The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

He was someone I don't think was that known to the public until 2005 or so when that administration, or the neocon parts of it, got very cocky after W was reelected. He was just nuts going on and on about Iran and more war, right when people were sick of the topic. I do think more scales are off more eyes now - I just hope that matters. 

 

Speaking of that branch of the left, I saw that Thomas Frank was one of the people tsk-tsking about Russia. I remember how hyped he was by many because of that "What's the Matter with Kansas" book - they made him into a virtual god. He seems to hate the Russia stuff because he thinks it takes away from the reality of why Democrats lose. I think that can be true to a point, but the problem is even the mere discussion of Russia's influence leads some to get very sneering and dismissive. I guess in many cases we know why. 

 

 

I'm trying to remember if she's the same one who said it wasn't Christian to get vaccines. 

 

(probably not)

 

I remember the media hyping her up in the '00s, along with Osteen. 

[Vee]

 

That's why they all hate it - Greenwald, much of the Intercept staff, the Sanders camp, and then of course the right. In the end, while degrees and points of critique may change, all it ultimately comes down to is that they hate the Democratic Party, and suggesting Russians may have infiltrated our political system and unfairly swung the election undermines their core tenet and belief, which is that Democrats suck and they were right all along. The alternative makes them all look like fools.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Vee

[Khan]

 

Too late.

[Vee]

A good piece on how Ivanka and Jared's world keeps collapsing, and a suggestion that if push came to shove she would choose Jared over her father, while her father would absolutely cut Jared loose to save himself (something his once and perhaps future lawyer, Kasowitz, has reportedly suggested to him before).

 

I never believed that Ivanka would choose anything over her father, and I'm still not convinced - as the piece notes, her devotion to him since childhood is pathological - but this isn't the first article in the last few weeks that is highly critical of her but also suggests that she might now have more loyalty than the once-stable life she had with her husband than to the aging Trump.

 

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by Vee

[JaneAusten]

Dumb but not shocking.

[DramatistDreamer]

[JaneAusten]

Im not expecting any kind of dramatic turn in the MSM and press but at least we are finally seeing a few stories on PoC and economics and now WoC and politics. It’s been tiring seeing the same old WWC Trump supporter stuff endlessly. I’m not suggesting any kind of dramatic change,  but it’s gratifying to see a couple of stories. Let’s hope they continue. Maybe The NY Times can actually hire some diversity on their OpEd Page vs pretending diversity with the likes of Bari Weiss.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/record-number-black-women-are-candidates-alabama-n857576

[MissLlanviewPA]

For those who haven't heard: Jaelynn Willey, the girl shot on Tuesday at Great Mills High School, was taken off life support last night; she had been declared brain dead before that.

 

Just as a reminder: This was my high school, and where I'm from.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/life-support-ending-brain-dead-school-shooting-victim-53953508

[Vee]

Very sorry to hear it.

 

Meanwhile, more on Cambridge Analytica and other stuff:

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

I remember Bolton railing on CNN during the times of the Bush administration.  A real nutter!

 

Lord help us all if Trump gets cornered on any number of the violations he has perpetrated, both personally and during his administration-- surely Bolton will help orchestrate some conflict or beat the drums of war because he is an avid warmonger.

 

I could imagine a scenario where the U.S. will suddenly step up their footprint in an African country where they already have a presence (Niger, Mali, etc.), thinking that it is too "far flung" for Americans to notice or care, the way the Bush administration once thought of Iraq (remember the Bush White House's adage that the U.S. should fight "them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here", there being Iraq and here being the U.S.?

There is a reason why the Trump WH has been steadily upping the  U.S. military presence in Africa in the past year.

 

[DRW50]

Congress passed a big budget deal yesterday. After one of his main hacks, Mulvaney, claimed he would sign it, today Trump is saying he may not. He's saying it's because of the border wall, but many think it's either the "gun research" provisions, Faux and Friends piling on, or...this:

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/congress-snuck-new-russia-sanctions-into-spending-bill

[Vee]

[JaneAusten]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kris-kobach-proof-of-citizenship-trial_us_5ab508d2e4b0decad0494b28?v4d

 

So if you were not following this, the ACLU basically destroyed Kris Kobach's voter fraud claims in that trial over the last few weeks.

[JaneAusten]

Such a tragic story. Another beautiful young life taken by a gun. Sorry to hear this and it hurts even more when it's so close to home. Take care.

[DramatistDreamer]

Trump signed  the spending bill.

 

Is this what all the hullabaloo was about?