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

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#340026: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:10:02 PM

Qanon continues to implode because, again, it's not an actual ideology and it was centralized around a conman who took the money and ran.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/qanons-home-8kun-is-implodingand-q-has-gone-silent

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#340027: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:14:17 PM

Pelosi has confirmed that this upcoming term will be her last as Speaker of the House.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#340028: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:20:32 PM

The battle for Georgia is heating up: Georgia elections chief: 'Emotional abuse' to mislead voters about fraud. Now, what am I missing here? Ethics doesn't normally occur to Southern Republicans.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#340029: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:20:43 PM

Do we have any idea who the democrats would nominate to succeed Pelosi as speaker?

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#340030: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:20:55 PM

So what's McConaughey like as a person?

WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#340031: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:21:38 PM

Remind me, if the Senate is split 50-50, who casts the deciding vote?

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#340032: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:22:48 PM

The vice president.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#340033: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:23:18 PM

It is scary how accurate Mary Trump is on her statements after Trump's actions in obstructing as much as he can.

Worth the watch.

Edited by AngelusNox on Nov 18th 2020 at 7:26:42 AM

Inter arma enim silent leges
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#340035: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:27:01 PM

"Now, what am I missing here? Ethics doesn't normally occur to Southern Republicans."

It occurs when their own party members are sending them and their family members death threats for not making Trump the winner.

Shaoken (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Dating Catwoman
#340036: Nov 18th 2020 at 2:53:41 PM

Most Republicans who weren't appointed to their positions by Trump either actually care about doing the job right (if only by their own definition of the word), or care about being seen as doing the job right. Trump and his wishes are so blatantly wrong and corrupt that they can't rectify the positions to side with him, and/or have mastered the art of pattern recognition to know that Trump won't repay them for throwing themselves on the fire.

Edited by Shaoken on Nov 18th 2020 at 9:59:09 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#340037: Nov 18th 2020 at 3:03:13 PM

It occurs when their own party members are sending them and their family members death threats for not making Trump the winner.

Not all conservatives turned fascist it seemed.

I admit to being pleasantly surprised.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Nov 18th 2020 at 3:03:39 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#340038: Nov 18th 2020 at 4:31:32 PM

On who might succeed Pelosi: I think a big problem is that there is no natural successor. Neither Hoyer nor Clyburn (second and third in line) seem really up for the entire job of Speaker. Other people who would have fit the role have left the House (Ben Ray Lujan and Chris Van Hollens went to the Senate, Xavier Becerra became CA AG, Joe Crowley went and lost). I've heard Hakeem Jeffries is kind of polarizing and wouldn't be great at keeping the caucus together.

As it stands, then, probably Katherine Clark? She's in House leadership and running for Assistant Speaker [edit: she was just elected to the position], she's fairly progressive but has pretty broad support.


On the Texas governorship, I'm really not a fan of random celebrities with no experience up and deciding to run for higher office. It just feels like hubris that this guy thinks he can suddenly transition to running the second biggest state in the country.

Personally, I'd like to see Lina Hidalgo run. She's county judge for Harris County, meaning she's basically in charge of running the county and has reportedly done an excellent job on COVID and securing people's voting rights in the face of a hostile Texas government.

Edited by nova92 on Nov 18th 2020 at 4:45:55 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#340039: Nov 18th 2020 at 4:48:13 PM

I'd much rather have someone with political leadership experience as the governor of a state, not a celebrity. The celebrity thing is overdone. To be fair, I don't know anything about McConaughey's qualifications other than his acting career. Maybe he's studied political science or law.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 18th 2020 at 7:49:15 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#340040: Nov 18th 2020 at 4:56:20 PM

One would really have thought the last four years would have killed off the idea of electing famous people with no political experience to high office.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#340043: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:00:24 PM

Trump lack of experience isn't the problem as if he was re-elected, he'd be equally horrible in office.

Mind you, 90% of what is done in the Trump office is done by Pence anyway. Because Trump only does his personal projects, rant on Twitter, and golf.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#340044: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:01:43 PM

Ideas don't die they get replaced by better or worse ideas

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#340045: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:16:25 PM

As far as the next Speaker after Pelosi, what about California Rep. Barbara Lee? I've heard good things about her.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#340046: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:32:23 PM

Do we have any idea who the democrats would nominate to succeed Pelosi as speaker?

AOC, obviously. Joe Crowley was preparing to be Pelosi's successor but then AOC dethroned him. This is the post-Obama era; you keep what you kill.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#340047: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:38:18 PM

Katie Porter. She does her work coming into hearings with CEOs and such. I'd trust her to do the job.

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#340048: Nov 18th 2020 at 5:38:50 PM

[up][up] Klingon Promotion then?

[up][up][up] I've heard good things about Rep. Lee, too. She's definitely among the very left of the party, but also is in House leadership and IIRC, is generally well liked among House Democrats. The only thing I'd worry about is that she's also on the older side, at 64. She'd make a good interim leader while Democrats get some of their younger members up to speed.


[up] Katie Porter will be a two-term Representative in 2022, which is way too inexperienced for Speaker, IMO. It would be nice to see her get leadership positions, though, for the future.

Edited by nova92 on Nov 18th 2020 at 5:40:17 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#340049: Nov 18th 2020 at 6:05:59 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2020/11/18/day-1399/

    Day 1399: "We did it right." 
1/ More than 3 million people in the United States – about 1% of the population – have active coronavirus infections and are potentially contagious, according to a team of infectious-disease experts tracking the pandemic. The estimate does not include an approximately equal number of latent infections – the people who were infected in recent days but can’t pass it on yet because it is still incubating. On Monday, at least 1,707 new COVID-19 deaths were reported – about one American every minute – and by Wednesday, the U.S. had recorded it’s 250,000 death with a record 76,000 people hospitalized with the coronavirus. The White House coronavirus task force, meanwhile, stated in it’s weekly report that there is “now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration.” (Washington Post / CNN / The Guardian / NBC News / CNBC / Wall Street Journal)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html

2/ Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is reportedly 95% effective with no serious side effects. The company said it planned to apply for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration “within days.” Pfizer said it could have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, but only about half of the supply will go to the United States this year – or enough for about 12.5 million people. Moderna said this week that an early analysis of its vaccine showed it was nearly 95% effective. (New York Times / Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/18/pfizer-covid-vaccine/

😷 Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”
Global: Total confirmed cases: ~56,076,000; deaths: ~1,347,000

U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~11,486,000; deaths: ~251,000

Source: Johns Hopkins University

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / CNN / CNBC

New York City’s entire public school system will close Thursday after the city reached a 3% test positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/nyregion/nyc-schools-covid.html

The CDC deleted two documents it posted this summer to support Trump’s push to reopen schools this fall. The documents titled “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall,” was issued two weeks after Trump complained about the agency’s guidance as “very tough and expensive” and threatened to withhold funding from schools that did not offer in-person classes. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/18/world/covid-19-coronavirus/the-cdc-has-withdrawn-its-most-contentious-school-reopening-document

The FDA authorized the first at-home coronavirus test. The test requires a prescription from a health care provider. The molecular single-use test and is expected to cost $50 or less. (New York Times / NPR)

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/17/936055284/fda-approves-first-at-home-coronavirus-test

Chuck Grassley tested positive for COVID-19. The 87-year-old is the oldest Republican currently serving in the Senate. (NBC News / USA Today / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/chuck-grassley-covid-19-senate-congress/index.html

3/ Trump fired the Department of Homeland Security director who repeatedly refuted Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud. Christopher Krebs, the nation’s top election security official, was fired after his agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, released a statement calling the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.” Trump – in two misleading tweets about the security of the election – said Krebs’ termination was “effective immediately.” The former director acknowledged Trump’s action in a tweet: “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow.” Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called the move “pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy.” (NPR / Associated Press / Washington Post /Axios / USA Today / The Guardian)

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-fires-christopher-krebs-dhs-5e63923e0c11c9155eb5af2362d78548

4/ The Trump campaign formally asked election authorities in Wisconsin to conduct a recount in two counties. In a statement, the campaign said it transferred $3 million to Wisconsin to cover the costs of recounting votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties. Biden received 577,455 votes in the two counties compared with 213,157 for Trump. Biden won the state by a little more than 20,000 votes. (NPR / Reuters / Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/trump-wisconsin-deadline-vote-recount-1348ed4b4691fa28bd3102c4f97599c1

Trump-Biden Transition Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News

5/ Election officials in Michigan’s largest county certified the presidential election results after Republican members of the board initially refused to certify the vote tallies. The four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers had deadlocked on the day for Michigan counties to certify the vote – which Trump called “a beautiful thing” on Twitter. Hours later, however, the board — composed of two Republicans and two Democrats — reversed itself and unanimously agreed to certify the results and ask the secretary of state to conduct an independent audit. (Politico / Washington Post / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/michigan-detroit-election-results/index.html

6/ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop expelling immigrant children who cross the southern border alone before they could request asylum or other protections under federal law. The Trump administration has expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied children since March. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/judge-orders-trump-admin-stop-expelling-children-who-cross-border-n1248146

7/ White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows “can’t guarantee” that lawmakers will reach a deal to avert a mid-December shutdown. Congress and the White House have until Dec. 11 to approve new spending legislation to prevent the federal government from shutting down. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/11/18/white-house-congress-shutdown-december/

Edited by sgamer82 on Nov 18th 2020 at 6:06:11 AM

clemont107 Mega Togekiss?! from Land of Missed Opportunities (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Mega Togekiss?!
#340050: Nov 18th 2020 at 6:21:08 PM

I would like celebrities to be in the activist role but not necessarily in the role of a politician per-se. I know Alec Baldwin and George Takei are good examples of actors who also help fund Democratic organizations and support progressive ideals.

What I would like is to see younger people (20s-40s) get into the roles of politicians, as they would be more likely to be representative of current views than older generations.

Edited by clemont107 on Nov 18th 2020 at 9:21:19 AM

"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - Dawn

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