The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Even from a damn wheelchair, just stomach turning. Ugh.

[dragonflies]

It is, but I think with him never really being alone, no one else noticed or commented on it. and right beside his wife? Not that I don't believe her.

[NothinButAttitude]

Another GOPer bites the dust: 

 

 

This is what happens when you sell your soul to the Devil. He's seized their party and is shaping how he wants to. These folks sat back complicit and content b/c they wanted a win. Now they realize their agendas aren't being pushed either, and they have to jump ship to spare their own legacies and morals. I cannot wait for this to occur to the Paul Ryan/Mitch McConnell types. They best to believe that their time is coming soon too.

But this would be the perfect time for this country to become a multi-party system. A lot of these fragmented GOPers need to break away and start their own party. Same thing with the progressives that follow Bernie. Now is the time to break away from the 2 party system.

[Juliajms]

I'm not really clear on what happened.  I guess I'm assuming he grabbed her bottom.  I really hope that men start to realize they don't have a right to touch other people of either sex just because they want to. Obviously, women too, but it just seems like the overwhelming number of people who think they have a right to grab are men.

[DramatistDreamer]

A friend of mine was visiting a city on vacation and was taking candids with various local people and happened to take a pic with an elderly snack vendor. It was only as she heard the "flash" of the camera, that she realized that the man's hand had drifted toward her behind.  She told me the story when I was looking at her vacation photos.

[DramatistDreamer]

And representatives from this company are already clashing with the mayor of San Juan on social media. Another one of Trump's self-entitled and rude cronies.

 

Edited October 25, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[Khan]

 

It's like what Oklahoma state senator David Holt told the NYT back in August in the wake of the Charlottesville incident:  “If I tried to sell young people in general but specifically minority groups on the Republican Party today, I’d expect them to laugh me out of the room.”

 

I think people like Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and now Joe Straus are reaching the same conclusion.  There's no way the GOP will ever be able to reach out to younger voters or brand itself as a party of inclusiveness after Trump basically turned the party over to the White nationalists.

 

It's just disgusting and sad that these men were SO hungry for a win that they couldn't see what rallying behind someone like Trump would do to their party in the long run.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Khan

[Juliajms]

It's so pervasive.  It's one of those problems that is so huge I don't know how it can change.  At the same time society does make huge leaps sometimes, so maybe there is hope.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Well the GOP is killing their party by allowing Trump/White nationalists to seize it. White people are gradually becoming the minority, and most millennials (such as myself) are very socially liberal. It does not help either that GOP has spent decades not trying to reach out to us minorities--practically discounting us. Now their chickens have come home to roost. 

[JaneAusten]

I'm actually curious as you are a millennial, your opinion/feedback on this piece in the NY Times. Does your generation really understand the importance of civic engagement and the importance of voting? And news. Are millennials in some way as guilty as the Fox news bots who only read/view news stories that match their views?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/opinion/sunday/millennials-freedom-fear.html

 

 

 

According to the woman, Barbara Bush was there and just rolled her eyes at him when he did it.

Edited October 25, 2017 by JaneAusten

[DRW50]

 

Everything with Straus goes back a ways, before Trump. The Texas GOP has become increasingly extreme since Rove took it over in the mid-90s. I put an article here early in the year or late last year about his battles with the extremists in the Texas House. This was written around the time that one of them called ICE on protesters. 

 

In many ways Trump is the perfect foil for the GOP even now because they are so crazy yet he's the main one that gets the attention and the blame. 

 

I'm genuinely afraid for the people of Texas with this news. 

 

With gerrymandering and voter suppression and voter apathy, unfortunately I've given up thinking that the Republicans are going to lose power. I hope they do. I hope they do before it's too late for the country or the world, really.

[Juliajms]

I'm with you Carl. I'm a little more optimistic, I guess.  However, added to the problems you mention is that white people are not going to be the minority. We/they are going to be the plurality and that is a big difference.  All these wingnuts need is the right scapegoat and the right ally and they can continue their reign of terror . That's assuming we survive 45 in the first place. I am frankly terrified at the radicalization of the Republican party. It may have been brewing for awhile, but it's getting worse as far as I can see.

 

Millennials are more liberal when it comes to sexual identity, but there are several studies out there suggesting that they are every bit as racist as older generations. I'll look them up and post a source later or tomorrow. I have my hands full at the moment.

 

ETA: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/23/millennials-are-just-as-racist-as-their-parents/?utm_term=.3b44fbf4c805

Edited October 26, 2017 by Juliajms

[DRW50]

 

Before Obama, and before everything imploded with the GOP in 05-06, I was pessimistic enough to think we wouldn't get a Democrat as President for a good while and that the only real change would be from the GOP imploding and having to refashion itself. I began to think the GOP would end up becoming like the Borg. 

 

Sometimes I wonder if that's where we're heading again, although as of now the only changes the GOP makes are moving further and further to the right.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I'd like to think that my generation understand the importance of voting and civil engagement, but I think that they didn't care about any of it this last election, hence why we're suffering now. 

 

 

Well I am holding out hope. I PRAY that the next time Dems get back House and Senate that they fix all of this. The second we get rid of gerrymandering and voter suppression, the better. 

 

[Juliajms]

Exactly. Just today their was a headline about Hillary Clinton saying that the GOP is imploding.  My hopes were rising, until I read the article and realized what she meant was the GOP is continuing to radicalize. 

 

There are moments when I truly wonder if none of this is happening and I'm in the midst of a mental break. I know it's a bit narcissistic,  but I really have these 30 second periods where I question my reality. Headlines like this trigger such thoughts. I can hardly believe this is real life.  Never mind the UN, we'll just go through religious organizations.

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