The Trump Presidency

[LunarOrbit]

I've said it before, Trump isn't the problem, he's a symptom of the problem.

I agree, and I think that cancer is spreading north.

Here in Ontario we just elected Doug Ford to be our next Premier (you might remember his late brother Rob, the former mayor of Toronto... think of Chris Farley with a Canadian accent). There are a lot of rumours surrounding Doug's past, like that he was a drug dealer back in the 1980s. He comes from a wealthy family and has publicly supported Donald Trump in the past. His diehard supporters ("Ford Nation") barely hide their racism. There is nothing at all likeable about him, but for some reason enough people voted for him. It's probably because he claimed to be fighting for "the little guy", despite the fact that he's going to cancel the planned minimum wage increase from the previous government. One of his few campaign promises was to bring back "$1 beer", and you just know that was enough to swing some votes his way.

He hasn't even been sworn in yet, but he has already promised to scrap a program that gives people a rebate when they make "green" home renovations and upgrades. He is going to also scrap the carbon cap & trade system. But hey... at least we'll have $1 dollar beer to drown our sorrows in while the environment turns to shit. 

If the Democrats fail to flip either the House or the Senate this fall (which is likely, because Democrats don't vote in the midterms), hang on to your socks.  We may be seeing reruns of 1968-level domestic violence. 

I think you'll see that happen even if the Democrats do win in November because Trump supporters aren't going to just sit back and do nothing if they move to impeach him, or block any of his policies

[nweber]

I'm coming to the conclusion that China is a bigger threat to the USA

I realise the US is a country that's been crapping its pants for close to twenty years because less than 0.1% of the murders there were committed by Muslims, but it's going to be a long long time before China poses anything like the threat to the US that the US currently poses to China.

How exactly is China a threat to the US?

by contrast the Chinese are ruthless, pragmatic and, above all, patient

Yes, the Americans only have the first one of those.

Of course, on top of that, the USA is facing an increasing threat from a Russia

Again, I recognise the extreme paranoia that exists in the US, but what is the threat from Russia?  Russia isn't even much of a threat to the rest of Europe, a region which has several times its population and about ten times its economy, and which could easily defend itself against any potential threat from Russia, if they didn't prefer to freeload off the Americans.

whose leader looks to be out for revenge for defeat in the Cold War

They tried an American puppet for a while, it didn't work very well.

I've just been watching parts of an Australian ABC report about Russian meddling in the USA

It would be interesting to see whether they have a report on US meddling in Russia, which kept Boris Yeltsin in power.  A few decades earlier, the US helped bring a puppet to power in Iran; that one bit them in the arses badly twenty six years later.  The lesson appears not to have been learned.

These days, however, I see that Sima Nan is now a loyal advocate for the Chinese government and noisy critic of everything Western or Liberal or American (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Nan). I have to say it's a strange feeling to dislike a fellow atheist skeptic because he in turn dislikes the intellectual tradition which gave birth to Western liberalism and skepticism.

You probably won't like me very much either then.  I'm not an advocate for the Chinese government, and I'm not even Chinese, but there's no way I'm going to be an advocate for the American government.  The gravest threat to the US is the American people, who are militantly rejecting the western liberal tradition referenced above.  If the US becomes some ultra-****y authoritarian hellhole, my money is on it having nothing to do with Russia or China, except for their use as scapegoats.

[Glom]

There are a couple of states that split their electoral college votes by congressional district with the remaining two being state wide. Why don't all states do this?

I know this is tangential but I am curious.

[gillianren]

There are a couple of states that split their electoral college votes by congressional district with the remaining two being state wide. Why don't all states do this?

I know this is tangential but I am curious.

In theory, keeping all your state's votes together gives your state more influence, instead of the people.  There are several states who have now passed laws saying that the winner of the popular vote will get their EC votes.  The original purpose of the Electoral College was to give smaller states more influence in the grand state of things; it benefited New Hampshire and Delaware at the expense of Pennsylvania and Virginia.  I actually used to have a defense for it, but after having two elections go against the popular vote in my voting lifetime (and I've only been voting about half my life at this point), I'm done with it.

[Obviousman]

I'm with Peter B on this one: the PRC is the biggest regional threat Australia faces (but not necessarily the US). The PRC government DOES play the long game. They are a threat to the US as influence will spread throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the US will find itself shut out of ports, bases, access, etc.

PRC moves regarding various disputed islands in the South China Sea (e.g. Spratlys) are an example. They disregard international rulings and unilaterally decide to claim islands. They claim no military intent but meantime islands are being upgraded to support military operations: runways, ports, air defence systems. They are even now making moves to find reason why international freedom of navigation rules can be ignored and exclusion zones established.

This is a dangerous time. We have a corrupt clown as the US President; the PRC has a leader who is trying to establish himself as 'president for life' 9and by all accounts succeeding); the PRC heavily influences the DPRK - who itself is run by a ruling dynasty - and is quite adept at playing the bait & switch game regarding nuclear capability and intent; a Russian leader with frightening criminal connections who has also managed to become 'dictator for life' and wants to re-establish Russia as a superpower; the PRC is making massive loans to small nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region who will not be able to repay them and that come with strings attached; and the PRC itself faces a looming financial crisis with growth slowing markedly.

There are so many destabilising influences.

[jfb]

The fact that he thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is ridiculous.

That prize was completely discredited, if it hadn't been already, when it was given to Barack Obama, who had done nothing to earn it at the time (his own words), and subsequently became quite expert at extrajudicial assassination.

Ahem.

HENRY.  FREAKING. KISSINGER.

[jfb]

Having spent the past week with friends on a lake in Quebec with no signal, I am simultaneously happier and more depressed.  Just getting away from Twitter and Facebook and, oh yes, actual news helped a lot - letting yourself marinate in insanity is a good way to go insane yourself.  Spending a week on a lake with a cheese-addicted snapping turtle helps realign things.

But, some primary results in New York are not encouraging, and if the Democrats really are going to base their fall campaign around abolishing ICE, well...

Fortunately Obama told a bunch of Democrats at a fundraiser to basically get the eff over themselves and start doing things that will make a difference (vote, get other people registered and voting, support good candidates, etc.).  We should have stopped the damned navel-gazing on 1 Feb 2017 and started work right then on getting people elected. 

Yeah, gerrymandering and voter suppression are a thing.  Get people registered and voting anyway, as many as possible, in as many places as possible, and get them voting as early as possible.  Politics is a numbers game, and when you're playing from a negative position as Democrats are right now, you have to throw everything you have into it and then some.  Ending voter suppression means winning state houses, so don't skimp on that effort. 

[gillianren]

Do you know what percentage of Americans support abolishing ICE?  It's a lot.  It turns out that they're ineffective and inefficient as well as cruel--they don't provide the services they're supposed to as well or as cost-effectively as the organizations from which they took over the job, and they only came to exist in the shadow of 9/11.  There are some places it's not going to play, but none of the friends I have who've been picketing or otherwise protesting were organized there by the party.  Many of them are deeply distrustful of the party, and one or two of them are even former Bernie delegates.  The Democrats as a party have to latch onto the handful of issues that are charging the base if they're going to win; it's what the Republicans have been doing for decades.  So women's rights, union rights, the Supreme Court, gay rights--and immigrants' rights.

[nickrulercreator]

How's everyone feeling about this SCOTUS nominee?

IMHO it could've been worse, but of course it's still awful. Dude doesn't believe a sitting president can be indicted, and we're not really sure what he'll due to R.v.W. yet. He's also a 2A enthusiast.

Luckily for R.v.W, he believes precedent holds, so maybe he won't overturn it.

Maybe.

Dems need to fight like hell to oppose this nominee.

[jfb]

How's everyone feeling about this SCOTUS nominee?

IMHO it could've been worse, but of course it's still awful. Dude doesn't believe a sitting president can be indicted, and we're not really sure what he'll due to R.v.W. yet. He's also a 2A enthusiast.

Luckily for R.v.W, he believes precedent holds, so maybe he won't overturn it.

Maybe.

Dems need to fight like hell to oppose this nominee.

It could be worse - it could be Harriet Miers again. 

Being recommended by the Federalist Society means that he's not a total spaz as a jurist, but it also means I know that some of his positions will be deeply worrying. 

Honestly, though, Democrats need to focus on midterms and winning as many seats as possible.  Which means GOTV efforts need to be ramping up into high gear now.  Winning the majority means controlling the House and/or Senate judiciary committees.  Since we currently don't control either house, we can't pull a Mitch and just put off the vote until after the election. 

[gillianren]

I've seen a lot of posts from my friends about being sure you're registered to vote in time for our primary next month.  Though my friends for the most part already were, I'm sure!

[jfb]

I've seen a lot of posts from my friends about being sure you're registered to vote in time for our primary next month.  Though my friends for the most part already were, I'm sure!

Our primary (TX) came and went back in March, and turnout was, once again, disappointing.  Beto O'Rourke has it nailed - we're not a red state as much as we are a non-voting state.  Texas "has been on the verge of turning blue" for well over a decade, but we never do, because Texas Democrats can't be bothered to show up when it matters. 

Sure, after the election they're all over the place.  After the election they're out front whining and bitching.  But, you know, they couldn't actually be bothered to vote because their particular unicorn wasn't running.  Got forbid they vote for someone who's not perfect.  Better to just stay home. 

Although, my favorite excuse came from some Democrats who couldn't vote for Sanders in 2016 because they didn't know he was running until a week before the primary, and by then it was too late to register (which was unfair and suppressive). 

My somewhat intemperate response was how could you not know who was running for President?  How is this is a surprise for you?  What are you doing to actively avoid any news source, be it MSM or social media or the Weekly World News, so as to not know who was actually running for President?  It happens every four years like clockwork, it's all over the news...how can this be a surprise? 

This is what we're fighting - not just apathy, but willful ignorance.  And short of slapping these idiots with a tire iron, I'm not sure what the solution is. 

[Obviousman]

...Texas "has been on the verge of turning blue" for well over a decade, but we never do, because Texas Democrats can't be bothered to show up when it matters...

Pretty simple, isn't it? Decisions are made by people who show up.

[nickrulercreator]

I made a mistake. It’s pretty bad. Apparently things are looking worse for R.v.W.

I wish I was 18. I’m so mad.


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[gillianren]

Both the Democrats and Republicans have food stands at Olympia's annual carnival.  I wish the fact that the Democrats usually have longer lines at theirs meant anything!