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

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#178876: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:15:36 PM

Richard Nixon's Lawyer, John Dean, who helped try to cover up Watergate, says Trump Administration is in cover up mode. Considering the man was involved in a Cover Up himself, I think he'd know.

Sean Spicer gives warning to Republicans: Vote for the AHCA, or risk losing your seat. Considering how bad the bill is, they risk losing their seat if they keep it. The Republicans are in a lose-lose situation here.

[up] You might think that, but if the Tea Partiers or Bernie Sanders are any indication of current American Politics, they will only hurt those of the Establishment. The Justice Democrats are going to be the ones voted in droves into the House, especially from solidly Blue states and "Absolutely Sick of Trump" Red States.

edited 21st Mar '17 8:17:13 PM by DingoWalley1

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#178877: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:15:45 PM

[up][up] Cenk and Jimmy Dore are the worst parts of that show. And at least Dore isn't on all the time. It's gotten to the point where I don't even look at their free stuff on Youtube since I don't want to give them views.

I knew we were in trouble the moment I heard the name "Justice Democrats". It just screams pretentiousness and egotism.

edited 21st Mar '17 8:19:13 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#178879: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:17:22 PM

Even assuming these people primary the Democrats (lol) and win against the establishment GOP (LOOOOL!!) all of a sudden, you have DOZENS of freshly green Congressman and Senators who don't have any idea what the fuck they're doing or how the system works. And what happens when you have that? You either get ideological shitheads like the Freedom Caucus, Lobbyists having enormous influence on legislation, taking advantage of the Newbies and their inexperience, or some combination of the two.

New Survey coming this weekend!
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#178880: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:19:33 PM

Look, I'm heavily involved in left-wing political organizing and I'd never even heard of "Justice Democrats" until it was brought up here. No one I know has ever mentioned them. I think you are over-estimating their importance.

As for money in politics, the point is that it didn't use to be this way. It only started to change for the worse in the 1980's. What got worse can be made better, and it will be a long, hard fight, but complacency wont get us there.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#178881: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:33:15 PM

Apparently Tillerson didn't even want to be Secretary of State, he was pressured by his wife into it: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/325123-tillerson-i-didnt-want-this-job

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#178882: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:37:47 PM

[up]

“I told you God’s not through with you," he said his wife told him.

I cringed at that line. That just reeks of messianic bullshit. The whole "<insert deity> chose me for this" line of thinking is dangerous.

And for someone who is "supposed to do this", he's doing a really shitty job of it. I mean really...blowing off NATO to make nice with Moscow considering the already questionable ties our current administration has with the Kremlin?

edited 21st Mar '17 8:40:07 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#178883: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:47:09 PM

His excuse is literally, "My wife made me do it!" [lol]

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178884: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:48:11 PM

Even assuming these people primary the Democrats (lol) and win against the establishment GOP (LOOOOL!!)

I mean Justice Democrats are just progressives. Again, we already did that in California. Berniecrats took over the state and the Democratic Party at the same time.

all of a sudden, you have DOZENS of freshly green Congressman and Senators who don't have any idea what the fuck they're doing or how the system works. And what happens when you have that? You either get ideological shitheads like the Freedom Caucus, Lobbyists having enormous influence on legislation, taking advantage of the Newbies and their inexperience, or some combination of the two.

I think you're really overblowing it. I'd be surprised if they were the deciding factor in primarying dozens of Democrats.

edited 21st Mar '17 8:49:32 PM by MadSkillz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#178885: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:49:05 PM

So when Tillerson inevitably fucks things up, he's going to say "Hey look, it's not my fault. I didn't even want this job! My wife told me to take it! Have you met my wife? You do not say no to that woman!"

edited 21st Mar '17 8:49:37 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178886: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:51:24 PM

Apparently Tillerson didn't even want to be Secretary of State, he was pressured by his wife into it

Tillerson is Ned Stark?[lol]

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#178887: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:52:38 PM

Bullied by your wife into a job? Man, that just ain't right.

Do not obey in advance.
RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer
#178888: Mar 21st 2017 at 8:55:07 PM

[up][up]I'm tempted to say something that'd get me thumped.

Continue writing our story of peace.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178889: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:02:21 PM

@RA Truly marvelous self-restraint. Do I really need to put "evil" in front of the name? I thought it was clear that the parallel was not serious.

Anyways didn't we all decide that Tillerson is probably one of the least awful in the Cabinet not that that's saying much.

edited 21st Mar '17 9:04:04 PM by MadSkillz

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#178890: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:02:40 PM

What got worse can be made better, and it will be a long, hard fight, but complacency wont get us there.

Agreed, although the fact that Republican party politicians will spend the rest of the party’s existence trying to undermine working government and kick over anything that Democrats build out of a combination of blind ideology and simple spite doesn't make things any easier.

It would be better if the American Left was also willing, as a whole, to reconcile itself to a few basic facts about politics, such as realizing that real change takes years and constant work and pressure in every election big or small, local or national, rather than curing problems by waving a wand, that you have to vote to further your goals even when the candidate available isn't the Messiah, and that elbowing and overreacting to our own subfactions has to go.

Sadly, I'm not optimistic. I'm not sure even Trump and literal Nazis in the White House is enough of a shock event to make the left stay involved and active the way they need to, and I don't think the ability to get super majorities or to use them effectively to pass policy exists.

In the meantime, Gorsuch is almost certainly going to the Supreme Court, where he'll likely have 20-30 years to rule against women's rights, in favor of religious nuttery, (he backed Hobby Lobby) and against restricting money in politics. (Even Scalia was in favor of donors disclosing their identity, Gorsuch cries out about that being an invasion of the donor's privacy.)

When Gorsuch finds some bullshit "Strict Constructionalist" reason to smack down universal health care or to vote against overturning Citizens United a decade or two from now, I'm going to give the world's biggest Death Glare to the people who whinned about Establishment Democrats or couldn't be bothered to vote either in 2010 or 2016.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#178891: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:03:39 PM

The difference is that Robert Baratheon actually respected Ned Stark as an old friend, listened to his advice (occasionally) and (this is key) was fully aware he was not a good king.

Oh, and Ned Stark wasn't an incompetent fuck up sucking up to a foreign power while dismissing allies.

edited 21st Mar '17 9:06:38 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#178892: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:08:46 PM

I mean Justice Democrats are just progressives. Again, we already did that in California. Berniecrats took over the state and the Democratic Party at the same time.

I think you're really overblowing it. I'd be surprised if they were the deciding factor in primarying dozens of Democrats.

Uh, protip. If you're going to downplay the ability of a faction to primary dozens of people in the party, you might not want to brag about a faction installing and replacing dozens of people in the party in the same post.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178893: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:11:39 PM

Are we really debating this? It wasn't a serious parallel to begin with. I just find it amusing that the premise is similar. A reluctant leader pushed into being the king/president's right hand man by his wife while the country starts self-destructing as his boss spends most of his time on vacation enjoying himself.tongue

RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer
#178894: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:13:04 PM

I don't think we were serious about that.

Continue writing our story of peace.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178895: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:15:27 PM

Uh, protip. If you're going to downplay the ability of a faction to primary dozens of people in the party, you might not want to brag about a faction installing and replacing dozens of people in the party in the same post.

I specifically said that I'd be surprised if they were the "deciding factor".

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#178896: Mar 21st 2017 at 9:59:41 PM

So, I've been pushing for this to become a thing and now it is: #StillWithHer.

Been reading through some of the things folks have been tweeting. My favorite: "The next time someone tries to tell you that Hillary Clinton was a weak candidate, remind them that it took the RNC, WikiLeaks, the FBI, and Russia to narrowly bring her down in an election she won by nearly 3 million votes."

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#178897: Mar 21st 2017 at 10:04:53 PM

[up] if Joe Biden and Barack Obama didn't exist I'd love that woman more than literally anyone in Washington.

if she ever does a flat out balls to the wall,nitty gritty intellectual lecture on public policy, not dumbing it down or window dresssing it for the masses, I'd be there in a goddamn heartbeat.

New Survey coming this weekend!
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178898: Mar 21st 2017 at 10:06:16 PM

I mean while that's true, she still lost to Trump.

And well when you look deeper into her campaign, it makes her seem worse.

Apparently her ads were almost entirely policy-free. Trump's ads talked more about policy than hers did.

Hell, Hillary had more attack ads against her opponent than Trump did.

edited 21st Mar '17 10:09:20 PM by MadSkillz

MorningStar1337 The Encounter that ended the Dogma from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
The Encounter that ended the Dogma
#178899: Mar 21st 2017 at 10:08:47 PM

according to The New Yorker: The WH underestimated Comey

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#178900: Mar 21st 2017 at 10:10:09 PM

Honestly, people who you are going to want to watch are Indivisible, Flippable, Sister District, and Swing Left. A lot of these have the support of local Democratic Parties, and really are doing a good job channeling progressive anger and fear into constructive advocacy and activism.

Also, if anyone needs a daily briefing just to keep up with everything that's happening (unlike Trump), I would recommend this website:

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com

(edited for corrections)

edited 21st Mar '17 10:21:14 PM by megaeliz


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