The Politics Thread

[JaneAusten]

Ok I wasn't going to but I watched the healthcare debate on CNN last night. Now I hope most know I am no Bernie fan but he did a good job and Amy Klobacher who has not endorsed Medicare for All talked about everything and the sun EXCEPT that and she knows her stuff. I thought she came across smart, warm, and compassionate

 

Ok I know it's bias, but frankly I thought Graham and Cassidy were awful. Their own hypocrisy was hard to miss. And many of their falsehoods debunked.  

 

And I hope this entire notion of patriotism etc that Trump is trying to fire up with this STUPID NFL stuff finally showed to the dummies what it's really about. Even Jerry Jones came out and kneeled with his team, which they all did by the way BEFORE the anthem and then stood up for the anthem. They were still booed.

[Khan]

In a way, it surprised me to hear how Jerry Jones joined in, let alone sanctioned, the protest.  If ever there was a quintessential Trumper, I think he would be it.

[DramatistDreamer]

That BBC article on Chad being added to the travel-banned countries list, while Sudan is taken off, makes me suspicious that perhaps Trump Inc. and/or his cronies have some secret investments in Sudan (oil, e.g.).  

There have been far more atrocities committed in Sudan than Chad over the past decade, but then again Trump is in thick with the Saudis that have been major backers of Bashir and Sudan (or is that North Sudan now?).

 

Many Chadians were squeezed from all directions when the ISIS onslaught took place in earnest in neighboring Mali - with refugees fleeing violence in Mali, they had difficulty securing their border, particularly against militants and the U.N. was quite slow in sending help to secure their border, although the African Union did what it could in helping that effort. The U.S. did send reinforcements to help train Chadian troops, while working with AU and Chadian government in reconnaissance and intelligence-sharing but with the U.S. tied up perpetually in the Middle East and Libya, the bulk of the heavy lifting was mainly left to a regional effort, led by the AU.

 

Unfortunately, many countries are now figuring out that these days, it doesn't pay to cooperate with the U.S. , as they have become and unreliable partner, as Angela Merkel hinted in a speech this year.  

This could have a chilling effect, particularly in Africa, parts of which the fraying networks of Al Qaeda and ISIS are still lodged, not just in the Maghreb but in bands in parts of the Niger-Delta.

 

By the way, it's not just anti-terrorism efforts that may be thwarted down the road but parts of Africa's coasts have been fighting a low-grade drug smuggling operation as the worldwide routes have shifted in recent years due to South America, Latin America and the Caribbean strengthening their security and confiscating drug smuggling boats and apprehending smugglers much more effectively now and well as countries like Colombia, Bolivia, etc. making reconciliation pacts with their resistance groups, providing local farmers alternatives to growing coca in favor of other profitable crops (many of which used the money from deals with drug cartels to fund their resistance efforts) to end access to routes and crops to the cartels.

 

It is already known that groups like the Taliban (poppies=heroin) and Al Qaeda use money from drug smuggling to fund aspects of their organization. Hopefully Chad is not in the path of those recent drug routes that that have springing up in Africa.  

That would be an entirely new danger. Talk about the rule of unintended consequences.

 

 

 

 

Just this morning, I saw a headline that suggested that Trump had taken up this NFL issue to provide 'red meat' to his base that had been disillusioned over his recent 'bipartisan' efforts.

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 Now there are articles about his supposed uptick in the polls.

 

Jerry Jones, like most of the NFL owners are worried about not being able to showcase their 'product' (i.e. the players) as that is where their money-stream comes from.  As much as these Trump supporting owners (look at their campaign contributions disclosures) backed Trump over his promises to boost the prospects of 1%ers, if it's a choice between Trump and their cash cows, guess who'll they'll side with? $$$$.

Don't forget, the NFL has a very active union. I'm sure the owners would dissolve players unions if they could but they know that the unions are here to stay (especially as long as that 'pesky' concussion/CTE issue remains a thorn that they can't make go away), which means the players have power.

It's all about the Benjamins for these owners...greedy, obnoxious Trump might even appreciate this.

Edited September 26, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[marceline]

 

Amy Klobuchar is a very smart woman who, if we had a functional government, would be one of the best people to write a bill to shore up the ACA.

 

I saw a good explanation for why the owners got involved with the protests. White billionaires resent having another white billionaire* tell them how to run their business.

[DramatistDreamer]

[dragonflies]

Thank GOD!

[marceline]

The noose is tightening.

 

 

Another Repub senator decides to throw in the towel and call it a day.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2017 by marceline

[Wendy]

Next on the political hit list? Making the Americans with Disabilities Act "optional".  As I have CP myself, this infuriates me.

[Juliajms]

I'm not sure I believe this and I give Ivanka no quarter.  I read the transcript and doesn't it sound like Stern was asking Trump if Ivanka and DJ wanted to kill her? That's what I took from it.  I can believe they weren't thrilled over having to share. Similar went down in my mother's family over chump change (seriously) and this is (supposedly) billions. Nevertheless, I don't believe they wanted to "bump her off".

I'm too cynical to give these folks and credit.  There has to be an angle, even if it's just keeping their players happy or fearing that they could piss off both sides and lose money. Whatever it is, I doubt it's about dong the right thing. 

I didn't see this before I posted. This is as good an explanation as any.

[DramatistDreamer]

@Juliajms by the way, I read it and didn't see it as "killing" but making sure Tiffany got less than the rest (*shrugs*) as in  pushed down, way down the list of inheritors.

Whatevs, they're still trash in my book.

[Juliajms]

Maybe you're right. Hard for me to say, it seemed to be Stern was trying to get Trump to agree that the other's wanted to "bump her off". Just like he kept trying to get Trump to say Ivanka is a "piece of ass" and eventual succeeded.  Either way,  it's definitely bad behavior, if it's true.  I also wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want her to inherit. There seems to be some distance between Tiffany and the rest of the family.  I'm sure this will all make for some tell all books in the years to come.

 

On a total side note when Howard Stern is not the sleaziest man in a conversation, it's truly a sad gathering.

[Khan]

 

Let's be honest: Tiffany's out-of-wedlock conception, and not anything else, was the reason why The Donald married The Marla after their ridiculous, headline-grabbing affair that alternately disgusted and exhausted both the people of New York and the rest of the country.  Poor Tiff is a living, breathing embodiment of ANOTHER time in Trump's life when he felt the media was being unfair toward him.  Ergo, it doesn't surprise me how the rest of the family, and even Donald himself, tends to shut her and Marla out.

Edited September 27, 2017 by Khan

[hsfolk]

Roy Moore wins the Republican primary in Alabama over Trumps' candidate, Luther Strange

[DramatistDreamer]

Trump treated his first two wives terribly, by all accounts. His divorce terms with Ivana are sealed but if leaked witness accounts are true, Ivana was subjected to what accounts to marital rape. 

 

@Khan you're correct. Those lewd headline grabbing quotes that are attributed to Marla Maples (rumored to be orchestrated by Trump to be fed to the press) were out during a time when Ivanka was in school and was old enough to know the implications (at least, in part).  Just last year, I read an article that mentioned the entire mess with news reports that detailed how reporters lurked outside of her school, hoping to ask her about the headlines in order to get a reaction and/or quote.

I'd imagine that this might have left a bitter taste.

Trump appeared to want to talk respectfully about Ivana post divorce but seemed to have nothing but nasty things to say for years about Marla Maples after their marriage ended. In fact, it was the opposite of his divorce to Ivana, where details were sealed, Maples' business was put on blast in the wide-open.

I'd imagine those negative sentiments could filter down to Trump's other children.

 

Howard Stern has always been a provocateur, and anyone who goes on his show knows what to expect but yeah @Juliajms I agree that Trump came off so sleazy-- but he always does. He seems to love going on that show too so that he can be as lewd as he wants to be. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Despicable. These people have a mob mentality. The keep coming after people, especially the most vulnerable.