The General 'Murican Politics Thread

[Kevin]

I still can't believe Doug Jones won last night! Thank you, Alabama voters for making the right decision!

[Tani Coyote]

We're powerless on net neutrality as well. The earliest time to change the FCC's composition will be after the 2018 midterms in June of 2019, assuming Democrats retake the Senate (and assuming they can get Trump's support). It is possible, however, that the FCC's changing the rules could prompt Congress to visit the issue, as is happening with Obamacare subsidies and DACA.

Really the only thing we can bank on are the usual suspects defecting.

It would be nice if McCain dragged out the "regular order" card again, since it's looking like McConnell is planning last minute votes.

We basically have to bank on some GOP Senators defecting because they don't like the final tax bill.

5 hours ago, KHCast said:

http://verifiedpolitics.com/mitch-mcconnell-just-announced-dirty-underhanded-plan-roy-moore-loses-tonight/

guess we’ll see if McConnell fucking goes through with this shit

Time to check left-wing bias. The article claims that Jones won and should be seated immediately.

Technically, no candidate has won the election yet. The votes still have to be certified, just as happens with the US election; this is why the President enters office in January, not the day after the race, or even the day after the Electoral College casts its vote.

I get that it's frustrating that Jones can't take office immediately and frustrate the McConnell agenda, but lies are lies. We on the left can't call out Fox News or Trump or anyone else if we're also engaging in twisting the truth.

[Tornado]

I'm unconvinced McConnell actually wanted Moore to win anyway.

[-Robin-]

Moore winning would be a total affirmation of Bannon's quest to elect candidates that would follow in lockstep with Trump's agenda and fight the "establishment", whatever that means these twenty minutes.

 

McConnell absolutely didn't want Moore to win. Especially since his name has repeatedly been namedropped from Bannon's hit list.

 

If the write-ins come as expected and Jones secures it anyway, then, as much as it pains to word it this way, the Moore accusers are gonna have to keep their allegations going. I do believe their stories, but if they all collectively decide to drop their justice-seeking right now as Moore is denied his win, it will come across as being fake accusations explicitly designed to keep Moore from power, and the conservative base will be (rightfully) pissed, and Alabama/Deep South will never believe another #MeToo moment again.

[Tani Coyote]

3 hours ago, -Robin- said:

If the write-ins come as expected and Jones secures it anyway, then, as much as it pains to word it this way, the Moore accusers are gonna have to keep their allegations going. I do believe their stories, but if they all collectively decide to drop their justice-seeking right now as Moore is denied his win, it will come across as being fake accusations explicitly designed to keep Moore from power, and the conservative base will be (rightfully) pissed, and Alabama/Deep South will never believe another #MeToo moment again.

The good news is that in the wake of Weinstein, sexual assault and harassment are being taken seriously in a way I don't think we've seen before, at least not in our lifetimes.

I don't think the women will quietly drop the subject now that he's lost, not only because of the cultural shift we're seeing on sex crimes, but also because Moore will no doubt try to run for office again. He's not one to just give up based on his record. I won't be surprised if he tries for Governor or something next year.

Now that Moore's provoked a historical defeat for the state GOP, though, it might prompt the Alabama GOP to not be quite as warm towards him as they were before.

The "our guy no matter what" mentality is not going to be enough to win every race, which means candidates like Moore are likely to be scrutinized going forward.

[Kevin]

Now that I've digested the news and breathed a sigh of relief, here's my more detailed thoughts on the results:

First, let me start by saying that I didn't expect Jones to win. I really thought even after everything Moore has said and done and the allegations surrounding him, he'd still win since Alabama is one of the most Republican leaning states in the country. Honestly, had it been Strange running against Jones, it'd be a different result.

Let's face it, outside his core base, Moore was widely disliked even after putting the sexual allegations aside. I'm betting deep down inside, the Republicans are breathing a sigh of relief that they don't have to deal with him in the Senate.

Give credit to the higher Democratic turnout, especially the African-American turnout for helping Jones win. It also wouldn't surprise me if those who'd normally voted Republican either did a write-in or stayed home.

One could also say this was a rejection of Trump and Bannon, and that may be true, but the real answer to that question will be next year's election.

With the way things are currently going, I think this is a warning shot to the GOP. I understand that anything can still happened between now and next November and that the current party in power tends to lose in mid-terms, but right now, things are not looking good for the GOP.

[Tani Coyote]

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/net-neutrality-republican-lawmakers-join-outcry-against-trump-repeal-move-2627983

Some good news: as polling is finding that 3/4 of GOP voters support retaining net neutrality, Republican members of Congress are steadily coming out against tomorrow's vote by the FCC.

If the FCC does in fact go through with gutting net neutrality, it's possible reactive bipartisan bills from Congress will be the response.

Republicans like Paul Ryan will do what they did with DACA and insurance subsidies, claiming they're okay with the measures so long as they're from Congress, not the White House.

Funny how that works.

[KHCast]

I laughed lol 

[SenEDDtor Missile]

14 minutes ago, Lord Basil (Ogilvie) said:

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/net-neutrality-republican-lawmakers-join-outcry-against-trump-repeal-move-2627983

Some good news: as polling is finding that 3/4 of GOP voters support retaining net neutrality, Republican members of Congress are steadily coming out against tomorrow's vote by the FCC.

If the FCC does in fact go through with gutting net neutrality, it's possible reactive bipartisan bills from Congress will be the response.

Republicans like Paul Ryan will do what they did with DACA and insurance subsidies, claiming they're okay with the measures so long as they're from Congress, not the White House.

Funny how that works.

So their grand scheme of mass internet censorship of the masses for the benefit of right wing corporations might not succeed?

[Tani Coyote]

5 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

So their grand scheme of mass internet censorship of the masses for the benefit of right wing corporations might not succeed?

Not long-term, at least.

The FCC is an independent agency that isn't under the direct control of the President, though, so Congress could easily bully them into submission if it could speak with a mostly united voice.

[SSF1991]

Another thing that could hurt the FCC's plan: they're already being threatened with a lawsuit.

"Should the FCC decide to repeal Net Neutrality, freepress, a non-profit group, has already stated that they will sue them and take the issue to court."

https://twitter.com/Moon_Knighter/status/941036441303420928

[Johnny Boy]

Just when you thought 2017 couldn’t get anymore insane, Dan Johnson, who was accused of molesting a teen girl has killed himself tonight.

Don’t really know how to feel about this as I normally would never celebrate one taking their own life. But then again he also compared the Obama family to apes in a Facebook post in the past so I’m not shedding any tears. 

[SSF1991]

21 hours ago, Lord Basil (Ogilvie) said:

http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/net-neutrality-republican-lawmakers-join-outcry-against-trump-repeal-move-2627983

Some good news: as polling is finding that 3/4 of GOP voters support retaining net neutrality, Republican members of Congress are steadily coming out against tomorrow's vote by the FCC.

If the FCC does in fact go through with gutting net neutrality, it's possible reactive bipartisan bills from Congress will be the response.

Republicans like Paul Ryan will do what they did with DACA and insurance subsidies, claiming they're okay with the measures so long as they're from Congress, not the White House.

Funny how that works.

I have even more good news. We now know just how many House Republicans support the net neutrality repeal.

It's still high, more than 100. But it is nowhere near a majority.

Net neutrality is supported by the House.

https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/941041889205157888

We know that, at the very least, 36 Senators (all Democrat) support net neutrality as well. Once Jones comes in, there's potentially a little more net neutrality support. If the House is this supportive of net neutrality, then maybe the Senate is too. And if that's the case, then Congress may very well have the means to keep net neutrality in place even now.

Not good for the FCC if Congress is against this repeal.

[Tani Coyote]

They need two-thirds in both Houses.

Trump will inevitably veto any attempt to impose net neutrality, as he's the one who was pushing for it with his FCC appointments.

Which means that net neutrality protections are likely to be lax unless there's a compelling interest to get conservative Republicans behind it. So far it seems it is largely the moderates who are backing it, and they don't have the numbers to get to 67 in the Senate or 290 in the House.

[SSF1991]

So the FCC repeal passed 3-2.

Lots of states are suing.

[Cobalt_Bolt]

Whelp it was nice knowing you guys. The ISP that my old man works for (Cuntcast) has been practically waiting for this repeal to be passed.

[KHCast]

15 minutes ago, SSF1991 said:

So the FCC repeal passed 3-2.

Lots of states are suing.

Wow, honestly amazed how much support they got despite the world literally telling them to fuck off

[SSF1991]

The good news is that now the repeal has to be taken to Congress and/or court.

In the past, this repeal has already been blocked by courts twice now.

[KHCast]

How many republicans and moderates voted yes? I thought an overwhelming majority said they were against? Did Pai last second pay off some of these fucks?

[SSF1991]

1 minute ago, KHCast said:

How many republicans and moderates voted yes? I thought an overwhelming majority said they were against? Did Pai last second pay off some of these fucks?

In the FCC? No, it was largely a party-line vote.

it's Congress that may have an overwhelming majority against the repeal.

[KHCast]

Is there a good chance at this point? Everyone seems kinda to have a defeated attitude 

[SSF1991]

7 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Is there a good chance at this point? Everyone seems kinda to have a defeated attitude 

It's possible. There's already a good amount of states suing. The fight isn't over.

Congress can stop it, too. And it looks like Democrats are already trying to: https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/941378914185895936

"FCC rep says it may take up to "several months" for the net neutrality repeal to be formally approved by the Office of Management and Budget. Until then, the rules remain in place" https://twitter.com/sfiegerman/status/941377893518774272

 

[KHCast]

Ajit at the end is such a fucking worm. That’s all he does to respond? You can tell how he doesn’t clearly give a shit about the people he claims to work for. You can tel how he smugly acts on top of the world, thinking about the money he’ll make. Fuck off Pai and anyone who supports him, and eat shit.

[Patticus]

17 states are already suing the FCC over Net Neutrality:

While I applaud the efforts of Congressional Democrats to get this shit fixed, it's not happening unless they retake the majority next year. Hell, with majorities in both houses looking plausible now, the Democrats could conceivably roll back quite a lot of the Republican agenda before 2020.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, KHCast said:

Is there a good chance at this point? Everyone seems kinda to have a defeated attitude 

Adimttedly those folks are really looking at the big picture. Don't get me wrong, this is a bummer for sure, but it's a vote decided by just 5 people. Ain't no way that's something that's final without quite a few levels to go through.