The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

Al Gore came out today saying essentially "It could have been worse." I keep hearing that. It makes me wonder if he was planning something awful that had the brakes slammed on it and we haven't heard yet. 

 

I keep waiting to hear about these new jobs. All we've heard for weeks now has been closing, closing, closing. I know that we keep hearing a recession is on the way but between the job losses and the weakening dollar it must be near. 

 

John Oliver's evil twin is saying to world leaders it's good to have a weak dollar because that means more countries will work with us. Good luck with that one. It's good if you are working for other countries, as many in our government likely are. 

 

That's not even getting into the witch hunts against the FBI that the White House and the GOP in Congress are headlong into, with this "secret society" stuff and Nunes writing a memo that he won't let people see and on and on and on. It's really spiraling out of control, this power grab. 

Edited January 25, 2018 by DRW50

[Vee]

[Juliajms]

We are a very dangerous and unstable time.  It's really odd to see how desensitized some people are to the corruption in Washington. I guess that happens when there is something insane happening multiple times a day.

[DRW50]

 

I think that everything has been so terrible for so long - not just this last year, but most of Obama's Presidency too (I don't mean him I mean the way he was treated) that many people turn a blind eye. And some of it is so confusing and craven. How else can you describe what Nunes did? It's desperate, craven...and yet it worked. The Republicans always do whatever they want and they always win. 

[Juliajms]

The seeds of 45's rise were sown long ago, but I admit I didn't see it.  I kept thinking we were in the darkness before the dawn.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

 

It's incredible how articles about the coal industry have been pushed incessantly while three times as many large and storied retail stores go by the wayside every week with comparatively minimal media coverage.  Of course, when there's an industry whose majority are female and minority, that's sure to capture the least amount of interest on a national level.  Much like the latest school shooting tragedy, the 'Twit-in-Chief' can barely be bothered to tweet out a stale sentence about it.

 

 

Still, the pace at which things have degraded even from 2017 to now is breathtaking when you stop and think.

A president who thinks that blurting out tweets (often reckless) are actual statements and are often times regarded as such by media and segments of the U.S. public!

I don't believe this would've been regarded as acceptable by the POTUS even two years ago.

What's deemed as acceptable behavior has really changed dramatically.

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[Juliajms]

Yep. The porn star scandal for instance is hardly a blip on the radar. Is it even a scandal? I think occurrence is more accurate. 

[sivad40]

The Republicans know they are untouchable to a point. They know they are going to get their wall, immigration reform, Trump will be reelected, etc. The only way I see a Democrat being President in my lifetime (I'm GenXer), is the country has to be in economic shambles, and the Republicans let a Democrat win. This is a conservative country that is controlled by Republican donors such as the Koch Brothers and their ilk. Maybe that the jaded, frustrated, worn down political soldier in me (figuratively speaking),  that is coming to terms being on the losing side of this war.

Edited January 26, 2018 by sivad40

[DramatistDreamer]

A Trump appointee to the National Labor Relations board, was best known for his actions in the 1981 air controllers strike (where all the strikers were fired), and is largely known to mark the decline of labor unions, proposes to demote regional directors (many of whom are seen as sympathetic to employees) possibly driving out long time civil servants, make it harder for employees to hold companies responsible for labor law violations, especially those involving franchisees--by of course, reversing an Obama-era rule.

 

It's an understatement to say that there are changes underfoot concerning labor.

 

Trump Appointee Is Trying to Squelch Us, Labor Board Staff Says

 

 

[JaneAusten]

This isn't a conservative country. This is a country that is controlled by a few oligarchs who driven by money and power and use wedge issues. I firmly believe this country is mostly moderate that has allowed the extreme right to dominate because they have the majority of the money feeding our politicians. This is why IMO we need to elect more women who are more driven to compromise. The way politics should work in this country.

[Roman]

with CNN & MSNBC on the Russian/Obstruction investigation very tough, within the next 3-4 days trump is going to do or say something to get them off this story for awhile.

[Khan]

 

Not only that, but we need to cultivate more left-leaning types with deep pockets.  As I've said before in this thread, we need to fight money WITH money.

 

Oh, you know it.  Just as you know that, constitutional crisis or no constitutional crisis, Trump is going to get fed up and fire Mueller eventually.  Regardless of the bombshell that dropped yesterday about McGahn threatening to quit when Trump broached the subject back in June of last year.

 

Well, I'll bet Fox News is just LOVING this!

Edited January 26, 2018 by Khan

[Juliajms]

People being arrested for leaving water and supplies for migrants.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-border-patrol-chooses-a-new-target-a-volunteer-helping-migrants/ar-AAvcF1e?li=BBnb7Kz

[Roman]

yes they are. reporting this like she hid Hitler/Mussolini/Stalin from scrutiny to let them tell it. 

[Khan]

 

Was Hillary wrong to keep that man employed?  Yes.  IMO, docking his pay and reassigning his victim weren't enough.  But it just galls me how quick the GOP are to vilify the left, and HRC in particular, while excusing away their own sins.  The truth is, they lost forever any right to judge anyone the minute they hitched their respective wagons to Judge Roy Moore.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Khan