The Politics Thread

[Khan]

 

Same here!

[MichaelGL]

Glad I wasn't completely sold on him, and yes this does serve as a silver lining. 

[JaneAusten]

Zuckerberg and Sandberg need to resign or at a minimum step down from their current positions.

[Juliajms]

I agree. I think he might have been a good high profile lawyer, but he ruined his own chances at that. 

[Khan]

 

Agree.  Many people played a role in getting us where we are now.  Zuckerberg and Sandberg are just two.

[alphanguy74]

I liked his aggressiveness, but I guess that came at a price. He supposedly said that she was beating on him first... which if true, means she did deserve to get hit back. But who knows if it is the truth. 

[DRW50]

Avenatti never had a chance in a POTUS race. He did, however, take up too much oxygen under the idea that liberals needed their own Trump, shout shout shout rage rage rage. I hope that is now over. 

 

Speaking of Facebook, while so much press focus has gone on Pelosi, undermining her, pushing her out, there is little mention of Schumer.

 

I know the info was already posted in the articles above. This one just recaps the Schumer part.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/chuck-schumer-facebook-mark-warner-2018-11

 

There are problems with Pelosi, but I'm very wary of the motives of many of those in the party who do want to topple her, especially as they seem to have no real plan after the fact. 

 

Anyway, one of the more underreported stories from the night, along with gun control advocates having a strong night, is probably that a number of states did fight back to try to keep the ACA going. The main Republican who helped get repeal through the House lost his seat...to an Obama White House alum no less. 

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-14/new-jersey-republican-s-defeat-shows-power-of-health-care-issue

[DRW50]

 

I can't even laugh at this because Republicans just say [!@#$%^&*] all the time and it never matters. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I also hope that is over too.  If Democrats and others  have argued that Trump never had the temperament to be POTUS, what would it look like having an Avenatti as a nominee for the Democratic party??

 

 

Speaking of spectacles,  Theresa May has just spoken at The House of Commons and is taking question and answers after a sizable number of her cabinet walked off the job, one by one.

It's an extraordinary sight as it's playing out Live.

 

May makes statement on draft Brexit Deal

Edited November 15, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

 

Thanks for letting us know. I thought she had enough support, but it sounds like she will still have to grind out any "victory" and she will likely pay a huge price with her party. I have never known what she even wanted out of the deal. I'm not sure anyone does. She just seemed to kick the can down the road as long as she could. 

 

She's lucky in that there isn't anyone who seems likely to replace her. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The biggest irony is that May, who was ambivalent at best, about Leaving the E.U. now has the task of trying to carve out a deal has been left in her lap.  The biggest Leavers have absconded, after seemingly throwing up their hands after they discovered that it would be impossible to get the deal that they've been trying to sell to the public for twenty years.

 

 

This is extraordinary.  The remorse is real.

 

[Khan]

Brexit has never made sense to me.  Ergo, it's glad to see developments such as these occurring.

[alphanguy74]

Richard Ojeda is the one who IMO, has the best chance of beating Trump... if he picks a good running mate, Trump wouldn't have a chance. He may have lost his race, but it was also the biggest swing in the country. Military Major, and southern accent... he would win Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, I guarantee it. I've always said, a centrist Democrat that treads lightly when it comes to gun control will win without any hassle at all. Mark my words, he's gonna gain momentum like Bernie did. Only this time, Hillary won't be in the way. If he chooses someone like John Kasich as a running mate, to show unity, he would be unstoppable.

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Edited November 15, 2018 by alphanguy74

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Just sitting down to read that NYT article about Facebook and lawd, these folks are horrid!!

 

One of the biggest problems is that these companies have become publicly traded behemoths that are exhibiting all the signs and falling into all the pitfalls associated with corporations that are on the Wall Street treadmill.  The quest to chase dollars and expansion coupled with the tech ethos to "move fast and break things" all make for an ugly combination results-wise.

 

What the U.S. desperately needs is more competition. 

We're at the point in tech that telecommunications were at about 20 years ago (especially ironic since the FCC Chairman clearly doesn't want tech/ISPs etc. to be regarded and regulated the way that telecommunications currently are-- as a service

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), where the Ma Bells, etc. and a few other mega-companies who had the lionshare of the market and choices were exceptionally limited and the consumer had to put up with it until they were ordered to break the hell up!  Then an opportunity for some new companies to come along.  Some of those companies flopped, some were absorbed into larger companies but there were a few that remained independent and regional/local and to those consumers in those areas, it has made all the difference in the world.

We need more of that.

 

Amazon, Facebook and Google are all especially ruthless companies in the way they drive the financial and consumer marketplaces. 

Unless there are a bunch of companies that can set up shop, in regional and local markets (a la Cricket wireless...oh, but you laugh...!),  we're doomed to put up with these corporate behemoths moving fast and loose (and carelessly) with our data and our wallets/pocketbooks.

Edited November 15, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[Vee]

Maybe I'm jinxing it given it's only 10 AM my time, but it's lovely to have one day where Theresa May and the UK are having an even more balls-out ridiculous day than us. Twitter is lighting her up.