The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

There is some good news on the voter registration (aka, fight against voter suppression) front.

Apparently, the number of states that have bills that will expand access to voting/voter registration outnumber  those states that seek to restrict voting.

 

Voting Laws Roundup 2017

Edited February 28, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[JaneAusten]

So democrats are inviting immigrants to the address tomorrow night

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/27/politics/democrats-immigrants-trump-speech/

 

And in a show of unity, Keith Ellison has invited Tom Perez to be his guest at the address tomorrow. It may not mean much but symbolically it's a positive step.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

It's been effective enough in getting some Berniebros to stand down. 

I've noticed that the two have been presenting a united front since the conclusion of the DNC Chair race. It's certainly better than the contention and open hostility of the Democratic primary several months ago- we all saw what result came of that.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Ooo. Just scandalous. What would be even more interesting if they invited folks that Trump screwed over in the past too (i.e. workers, students of Trump U). 

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[marceline]

 

From everything I've seen, the two of them agree on just about everything and even seem to like each other. I'll be honest, Ellison was at the bottom of my list because of his ties to Bernie and his willingness to leave Congress at a time when it's more important than ever but his recent words and actions have reminded me of the time I liked him before all this.

[JaneAusten]

I think they are both decent people. Perez is much more liberal than many give him credit for. Yes he was for the TPP but only because it was allegedly an improvement over Nafta which he actually opposed I believe. Ideologically I think Perez is closer to Ellison than Obama.  But I have to stop reading the Intercept and Greenwald because as soon as I feel optimistic it's the sky is falling. But the one point that resonates is that the democrats have to be for something not just anti Trump. I think that's been pointed out already. The party has a platform, it' progressive, so they should be able to shift that into something concise that people can relate to. I think Elizabeth Warren is probably close to what the party should represent. At least I think so. 

[Juliajms]

I saw that Alan Dershowitz accused Keith Ellison of antisemitism, but I'll be honest, I couldn't figure out if it was true or a smear. I think AD has an interesting mind, but I don't entirely trust him.

[Vee]

People should stop reading the Intercept and Glenn Greenwald on principle. He is a right-to-left and back again lunatic who has been a crank since the Bush years, when he was last relevant. He's also been out there decrying all leaks on Russia/Trump as "Russophobic". Everything comes under his lens of the "American evil empire" he believed he was fighting against under Bush - if it's not American, it's his friend.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Vee

[DramatistDreamer]

Kudos to the person(s) who put this together.

 

[DRW50]

I read yesterday that he is now going around claiming Obama has set up protests against him. This is another very dangerous and bizarre delusion that we now just have to accept as the new normal. It shouldn't have to be this way and more and more I worry it will be even after Trump is out of office.

[DRW50]

 

I'd have some esteem for him if he'd spoken up more when it counted - during the election. Beyond that, his enabling the pandering to the far right that Rove pushed helped set the tone for so much in the GOP from that point on - the backlash during his second term, the further and further moves toward extremism because Republicans felt he broke his promises, etc. I imagine he genuinely feels what he feels about the media, freedom of religion, immigration, but it's not going to do a thing to help anyone other than himself. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Just last week, I read an article about how Russia no longer sees Trump's White House as being capable of carrying out Russia's agenda- so Russian media has gone from daily, glowing coverage of Trump to practically non-existent coverage where Russian media barely mentions Trump's existence.

 

Russia Looks to Exploit White House ‘Turbulence,’ Analysts Say

 

This is how many in the Kremlin speak of Trump, according to Kremlin insiders.

 

“They think he is unstable, that he can be manipulated, that he is authoritarian and a person without a team,” Alexei A. Venediktov, the editor in chief of Echo of Moscow."

 

“They are all telling each other that this is great, he created this turbulence inside, as we wanted, and now he is focused on his domestic problems and we have more freedom to maneuver,” Mr. Venediktov said. “Let them deal with their own problems. There, not in Ukraine. There, not in the Middle East. There, not in NATO. This is the state of mind right now.”

 

 

I also find it interesting that even the Russians are concerned with the longterm effects of the instability of the Trump administration (despite their glee at profiting in the short term).

 

“It is important for Russia that America does its job in foreign policy,”   If there is nobody to do that job, it might not be good for us, either.” -  Alexey Chesnakov, a periodic Kremlin political adviser and the director of the Center for Current Politics, a trend analysis group in Moscow.

 

“It would be better for us to have a predictable partner,” Mr. Markov said. “An unpredictable one is dangerous.”

 

Edited February 28, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[marceline]

 

It's funny how even when these folks win they can't stop beating up on Obama and Hillary. It shows how kneejerk the hatred is and how it isn't based on anything real. I saw the same thing after the DNC chair election. Berniacs swearing up and down that Perez was Clinton's pick because she's obviously planning a 2020 run. One, only a fool thinks that Hillary would put herself through that again and two, it's another example of how the Berniacs are stuck in campaign mode and have no real agenda of their own.

[Wales2004]

He's also blaming Obama for all the leaks and implying that it's all Obama's people in some matter of fact manner in a "well it's just political" way.  It's not some angry declarative statement, just some you know how these things go bull to brainwash his masses into further irrational hatred for Obama.  While they're seething in their hatred not one of them is going to question why their tough talking fearless leader would be so nonchalant about a serious issue, and why he wouldn't just get rid of all of Obama's people since his plan is to erase Obama from American history.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/27/us/georgia-couple-confederate-flags-threats/index.html

He's bawling and she's claiming that's not what they're really like, yet they had no qualms about terrorizing a bunch of people because they were sure they would get away with it. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Trump had gotten through life never taking responsibility for the consequences of any of his actions. Did people actually think he would start taking ownership now??

 

Did Trump ever publicly express condolences for this? We know the father refused to meet with him, so he couldn't have expressed condolences to the entire family privately. Speaking of blaming others for Trump's actions, there was a reason why Obama never tried to execucte that raid Yemen.