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U-S-A! The American Politics Thread. (Read 499958 times)

Oldmanmatt

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#525 Re: Trump
June 30, 2017, 09:54:17 am
This amendment passed Congress yesterday, it now goes before the Senate. It's gone through quietly, no fanfare and the Senate republicans may still scupper it.
But...

This clips Trumps wings dramatically, removes the Executive authority to declare war and brings it back into the hands of the assemblies.
If it passes the Senate (and from the lack of publicity, I think that's already decided and no one wants the Orange Buffoon to realise what's happening), he will be a hollow figurehead only.


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#526 Re: Trump
July 15, 2017, 09:42:14 pm
On a lighter note...



Really enjoyed this.

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#527 Re: Trump
July 26, 2017, 09:46:40 pm
I've been meaning to try and write an update for ages, but at this point words simply fail me.

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#528 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 10:15:47 am
he will be has a hollow figurehead only.


Assume this bill went through then?

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#529 Trump
July 27, 2017, 10:35:47 am
he will be has a hollow figurehead only.


Assume this bill went through then?

I believe it did.

Edit:

No, just checked. The amendment has been included in the Bill, but the bill is still to be debated.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/29/barbara-lee-aumf-house-debate/


« Last Edit: July 27, 2017, 10:42:04 am by Oldmanmatt »

Oldmanmatt

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#530 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 01:38:19 pm
I've been meaning to try and write an update for ages, but at this point words simply fail me.

Yep.
Chomsky is, as ever, un-afflicted by such human frailty.
Never quite sure the fellow is entirely amongst the sane, however I feel he might be on to something here.

http://nordic.businessinsider.com/chomsky-says-trumps-scandals-are-only-a-distraction-to-hide-whats-going-on-behind-the-scenes-2017-7


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#531 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 03:09:24 pm
I'll give it a go. Where are we? It feels like everything is falling apart; not in terms of day-to-day life, which goes on as normal, for the most part, but in terms of the norms of how democracy and the government function. Nothing about this is normal. A sense of chaos and unpredictability reigns and it's how to imagine how long that can be sustained. Trump is out of control - I mean that literally. I think there are now very few if any restraints on his impulses and behaviour. He's lost whatever grasp he ever had over how government and the law are supposed to function: this week alone witness his bizarre ongoing assault on his own AG Jeff Sessions or the dictat by tweet banning transgender people from the military, issued on a complete impulse. I think he is deeply frustrated and angered that he simply cannot do what he wants. I think he is confused by the resistance and disdain he is encountering - I think his reality is that he is winning. He is also, I suspect (and hope) frightened about what may be coming down the road. The only good thing that can be said about the GOP is that they are utterly dysfunctional, because if they could get themselves together then they could enact a truly terrifying agenda with the potential to radically alter American society and culture – and for decades given the Supreme Court is now in conservative hands. The Republicans should be shamed by the health care bill debacle but with one or two honorable exceptions they are not, because they are without shame.

What do people think? Obviously no-one person can answer that question and I do live in a “bubble,” whatever that means. For what its worth I do meet many who are appalled. But there are many who are not or who even remain enthusiastic. Everyday Tuesday at noon we go to a protest at the local office of our Senator (against whom I will be able to vote at the next election without being a citizen). Senator Toomey is a disgrace who refuses to meet with his constituents. Hence the symbolic weekly protest alongside the busy highway outside his office. Its to say: "we’re here and we’re not going away." There’s normally between 50 and 100 people and on occasions considerably more. Cars stream by and the honks, clenched fist salutes and thumbs up far outweigh the scattered middle fingers, shouts of “Get a job,” and chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump.” But by far the greatest number don’t respond at all. Apathy reigns. I suspect that many, many people are simply not paying attention or believe the concerns and fears are entirely exaggerated. Remember, the turn out was barely 50%.

What will happen? I still hope, and believe it possible, that something will bring him down. There is already a great deal of damaging material in the public domain and I suspect Special Counsel Robert Mueller knows a great deal more. Trump may make a catastrophic error – such as firing Sessions and then Mueller – that cannot be ignored. But what happens then? Many supporters would literally regard any successful attempt to remove him as a coup. I’m not predicting violence but his downfall would not lead to reconciliation and unity. The fabric of what you might call the body politic feels too damaged for that. And the social fabric feels damaged by a release of misogyny, racism, and many other forms of hatred. There is also the damning fact that any of this happened in the first place. Like many I know on the left, I think Clinton was a poor candidate who ran a very poor campaign … but still this shouldn’t have happened in a healthy society. This is a world turned upside down, in which black is white and truth is false. The elevation of know-nothingness and contempt for truth to the status of virtues is alarming and has only been magnified by the last six months.

Maybe I’m being ridiculously alarmist – this week has been particularly insane after all – and I hope I am. But right now, I really don’t know.

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#532 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 03:17:54 pm
The elevation of know-nothingness and contempt for truth to the status of virtues is alarming and has only been magnified by the last six months.

Like our erstwhile Education Secretary (!) said, we've had enough of experts here too.

It's a splendid wheeze, to elevate ignorance to a virtue is the political equivalent of saying 'Nothing to see here, move along'.

But there is quite a lot to see and none of it is pretty when you look.

Trump is out of control - I mean that literally. I think there are now very few if any restraints on his impulses and behaviour. He's lost whatever grasp he ever had over how government and the law are supposed to function... I think he is deeply frustrated and angered that he simply cannot do what he wants.

Sounds like good a description of despotism- albeit ineffective so far- to me.

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#533 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 05:18:23 pm
If you can issue new laws, on Twatter, on a whim, without oversight; then you are a dictator.


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#534 Re: Trump
July 27, 2017, 10:22:31 pm
The partisanship of US politics seems to have largely killed moderate / consesus politics (with the exception of those few non-Tea Party GOP representatives who have voted against the Trumpcare variants) but surely there are limits that are being reached?  Is there any hope that if Trump tries to install an obvious stooge as Attorney General, or tries to pardon his family and himself, that the body of Republicans will turn on him - as a threat to re-election / loss of control after the mid-terms, if not out of common decency? 

The banning of trans-gender folk in the army could be a blow too.  It seems that the high-ups in the US mililtary were not consulted and are coming out against it; even Senator McCain, who left his sick bed to support Trumpcare, has spoken out.   I hope that the respect that rank and file Republicans likely have for the view of the military brass perhaps outweighs any "traditional" attitudes to sexuality.  Surely the moderates who supported Trump are now realising that blindly trying to repeal every Obama era piece of legislation (health, environment, banking restrictions, oversight into Police killings of blacks etc) is not the basis of coherent policy.

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#535 Re: Trump
July 28, 2017, 04:47:10 pm
What will happen? I still hope, and believe it possible, that something will bring him down. There is already a great deal of damaging material in the public domain and I suspect Special Counsel Robert Mueller knows a great deal more. Trump may make a catastrophic error – such as firing Sessions and then Mueller – that cannot be ignored.

Maybe it is too early to start being hopeful but it looks like more Republicans are coming to their senses and realising the threat Trump poses to US democracy. Which, presumably, is a necessary pre-condition for an impeachment process, given their majority in both houses? In that context, the unambiguous defeat for the Repeal Obamacare bill this evening seems encouraging too.

Slow and bleary morning here after getting sucked up into staying up to watch the healthcare vote. This week has been just insane (Scaramucci!!!!!!!!) but also with some more encouraging signs. He's faced GOP pushback on Sessions, the transgender ban, and now healthcare.

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#536 Re: Trump
July 28, 2017, 05:06:43 pm
Scaramucci is a screwed up piece of work isn't he?

I'm thinking he's umimpeachable. He seems to just brazen it all out. It fascinates me.

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#537 Re: Trump
July 28, 2017, 07:25:51 pm
It's not just a political push back, it's open defiance from the military.
My retired Colonel buddy, Erica, is spitting lava and along with many other retirees, organising "phone assaults" to keep Senators/Congressmen/Governors switchboards tied up with angry Veterans.
It's not just the injustice, it's treating the Military as his private army, the breach of protocol and arrogance they object to. As she said, they swear allegiance to the constitution, not the President  (her words, I don't know the wording of their oath, I shall google it presently).

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#538 Re: Trump
July 28, 2017, 07:28:39 pm


Interesting...

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#539 Re: Trump
July 28, 2017, 10:54:41 pm
It's not just a political push back, it's open defiance from the military.
My retired Colonel buddy, Erica, is spitting lava and along with many other retirees, organising "phone assaults" to keep Senators/Congressmen/Governors switchboards tied up with angry Veterans.

I was focusing specifically on signs of movement within the GOP, which is ultimately where any change will have to come from, given they control both houses. But yes, it is much wider. Pretty much everyone I know is active in some form, not least in calling elected representatives at all levels, as well as protesting etc.

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#540 Re: Trump
July 29, 2017, 07:54:32 am
It's no longer just the left, I'm seeing more and more of the center right commentators openly in opposition:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/07/28/as-trump-debases-the-presidency-the-religious-right-looks-away/?utm_term=.58099fdde375

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#541 Re: Trump
July 31, 2017, 11:18:35 pm
Seems to be going for some sort of rapid staff turnover record http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40782299

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#542 Re: Trump
July 31, 2017, 11:58:11 pm
I was focusing specifically on signs of movement within the GOP, which is ultimately where any change will have to come from, given they control both houses.

This is dynamite coming, as it does, from a Republican senator
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/31/my-party-is-in-denial-about-donald-trump-215442

Could be the trickle that becomes a flood

I assume the Mooch went because of a chronic coke habit? Surely there's nothing he said which the prez would consider beyond the pale?

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#543 Re: Trump
August 01, 2017, 12:28:53 am
No more Mooch! Straightly out the door.

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#544 Re: Trump
August 01, 2017, 07:00:16 am
I was focusing specifically on signs of movement within the GOP, which is ultimately where any change will have to come from, given they control both houses.

This is dynamite coming, as it does, from a Republican senator
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/31/my-party-is-in-denial-about-donald-trump-215442

Could be the trickle that becomes a flood

I assume the Mooch went because of a chronic coke habit? Surely there's nothing he said which the prez would consider beyond the pale?

Wow!

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#546 Re: Trump
August 01, 2017, 07:08:16 pm
I assume the Mooch went because of a chronic coke habit? Surely there's nothing he said which the prez would consider beyond the pale?

I imagine John Kelly aspires to run a tighter ship, that's what he was brought in for I think.

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#547 Re: Trump
August 03, 2017, 01:22:23 am
So, I last posted on Friday morning, the appalling healthcare bill having just been defeated. It seemed the week couldn't get any more insane. Then the President flew too Long Island and gave a speech encouraging law enforcements to use rough justice. As part of the trip he sacked Chief of Staff Reince Preibus by tweeter. The weekend was spent berating Republican Senators, again via Twitter, branding them "quitters" if they didn't again to try and pass the dead in the water healthcare act. Then out of the blue Monday the Mooch was gone. Mooch, sincerely, we will miss you. Trump, who personally insisted on his appointment ten days earlier, tweeted, apparently entirely without irony, "Great day at the WH." The insanity ...

Seriously, there's a worrying pattern over the last week: the transgender/military ban, the law enforcement speech, action to attack affirmative action, and todays Xenophobia thinly described as an immigration bill. This is naked playing to the base and speaks to me of a man feeling increasingly cornered and potentially dangerous. I expect more - and worse - of the same over coming days.

I assume the Mooch went because of a chronic coke habit? Surely there's nothing he said which the prez would consider beyond the pale?

I imagine John Kelly aspires to run a tighter ship, that's what he was brought in for I think.

That's undoubtedly the plan but I very much hope it fails. Bring on the chaos, that way lie the mistakes and catastrophes.

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#548 Re: Trump
August 03, 2017, 07:49:19 am
You forgot the bit about the poem on the Statue of Liberty, "not being about immigration " and that saying it is " is the dumbest thing ever said"...
Oh, and committing an act that amounts to a clear obstruction of justice, is just "what any father would do".
And, (possibly due to lack of gold plating), the stunning revelation that "the White House is a dump".
And...
He knows mix, and would be the first to say mix, but the boss of the Boy Scouts called him and told him it was the  greatest ever speech to Boy Scouts and it was a standing ovation all the way through and for five minutes after and they love him and...

Didn't happen. No phone call. No ovation. Absolute denial of call and a sincere apology to attendees from the Scout leadership.
Actually, possibly, Trump's most blatant lie yet.

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#549 Re: Trump
August 03, 2017, 10:55:36 pm
Ooof!

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/special-counsel-mueller-impanels-washington-grand-jury-in-russia-probe-1501788287

(Poster cautiously allows a modicum of hope to sneak into general feeling of hopelessness).


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