched in cutting off dead-end voters who will always support Trump, but that's just a facade, because many, many people who didn't vote for him will be hurt, and that many people, thanks to the continual cuts to education and loss of independence, wouldn't even know what to do about registering or going to vote. 

 

Those people don't matter. Any of the people who actually did vote for Hillary but aren't in enclaves in certain states don't matter either. The only people who matter are those who have spent years jumping up and down and doing absolutely nothing to actually help anyone, but now feel special because they get to use hashtags like "#TheResistance" and crow about how they knew Trump was terrible and Hillary was terrible and they were proven right. 

 

This doesn't actually do anything to help anyone - there are no solutions, no ideas. It's just, I guess, I-told-you-so-itis. Even the people who are lucky enough to live in liberal enclaves will suffer, but hey, at least they get to know they're around people who think the right thoughts and sort of kind of feel bad for them...maybe. All that really matters is that certain very rich people on the left are now free to tell us it's time to stop caring, when most of them never cared in the first place.

 

I mostly remember Frank Rich for being one of the many interchangeable W critics at the NYT who mostly served as window dressing while that paper helped send people to war, to die, to return with horrible injuries and little to no support when they returned home. (not to mention all the Iraqis whose lives were destroyed) I have a feeling the reaction to those people was probably the same go-to-hell mentality. 

 

It must be nice to feel that good about yourself. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by DRW50

[MissLlanviewPA]

 

I agree. There are plenty of great Democrats who are living in red states, or red areas within blue states--maybe it's because I grew up in a rural area myself, and have family from more conservative states, but while I'll concede that there are people who we can't reach, and there are people we have to worry about holding onto, we are still in a minority on every level now--we're at point where we need races of every kind now, from the bottom up. And that includes in rural areas, too. You can still hold onto anger, while also acknowledging the pain of others. They're not necessarily mutually exclusive. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by MissLlanviewPA

[Wales2004]

Jared Kushner is going to lie to the Senate Committee about his Russian meetings and then he's going to go back to his newly created position. Kushner, the expert on government affairs and running successful businesses, is going to make America run like a finely tuned corporation.

 

Listening to the CBS national news on the radio got a little harder for me this morning. For some reason, they decided to pass Reince Preibus' hollow words on the Sunday morning Fox show off as Trump reaching out to Democrats. I changed the station to hear that the Freedom Caucus is crumbling because one person left and this is because of the twitter wrath of Trump. It's real life but it sounds like some dramedy. Add in the is Trump a lame duck type headlines and Trumpkins claiming they had a good week. Dysfunction in America jumped the shark about a month or so ago but it's going to be on the air for a whole lot longer, as is the case with shows that stay on past their best season.

[marceline]

Early voting in for Tom Price's old seat begins today. I really hope Ossof can win this. It's nice to see Ossoff isn't hurting for money. It's a solidly Republican district but he's polling really well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Also, I've been reading that there is a possibility of a the Republican candidates cancelling each other out.

 

Politifact disputes the notion that the ACA, aka Obamacare is in a "death-spiral".

 

[GMac]

 

The London attacks confirm nothing and Trump hasn't done anything to make us safer.  Name one piece of legislation or EO that supports your statement.

 

What's keeping us safe now are the policies of the Obama Administration.

 

[Wales2004]

@DramatistDreamer I wouldn't waste any time on Hugh Hewitt. Maybe he's a glass half-full kind of guy because he was sitting there yesterday putting a positive spin on the shenanigans and saying how Gorsuch was the story they should be talking about but it was getting lost because well, apparently healthcare is more important to some people.

 

Anytime I hear one of them open their mouths and claim that Obamacare has driven up premiums, I am thoroughly convinced that they've spent their lives shielded from the reality of how insurance companies work (or business for that matter). They don't get that if they totally deregulated that prices would be even higher for less. Once upon a time Minute Maid orange juice came in a 64 oz carton and now it's down to 59 oz and the price went up instead of down. Pepsi didn't just abandon the 24 oz 6-packs because they were looking to make society healthier. They charge the same and higher for 16 oz. Life would be so tough and enlightening if any of them had to live in the "real world."

 

Oh, and they're the ones orchestrating the collapse of Obamacare by pulling ads, cutting out essential parts, etc., and proudly bragging about its impending demise because we should all celebrate the pain and suffering of the people (or customers as Jared Kushner sees citizens).

Edited March 27, 2017 by Wales2004

[marceline]

 

Please just let that one stay in his fantasy world.

[Wales2004]

Here's another reason to add to the shrinking job pool:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/us/refugees-jobs-drug-testing/index.html

[DramatistDreamer]

@Wales2004 I had never heard of the guy until I saw this Politifact tweet, so he's never been on my radar.

 

I just think it's interesting that Politifact is disputing what many seem to think is an enduring argument for dampening any enthusiasm over the tanking of the AHCA (or whatever it was called).  

Politifact presents an argument that Obamacare being in a so called "death-spiral" is narrative that lacks validity.

 

In any case, the death panel, er, death spiral argument looks like a scare tactic presented in order to get people to panic and favor tanking the entire law (people forget ACA is a law!), rather than tweaking and simply improving it.

 

[Wales2004]

I cannot recall the first time I saw him. He's happily residing in Trumptopia for now. I don't know whether he's a lifer or simply going with the flow and I don't suppose it matters. I just don't think he adds anything to panel discussions at all. I guess I am biased because I prefer Republican analysts who aren't pretending Trump is some open-minded forward-thinking individual who knows what he's doing and will take a loss well and try again. While Alex Castellano was spinning because in this life, anything that is bad for the Republicans has to be infinitely worse for the Democrats, Matthew Dowd suggested that Trump ought to take a look in the mirror.

[GMac]

 

I just can't help myself sometimes and I hate that I share a name with his ass...

[DRW50]

 

If those refugees don't know about drug use now, they will soon enough. It's the American way. 

 

That article certainly gives a powerful support to the "drug tests now and forever" mindset we are getting in all sectors.