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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#175451: Feb 22nd 2017 at 6:09:54 PM

Well sanctions aren't really an ideal solution anyway but I don't really know what else to do. A cyberwar is pretty much inevitable at this point unless we're just going to let Putin rig our elections in the Republican party's favor.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#175452: Feb 22nd 2017 at 6:10:31 PM

[up][up][up][up] The Trumps do have a lot of practice when it comes to spending other peoples' money.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:10:42 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#175453: Feb 22nd 2017 at 6:13:43 PM

[up][up] He's an unrepentant war criminal and a mass murderer, but Kissinger's way of doing it back in the 70s (deterrence without confrontation, aka Détente) is probably the most likely to work given Russia's foreign policy is strongly realist, and likely takes significant cues from the man himself.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:14:54 PM by CaptainCapsase

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#175454: Feb 22nd 2017 at 6:17:59 PM

What goes on now is pretty much cyber espionage and harassment. It's about on the level of the spycraft that went on all through the Cold War.

The idea of cyberwar should not be thrown around casually. It is still war with all that entails.

Fortifying our own systems and engaging in detante on that front is probably a lot safer.

IIRC, Obama says he personally told Putin that if they hacked the actual voting, that was the line in the sand that would prompt retaliation. Obama has a bad record when it comes to lines in the sand but it is not an unreasonable one.

Edit: And just the tip of the iceburg: Russia's already accomplished cyber attacks against the Ukranian power grid.

edited 22nd Feb '17 6:37:46 PM by Elle

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#175455: Feb 22nd 2017 at 6:30:59 PM

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s ambitious tax overhaul — which slashed taxes for businesses and affluent households, leading to years of budget shortfalls — narrowly survived a mutiny Wednesday afternoon when about half of Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in an effort to overturn it.

Brownback, a Republican who once called his tax policy a “real-live experiment” with conservative principles, had vetoed a bill that would have repealed the most important provisions of his overhaul. While the state House voted to override the veto earlier in the day, proponents of the bill came up three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate. Fifteen Republican senators voted to override the veto, while 16 voted to sustain it.

In the House, 45 GOP legislators voted in favor of the increase, while 40 voted to uphold the governor’s veto.

The state is facing a $350 million budget shortfall. Brownback’s critics say the state’s persistent deficits are evidence that the economic benefits from reduced taxes are not always adequate to make up for reductions in revenue, as advocates of supply-side changes have sometimes claimed.

Republicans’ Kansas’s economy experiment survives a revolt from their own party.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#175456: Feb 22nd 2017 at 7:17:56 PM

Cheeto's approval and disapproval numbers continue to worsen.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/politics/donald-trump-approval-rating-quinnipiac-poll/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#175457: Feb 22nd 2017 at 7:38:09 PM

[up] Gallup seemingly shows him holding steady at around 40% http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx

As I said before, Trump appears to have an ironclad approval floor despite having a ceiling well below 50%. That 40% just so happens to be the dominant force in Republican primaries, and it's likely Republicans are more worried about primary challenges than the democrats because of the various structural advantages they have.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#175458: Feb 22nd 2017 at 7:39:23 PM

The dip to 38% thus could be a sign that his red floor is breaking. It will need to be confirmed first but we could see the Red Floor go the same way as the Blue Wall.

edited 22nd Feb '17 7:39:49 PM by Silasw

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#175459: Feb 22nd 2017 at 7:50:11 PM

Well, as terrible as it has been we are only a month in. So on the one hand fussing about his approval and disapproval numbers seems to be jumping the gun a bit, and on the other hand is the fact that we've got time for his supposed floor to break and get worse. This is probably the definition of a "wait and see" scenario.

In the meantime we should probably be more concerned about what he's doing and leave the poll numbers till a later date.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#175460: Feb 22nd 2017 at 7:59:01 PM

[up]Actually, his early poll numbers are significant. Because of how unprecedentedly low they are for a new President.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#175461: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:03:18 PM

@Silas: Polls tend to fluctuate around a mean over time. Gallup is generally among the more reputable pollsters, but aggregates are probably the best indicator, and thus far it doesn't really look like he's dipping through his primary voter floor, which is what would be required for meaningful opposition to him within the GOP to occur.

Advarielle Homicidal Editor Since: Aug, 2016
Homicidal Editor
#175462: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:06:57 PM

[up][up] It's not exactly that unprecedented. He is a victim of hype backlash that he himself created. It's just like a game developer promising that their next game is going to be astonishing. It took years to develop and polish, they hire a professional writer to write the story, they put incredible trailers on You Tube continuously, and so on. Then, the game isn't good or even average, but outright bad.

Serve him right, though.

Only an experienced editor who has a name possesses the ability to truly understand my work - What 90% of writers I'm in charge of said.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#175463: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:07:12 PM

Rational, I get that it's unprecedented. But so far none of us can say with certainty that this is a specific predictor of anything later on down the road.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#175464: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:07:26 PM

Gallup had him drop below 40 a few days ago, we will need to wait for proper averages before we can say for certain if the Red Floor is cracking, but I'm hopeful.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#175465: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:09:16 PM

Trump recognizes Protests against Congressmen are real, but "they don't count" because they aren't who Republicans Represent.

Trump is literally begging for a repeat of 2010 in 2 years, with the major difference of a Terrible President being in charge instead of an Okay one (and here's the hint, Trump isn't the okay one).

[down] Between him having to deal with Bridgegate and him having a brain (say what you want about Christie, he isn't stupid like a lot of Republicans in Government are), it's probably for the best. If things go south, he can sell out Trump and maybe get some credibility back.

edited 22nd Feb '17 8:12:48 PM by DingoWalley1

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#175466: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:09:54 PM

Hmm, so Christie was apparently offered, among other positions, the Labor Secretary position, which he turned down.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#175467: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:11:31 PM

[up][up] So people who don't agree with the Republicans "don't count"? So much for being a President for "all Americans".

Disgusted, but not surprised
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#175469: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:42:30 PM

I'm going to assume I'm one of the people Caspase says "hates" Sanders. I don't. I hate his personality cult. Given the choice between him and Trump—or him and most Republicans—I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. But the messiah he isn't and never was.

NickTheSwing Since: Aug, 2009
#175470: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:43:31 PM

So in the bathroom debate it turns out De Vos had principles the whole time...but she got bullied by Trump into going along with his rescinding policy.

Kind of fits with how Trump behaves.

Bullying an old lady. Class act, Mr. Trump.

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#175471: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:47:42 PM

[up][up] Same, though I don't think that highly of the man to begin with.

New Survey coming this weekend!
ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#175472: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:49:54 PM

[up][up]Devos has no principles-she is just upset that the millions of dollars she spent in bribes only bought her a desk and the opportunity to rubber stamp the plans of a personality cult. Make no mistake, this was not a moral stand-she was testing her influence(almost zero) before folding like the cheap empty suit she is, at best.

edited 22nd Feb '17 8:50:37 PM by ViperMagnum357

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#175473: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:53:41 PM

[up] So if Public Education dies or is weakened, we should blame Trump and not DeVos?

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#175474: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:55:54 PM

Why Not Both?

New Survey coming this weekend!
theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#175475: Feb 22nd 2017 at 8:55:55 PM

Seriously. Trump is basically now the Duke Nukem Forever of politics.

"I'M GONNA BE THE BEST THING EVER!"

"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE TERRIBLE!"


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