The General 'Murican Politics Thread

[Patticus]

Extra rights? They barely have the same ones hetero people have, and in some places that parity is in name only.

[Conando]

Yeah I mean really, what the hell does he mean extra rights? Being included in with the rest of every other group protected by nondiscrimination laws (which includes whites and heterosexual people despite what the Fox crowd likes to say) and being able to marry aren't extra rights. 

[KHCast]

I don't plan on watching Trumps  inauguration. I've decided fuck that, I'm gonna watch a whole day of South Park. Anyone else opting not to watch?

[Conando]

When the hell is it again anyway? The 20th? I was just planning to play Dragon Quest 8 3DS all day anyway.

[Patticus]

17 hours ago, Conando said:

When the hell is it again anyway? The 20th? I was just planning to play Dragon Quest 8 3DS all day anyway.

Friday, January 20th. I'll be at work for the first half of the day, and hopefully slaughtering everything that moves (that is also an enemy) in Battlefront in the afternoon. At no point will I tune in to Trump's shitfest. By the by, the Springsteen tribute act Trump lined up has dropped out, as has Jennifer Holliday, whoever the hell she is.

Great article on Politico today about the whole Trump vs Press thing:

Quote

The press has already started to prepare itself for such a Trumpian lockout by pursuing news angles that rely less on official access than usual. At the Washington Post, the newspaper has assembled a team that includes the much-lauded foundation-buster David Fahrenthold to investigate Trump’s business dealings and conflicts of interest and potential violations of the Emoluments Clause. The Wall Street Journal just explored how Trump’s debt to more than 150 financial institutions (more than $1.5 billion than he has admitted to in disclosure forms) may create potential conflicts of interest for him.

Opportunities to ignore the White House minders and investigate Trump announce themselves almost daily. For instance, the load-bearing walls of the Office of Government Ethics are groaning with the weight of filings by his appointees, as the New York Times reported earlier this month. Trump has installed the “wealthiest cabinet in modern American history,” the Times says. Its website has already crashed from public queries and the OGE director has denounced the Trump plan to avoid conflict of interest as “wholly inadequate.” Reporters will be mining these forms for months and producing damaging results without any Trump administration confirmation or cooperation.

As Trump shuts down White House access to reporters, they will infest the departments and agencies around town that the president has peeved. The intelligence establishment, which Trump has deprecated over the issue of Russian hacking, owes him no favors and less respect. It will be in their institutional interest to leak damaging material on Trump. The same applies to other bureaucracies. Will a life-long EPA employee take retirement knowing he won’t be replaced, or if he is, by somebody who will take policy in a direction he deplores? Such an employee could be a fine source. Trump, remember, will only be president, not emperor, and as such subject to all the passive-aggressive magic a bureaucracy can produce. Ditto the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI, and even conventionally newsless outposts like Transportation and Labor.

A probe in Monday’s Post reveals a tangle of potential regulatory conflicts for Trump at HUD, the FAA, Labor, the Trademark Office and the EPA more twisting and knotted than 10 pounds of thin spaghetti cooling in a colander. Trump’s decision to transfer control of his business to his sons has created, in the words of Axios reporter Mike Allen, “a story that will never go away.” Giant servings will be available to every reporter who lines up to place an order.

...

And then there are Trump’s enemies in his own party, people like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who similarly wish him no good. Scratch a dozen Republicans, and you’ll find a few Trump rats. McCain, it’s worth noting, alerted FBI Director James Comey to Trump’s alleged Russian entanglements in early December. Capitol Hill could further assist reporters with leaks that burn Trump. It’s not unthinkable that Senate leaders like McCain will use his awesome subpoena power to investigate the president. Even Trump’s allies can’t be completely trusted. Being a Trump ally is a treacherous business—just ask Chris Christie. And as a spate of stories noted this week, not all of the Trump appointees reside completely on his page. Like predecessors in previous administrations, some of them will leak at crucial times to preserve their interests. They can and will be cultivated by reporters.

Consider the Nixon administration, which presented an anti-press posture akin to Trump’s, sending Vice President Spiro Agnew to give speeches designed to delegitimize journalists. Nixon also fought with the press by seeking to block the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. This proved a disaster. In his book, Poisoning the Press, Mark Feldstein quotes Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg on the course-change navigated by the top newspapers in the wake of Nixon’s reaction. “A newspaper industry that for thirty years and more had been living happily ... on government handouts was suddenly in widespread revolt,” Ellsberg commented. “One paper after another was clamoring for its chance, not just to get a piece of a story but to step across the line into radical civil disobedience.”

Like Nixon, Trump may have won a sizeable audience with his anti-press frothings. But he remains unpopular with at least half of the nation, and they constitute an eager audience for critical reporting. Somebody could remind Gingrich that it’s much harder to shut down readers and viewers than it is a segment of the media. The harder Trump rides the press—and he gives no sign of dismounting—the higher he elevates reporters in the estimation of many voters. Witness how many publications are selling subscriptions by promising to “hold Trump accountable.”

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/trump-is-making-journalism-great-again-214638

If Trump wants a war with the press, the press will happily oblige, and he will lose hard. Even if Drudge, Breibart and Sean Hannity become his Pravda, and some other reporters prove to be easily bought off, the rest of the press will not be.

[Apollo Chungus]

I'm not here to post any news or react to things going on, but to ask a fairly simple question (albeit one loaded with personal context): should I stop looking up news relating to Trump, the US or anything to do with the geopolitical situation at the moment?

I ask this because I feel I'm not in a position to do anything about it, and that's not a self-esteem thing. I live in Ireland, which is so far away from what's going on to tangibly understand the effects of what's going on and too politically insignificant to do much of anything about it. I'm a 20 year old doing a community college course, so I'm not financially stable enough to try donate to any causes or work towards doing something to help out. I live out in the countryside with one person who can drive (and she works), so getting into town for any reasons beyond education is a hassle; meaning I'm at home pretty much all the time outside of college.

On a personal level, I'm intensely self-critical, to the point where one innocuous comment on an opinion piece can have me introspecting some aspect of myself for a good while. And it's hard to know how much of what's going on in America or the world over I should apply to myself when I have no idea what anything is like outside of Munster. The end result is that I'm in a constant state of fear* that we're all boned, but not in a situation to do anything about it or to help people beyond my extremely small circle of family, friends and college people.

*By constant, I don't mean I'm always 100%-terrified. It's more like there's a feeling that's always there, but it ebbs and flows between flickers of mild worry and angry existential nightmares.

I'm not a fan of being happy/less miserable through deliberate ignorance, but I wonder if I should make an exception for this. I'll do what I can to help within my own circumstances, but should I stop looking up news about things I can do nothing about and will make me miserable? Please, I'd really appreciate the help on this one. Thank you.

[Nepenthe]

You should look at the news for the absolute fucking hilarity it's bringing, and dude's not even in office yet. Consumer protection regulations are about to go, they're thinking about gutting the Endangered Species Act because it interferes with wanton drilling, a crapload of Trump's constituents are realizing that their insurance is about to go away because they didn't realize Obamacare and the ACA are the same thing, Republicans are talking down to our civil rights leaders because clearly they know more about being black than black people do, and international intelligence agencies are still seriously investigating Trump's Russian collusion, with the MI6 agent who busted it all now having gone into hiding in fear for his life.

Next four years are gonna be amazing, especially for you since you're away from the epicenter of it all.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

32 minutes ago, Nepenthe said:

 

Next four years are gonna be amazing, especially for you since you're away from the epicenter of it all.

Heh, so for once, we're the main event instead of the front-seat viewers.

[Conando]

It was our time, I suppose. There's been a lot of dumb shit going on in the Western World as of late, so it was inevitable.

[Toa Axis]

The picture being painted is a pretty grim one. I could spout pleasantries and say that we just need to 'stay strong' or whatever, but lots of people are seriously worried. And lots of people are in danger.

The worst part is that we don't have a clear avenue to properly circumvent the things that are going to happen.

[Patticus]

Indeed, impeaching Trump will only allow a "true blue" conservative into the Oval Office, whose policies as president may well be far worse than Trump's, especially in terms of abortion and the civil rights of anyone not a straight white male. And as far as I know, there are no recall measures we can undertake on the national level in the way we can on the state level. That means that conservatives have a free hand the next year or so to do as they please.

Other than a solitary gubernatorial race this year, the results of which will be scrutinized for months leading into 2018, our best opportunity to hobble the ability of the Trump administration to ride roughshod over the nation (seriously, its agenda is 100% focused on pleasing its supporters, not doing what's right for the whole country) will be the 2018 mid-terms, next year. The senate Democrats will be facing an uphill battle just to tread water, but an unpopular Trump presidency will really help them out (except in red states, where they'll need to play nice with the administration). They could make real gains in the House though - not enough to win a majority, but enough to make the GOP's lead as razor thin as it is in the senate. Then the Democrats may be able to really start obstructing, big time.

They say the only time a president can truly govern is in their administration's first 100 days to six months, because after that, they're campaigning for re-election, both for themselves and their party.

[8ther]

Quick question, if Trump were to lose the 2018 midterms, who would replace him?

[Toa Axis]

3 hours ago, CD Sanic said:

Quick question, if Trump were to lose the 2018 midterms, who would replace him?

Midterm elections aren't for selecting a new president, that's every four years. Midterms happen two years after each new president is elected, and are for your state governors, who in turn have a seat in Congress.

The problem with midterm elections is that voter turnout is considerably lower than that of quadrennial elections (the ones that happen every four years), due to people typically not paying attention to the local goings on in their state. This is a flawed thought, because it's an opportunity to get new blood into the political system (or keep old blood if one runs for re-election), and it belittles the effect that local policies can have. Ideas have to start somewhere, and you'll notice that they tend to move up the chain to the national level if they get enough traction.

Regardless of your political alignment, it would behoove you to get out and vote come these elections-- especially if you're a democrat, since Democrats unfortunately tend to have problems actually mobilizing to get out and vote :/

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I think Trump becoming our next president should be a wake-up call to anyone who opposes him to get off their ass this time, and for those who thought it would be funny to put names like Harambe on the ballot to stop fucking around as well.

I really had to fight myself to not be deliberately insulting when I say that because this just proves what happens when you don't bother-if you don't vote, someone chooses for you whether you like it or not, so at least make your choice known.

[Toa Axis]

49 minutes ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

I think Trump becoming our next president should be a wake-up call to anyone who opposes him to get off their ass this time, and for those who thought it would be funny to put names like Harambe on the ballot to stop fucking around as well.

I really had to fight myself to not be deliberately insulting when I say that because this just proves what happens when you don't bother-if you don't vote, someone chooses for you whether you like it or not, so at least make your choice known.

Yup. Voter apathy needs to be combated hard. The idea that, "My vote doesn't matter, both are bad," is absolutely ludicrous when a candidate's policies will have real, quantifiable effects on the nation's economy and its constituents.

I don't care if you hate both, put whoever you disagree with least, even if it's by a marginal degree. The idea that a vote does not matter is fucking bonkers.

(IDK what the hell happened below <.<)

49 minutes ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

 

[Patticus]

I know that research into the job you're about to run the Senate gamut for is probably well beyond Rick Perry's exceedingly small set of skills, but the man has an entire fucking staff that can do that job, and spoon feed him bite-sized lay terms generally outlining what he's in for. Where the hell were they?

The man he's replacing as Energy Secretary is a Nuclear Physicist, by the way. We're going from a series of MIT professors and masters of their field, to a low rent lobbyist-cum-career politician with all the intellectual capacity of a cabbage.

 

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

It's moments like these that make me wonder what those who voted for Trump would say if he screws up.

[Conando]

The question is, would Congress be stupid enough to even confirm such a person as Perry for the job? I know Republicans aren't doing a lot of great things, but I can't believe they'd actually choose an idiot to watch our nukes.

[Patticus]

6 hours ago, Conando said:

The question is, would Congress be stupid enough to even confirm such a person as Perry for the job? I know Republicans aren't doing a lot of great things, but I can't believe they'd actually choose an idiot to watch our nukes.

At this point, swathes of the Republican party have not one ounce of care for the qualifications of Trump's nominees. The only consideration that matters in their view is getting them approved as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I'd like to think that Trump will be watching his cabinet picks to ensure they're up to snuff, but given that he nominated Perry at all (at Pence's request?), and word is that he'll be giving his cabinet picks a long leash, I have no confidence that Perry will go anywhere once confirmed, or do anything good whatsoever.

[Johnny Boy]

7 hours ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

It's moments like these that make me wonder what those who voted for Trump would say if he screws up.

Easy. They'll probably scream "FAKE NEWS!!!" and then run the other direction.

[Patticus]

8 hours ago, Johnny Boy said:

Easy. They'll probably scream "FAKE NEWS!!!" and then run the other direction.

Some will, millions probably, but some of his voters will be holding him accountable. Recall that he was only able to win by scraping away a few tens of thousands of alienated Democratic votes across 3 states - they and more can swing back, and will if they don't perceive his administration's actions to have helped them out at all.

I expect a tough barrage of fake news and propaganda to emanate from Trump Tower, Breibart, Fox et al to try to spin any of his failings as fake news themselves, or something like that. The Democrats need to be wary, keep reminding voters of the promises he made them, and start compiling footage for use in attack ads in 1 and 3 years' time.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

6 minutes ago, Patticus said:

Some will, millions probably, but some of his voters will be holding him accountable. Recall that he was only able to win by scraping away a few tens of thousands of alienated Democratic votes across 3 states - they can swing back, and will if they don't perceive his administration's actions as having met the lofty, impossible promises he made.

What's the likelihood that Trump and his cronies will try to use the military and other forms of intimidation to force people under their will? For every guy willing to take a stand against him, there's probably at least a few who salivate at the idea of being able to brutalize anyone they please, and Trump doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would hesitate to force everyone to appease his narcissistic ego (not even getting into his administrations corrupt agenda).

[Patticus]

15 hours ago, SenEDtor Missile said:

What's the likelihood that Trump and his cronies will try to use the military and other forms of intimidation to force people under their will? For every guy willing to take a stand against him, there's probably at least a few who salivate at the idea of being able to brutalize anyone they please.

There's a chance, especially if he removes and replaces a lot of military chiefs within his first 100 days in office. Apparently, he may also be planning a big military parade, ala North Korea, Soviet Russia etc, which would lead to the press going nuts, and the Democrats compiling lots of dictator comparison attack ad fodder.

I don't see James Mattis or congress putting up with military rule, though. The GOP leadership wants desperately to appear legitimate, and that would be the wrong way to do it, which is why they usually opt for sinister, discriminatory policy-making and legislative agendas, rather than more overt actions.

 

Trump's 'USR' fireworks are actually amazing.

I'm back in the USR!
You don't know how lucky you are boy,
Back in the US,
Back in the US,
Back in the USR!

Friday Edit:

 

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Prepare for the era the Trumpublican Empire: where censorship, discrimination, and total corporate control reign. Also I expect SSMB to be shut down and everyone not Republican arrested for speaking "un-American things" about our fuhrer and emperor Trump.

[PaulyBFromDa303]

I haven't posted an opinion on any of this as of yet. Not even on my Facebook.

 

Not much we can do now but wait and see what happens. Give him a chance, so to say. To be honest maybe a fresh mind NOT corrupted by past politics could be a good thing. Sure he's bankrupted like 10 companies which sounds bad but people say things like that without looking at the WHOLE PICTURE. 10 out of 210 is actually not that bad. He knows what he's doing on a business standpoint, and with the country being $20 TRILLION IN DEBT, he's talking about cutting government spending and even cutting some forms of government out of the system.

 

Now, do I think he's actually gonna deport immigrants? Probably only the illegals. Probably only the ones who never filled out the paperwork to become a US citizen, but even then I don't see it happening. Besides, there's too many other governors and senators who spoke out and refuse to do just that. People just need to PAY ATTENTION to the WHOLE PICTURE.

 

We ALL know the government can be corrupt. Which is why I reiterate, it's probably a good thing to have a FRESH MIND in office, even if his intelligence has probably deteriorated in the last two decades. You know, at first I didn't like the idea of it. But even though we don't have a choice, we can't really say anything until time passes, I'm anxious to see how the first 100 days are gonna turn out, let alone the next 2 years.