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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

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In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

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

pwiegle Cape Malleum Majorem from Nowhere Special Since: Sep, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
Cape Malleum Majorem
#251001: Aug 2nd 2018 at 2:54:17 PM

In other news, Donald Trump is still a complete f***ing idiot.

Oh, wait, that's not news at all. My bad.

This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251002: Aug 2nd 2018 at 2:59:00 PM

Judging by current trends, how likely is Trump going to win reelection?

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#251003: Aug 2nd 2018 at 3:01:44 PM

We can't effectively judge that from current trends- a lot can happen in the two years between then and now.

Suffice to say that it's rare for a president not to win a second term, but most of the times when a sitting president have lost were similar to how things are going now.

Edited by Gilphon on Aug 2nd 2018 at 6:03:59 AM

TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Call me Stick
#251004: Aug 2nd 2018 at 3:03:41 PM

Are we even sure he'll make it through his first term?

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#251005: Aug 2nd 2018 at 3:22:13 PM

Impeachment is unlikely. Death in office happens but it's a crapshoot. It'd also be a bad thing as Pence is a lot better at pretending sanity.

JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#251006: Aug 2nd 2018 at 3:31:30 PM

Yeah, in 2017 I would have said Pence is preferable to Trump- Trump has very little opinions of his own beyond hurting the most vulnerable, so he's right on board with persecuting women and LGBT Qfolk and non-white people. His only policy is whatever the last the person he spoke to said. Pence would obviously be terrible, but I thought he would have tried to preserve NATO and avoid starting a war on fucking Twitter.

It's 2018, and I've still only just realized how depraved the Republican party is. I thought they'd be worried about losing money due to trade wars; I was wrong. I thought they'd be embarrassed by Trump cringing like a whipped dog around Putin; I was wrong. Now those pricks the Koch brothers are being pushed out of the Republican party, of all the goddamn things (assuming they don't come crawling back). I still think the less-popular Pence- compromised by Putin he may be- is less dangerous than Trump, but that line is thinner than ever.

tsstevens Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did from Reading tropes such as Righting Great Wrongs Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: She's holding a very large knife
Reading tropes such as You Know What You Did
#251007: Aug 2nd 2018 at 4:05:37 PM

The Ring of Fire have put up a video where the Trump administration that cutting fuel emission policies and making cars burn more fuel, make them as gas guzzling as possible, would mean less death because only the rich would be out and about.

That's Tasmanian Green logic.

Currently reading up My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours
rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#251008: Aug 2nd 2018 at 5:03:55 PM

DeVos Family Money Is All Over The News Right Now:

From the policy of separating immigrant families, to limiting the power of labor unions, to naming the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, this summer the DeVos family name has been all over the news.

Over the years, the parents, in-laws and husband of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy De Vos have given hundreds of millions of dollars to conservative causes. And many of those causes are front and center of policy initiatives and goals of the Trump administration right now.

Those foundations include the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation (founded by the education secretary and her husband); the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative (formerly the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation), founded by Betsy DeVos' in-laws; and the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, founded by her parents.

Betsy and Dick DeVos support free-market conservative organizations "because of their mainstream, common commitment to freedom, the most universal civil liberty," said Greg McNeilly of the Windquest investment group, one of the family's for-profit financial holdings, in response to inquiries about Betsy DeVos' giving. "This commitment to protecting and promoting freedom is an animating core of their worldview."

And, he added, the family supports humanitarian organizations, because "helping the poor and disadvantaged is a driving principle of their worldview and it's reflected in the history of their foundation."

Betsy DeVos oversaw some of this giving personally, as a member of the board of directors of the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation since 1989. In a disclosure form prior to her confirmation as education secretary, DeVos reported resigning her position at the foundation as of December 2016.

During her confirmation hearing, DeVos denied making decisions for the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, which is on record giving to many anti-LGBT groups, despite being listed as a board member for 17 years; she said this was a clerical error.

Lonnie Scott, who tracks the family's philanthropic giving as head of the progressive advocacy group Progress Michigan, noted that conservatives have been more aggressive than liberals in promoting favored policies through philanthropic giving.

"I think what we see overall is really the purchasing of political power that crosses the spectrum of political and foundation giving," he said. "The right is very quick to use foundation funding in a way that the left does not in supporting specific policies."

Here's a rundown of recent events with DeVos money connections.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 2nd 2018 at 8:07:25 AM

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#251009: Aug 2nd 2018 at 6:04:19 PM

@archon: Your more optimistic than I am about Trump’s (lack of) prospects. While initially it seemed the United States’ political institutions were holding fast, the most precent iteration of the v-dem expert survey are considerably less optimistic about the state of politics here, with a drop from 7th to 31st place in terms of liberal-democratic norms since the last iteration of the survey.

This perceived drop has, interestingly, been far more on the “liberal” side than the “democratic” side, but the implications are increasingly worrying; experts are losing confidence in the willingness of congress or of the US’s opposition party to restrain the executive branch. Even in the best case scenario for 2018, impeachment (followed by conviction) is off the table, and Trump’s incumbent status gives him a better chance at winning in 2020 than he had in 2016 so long as the US economy remains in good condition.

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251010: Aug 2nd 2018 at 6:20:55 PM

[up] Given the fact Trump is starting multiple trade wars I don't think the economy will stay good for long.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#251011: Aug 2nd 2018 at 6:23:48 PM

[up] If he gets his stimulus package from congress, it’ll take the edge off of it in the short term while allowing long term issues to fester and multiply.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#251012: Aug 2nd 2018 at 7:46:37 PM

Which is typical Republican strategy, if not politicians in general.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251014: Aug 2nd 2018 at 7:54:15 PM

Not going to lie, I could feel my bile rising while reading that article.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251015: Aug 2nd 2018 at 7:57:32 PM

I'm still waiting to find the warehouse where they put the kids who died.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251016: Aug 2nd 2018 at 8:09:06 PM

This administration wouldn't even bother with a warehouse if that's the case.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251017: Aug 2nd 2018 at 8:13:47 PM

RAICES offered a $20 million dollar check to the government to pay the bail of all the families and release them.

Since most bail is usually about $1000, this is $2500 per person.

They were turned down.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/us/raices-bonds-separated-mothers-trnd/index.html

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251018: Aug 2nd 2018 at 8:54:43 PM

How much is this being publicized? We need to let as many people as possible to know about this to try to prevent it in the future.

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#251019: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:10:29 PM

Someone took down an American flag at a public park at Laramie, Wyoming, left it on the ground, and put Nazi Germany's flag up in it's stead.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251020: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:15:54 PM

[up] The sad thing is that I genuinely can't if their serious or if it's a statement.

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#251021: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:17:00 PM

@Captain Capsase: He’s been damaging in domestic politics, but less so in foreign politics. The military and diplomatic establishments are more or less doing their own thing.

They should have sent a poet.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251022: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:26:12 PM

Something i've heard is that if Trump is voted out in 2020, he'd just refuse to leave. If that is what happens, what would be done about it?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251023: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:28:04 PM

[up]If that happens the Secret Service will drag him out kicking and screaming while he's clutching his tacky gold curtains with his grubby baby hands.

Disgusted, but not surprised
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#251024: Aug 2nd 2018 at 9:49:35 PM

Who wants to bet he'll declare himself the real President of the United States and try and make Trump Tower the new White House?

Imca (Veteran)

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