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

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#188901: May 14th 2017 at 11:47:13 AM

Kim the Fat, Assad the Butcher, and Sultan Erdogan might make moves to.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#188902: May 14th 2017 at 12:35:21 PM

Found this, which is about what Comey was investigating until he got fired:

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#188903: May 14th 2017 at 12:39:36 PM

[up] So, it's all conspiracy after all...

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
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
#188904: May 14th 2017 at 12:44:31 PM

[up][up]So many troll brigades on that comment section.

Inter arma enim silent leges
fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#188905: May 14th 2017 at 12:47:30 PM

What if, and this is a big if, the republicans do impeach trump, and use it to show off what "heroes" they are or something to save their seats, costing the democrats he house?

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#188906: May 14th 2017 at 12:49:13 PM

Then that sucks? What do you expect us to say?

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#188907: May 14th 2017 at 12:50:05 PM

Which is why we need to bring as much of the party down in this investigation as possible.

And given that Comey refused to testify privately to the Senate I wouldn't be surprised if they're involved somehow.

Oh really when?
fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#188908: May 14th 2017 at 1:12:45 PM

I wonder if comey is really gonna say something super controversial and damning though. If he was gonna really go for their throats the republicans would fight tooth and nail to keep him from testifying.

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#188909: May 14th 2017 at 1:21:55 PM

I mean, the president's party almost always loses seats during the mid-terms. It'd take something 9/11-esque to stop that. The question is whether or not they'll lose enough seats to cost them the majority. And honestly, I feel like they have a better chance of holding on to their majority with Trump than without him- Trump is notably unpopular, but the GOP congress is even less popular, because they're disliked by the anti-estabilisment Trump supporters as well as everyone who dislikes Trump.

Pence and Ryan don't have the same cult of personality guaranteeing them a certain baseline of support, y'know? And being an unelected president is always gonna be a dicey situation.

edited 14th May '17 1:22:14 PM by Gilphon

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#188910: May 14th 2017 at 1:32:18 PM

[up]The Cultish fanaticism we see in Trump Supporters scares me. How much the've bought into the "Only I can fix it" thing he always says.

If you look in that article about how completely miserable Trump is, one of the things it mentions,

He grew increasingly isolated and agitated, associates tell CNN, going a full week without hearing the applause and adulation that often brightens his mood.

He literally can not function without constant adoration.

edited 14th May '17 1:35:00 PM by megaeliz

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#188911: May 14th 2017 at 1:32:41 PM

[up] Ryan would be able to drum up the rand worshippers at least.

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#188912: May 14th 2017 at 1:37:35 PM

The cult following bothers me as well. These people need help, but Trump won't be the one to help them.

Why did Trump choose Pence, anyway? Did Pence prove his ~loyalty~? I've wondered if Pence will be The Starscream in all of this.

edited 14th May '17 1:44:58 PM by BearyScary

Do not obey in advance.
ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#188913: May 14th 2017 at 1:39:40 PM

[up]Evangelical Vote, and Pence was at least GOP-adjacent.

nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#188914: May 14th 2017 at 1:40:45 PM

Although sometimes they seem more like Cthulhu cultists to me.

"Summon Azathoth. What have you got to lose?"

edited 14th May '17 1:41:48 PM by nightwyrm_zero

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#188915: May 14th 2017 at 1:41:01 PM

Polar Phantom and others, on the subject of the echo chamber:

We as a community try to engage with anyone who is able to come across as remotely reasonable until they go completely out of bounds, and the mods give such people a hell of a lot of rope before deciding that they're breaking Rule #1. And many of us as users do our best to call out this thread's most prominent and active mod (Fighteer) when he does get itchy trigger fingers (which he does).

That said, this tolerance doesn't trump said rule. Trump's Presidency, from day 1, has been defined by Trump being a dick, and his base are enthusiastically backing his dickery or else bashing him for not being enough of a dick. So yeah, rejecting that kind of mentality does make for an echo chamber excluding a significant proportion of the population, but it's the best we can do.

edited 14th May '17 1:41:51 PM by Ramidel

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#188916: May 14th 2017 at 1:41:11 PM

Both Pence and Ryan have severe charisma problems. Pence has a habit of saying or doing things that only appeal to really fundamentalist evangelicals, but which creep everyone else out, and he's actually pretty bad at convincing people who don't agree with him. Indiana hates him, most because of his awful agenda, but the rest because Pence sucks at actually getting his agenda implemented.

Ryan, on the other hand, has no real charisma. He does things that he thinks are cool, but he completely fails to pull it off. He exercises, he does archery and so on. He's trying to be a "man" while not understanding what being a man even means.

But the thing that really hurts both of them compared to Trump is that, regardless of all his flaws, Trump is a showman. Not a very good one, in my opinion, but he has at least some of the razzle-dazzle down. Pence can't do that and Ryan sucks at it. The other thing is that Trump is so vague and incoherent that you can project pretty much anything on him. Pence and Ryan are both really specific. Pence hates anyone who isn't a straight WASP and wants everyone else gone. Ryan thinks anyone who gets help from anyone ever is a horrible mooch. Those platforms, especially the second one, are kind of hard to make pretty to a majority.

I guess what it boils down to is that Pence is incapable of making anyone excited about him, and Ryan is incredibly fake. He seriously comes off like that clip from 30 Rock of Steve Buscemi undercover at a high school.

edited 14th May '17 1:42:39 PM by Zendervai

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#188917: May 14th 2017 at 1:48:29 PM

This may be of interest to those who are still mind-boggled about why there's so much hatred for Obamacare among the general public.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#188918: May 14th 2017 at 1:49:59 PM

Ryan is also smart enough not to even try for the Presidency. He sat out 2016 because in 2015, Clinton was revered across the spectrum and seen as the rightful heir, and going against someone like that was an invitation to crash and burn before Trump broke all the rules.

Something positive, albeit 3 months old, that I just discovered: New Jersey has effectively abolished cash bail, and other states seem to be considering the same. This is a damn fine step in the right direction (and bail bond companies that are being driven out of business can suck it; they're part of the prison-industrial complex as far as I'm concerned).

I hope that this policy also incidentally leads to increased refusal on the part of defendants to plea-bargain. Keeping accused-but-not-convicted criminals in jail until their trial is part of the system that fuels the plea-bargain machine.

edited 14th May '17 1:56:45 PM by Ramidel

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#188919: May 14th 2017 at 1:52:13 PM

You know what? I wish he had run, because maybe then we could finally lose him as speaker of the house. Though they'd probably find someone just as awful, if not worse to replace him.

edited 14th May '17 2:00:23 PM by BearyScary

Do not obey in advance.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#188920: May 14th 2017 at 2:22:19 PM

[up][up][up]Here's the thing about the ACA: I wouldn't be averse to replacing it with something that fixes the problems with it, and makes it much more affordable and accessible for people.

The problem is, the Republican wealthcare plan is not that plan.

edited 14th May '17 2:22:45 PM by megaeliz

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#188921: May 14th 2017 at 2:23:18 PM

The Montana special election: the mythical independent voter in its native habitat. Also, the Republican candidate is apparently a carpetbagger who has made it obvious he doesn't understand Montana values.

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#188922: May 14th 2017 at 2:51:34 PM

[up] So it sounds like Montana is a shoe in, at least, for the Democratic nominee. Mr. Quist better win. If this is another 'upset' like Kansas, Nebraska and (potentially) Georgia, I will start to worry...

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#188923: May 14th 2017 at 2:53:48 PM

[up][up] so basically the GOP is so desperate to win there they sent an outsider?

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#188924: May 14th 2017 at 3:02:28 PM

Calling the AHCA "wealthcare" is clever. I'm going to use that from now on.

Do not obey in advance.
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#188925: May 14th 2017 at 3:17:36 PM

Texas City, Texas Indivisible chapter holds a town hall meeting without Representative Randy Weber (R) despite him being invited, instead replacing him with a person in a chicken costume named Miss Representation.

And this was the same guy who came out on his own time to a Galveston USPS branch with lawn mowing tools in order to fix the lawn care issue.

Which he didn't need to as someone wised up and sent a lawn crew to fix the issue.

And just a heads up, both articles are behind paywalls.

edited 14th May '17 3:18:20 PM by tclittle

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."

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