The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

That's who the Beltway would support, but I think the toxic combo of true believers and con artists who run his operation will never trust her.

I won't be surprised if he picks Byron Donalds - he's a very far right Congressman from Florida. Steadfastly loyal, and also someone the GOP and the media can use to continue their beloved "black voters must support Republicans and if they don't, they are racists" campaign.

The only reason I'm not fully sure is because there is a campaign on the right among Trump's biggest supporters to move away from the pandering they'd done in recent years in pretending that they don't hate MLK (and black people in general). This feels to me like setting up a justification to the money men to move back to what they prefer (fully supporting white guys) and just saying, "we're doing this to stand up to woke DEI...if you don't support Adolph Bundy IV, you're the REAL racist." 

https://www.wired.com/story/charlie-kirk-tpusa-mlk-civil-rights-act/

Edited January 16, 2024 by DRW50

[Juliajms2]

^ I was thinking something similar to Carl. NH would be a good choice in the sense that she can string a sentence together while sounding sane. At the same time she's a woman and a minority. I'm not sure which group he hates more. I think he'll pick a white man to show us he can.

I think the things working against us are the economy and the southern border. The economy doesn't feel that bad to me, but everywhere I turn people are saying it's awful. The housing situation is bad with interest rates and such. The immigrant "crisis" is an easy way for the Republicans to fear-monger. I guess we just have to hope that Biden beat Trump once and he will do it again despite these issues. It's just surreal to me that this criminal is even in the race. Why God, why?!!

[DRW50]

I feel like a lot of people genuinely are struggling, but I also feel like this only seems to matter when a Democrat is in the White House. Ditto immigration. For these reasons, among others (one that the older I get the more I realize at its core this country is so built on bigotry that it may be impossible to ever break away), I am expecting the worst in November...but you never know. Maybe this will be like 2022. 

Anyway, this is some positive news (I know it's just a state house seat, but it's something):

Democrat Tom Keen flips Florida House seat in special election to replace Republican Fred Hawkins (fox35orlando.com)

This report on Trump rallies matches up to what I have felt when seeing him lately (and matches the recent clip of the audience barely responding when he was wheezing out jokes about how proud Jimmy Carter must be that Biden is worse than he is.

 

[I Am A Swede]

This will never cease to amaze me. 

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[Vee]

 

[Juliajms2]

Good Lord. I guess we can look forward to this if Trump ever ends up in prison.

Speaking of Pakistan, watching them trade airstrikes with Iran is terrifying. One nuclear power with the other right on the edge. We really are going to be lucky if there isn't a region wide war in the Middle East.

[DramatistDreamer]

I posted my thoughts on what I believed could be the most likely scenario that could expand the war into a regional conflict and I still believe this.

Pakistan and India, which had conflicts and skirmishes since the partition of the Indian subcontinent are both nuclear armed nations. I could be mistaken but I don’t see Pakistan as being politically cohesive enough to go farther than occasional air strikes (which, to be fair is unnerving enough as it is).

Iran seems to be spreading its influence very thin these days as they seem to be behind a number of conflicts in the region. Perhaps this will sap some of their focus and military power, who knows?

Edited January 19, 2024 by DramatistDreamer

[Juliajms2]

^ I need to educate myself on what Iran and Russia are up to. I'm far from knowledgeable on the various motivations at play here. I've assumed that for Iran a lot of this is religious, while Russia must want oil, but I haven't read up on it yet.

Just when I say Nikki Haley is sane she says this isn't a racist country. 

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She can't really believe that. I hate it when politicians treat us like idiots.  

[Khan]

People like Nikki Haley believe that no more separate bathroom facilities for "coloreds" means that racism is dead.

[Vee]

Speaking of Haley @DRW50 @marceline - 

 

Edited January 20, 2024 by Vee

[DRW50]

@Vee We know how much the media turns a blind eye to Trump's endless race-baiting (like his latest attacks against Haley) but it's all the more pathetic, if not surprising, how much they ignore his clear decay, or even huge red sores on his hand. I don't think I could have more disgust for the press than I do today, which is saying a lot considering their history. And we're just getting started, especially with the dead end leftists and faux truth-tellers just waiting to remind us of how funny he is and/or how we shouldn't bother because nothing matters and the "uniparty" is what rules (although PS, Trump is still cool and real).

And Haley will bend the knee in spite of his racism and now apparently blaming her for 1/6, because she is spineless and power-mad, just like Tim Scott, who just endorsed Trump, or this jackass, one of the most craven figures of all (and someone else the media worshiped and made into a god):

So many of these egomaniacal grifters get so many passes that they then move into a realm where they can just spout whatever garbage they want and people either continue to peddle them as leaders or pretend they never platformed them into such toxic influence. Here's another from Andrew Yang, now swooped in to help Dean Phillips' blatant attempt to further drive down Biden's poll numbers. Loathsome beyond belief.

 

[DRW50]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68051757

DeSassy has dropped out.

This repulsive man put poor, black and lgbt people in his state through incredible hell, risked and ended the lives of so many through his grifting of medical paranoia, and is still doing so, all for the sake of what amounted to a vanity run, one of the worst Presidential campaigns I have ever seen. 

A complete and total piece of [!@#$%^&*]. I truly despise this man and what he represents. Oh and "Mama Bear" as well. 

Edited January 21, 2024 by DRW50

[Khan]

I agree.  I don't even know why he bothered running at all, since we all knew how it would end.

Okay, Nikki, now it's your turn to throw in the old towel!

[DRW50]

If he had been a much stronger candidate, and run a very different campaign, I think he might have had a chance of being competitive, but he never was. And he had some of the worst campaign people imaginable. Here's a profile on the top of that list:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/14/christina-pushaw-ron-desantis-georgia-00118242

[Vee]