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Unless the polls are seriously wrong, Georgia 6th is going to be a too-close-to-call nail-biter of a finale. Democrats are getting impatient though - with only two flips so far, they're dying for a big scalp to take home, and Handel's is the one they want. I hope they get it, or the Blue Wave '18 narrative might start to change into something decidedly less palatable.
 

Donald Trump accidentally a whole meme. I think he might have had a mini stroke mid-Tweet.

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That post generated hundreds of wonderful responses. Below are a handful of my favorites.

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Hilarious. Why he decided not to erase the Tweet immediately out of sheer embarrassment is beyond me - it makes him look as if he's having a stroke. But no, no, in typical Trumpian style, he decided to double down and employ the "I meant to do it!" defense, most commonly used by cats falling off things.

Easy-D doesn't own up to even the smallest mistake.

Fucking insane how this knuckle-dragging Neanderthal got elected. At least the memes are as good as hoped, even if everything else he says and does is scary.

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While everyone is busy tweeting memes, Trump is hard at work destroying the world for profit:

https://www.axios.com/scoop-trump-is-pulling-u-s-out-of-paris-climate-deal-2427773025.html

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President Trump has made his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Details on how the withdrawal will be executed are being worked out by a small team including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. They're deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal — which could take 3 years — or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be faster but more extreme.

Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama's climate legacy. It sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn't prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal.

The only other two countries that aren't supporting the deal are Nicaragua and Syria.

A letter from 22 Republican Senators (including Mitch McConnell) that called for a clean exit had reinforced Trump's instincts to withdraw, and the president had been telling confidants over the past week that he was going to pull out.

This is the most shameful moment for the United States of America. Fuck the GOP and anyone who supports these greedy and selfish cunts.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/31/donald-trump-paris-climate-change-deal-agreement-us

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While US emissions would start to level off rather than continue their gradual decline, there are signs that India and China, the two other national heavy hitters in emissions, are moving away from coal more quickly than expected, according to Climate Action Tracker.

This has led several economists and large US businesses to fret that the coming boom in solar, wind and other renewable energies will not take place in America. China signaled its intent earlier this year by announcing it will invest $360bn in renewable energy by 2020, creating more than 13m jobs in the sector.’

If the economic fallout of leaving the Paris deal does not sway Trump, the diplomatic and security ramifications may. Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, has urged the US “keep a seat at the table” in order to maintain its international standing while UN secretary general António Guterres has raised the possibility of “risks of conflict” if climate change is not properly addressed.

The rest of the world will reap the scientific advancements as well as the foreign policy karma, while the US will sit on the sidelines crying about their precious coal jobs.

The US deserves this humiliation.

 

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The EU and China have announced closer ties to try to combat climate change. It is scary and horrifying that China of all countries is now more moderate and sensible on this issue than the US.

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41 minutes ago, Patticus said:

The EU and China have announced closer ties to try to combat climate change. It is scary and horrifying that China of all countries is now more moderate and sensible on this issue than the US.

I've already warned many pages back, that China is leaving the US in dust when it comes to the switch to renewables. This is because engineers rule China, while the US is stuck with religious imbeciles when it comes to science.

American leaders are stuck in the medieval age. For example, Angela Merkel is a research scientist with a doctorate in physical chemistry. The contrast with Trump is staggering.

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Are you trying to rub it in as much as possible, or what? It's not like the entire US population is happy about this.

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I have to say. At first I had my many grievances with Tillerson, but the fact he's calling for the US to try and preserve leadership by not pulling out of things completely makes it sound to me like he's actually stepped into the role of Secretary of State much better than Trump has as President.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up getting canned for it. You simply do not question the Donald when he's your boss.

Trump's advisers exist just to make his policies look prettier, not to actually advise him so he doesn't do something stupid.

Hey Pence, we're all eager for that signature that declares him unfit for office.

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17 minutes ago, Dizcrybe said:

Are you trying to rub it in as much as possible, or what? It's not like the entire US population is happy about this.

Sure, the majority of Americans are today opposed to what the GOP are doing. But on the other hand, elections have consequences. Maybe if the rest of the world rubs it in really hard, tens of millions of Americans won't again vote for a caricature of a human being.

Speaking of rubbing it in, the EU and China are teaming up to smack down the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/31/china-eu-climate-lead-paris-agreement

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China and the EU will forge an alliance to take a leading role in tackling global warming in response to Donald Trump’s expected decision to pull the US out of the historic Paris agreement.

Amid growing fears that the US will soon join Nicaragua and Syria on the small list of countries refusing to back the climate accord signed in 2015, Beijing and Brussels have been preparing to announce their intention to accelerate joint efforts to reduce global carbon emissions.

According to a statement being prepared before an EU-China summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, the new alliance will say they are determined to “lead the energy transition” towards a low-carbon economy.

The EU’s climate commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete told the Guardian: “The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy.”

Cañete continued: “No one should be left behind, but the EU and China have decided to move forward. Our successful cooperation on issues like emissions trading and clean technologies are bearing fruit. Now is the time to further strengthen these ties to keep the wheels turning for ambitious global climate action.”

In their declaration, Brussels and Beijing will also call on all parties “to uphold the Paris agreement” and signal their “highest political commitment” to doing so themselves.

The document describes climate change as a “national security issue” and “multiplying factor of social and political fragility”. The Paris pact is a “historic achievement” and “irreversible”, the document says.

In a bid to calm jangling nerves in the developing world, the document reaffirms funding commitments, and promises to bring forward new mid-century greenhouse gas reduction targets. The two blocs will also launch their first ever clean energy cooperation, as well as measures on energy efficiency, low-emissions transport and low-carbon cooperation between cities.

“The EU-China agreement on the full implementation on international commitments under the Paris agreement becomes even more important,” one EU source said.

The expected announcement in Brussels illustrates China’s determination to take a leadership role in the world as Trump’s US turns inwards and prepares to shun its commitments under an international agreement President Obama had described as a “turning point for our planet” and a “major leap for mankind”.

The joint EU-China statement will offer a high level of detail on how they intend to make real the promises they made when they agreed to limit global warming to well below 2C.

The EU, which has pioneered an emissions trading system, has agreed to provide China with €10m to support its plan to roll out its own programme this year.

Both sides will also promise to help developing countries reduce their carbon footprint, and the EU will increasingly share its technological knowhow. “Tackling climate change and reforming our energy systems are significant drivers of job creation, investment opportunities and economic growth,” the joint statement is expected to say.

On Thursday night in Brussels, the Chinese prime minister, Li Keqiang, will join the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for an informal dinner before the main events the following day.

A series of communiques and memorandums of understanding are expected to be released. The issues range from a need to increase free trade and ensure respect for global rules and norms, to dealing with non-competitive practices.

The EU will also raise its continued concerns about human rights abuses in China, in particular in relation to new legislation on non-governmental organisations and the media.

However it will be the joint climate change statement that will be the centrepiece of the summit. An EU official said: “The climate change discussions will be about how to promote the implementation of the deal in Paris. How to promote the use of clean energies.

“This is a survival question for many Chinese cities and regions. And also for India. Europe has unprecedented knowhow in this field – technological knowhow, and also legal and regulatory knowhow to promote the use of such technologies. This is therefore a key area of cooperation between us.”

Wendel Trio, the Director of Climate Action Network Europe said: “The summit shows that climate protection is and will remain top priority in the international cooperation, no matter what the US administration does.

“The strengthened climate alliance between the EU and China should trigger more climate action. This will smooth the way for the two powers to ramp up their Paris climate pledges by 2020, when they are due to be resubmitted. Both are set to overachieve their targets and can afford to make an even bigger contribution.”

Li Shuo, the climate policy adviser of Greenpeace East Asia, said it was crucial for the largest emitters of carbon to fill the vacuum left by the US’s likely decision.

He said: “The rapid backlash of US climate action requires enhanced leadership from all other countries. At the upcoming EU-China summit, Beijing and Brussels need to demonstrate they are putting new and collective leadership into concrete terms. If US-China climate cooperation gave birth to the Paris agreement, now it is up to EU and China to defend and enhance it.”

India has also voiced that they're staying in.

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2 hours ago, Volphied said:

I've already warned many pages back, that China is leaving the US in dust when it comes to the switch to renewables. This is because engineers rule China, while the US is stuck with religious imbeciles when it comes to science.

Then why the fuck does China keep hacking our computers and stealing our tech secrets every chance they get if their engineers were in charge? Especially when Xi Jinping, the main leader of China, actually holds a doctorate in Law and not engineering? I'd expect them to have their smog and pollution cleaned up much faster if that were the case.

It's obviously nonsense to say China isn't rising technologically and over investing in cleaner energy, but let's not kid ourselves over who rules the country--China's run by slimy politicians and bureaucrats just like the US, which is probably worse in China's case since they're authoritarian. They just have the benefit of not having religion leech its way into their legislature and screwing things up, so they have a better focus of things when they need to, but they're saddled with arguably just as much, if not more corruption than the US.

That doesn't make it any less surprising that they're siding with the EU and making the US look foolish given what's going on. But I wouldn't put China on that big a pedestal in comparison to the US -- at least the people here have a better chance of throwing out incompetent leaders than they would if it was China.

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22 minutes ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

That doesn't make it any less surprising that they're siding with the EU and making the US look foolish given what's going on. But I wouldn't put China on that big a pedestal in comparison to the US -- at least the people here have a better chance of throwing out incompetent leaders than they would if it was China.

Just give the GOP some time, they're trying really hard to fix that. In fact, voter suppression has already played a major role in handing Trump states like Wisconsin.

https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000/

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 According to federal court records, 300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin. A new study by Priorities USA, shared exclusively with The Nation, shows that strict voter-ID laws, in Wisconsin and other states, led to a significant reduction in voter turnout in 2016, with a disproportionate impact on African-American and Democratic-leaning voters. Wisconsin’s voter-ID law reduced turnout by 200,000 votes, according to the new analysis. Donald Trump won the state by only 22,748 votes.

[...]

The Priorities USA study is consistent with a 2014 study by the Government Accountability Office, which found that strict voter-ID laws in Kansas and Tennessee reduced turnout by 2 percent, enough to swing a close election, with the largest drop-off among newly registered voters, young voters, and voters of color.

This study provides more evidence for the claim that voter-ID laws are designed not to stop voter impersonation fraud, which is virtually nonexistent, but to make it harder for certain communities to vote. This matters greatly today, because 87 bills to restrict access to the ballot have been introduced in 29 states this year, including voter-ID laws in 19 states. Arkansas and Iowa have already passed strict voter-ID laws in 2017.

 

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I think it's key to note the GOP is getting sucker punched by the independent judiciary.

Gerrymandered districts are being struck down, albeit on racial lines, but that's enough to seriously jeopardize their desired monopoly on power.

Voter ID laws are cause for concern, but those are also being struck down; just last month, a federal judge in Texas of all places found they're designed to discriminate.

Finally, opinions on the war on crime are softening and there's a movement to restore voting rights to ex-felons in several states. This can take the form of ballot initiatives like the current one gaining steam in Florida, but the Governor of Virginia restored voting rights to 67,000 ex-felons last year. It was rather badass how it happened: he tried to mass pardon all ex-felons in one fell swoop, was told by the state Supreme Court he wasn't allowed to do so, so he proceeded to just do it one by one.

Should we sit and expect the GOP to get sorted out? Absolutely not. But it's not a given that they will create a one party state here either. Especially considering they can barely figure out how to govern despite ruling just about everything. Ironically, we basically are a one party state at the moment, and yet it's producing widespread bureaucratic incompetence, not autocracy.

The GOP has 17 months to rig races everywhere if they want to hold onto Governor seats. A wave of Democrat Governors will not only block gerrymandering after the 2020 census, but will also be able to begin the process of suffrage restoration that will ultimately benefit the Democrats over the GOP.

The GOP has stacked the deck in their favor, but even a gambler will sometimes win big at the casino. The Democrats are able to stay competitive in statewide and nationwide elections, and that can be parlayed into reforms that restore Democratic competitiveness at the local and district levels.

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3 hours ago, Volphied said:

Sure, the majority of Americans are today opposed to what the GOP are doing. But on the other hand, elections have consequences. Maybe if the rest of the world rubs it in really hard, tens of millions of Americans won't again vote for a caricature of a human being.

As someone who didn't vote for a caricature of a human being, the only effect it's having on me is resentment of foreigners.

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The Georgia 6th is the race everyone is contemplating on June 20th, but South Carolina has 3 races that day as well. 2 for state seats, but one very important seat: the South Carolina 5th US House district. It was vacated by Mick Mulvaney and Trump carried it by 20 points, so nobody has really thought of it as in play.

However, that may be changing. For starters, the GOP candidate's lead in polls has slipped from an easy 16 points to a less comfortable 10 points. What's more, any Republican candidate will have to walk on coals because 50% of the district disapproves of the AHCA. What's really terrifying for the GOP, though, is this: 50% of the district's Democrats feel it's an important race, while only 26% of Republicans do. With a margin like that, it's quite likely Democrats will turn out in high enough numbers to flip the seat. This is how the two deep red seats flipped on May 23rd were taken; turnout was low and Democrats swamped the polls with enough numbers. The Democrats may not hold those seats in 2018, but they are great victories for morale.

Montana was likewise won by Trump by about 20 points, with Gianforte managing to beat Democrat Quist by only 6 points. Many Democrats saw the Montana defeat as proof of the "hopelessness" of taking red districts, but it's key to remember most Montanans had already cast their votes in advance of the CBO score on the AHCA and the attack on a reporter. That narrow Gianforte margin and the unlikelihood of repeat early turnout for the South Carolina 5th means there's a small chance, however small, that Democrats could quietly steal it. Republicans in GA 6 will make a point to turnout because of all the press coverage and the way Democrats are looking to it for encouragement, but Republicans in SC 5 might not do the same.

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8 hours ago, Dizcrybe said:

As someone who didn't vote for a caricature of a human being, the only effect it's having on me is resentment of foreigners.

He's still your president now. Whatever resentment towards foreigners you feel is microscopic in comparison to the resentment the rest of the world feels towards what America allowed to get into the White House.

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Foreign trips have always provided plenty of uncomfortable and cringeworthy moments (for instance) for the press corps, and a certain degree of awkwardness is inevitable when leaders from different cultures travel abroad. But many Americans seem to be feeling extra embarrassed by Donald Trump representing their country overseas, especially after eight years of a coolheaded cosmopolitan like Barack Obama, who was largely immune to awkwardness. Trump is, in many respects, the archetype Ugly American, and possesses all the worst qualities that have come to be associated with the stereotype. The president is vulgar, anti-intellectual, arrogant, vain, materialistic, shallow, racist, sexist, loud, offensive and deeply ignorant. And like the bumbling Ugly American tourist who lacks even the slightest interest or respect for the culture around him, Trump makes the rest of his compatriots look bad.

So Americans are right to feel embarrassed. On the day the president’s trip began, Politico international affairs columnist Susan B. Glasser reported that the international community has come to increasingly view Trump as a clownish, blundering idiot who is in way over his head. “People here think Trump is a laughingstock,” a German said to Glasser, while Michael Werz, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, told her that he was surprised “how rapidly the American brand is depreciating over the last 20 weeks.” According to Glasser, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reportedly told a former senior official that Trump “has a 12-second attention span,” and at this weeks NATO session, speakers have been told to keep their remarks to just two to four minutes for the attention-deficit president.

Truth be told, the United States merits the mockery and scorn and lack of respect. Though the majority of Americans who disapprove of President Trump doubtless feel embarrassed and dejected by what he is doing to their country’s reputation, the sad truth is that America largely deserves its bad name. And the loathsome Trump may be a more authentic representative of the United States and its culture than an intelligent, cosmopolitan and articulate man like Obama. (Whether you agree with his politics or not, it’s hard to deny those terms fit the former president).

Indeed, Trump’s meteoric political rise told us a great deal about American culture and society, and the billionaire reality TV star was and remains a uniquely American figure. What separates Trump from the rest of the pack of Ugly Americans is not any talent or innate ability, but his wealth and fame. These two qualities are revered more than anything else in the land of the free, and this enabled Trump to convince millions of voters that he was somehow qualified to be president. If he could run a successful business and make billions of dollars, the reasoning went, then surely he could run a government. (Trump, who knew nothing about government, genuinely appeared to believe this himself, and last month announced with apparent surprise that he thought the job would be easier than it is).

Of course, one doesn’t have to be particularly intelligent to make a lot of money — especially not when you inherit a fortune from your father. In fact, Donald Trump would be much wealthier than he is today had he simply invested his money in the stock market 30 years ago. But in American society today, where businesspeople are idolized and money is seen as an ultimate value and measure of success, Trump was automatically thought fit for the highest office of the land.

[...]

On his first trip overseas, Trump is displaying what a blithering and incompetent man-child he is, and in the process showing the world what a shallow, anti-intellectual and narrow-minded culture he comes from. Donald Trump is the quintessential Ugly American, and he was elected by an ugly America indeed.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-paris-climate-agreement-juncker-2017-5

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Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Union Commission, took aim Wednesday at President Donald Trump's reported plan to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate change agreement.

"That's not how it works," Juncker said in response to the news. "The Americans can't just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn't get close enough to the dossiers to fully understand them."

Juncker highlighted one stipulation of the agreement which says a country needs to complete a four-year withdrawal process before pulling out of the agreement.

"It would take three to four years after the agreement came into force in November 2016 to leave the agreement," Juncker said. "So this notion, 'I am Trump, I am American, America First and I'm going to get out of it' — that won't happen. We tried to explain that to Mr. Trump in Taormina in clear German sentences. It seems our attempt failed, but the law is the law and it must be obeyed."

He continued: "Not everything which is law and not everything in international agreements is fake news, and we have to comply with it."

Whether or not Trump would remain in the climate agreement pervaded throughout the campaign and after he took office. In the past, Trump has repeatedly questioned the international scientific consensus on climate change, once calling it a "hoax" invented by the Chinese.

His reported decision comes on the heels of his first foreign trip, which included the G7 summit, during which the leaders of the world's seven most robust economies meet to discuss pressing issues. At the summit, other G7 members reportedly pressured Trump to remain in the agreement. He said Wednesday that he will make an official decision on the matter over the next few days. 

 

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Nothing says "Drain the swamp!" like exempting your entire senior staff from White House ethics rules, allowing everyone (Bannon, Conway et al) to work for the people they worked for before. Conflict of interest shmonflict of shminterest.

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President Donald Trump has exempted his entire senior staff from provisions of his own ethics rules to allow them to work with political and advocacy groups that support the administration.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-exempts-entire-senior-staff-from-white-house-ethics-rules

Nothin' but swamp monsters. Drain the swamp indeed...

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18 minutes ago, Patticus said:

Nothing says "Drain the swamp!" like exempting your entire senior staff from White House ethics rules, allowing everyone (Bannon, Conway et al) to work for the people they worked for before. Conflict of interest shmonflict of shminterest.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-exempts-entire-senior-staff-from-white-house-ethics-rules

Nothin' but swamp monsters. Drain the swamp indeed...

This topic is pretty much "Trump fancies himself the absolute Supreme Executive Chairman King Tyrant of America and can do whatever he wants" topic nowadays.

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23 hours ago, Volphied said:

This is the most shameful moment for the United States of America. Fuck the GOP and anyone who supports these greedy and selfish cunts.

Jesus Christ. The most shameful moment for the United States of America is pulling out of a climate change treaty? ~240 years of history and (temporarily) adapting different emissions standards from much of the rest of the world is the breaking point? Do you pay attention to the things you type or do you really hope this forum is so insular that you can say shit this extreme and deliberately combative and people will think Trump sucks enough that it might as well be the truth and acceptable discourse?

 

 

I don't give two flying shits what side of a political spectrum you think is enlightened in comparison to the other. If you make another post like this basically daring members to disagree with you you're getting a strike. Believe it or not, there may be members on this forum who don't subscribe to your political leanings (whether they voted for Trump or not), and enough is enough.

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7 hours ago, Volphied said:

He's still your president now. Whatever resentment towards foreigners you feel is microscopic in comparison to the resentment the rest of the world feels towards what America allowed to get into the White House.

How you underestimate the amount of scorn I'm capable of.

I don't care how you feel about Trump, we're the ones stuck with him. We're the ones having our already terrible reputation being sunk to unprecedented levels. And people like you kicking us when we're down isn't helping shit.

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51 minutes ago, Dizcrybe said:

How you underestimate the amount of scorn I'm capable of.

I don't care how you feel about Trump, we're the ones stuck with him.

The rest of the world is stuck with Trump too. And because the US has, for now, immense influence over the globe, it shouldn't be surprising that foreigners like me are also carefully watching the US political scene.

Quote

We're the ones having our already terrible reputation being sunk to unprecedented levels. And people like you kicking us when we're down isn't helping shit.

We're not kicking you down, we're just realizing that the best way to protect ourselves from President Trump is by (temporarily) suspending our political relationship. It's why Merkel is now publicly speaking about how the US shouldn't be trusted.

You have to realize that we're merely responding to the US president's hostility. The Trump administration recently released an op-ed in the WSJ where they outline their horrifying view on the world. Here's the important part from it:

"The president embarked on his first foreign trip with a clear-eyed outlook that the world is not a “global community” but an arena where nations, nongovernmental actors, and businesses engage and compete for advantage. We bring to this forum unmatched military, political, economic, cultural, and moral strength. Rather than deny this elemental nature of international affairs, we embrace it."

This is a blatant return to the "American exceptionalism" shit that alienated the world back during Dubya's administration. Except this time it's much, much more worse since Europe is dealing with a US president that sees NATO as a protection racket and who wants to see the EU collapse.

David Frum responded to this op-ed in The Atlantic.

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The Death Knell for America's Global Leadership

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed bearing McMaster’s and Cohn’s names. It’s a good guess they did not actually write very much of it. However, they now own it—and the United States must bear the consequences.

The op-ed originates as an attempt to tell a story of success about Donald Trump’s catastrophic first trip abroad. During that trip the president spoke at the dedication of a monument to NATO’s Article 5 pledge of mutual defense—but notably omitted to endorse Article 5 itself. That omission was heard loud and clear. Its power was only amplified by the shadowy Russian connections of Donald Trump, his family, and his entourage. In private meetings, NATO leaders were dismayed by Trump’s behavior and bearing, so much so that the ultra-cautious chancellor of Germany declared in a major speech shortly after Trump’s departure that Europeans could no longer completely rely on the United States. Her chief political opponent in autumn elections agreed with her, and went further, comparing Donald Trump to an authoritarian leader.

[...]

Trump himself and some of those who influence him pretty obviously regard the European Union, not Russia, as their most important adversary. Donald Trump has consistently refused to recognize even the existence of the EU, vainly attempting to negotiate trade agreements with individual member nations, despite their treaty obligations to each other. You can mark that attempt to Trump’s ignorance if you like, but according to German reports, Cohn himself—the former COO and president of Goldman Sachs!—tried the same gambit on the president’s trip.

But here is the truest tell. You can have friends. Or you can have people you work with only when your immediate interests align. Those are not the same thing. The Cohn/McMaster op-ed uses the word “friend”—without ever making clear who belongs to that category—but its logic is that of a nation friendless and alone. Perhaps the most terrifying thing about the Trump presidency is the way even its most worldly figures, in words composed for them by its deepest thinkers, have reimagined the United States in the image of their own chief: selfish, isolated, brutish, domineering, and driven by immediate appetites rather than ideals or even longer-term interests.

Like Trump himself, this general and this financier who speak for him know only the language of command, not of respect. They summon partners to join them "to enhance 'American' security, promote 'American' prosperity, and extend 'American' influence around the world”—and never anticipate or answer the question, “Why should we British, French, Germans, Canadians, Australians, and on and on through the catalogue of your disrespected allies join that project?”

Under the slogan of restoring American greatness, they are destroying it. Promising readers that they want to “restore confidence in American leadership,” they instead threaten and bluster in ways that may persuade partners that America has ceased to be the leader they once respected—but an unpredictable and dangerous force in world affairs, itself to be contained and deterred by new coalitions of ex-friends.

The US is right now a mess, so it's no surprise that European leaders are now uniting with China when dealing with important issues such as climate change. How much of a mess? Trump is right now opening the doors to Russian spies who are crawling all over your country, doing who-knows-what.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Volphied said:

The rest of the world is stuck with Trump too. And because the US has, for now, immense influence over the globe, it shouldn't be surprising that foreigners like me are also carefully watching the US political scene.

Trump and the GOP can't influence federal law in your country. They can in ours. You're getting wind and heavy rain, we're getting the full fucking hurricane.

1 hour ago, Volphied said:

We're not kicking you down, we're just realizing that the best way to protect ourselves from President Trump is by (temporarily) suspending our political relationship.

I'm pretty sure saying things like "America deserves what it gets, even if the majority of its population didn't vote for Trump" qualifies as kicking us when we're down.

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48 minutes ago, Dizcrybe said:

Trump and the GOP can't influence federal law in your country. They can in ours. You're getting wind and heavy rain, we're getting the full fucking hurricane.

Putin views my country as one of the many colonies Russia lost after 1989. Without NATO and EU, we would be stuck fighting in a brutal war like the Ukrainians are right now, and that's only considering my government wouldn't be just outright hijacked by a Yanukovich-like puppet.

And guess what Trump wants to destroy? The two organizations that are guaranteeing that my country remains part of the Free World.

Quote

I'm pretty sure saying things like "America deserves what it gets, even if the majority of its population didn't vote for Trump" qualifies as kicking us when we're down.

The majority didn't vote for Trump, and I sympathize with them. Nevertheless, most Americans weren't alarmed about the election the same way the French were about their election, as an example. Le Pen was completely crushed, whereas Trump slipped in thanks to a few thousand votes in the right states.

Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite - Joseph de Maistre

PS: Also, if the US is getting the "full fucking hurricane", then what would you say the Afghans should brace for?

 

 

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Most Americans weren't alarmed about the election because we had statistical analysts from both sides of the aisle telling us that it would be near-impossible for pussy-grabbing, xenophobia-spouting, no-tax-paying Trump to win because we both had the demographics and the moral fiber to just pull the fucking lever for Hillary. Most of the public also didn't seem aware of the extent of Russia's antics on the outcome aside from a few rogue comments here and there about Trump's business interests. The French election happened in the aftermath of this and Brexit, and part of their win was funnily enough the result of actively heading off Russian meddlers.

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On an unrelated note, someone on another forum linked a pretty interesting article on how Dems can net big gains for 2018. Specifically, it means instead of focusing exclusively on Trump voters who previously went for Obama, trying to win over Cvbjqwdfwgdj3t voters that previous went for Romney.

Quote

In Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia, Clinton had stronger margins in 2016 than Obama in 2012, thanks in large part to suburban Romney-Clinton voters. Even in Pennsylvania, which Clinton ultimately lost, she outperformed Obama in the suburban Philadelphia area that is a critical battleground in the fight for control of the House. In dark-blue California, Romney-Clinton voters increased the Democratic margin of victory by 7 points, foretelling potential danger for several congressional Republicans in 2018 (the Cook Political Report currently lists six GOP-held California seats as either tossups or weakly leaning Republican). Throughout the country, Clinton won key communities that have historically been written off by Democrats as too conservative—places like California’s Orange County, Utah’s Salt Lake County, Texas’ Fort Bend County and Georgia’s Gwinnett and Cobb Counties. Opportunities are blossoming in all these places and many more like them throughout the country, and Romney-Clinton voters can be the deciding factor.

[...]

Perhaps you remember Clinton’s TV ads, many of which simply showed people—children, especially—watching clips of Trump’s speeches, wide-eyed at the bombast they were witnessing. Our internal testing showed that those spots were particularly effective among Romney voters who were leaning to Clinton. There was a deliberate strategy behind the “show don’t tell” approach of letting Trump speak for himself: Highly educated Americans were often skeptical of advertising with overstated or undocumented claims, but were very open to evaluating Trump on his own words and deeds.

They didn’t like what they saw from Trump the candidate, and they most likely do not like what they see from Trump the president. As a thought experiment, can you think of a single thing that Trump’s Republicans have done that appeals to Romney-Clinton voters? They disapprove of House Republicans’ calamitous health care repeal, and are especially angry about what it could mean for people with pre-existing conditions. While it’s common knowledge that the public is heavily opposed to the repeal bill, strong opposition is much higher among voters who backed Clinton in 2016 versus those who backed Obama in 2012 (61 percent versus 52 percent), according to this week’s Morning Consult/Politico poll. These voters are equally frustrated by the Republicans’ attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. They’re heartbroken by the stories of the “Dreamers” who immigrated to the United States as children and are now being deported. They’re tired of having climate change waved away as a “hoax.” They’re embarrassed by the way Trump has behaved on the international stage. And they’re deeply disturbed by the unfolding scandal surrounding the Trump team’s ties to Russia—and perhaps even more concerned about the administration’s quickly unraveling attempts to cover it up. (In a May 24 Quinnipiac national survey, 66 percent of college-educated white voters said they are concerned about Trump’s relationship with Russia.)

 

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Trump has officially announced the US is leaving the Paris agreement.

From John Weaver, who's McCain's & Kasich's strategist:

 

The next president will have to go on a literal apology tour.

But seriously, the U.S. will not be recovering from exiting the Paris Agreement. Trump is well past Dubya in destroying US influence.

Building new wind farms is already cheaper than building new coal plants. The coal market is not going to recover, ever. Who will benefit? The companies and countries that adopted renewables first.

Basically the USA is now in the process of an economic self own. Literally a dumpster fire of a country. Hopefully states like California and New York will push against this idiocy, but lol if the GOP congress won't try to fuck them over for that.

 

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