The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Turns out Iran's seizure of the British tanker was in retaliation for the British seizure of one of their tankers, which is why at least one U.S. official is trying to downplay the incident.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/irans-seizure-of-british-vessel-further-roils-gulf-region/ar-AAEA4y9

[DramatistDreamer]

According to this Op-Ed piece that I am currently reading (every now and then I read one or two), the number of uninsured in the U.S. has risen by 7 million people under Trump.  This doesn't surprise me at all but it's disheartening to see the numbers.

[DramatistDreamer]

[Khan]

As Willona Woods would say, "So, the hackers are hackin' the hackers!"

[Vee]

[DramatistDreamer]

Per usual, conservatives and the MAGA crowd are using this as a way to try to bolster Kavanaugh even more and accuse "the media" of sloppy reportage regarding well-established/famous men and sexual harassment allegations. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Puerto Ricans not just talking or tweeting about wanting to change their government, they are out on the streets making themselves seen and heard today!

 

[Khan]

That?  Is AMAZING.

[Khan]

 

Well, I want to be clear as well: not for one second do I buy that these women were harassed in any way by Al Franken.  I believe the GOP, in conjunction with Fox News (who had their own axe to grind against Franken, apparently), successfully executed a hit on that man's political career, using the most nebulous allegations possible, because they saw him as a legitimate threat to their and the Trump administration's agendas; and they knew that the purity-seeking assholes within the Democratic Party would be gullible enough to take the bait, too.

 

When it comes to sexual harassment and other allegations, I always err on the side of believing the women -- but not in this case.  Either the women involved lied outright, or took otherwise innocuous incidents and blew them so out of proportion that no one, and I mean no one, can recognize them.  

 

And that's all I have to say on the matter -- except, I do want to highlight this quote from Eli Attie:  

 

“The comedy world is very different from politics. In writers’ rooms, they try to be loose. They say outrageous, unfiltered things. In politics, you try to censor yourself. You’re always fearful you’ll offend. You have to play error-free ball.”

 

Folks need to remember this the next time someone who is not being paid to be funny says something obnoxious and then cries satire or freedom of speech.

 

 

Never mind, of course, that more of Kavanaugh's accusers went public with their allegations than did Franken's, or that their depictions of events sound more concrete than do Tweeden's and Franken's other, alleged victims', whose accounts come off as so ambiguous as to be laughable.

 

I hate the GOP so damn much, lol.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Khan

[DRW50]

I have a lot of respect for Al Franken, and I think he's a huge loss for the Senate, but I don't understand the point of dredging this back up. From what I've seen the article did not tell anyone anything new, did not really go into most of the allegations, and all it's done is tear open old wounds and make a number of people lose respect for Jane Mayer after her very strong reporting over the last few years. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Boris Johnson has been chosen by his party to stand as Prime Minister of Great Britain.  Let the Tory resignations and defections commence!

[DramatistDreamer]

[DramatistDreamer]

[Khan]

 

I. Told. Y'all. So.

 

And now, our deep hurting (tm MST3K) spreads across the pond, all the way to the UK.  A pox is upon both our houses, folks, and it ain't pretty.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The thing to keep in mind is that, unlike Trump, 99% of the British public did not choose Johnson because they did not vote, therefore had no say.  Johnson's appointment could actually force nationwide elections.  Also, Scotland and Northern Ireland might get the final word in terms of whether there will be an actual United Kingdom after all of this.

 

I know that because Johnson and Trump are of similar personalities who seemingly share the same low I.Q., it's easy to conflate one with the other but the situations are far from identical.  In the U.S. we're obviously dealing with a slow-moving disaster.  Reckoning for the U.K. may start after October 30th with the Brexit decision.

 

Also, Johnson has been poisoning British politics since way before Trump made a run for office. He's been diminishing the European Union almost from the beginning of the EU.  The seeds of anti-EU were planted a long time ago. I doubt that the likes of UKIP were looking to the U.S. for any type of blueprint.  With organizations like Cambridge Analytic starting in the U.K., it was likely that it was the other way around (of course, the U.S. has its own history of poison politics) this time.  Of course, at times, the two have been known to feed off each other, in some sort of craven right-wing synergy. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by DramatistDreamer