The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Meanwhile in Helsinki, Finland-

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Also meanwhile-- Ivanka's clothes continue to get dumped by department stores. 

Hudson Bay is a Canadian department store which also happens to be the parent company of Sax Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor.

 

 

[Vee]

[Juliajms]

I think this sums it up.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Are reporters continually saying "Wow" because they cannot think of anything else to say?

Why is this surprising to anyone? 

Were they not paying attention to the debates and Trump's campaign speeches?  He's performed disgracefully throughout. 

How is any of this coming as a shock? Have people not been paying attention, at all?

[Vee]

It's Iraq all over again. A lot of them still want to pretend that the Russia story is too diffuse, never enough to prove, etc. The reason is because admitting it's all real is both 1) a massive system shock which upends our democracy as we know it, indicates a massive national danger and destroys any remaining illusion of the same old political games, and 2) an indictment that they are culpable in this by way of their handling of the election and how they let ratings, Russian strategy, psy-ops and resentment of the Clintons and the Democrats shape their coverage. They had a very, very hard time admitting that on Iraq - it took years - and while some in media have said it, for many it will be harder now. But for all my anger, I am glad they are covering it and saying it. There is a huge swath of the general public for whom our deeply flawed media is still the only major outlet they have.

 

Notably, Maggie Haberman - who spends a lot of time strenuously defending her access and the NYT on Twitter - has abruptly left it as of the other day.

[marceline]

 

Too late. She's already clearly drunk on her own hype and a full-blown member of the Talibern. Even though Joe Crowley lost the primary he will still be on the ballot in November as the candidate of the Working Families Party which means voters could very well send him back to the House. Ocasio-Cortez seems to be doing everything in her power to make that happen. 

 

Also there TV appearances like this one, which is just embarrassing.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by marceline

[DramatistDreamer]

Man, that was bad!  Someone, other than Bernie, needs to advise her. She looks out of pocket and ignorant there. 

Given the fact that Crowley has been in forever and hasn't adapted or demonstrated that he has his constituency's needs fully on his radar (which is why he lost the primary in the first place), I don't believe it's too late @marceline but Ocasio-Cortez will have to get her butt back to the district where she's actually running and pay attention to the people there-- perhaps admit that she has a lot to learn geo-politically while demonstrating somehow that she  knows local politics and that her priority is to the people in her district before it becomes too late.

Crowley could pull a Lieberman and sneak back in but if she admits her mistakes and vows to show improve, she could very well find some forgiveness on that issue being that she is a neophyte, not a hardened experienced politician. 

Also, as much as it pains me, I must admit that Bernie does have some degree of popularity in certain pockets of NYC. So we'll see what the impact is on Ocasio-Cortez.  

[Vee]

[DRW50]

 

I think she will still win, but her reaction to his being on the ballot (essentially freaking out, along with her supporters) didn't help matters. She reminds me of Bernie in that she seems very defensive to the idea of not being all things to all people, as when she and/or some of her supporters got upset over other Democrats saying she won because of issues in her distract, rather than because she unlocked the door to the universe. 

 

I really do wonder how much any candidates are helped by the Bernie parade or by being told to hold their noses for progressiveness. It didn't seem to help that guy running for mayor of Omaha very much.

[Vee]

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by Vee

[marceline]

 

Part of me thinks that Crowley has learned his lesson about the price of complacency. I have to admit to not paying a lot of attention to this race before because it was a safe seat but I heard he sent a surrogate to the debate instead of showing up himself and that was just shameful. He deserved to lose for that. I just don't believe Cortez will be a very good rep.

 

The problem with ACO is that she still hasn't pivoted to the general. Berners have a tough time getting out of primary mode because they see Democrats as the enemy not Republicans. It's one of the reasons I can't ever support them. 

[DramatistDreamer]

ICYMI,

The Kushners are being sued.

 

[Juliajms]

^ Good. I hope they have to pay. Meanwhile looks like the noose might be tightening on Junior.

 

[Khan]

 

Agree!  Trump's comments and performance were embarrassing (and probably treasonous), but not at all startling if you've been following along.  And if these people now expect the GOP to do anything about it -- boy, do I have news for them!