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Author | Topic: The Trump Presidency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9
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Barbra Stresand will soon be releasing her new Album "Walls," directed at her least favorite president. One song has already been released, "Don't Lie to Me":
--Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9
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Today is voting day, so go vote!
I hope we go to the polls and prove that Trump is not who we are, but for this to be a valid referendum on the Trump dumpster fire everyone must vote. So whether you're a liberal softie or a conservative hardnose or an independent vacillator, vote. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9
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I haven't yet had a chance to look at last night's election results in detail, but from what I see so far, meh.
The Democrats took the House and should have a roughly 10-20 seat majority. That's a significant change because it means there will again be a system of checks and balances instead of a rubber stamp. But there were no big Democratic wins or upsets. Democrats lost in all the key races. Beto O'Rourke lost to Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race, Andrew Gillum lost to Ron DeSantis in the Florida gubernatorial race, Bill Nelson lost to Rick Scott in the Florida Senate race, and though it hasn't been called yet it looks like Stacey Abrams is going down to defeat in the Georgia gubernatorial race. And there was some very bad news: the Republicans picked up four Senatorial seats and now have a 54-46 majority, at least. Joe Donelly lost to Mike Braun in Indiana, incumbent Heidi Heitkamp lost ot Kevin Cramer in North Dakota, incumbent Claire McCaskill lost to Josh Hawley in Missouri, and as mentioned earlier Bill Nelson lost to Rick Scott in Florida. This big Republican advantage in the Senate takes away all Democratic influence. Jeff Flake is gone. Bob Corker is gone. Attempts at influencing Republican moderates like Susan Collins of Maine or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to vote against Trump are rendered fruitless because the Republicans no longer need their votes. The election was a disaster for Senatorial Democrats. Last night's election results can be summed up like this: the Democrats got the boobie prize. They now control the elected body with the least power. It's better than nothing, and if they play their cards right by not overplaying their cards they may help insure that there is no Trump second term. But unless they figure out a way to work with the Senate there will be no significant legislation over the next two years. I haven't yet seen a summary of gubernatorial results, nor of state legislatures, which will control how state districts are redrawn after the next census, but my guess is that Republicans still control enough to make sure there are plenty of gerrymandered districts. I think it likely that Republicans have enough to make sure most elections will fall their way all through the 2020 decade. The Democrats aren't going to get anywhere if it takes at least a 56-44% popular vote advantage just to break even. Speaking now to Trump supporters, I do not understand how most of you summarize your feelings about Trump by saying things like, "I wish he would tweet less, but he's doing the things I want." You are idiots. Trump is possibly the worst excuse for a human being ever to occupy the office, and certainly by far the biggest liar, but more importantly, he is telling you he is making your lives better while he's robbing you blind and making fools of you. He's making sure wages are low for the benefit of the corporations he loves so much. He cut taxes for the middle class a little while cutting taxes for corporations a lot. He's taking away your healthcare while lying that he's making it wonderful. He's working you up into a frenzy about things like immigrant caravans that in the end will amount to little. Again, you are idiots. Who do I like most for president in 2020? That's a long way off, but right now I like Beto O'Rourke. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
RAZD writes: Progressives count for a large number of the seats taken last night,... I haven't done my own review, but the news reports I've read and heard are saying that success was mostly experienced by moderates. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
An editorial in today's Washington Post recommends The first five things the Democrats should do with their House majority:
Seems like a good list, but of course they'll have to work with the Senate and Trump will have to sign it. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Trump held a press conference today, just the second of his presidency. If you'd like to see the whole thing here it is:
If you'd like to read an article calling the president to task for the many misstatements and lies he told during the press conference, then here's one: Trump’s bizarre post-election press conference, explained. And if you'd like to see just the part where Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta and NBC's Peter Alexander, here it is:
--Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Jim Acosta, CNN's White House correspondent, has been barred from the White House after yesterday's presidential press conference where he aggressively tried to ask two questions, refusing to yield the microphone to an intern after the first. Almost every reporter asked two questions. Trump verbally attacked Acosta for trying to ask his questions, as he did to several other reporters. See the 2nd video in Message 2580 for the attack on Acosta and NBC's Peter Alexander. See the 1st video starting at time 19:25 and watch for maybe 15 minutes to see Trump attack not just Acosta and Alexander, but also several other reporters.
CNN will have to give Jim Acosta a new assignment, and assign someone new to the White House. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
The Democrats experienced a great deal of success at the state level in the 2018 midterms. They flipped more than 300 state legislative seats, and they now have the majority of the nation's attorney general offices. As already reported Democrats picked up seven governorships.
Stacy Abrams has not yet conceded the Georgia gubernatorial race, and her hope that uncounted early and absentee ballots will bring her close enough to Brian Kemp to force a runoff seems possible but unlikely.
Source --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
With all the clamor in the news about House Democrats planning investigations into the Trump administration, beginning with his tax returns and exercising an oversight responsibility completely abdicated by Republicans, it is worth mentioning that the Congress's oversight responsibility over the other branches is not an expressed power of the constitution. It is an implied power that has been ruled on several times by the Supreme Court. For those with an interest there's an article about it over at Wikipedia: Congressional Oversight
--Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Diomedes writes: Education plus listening, and putting together an immigration program that meets the needs of people and the companies that need workers -- jobs Americans don't seem to want ... And stop using labels against people who may have concerns about illegal immigration. Maybe I missed part of the conversation, but I don't think RAZD is for illegal immigration. I think you'd be hard put to find anyone in favor of illegal immigration. But speaking just for myself but also as a human being with compassion and empathy, I believe it is wrong to go all hardass on people who came to this country years ago to build a better life for themselves. An immigration system that makes it impossible for desperate people to immigrate doesn't remove their desperation, and so they will come in illegally. Looked at this way casts the blame on us for their illegal status, not them. Also speaking just for myself, but I know many others think the same, I think our immigration system has long been in need of broad reform. Naturally there should be annual ceilings, but waiting periods that can range beyond 10 years are absurd. And criteria should include humanitarianism, in a way that would mean that the Jews of eastern Europe of 80 years ago and the Hondurans of today would be given top priority. I won't get more detailed than that since this isn't a thread about immigration reform. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
The day after the midterms President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replaced him with Sessions' former chief of staff Matthew G. Whitaker, giving him the role of acting Attorney General.
Whitaker has a shady background, as related here: Before he led the Justice Department, Matthew G. Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients. In his role on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a company eventually shut down by the FTC as a scam that bilked customers under the guise of promising to promote their patent ideas, he acted as a strongman by intimidating unsatisfied customers. Key excerpts:
quote: Whitaker is a Trump lackey who will do whatever Trump wants, including reining in or halting the Mueller investigation and then taking the heat for it. It is important to note that Whitaker is only *acting* Attorney General. He is expected to be replaced by a permanent appointee. Chris Christee, former governor of New Jersey, is a potential candidate. But it would be especially Trumpian if Whitaker killed the Mueller investigation and then disappeared into the sunset after being replaced by a permanent appointee. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Diomedes writes: But we have to be cognizant of the fact that endorsing policies that encourage illegal immigration makes us appear as though we think the rules shouldn't apply. So if amnesty offered to illegals who have been here for many years is encouraging illegal immigration, and if deporting them blindly ignores our own role in encouraging their illegal entry, then what is the answer. You propose one here:
I've said before that one policy that Democrats should be pushing is for ending the idiotic drug war. I agree they should (and so should the Republicans), but given that the Democrats don't hold the Senate, don't hold the presidency, don't have a sympathetic Supreme Court, don't have a majority of governorships, and don't have a majority of state legislatures, it is unlikely to have any effect unless you somehow see it as one facet of a pathway back to having a meaningful role in governing the nation. I understand that you do see it that way because you next say:
If the Democrats take more time explaining that notion to people and indicate that ending the drug war will likely curb illegal immigration, that will likely resonate with voters. But how do we end the drug war? What's the strategy?
One sidebar to mention: we also have to consider the broader picture when considering how we take in refugees. Note that the countries they are leaving are in bad shape, but if they continue to hemorrhage good people who flee to other countries, they will continue their downward spiral. That makes things infinitely worse for those that remain in the country. While we need a policy of empathy for those who seek refuge, I am all for policies of helping these countries get back to normality. I've said the same thing. Unfortunately Trump wants to punish countries that contribute to illegal immigration, which will only make things worse, at which time he'll again say what he already says a lot: "Not my fault." --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
CNN has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over Jim Acosta's press credentials.
Named in the lawsuit are President Trump, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff Bill Shine, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the U.S. Secret Service, Secret Service director Randolph Alles, and an unnamed Secret Service agent. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9
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Trump's recent visit to Paris puts an exclamation point on America's decline in world standing. The only world leader Trump greeted warmly was Vladimir Putin, and Trump skipped two gatherings of world leaders. A few details from The World Is Adapting to the Reality of Donald Trump as President:
quote: Sorry for the lengthy excerpts, but what it's saying is that Trump has upset the global world order of American dominance in cultural, economic and military power, and we may never see its like again. We had our time as the central star on the world stage, but Trump has exited, stage right. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22503 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Today's New York Times reports that Michael Avenatti has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.
I hope that lawyer gig continues to work out for him, because his political future is dead. I'm nonetheless saddened. The Democrats need someone who can dish it out as well as Trump can, and Avenatti has the additional advantage that the things he says are true. Avenatti would have been an unlikely 2020 candidate, but it would still have been nice to have his forceful voice articulating Democrat viewpoints. --Percy
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