The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

People talk about the 'Third World' as if it is the pits but  guess what?  Nicaragua is on its way to being 90% Renewable energy by 2020! 

The U.S. should be so lucky to be a 'Third World' country now.

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[marceline]

 

We pretty much are. Trump is like an African dictator and Republicans in Congress say they don't believe in climate change because God will take care of it. They are about five minutes away from sacrificing a goat to read the entrails.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Much like his disastrous Muslim ban, of which he is now facing lawsuits from individuals in addition to being struck down and held down by court decisions, Donny talks for the base with nothing to come.

 

Likely things won't change except for the fact that China will have a much larger role on the world stage (which it has always craved) and Europeans, Canadians and even Latin America and the Caribbean will see the U.S. as a place riddled with problems run by a Looney Tunes character.  For all the problems in those countries they will crow that the majority of their leaders are more sensible and have more discipline (at least publicly).

 

Hell, even Duterte doesn't want to be seen in public with Trump!

[Juliajms]

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[dragonflies]

 

[DeeeDee]

Politics has become more interesting than Daytime television.

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[DramatistDreamer]

 

The leader of the free world has spoken.

 

Meanwhile, 61 U.S. mayors have declared that they are following the Paris accord.

61 mayors adopt Paris climate accord after U.S. pulls out

 

 

 

It has. Trump has become the OJ of the 21st century.

Edited June 1, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

It's interesting as Germany apparently won't even meet the 2020 standards. Merkel is lucky to have Trump as a foil at this point. 

 

More on how this doesn't change much beyond benefiting China and Europe.

 

http://www.politico.eu/article/climates-brexit-moment/

 

http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-paris-climate-deal-decision-doesnt-matter/

 

To be honest with you I feel like most of these agreements, even in good faith (and I believe Obama acted in good faith), are just lip service. I hate the thought of the average American (including many who voted against Trump and are now shackled to the rest of those who did) losing opportunities, being hurt by the stalling and likely freefalling economy, etc. that Trump is now bringing on. But if there is a bright side, beyond exposing to Trump just how isolated and powerless he is compared to what he thinks and thought, maybe this will push some countries to actually push their talk into real action about the environment before it's too late.

[JaneAusten]

The accords themselves are not binding or enforceable, yet it was an important example of unity across the world and if as the leader we could have helped set the bar even better. My guess is we will still achieve many of those goals agreement or not. What we may lose are foreign investors willing to put up equity here. And China as a leader is IMO not a bad thing. They have to do it - no choice as does India. And now is the time for states to take the leadership here and set the example for the country. Some already have and most major cities have committed to renewable energy. Chicago public buildings will be run on 100% renewable energy by 2025.

 

And none of this addressed the fracking industry and technology which has been so damaging.

Edited June 1, 2017 by JaneAusten

[marceline]

I'll be interested to see if/how the stock markets react tomorrow. It didn't escape my notice that he waited until just before the markets closed to make this announcement.

[Fevuh]

What's funny is that he cited "Pittsburgh".  Pittsburgh is the place that figured it out - they reinvented themselves when their main industry shut down.  Pittsburgh is OK because they figured out how to change.  All he did is pander to the people that want to go backward.  The past isn't coming back - he's just wrong.

[JaneAusten]

The Electoral College was created for exactly what we are seeing now. The founding fathers didn't trust the average citizen to not pick a dictator, demagogue, moron, idiot, mentally ill person and here we have one person fitting all those descriptions, so the EC  as a way to overrule that if it happened, failed. They were meant to be non partisan educated appointees who could be relied on to use their judgement to over turn a disastrous choice. So the purpose of the EC failed in this election. Since it no longer serves that purpose, it should be gone(as it should have years ago seeing the members are partisan hacks).

 

 

I thought the Pittsburgh reference a dumb one because that is a prime example of a city dependent on the steel industry that reinvented themselves. And there was a reason they were selected for the G-20 summit several years back.

Edited June 1, 2017 by JaneAusten

[hsfolk]

except you'd need to have 3/4th of the states to get rid of the EC and that would never happen 

[dragonflies]

He seriously thinks the Paris Accord is about Paris, NO WORDS, NONE

 

 

[Ms. Quartermaine]

It's been awhile since I've posted here (I've been lurking though...)

 

Just some comments about HRC, the electoral college, et. al...

 

When Hillary blames the loss on other factors, she is basing this on Nate Silver's analysis and possibly others (though his is the only name I can recall). Yes, she made mistakes and admitted as much, but those mistakes wouldn't have mattered if the election was held on October 27th. 

 

Plus, mistakes are common during a campaign, but I get the impression that Hillary was supposed to be perfect and not make any. Meanwhile, there is Trump with one gaffe after another and still ends up winning. I admire that Hillary isn't throwing her staff under the bus. As for Wisconsin, she sent surrogates there, and even if she did go, she went to PA, FL, and NC frequently, and we saw how that worked out. 

 

Calling Hillary and Trump both crappy candidates is false equivalence and part of the reason we're in this predicament. Also, voter turn out was 54.7%. 2012 was 54.9%. That's basically the same, and no one is calling Obama and Romney both crappy candidates. 

 

Hillary lost more votes in the electoral college because some Bernie Bros thought they could get Republicans on board by nominating someone such as Kasich or Powell and having the vote go to the House. Though someone in Washington ended up going with Faith Spotted Eagle, and then in Hawaii, someone went with Bernie to make a statement. There were also Trump electors that didn't show up because they couldn't vote for him, but they had replacements on hand. Didn't hear that about HRC. 

 

For the record, I wasn't supporting HRC in the primaries. I didn't involve myself in politics, and the media blamed her for Benghazi years ago, and so I thought she did something wrong. But then I did a lot of research, I watched interviews, behind the scenes footage...And that is when I decided to support her. I think the constant negativity also made me feel bad for her, and I ended up liking her more. I don't agree with everything she's said or done (I mean, even recently in the Code Conference, she said something that made me shake my head).

 

But at the end of the day, I believe she is a good person who cares about the country and its people, and with a Democratic Senate, she would have excelled. With a Republican Senate (and of course House), well, I'd like to believe the R's could work with her like they did when she was a senator, but I suspect there would be a lot of executive orders (though they'd be good ones) and even more investigations in an attempt to find her guilty of something. She knew this too, that they'd tear her down again and again, and yet still decided to run. She was willing to sacrifice her well-being for the country (and I'm sure, she would have liked the power too, but everyone who ever runs for President seeks power...). 

 

I think that's all for now. 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Ms. Quartermaine