The Politics Thread

[Khan]

"Desperation and hopelessness" seems an apt description for how a ton of folks are feeling nowadays.  Even though next year's an election year, there remains the fear of what ELSE could go wrong or fall apart before then.  For many, it's just too scary and awful even to contemplate.

[marceline]

 

1973 didn't have a media ecosystem like we have now. They didn't have Fox News and they didn't have a Republican Party that was willing to work with a hostile foreign power to undermine our democracy. Too many people are acting like impeachment is a magic wand when the truth is it literally will change nothing because the Republicans will do anything to keep him in office. The election is 16 months away. Impeachment now would be premature and self defeating.

[DramatistDreamer]

It's official.

 

[Juliajms]

At first I felt sorry for them, but then I realized we have a perpetual election cycle too. It's hellish, but this our reality.

[Khan]

 

As I see it, the Democrats are now in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" situation.  If they don't pursue impeachment charges against the president, many will see that as the Democrats being weak (again) and aiding and abetting the GOP in their rampant criminality.  (It also doesn't help to have "progressives" such as AOC beating the drums for it among their constituents when what they should be doing is rallying behind Pelosi and her coalition).  

 

OTOH, if the Dems were to pursue the charges, or (more accurately) if we were to force their hands into doing so, then there's a better-than-good chance that it all will end in failure -- meaning, of course, Trump won't be impeached; and the media, already out to get the Democratic Party, will make them look like even bigger fools for losing a battle they never wanted to pitch in the first place.  That, in turn, will have a deadly impact on the 2020 elections, and beyond.

 

Either way, everyone on the left and far-left is officially screwed; and as grateful as I am to Uncle Bobby and his team for all their hard, back-breaking work, I can't help but feel that his words today have placed Democrats in a no-win situation.

 

So, yeah, get ready for four more years with Trump (you heard it here first, folks -- and I wasn't wrong before, was I?); get ready for more b.s. legislation at the state and federal levels that will undo Obama's legacy once and for all and make the recent anti-abortion bills seem almost quaint; and get ready for more district re-drawing, more court packing and more voter suppressing that will leave conservatives in power for generations to come.

 

(Seriously, y'all, when's the next plane to Norway leaving?)

 

 

 

And then, if that weren't bad enough, I hear that Boris [!@#$%^&*] Johnson is the leading contender to replace Theresa May as Britain's Prime Minister, even though he faces charges in court for lying the UK into Brexit (no [!@#$%^&*], Sherlock).

 

Ugh.  Screw the deal I made with God earlier this year.  I'm gonna eat my weight in ice cream, and to hell with what it'll do to my prediabetes.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

 

In the British Parliamentary system, being the head of the party doesn't automatically mean becoming Prime Minister when elections come around.  With the mess that the Tories have been creating, there's a good chance that the Conservatives could get dumped. Jeremy Corbyn is no prize and Labour have their own issues but their party is not the one that pulled the Brexit rip cord, so they have that going for them.  And if things really become as chaotic as they are predicted to get, things will look even worse for the Tories.  Some things I've learned from my time living/studying in England is that the Brits really hold onto their traditions and their history and their bitterness.  A people who still invoke wartime language when speaking of Germany won't soon forget it if they are brought low by the Brexit aftermath.

 

Speaking of being brought low, I am loathe to make any prognostications about politics (presidential or otherwise) but if Trump gets reelected, the U.S. will definitively be at the end of its time as any sort of world power.  The two self-immolations that have happened in front of the White House lawn in the past two months will pale in comparison to what will lay ahead.  I'm not prone to exaggerations (I said it was going to be life and death for many if Trump got elected, which has turned out to be the case) and I believe that it will be even more dire for many people. 

[Khan]

 

Barbra Streisand was right.  We'd be in a much different place had Al Gore been made president.

 

(For God's sake, WHERE IS MY HAAGEN-DAZS!?)

Edited May 30, 2019 by Khan

[marceline]

 

We're already there whether he's reelected or not. Every other country on Earth is treating Donald and America like a joke.

[Khan]

 

In all fairness, the rest of the world stopped taking us seriously long before Trump.  They've only become more open in their contempt.

[JaneAusten]

I'm not advocating one way or the other. I trust Pelosi and I do think the media has been goading the Democrats to move forward and Pelosi is holding. Also while hearings give the democrats in theory more leverage, I'm not confident the White House will follow any subpoena's coming out from that either. And yeah Nixon might never have been forced from office if Fox News was around.

 

And no way am I conceding 2020 yet. Sorry @khan. If we can't get women energized enough to vote with all the attacks on reproductive rights than maybe we deserve to get that moron another 4 years.

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by JaneAusten

[Khan]

 

No offense, @JaneAusten, but I don't trust white women to vote for their own interests anymore.  They can post all the "Handmaid's Tale" gifs and memes all they want.  I know better.

 

[Juliajms]

The white women who voted for Trump are getting exactly what they wanted. It's not like the 53%  who voted for him didn't know that he was going to nominate and appoint pro-life judges.  We may not like it, but there are clearly plenty of white women (although not only white women of course) who are a part of the evangelical movement and don't agree with abortion.

 

Maybe there is some hope that we can get the women who didn't vote in 2016 to vote this time around.  That's a lot more likely than shifting the vote of conservative white women who were never on "our" side to start with.  Still, both non voters and the 53% knew what he was before these bills started passing, so I'm not sure why they would be energized this time around.

 

As for the memes, well I have to assume that's coming from the 47% of white women who didn't vote for him and are pretty terrified about where things are heading. There are something like 60 million white white women in the country it's not like we are a monolith any more than most groups are. There are still a lot of women around who lived through those back alley days and don't want to see young women go through the same thing.

[KristinG79]

 

LOL. Politicians in Norway aren't much better than yours, but if you're willing to pay through the nose for food, utilities and petrol and watch as the government keep charging more taxes and fees while cutting benefits and giving tax breaks to the rich, then you're more than welome to come here. LOL

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by KristinG79

[DramatistDreamer]

[Khan]

It's that moment when a pathological liar can't keep even his own lies straight, lol.

 

 

It's happening to the Norwegians, too?  WTF, Planet Earth!?

Edited May 30, 2019 by Khan