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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
@Oprah running: Yeah, let's avoid turning the presidential race into a celebrity popularity contest. If a celebrity actually wants to serve their country then they need to 1. have decent policies and 2. start smaller. Run for governor or congress first so you can build up experience and prove you aren't a complete idiot.
edited 1st Mar '17 1:35:33 PM by Kostya
x4
Agreed. I don't have any inherent opposition to someone who is already famous for whatever reason making a career shift into politics. But jumping straight into the Presidency is a bad idea, even a governorship is probably pushing it to be honest, Senator or Representative would be fine since they can't do a whole lot of damage if it turns out they have no idea what they are doing.
U.S. Supreme Court orders reexamination of Virginia General Assembly racial gerrymandering case
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Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, is considering running for the Dem ticket in 2020.
Seems like the era of corporations and celebrities running for president has begun.
Sources say Iger has told friends he is considering their nudges that he make a run for president in 2020 as a Democrat. There’s a hitch. Any political future would hinge on Iger, 66, finding a Disney successor, of course. (Complicating matters, in February, he told financial analysts he would be "open" to remaining as CEO after his contract ends in June 2018.)
Iger told THR in June that "a lot of people — a lot — have urged me to seek political office" but denied he would consider a run for California governor or senator, positions that historically have served as stepping stones to the White House. However, Iger didn’t specifically address the prospect of a White House run at the time.
Sources add that he has since consulted with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg about making the leap from the board room to high office (Bloomberg served as mayor of the nation’s largest city from 2002-12 despite no prior public service).
Iger has plenty of friends in high places within the Democratic party. Former Vice President Al Gore told THR in January that he counts fellow Apple board member Iger among his closest Hollywood friends. A number of politically plugged-in industryites say they would welcome an Iger-led Democratic ticket. Others point out that President Trump, though wildly unpopular in Hollywood, has paved the way for a businessman who has never held public office to become the leader of the free world.
Whoever ultimately tops the ticket — be it Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren or Washington Gov. and rising star Jay Inslee or Iger — Hollywood is sure to oppose a second Trump term with unprecedented unity.
This past election, some heavy hitters like David Geffen sat on the sidelines rather than back Hillary Clinton, a scenario that won’t likely be repeated.
“Regardless of who is on the Democratic ticket in 2020, I expect Hollywood to rally around the candidate in a way that far eclipses 2016 given the industry’s distaste for Trump’s presidency,” says Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, who along with husband Jon Vein, hosted more than a dozen industry fundraisers for Clinton, including one that the former secretary of state attended last year.
The floodgates have been opened.
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Assuming we make it, I'm surprisingly fine with a new amendment stating that any presidential candidate must have first held office in either the city/state/federal level, or served in the military or bureaucracy. Just something to show that they have sense of what holding office might actually mean- or something to show why they're unfit for the presidency.
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Eh... I'd vote for him. He (helped) fixed Disney at least.
But yeah, now every politician in the USA will also have to either run a company or be an entertainer (or both in Trump's and Oprah's case). Considering that's the direction I think our economy is going (to be a Service Provider or Corporate Exec/Bureaucrat), I didn't think that that would happen to Politics.
I certainly wouldn't oppose that.
edited 1st Mar '17 2:35:48 PM by DingoWalley1
Head of Betsy De Vos’s anti-public education group testifies in Senate hearing that he likes to “shake” indecisive women
Gary Naeraert is the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP). GLEP was founded and largely funded by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos to influence policy and law in Michigan with the aim of promoting charter schools and the elimination of traditional public schools. The group consists of a PAC, a foundation, a 501(c)(3) group, and a 501(c)(4) group.
While giving testimony before a Senate Education Committee meeting yesterday, Naeyaert revealed that he likes to “shake” indecisive women, including his wife. It was an astonishing moment:
He was referring to the head of the State School Reform Office, Natasha Baker, a Snyder appointee, someone he’s clearly frustrated with.
“I wanted to shake her, like I like to shake my wife.”
edited 1st Mar '17 2:36:56 PM by sgamer82
Might be a good oppportunity to point out that #Classes Taught By De Vos is trending on twitter atm. It's about what you expected.
As disastrous as this administration will be for you all it really warms my heart to see that people aren't letting them destroy the country without a fight. It's honestly way more than I expected.
@Dingo: I'd almost certainly vote for him over Trump, but why would you want that to happen?
Best case scenario is that the presidency ends up becoming reduced to little more than a figurehead like the Presidents of Germany and Austria. The most likely scenario though is a continuation of the trends towards plutocratic/kleptocratic governance in the United States.
edited 1st Mar '17 3:24:58 PM by CaptainCapsase
I don't want it to happen, I'm just saying between him and someone as incompetent as Trump, I'd vote for him. If the Republicans (or anyone else) had an actual decent candidate, I wouldn't be voting for Iger.
I really don't want Politics (specifically the President) to become a Celebrity's Only Position, either.
Not sure if posted, but the White House lied to journalists about Trump changing positions and supporting a path to legalization or even citizenship for undocumented immigrants, so that they could get several hours of favorable coverage
.
I kind of feel like giving some reluctant props to the Trump Administration for playing journalists like a fiddle. How can they be so stupid so frequently?!
edited 1st Mar '17 3:58:49 PM by Hodor2
Gee, the candidate and administration that have serially lied for the past ~2 years would... lie? What a shocking concept!
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/mcmaster-national-security-council-staff-changes-235579
President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. Mc Master, is taking steps to streamline the National Security Council—starting by eliminating positions created by his short-lived predecessor Michael Flynn, according to two people familiar with the moves.
Mc Master did away this week with deputy assistant spots, one overseeing the National Security Council’s regional desks and another overseeing transnational issues, according to a senior White House aide.