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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

Imca (Veteran)
#291551: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:10:25 PM

Wasn't that like.... just kind of known?

You don't just go to the hospital and get multiple stents put in for just chest pain.

I thought it was just the normal dancing around a politicians health issues our news does. ._.;

Edited by Imca on Oct 4th 2019 at 5:12:08 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#291552: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:17:24 PM

We knew there was a heart issue, but not what that issue actually was.

MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291553: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:46:41 PM

It's already been confirmed he will participate in the October debates.

He will probably literally do this until it kills him

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#291555: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:51:10 PM

Having lost my grandfather to heart disease (well, a secondary infection he picked up in hospital after his nth heart issue), I wish Sanders all the best.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#291556: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:57:01 PM

In all seriousness he probably should just drop out and pass the torch.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#291557: Oct 4th 2019 at 5:58:22 PM

Christ that's some heavy shit. I've had my gripes with Sanders but I wish him a speedy recovery.

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#291558: Oct 4th 2019 at 6:02:42 PM

I hope he recovers soon. For all my issues with him I appreciate what he's done for US politics in terms of helping shift the Overton Window back leftward.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#291559: Oct 4th 2019 at 6:13:22 PM

I can't stand him but I've never once wished him to die. I'm generally not inclined to wish death on anyone.

Disgusted, but not surprised
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#291560: Oct 4th 2019 at 7:01:53 PM

[up]Same, no matter how many times my mother says I want Trump assassinated, even though I literally never have said so.

Do not obey in advance.
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#291561: Oct 4th 2019 at 8:33:46 PM

Funny, my mother does want Trump assassinated. I try telling her that will only embolden his cult of personality, and she listens, but it doesn't really do much to make her feel better.

MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291562: Oct 4th 2019 at 9:44:44 PM

I've never wished death on anyone. Not even Trump.

Doesn't mean I won't celebrate his death when it inevitably comes

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#291563: Oct 5th 2019 at 3:21:40 AM

> I hope he recovers soon. For all my issues with him I appreciate what he's done for US politics in terms of helping shift the Overton Window back leftward.

What the Overton Window really needs is a new frame and shatter proof glass,the last few times someone has thrown a brick through it and sent glass everywhere

edit:As a side note,be really careful about typing about assassinating anyone,could get ugly real fast

Edited by Ultimatum on Oct 5th 2019 at 10:24:31 AM

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
tricksterson Never Trust from Behind you with an icepick Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Never Trust
#291564: Oct 5th 2019 at 3:29:19 AM

I don't like Sanders but I don't want him dead. I agree that he should withdraw and then play King/Queenmaker.

Trump's death, especially by assassination would only make him a martyr and bring a religious fanatic who's better at playing the game into power.

Trump delenda est
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#291565: Oct 5th 2019 at 3:43:49 AM

Guys, it's fine.

Granted, if he's up to his eyeballs on statins, he's got no business running in political races (the side effects of those are no joke). But otherwise? About four weeks of taking it easier than usual by delegating a lot, and he should be fine. (Well, technically it would be probably OK at three... but, only prize idiots don't rest up properly as they are told to. <refrains from looking in her dad's general direction over one specific incident where he did too much too soon, the eejit, and knocked his recovery back>)

It's a stutter and stents, not a freaking bypass. Now, those now only take a couple of months to bounce as back from as feasible (including the scar tissue getting less insanely itchy) — because getting condemned to, e.g. statins will put a crimp into achieving your max ceiling. When Dad got his first in the 80s, it took way longer to recover from than his latest one did — rehabilitative techniques have changed over the years. Keep in mind his newer surgeries have to deal with the scar tissue of older ones, so they are even more complicated than the first bypass he got. Which took a good year for him to feel vaguely back to himself. These days? Two/three months with maybe a subpar fourth (mainly scar tissue — but that's dad: he's always scarred poorly).

Edited by Euodiachloris on Oct 5th 2019 at 11:59:41 AM

Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#291566: Oct 5th 2019 at 3:50:24 AM

I mean, realistically, Sanders is probably fine. But voters aren't likely to go for a candidate that they're worried is about to keel over and Sanders' numbers aren't great to begin with. Dropping out (officially over health concerns) and endorsing Warren in the process would be a good way for Sanders to keep a bit of dignity while helping something very similar to his cause

RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#291567: Oct 5th 2019 at 5:48:33 AM

Frankly, what doesn't empower Trump's base anyway? Whatever you do, they'll dig their heels deeper.

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#291568: Oct 5th 2019 at 6:25:53 AM

So apparently a GOP senator was told by our diplomat to the EU that Trump was holding up Ukraine aid as a means to get their help with a friendly prosecutor.

Speaking to reporters in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, before The Wall Street Journal story was published, Johnson said that during the Aug. 31 talk, he asked Trump to "give me the authority to tell [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelinskiy that we were going to provide that" aid.

"I didn't succeed," Johnson said, according to audio of the interview posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

As for why not, Johnson said Trump had concerns, including about "what happened in 2016."

"He was very consistent on why he was considering it. It was corruption overall generalized, but yeah, no doubt about it, what happened in 2016, what happened in 2016, what was the truth about that, and then the fact that our NATO partners don’t step up to the plate,” Johnson said.

In a statement provided to NBC News, Johnson's office stressed that the term "quid pro quo" was not used.

"Senator Johnson does not recall in any meeting or discussion with the president, or any member of the administration, that the term 'quid pro quo' was ever used. Nor does he recall any discussion of any specific case of corruption in the 2016 election, such as Crowdstrike, the hack of the DNC servers, Hillary Clinton campaign involvement, or Hunter and Joe Biden, during general discussions of corruption, which is endemic throughout Ukraine," the statement said.

Johnson told The Wall Street Journal that he’d reached out to Sondland after discovering the aid, which Johnson had advocated for, had been frozen. Sondland said the administration had been working on an arrangement with Ukraine in which the country would appoint a new prosecutor general and move to “get to the bottom of what happened in 2016—if President Trump has that confidence, then he’ll release the military spending,” Johnson told the paper.

The senator said the suggestion made him "wince." "My reaction was: 'Oh, God. I don’t want to see those two things combined,'" Johnson told the paper.

The money was released in September after news of the freeze became public and led to bipartisan push from Congress.

Johnson told reporters last month that he’d asked Trump to release the aid for Ukraine, but did not mention his conversation with Sondland.

But of course his office maintains that "the term quid pro quo wasn't used" - because it's not like Trump was pulling a Shame If Something Happened scenario here.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#291569: Oct 5th 2019 at 6:36:53 AM

Hrm, is it possible to get that senator in trouble?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Robrecht Your friendly neighbourhood Regent from The Netherlands Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Your friendly neighbourhood Regent
#291570: Oct 5th 2019 at 6:41:26 AM

Sanders should not stand aside after his hospital stay...

Not because he should be president. Not even because he's helping to drag the party to the left.

But because it would annoy the everloving heck out of the people who've been saying he should step aside for their preferred candidates all this time and yet are also constantly annoyed when Sanders supporters refuse to give even token nods to said preferred candidates.

Angry gets shit done.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#291571: Oct 5th 2019 at 7:29:21 AM

Sanders should not stand aside after his hospital stay...

Not because he should be president. Not even because he's helping to drag the party to the left.

But because it would annoy the everloving heck out of the people who've been saying he should step aside for their preferred candidates all this time and yet are also constantly annoyed when Sanders supporters refuse to give even token nods to said preferred candidates.

Lulz and Memes < Legitimate political strategy.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#291572: Oct 5th 2019 at 7:35:37 AM

Yeah, really. Sanders is an important voice in the Democratic body politic, but he is not going to win the nomination unless something truly remarkable happens, and his supporters rallying for him to campaign regardless of his health are doing far more harm than the people calling for him to gracefully step aside. We need to focus first on winning the election, second on what sort of policies the next President should pursue, and a distant tenth or twelfth on the cult of personality surrounding whichever candidate wins the nomination.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#291573: Oct 5th 2019 at 7:54:27 AM

I mean, realistically, Sanders is probably fine. But voters aren't likely to go for a candidate that they're worried is about to keel over and Sanders' numbers aren't great to begin with. Dropping out (officially over health concerns) and endorsing Warren in the process would be a good way for Sanders to keep a bit of dignity while helping something very similar to his cause

We can all dream.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#291574: Oct 5th 2019 at 8:37:25 AM

Sanders should not stand aside after his hospital stay...

Not because he should be president. Not even because he's helping to drag the party to the left.

But because it would annoy the everloving heck out of the people who've been saying he should step aside for their preferred candidates all this time and yet are also constantly annoyed when Sanders supporters refuse to give even token nods to said preferred candidates.

Sure, an old man might potentially be further jeopardizing his health doing so, but at least you get some petty vindication out of it, right?

No, but seriously, this is fucking appalling.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Oct 5th 2019 at 11:39:39 AM

i'm tired, my friend
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#291575: Oct 5th 2019 at 8:40:25 AM

I think his health issues are highly concerning, but I also don't want to unintentionally use it as an excuse to attack a progressive candidate who rival's the one I personally support. That would be kind of ghoulish.

Regardless, as a progressive, I think his role in moving the Overton window gives me more than enough reason to wish him the best. Hopefully, he gets well soon sad

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 5th 2019 at 8:40:43 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang

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