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

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#191576: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:12:17 PM

Are these anyone's senators? Several senators actually sent Trump a letter advising him to leave the Paris Accords.

https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/download/?id=E1E34574-5655-42AA-92E8-0D23DC8C33BA&download=1

PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#191577: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:12:22 PM

@Krieger: Well, okay, not all of the media. I'll admit I may have been doing some confirmation bias.

To elaborate further on what I mean, though, it seems to me that regardless of the myriad of other problems Trump is creating, the United States seems like one of the last countries on Earth that he could turn into an honest-to-God dictatorship, as some people have been concerned about. I know it's probably very naive to say 'it could never happen there', but my point is it that it seems that the majority of the American people can see Trump's attempts at authoritarianism from a hundred miles away.

That, and it also seems that America places such high cultural importance on things such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, etc, that no politician could ever get away with openly disavowing these things. Instead, they have to use Loophole Abuse or Exact Words to manuever around them. Or just deny everything.

Then again, politicians (including actual dictators) have been doing that for thousands of years - but I think it holds extra significance in the modern-day when people in democracies tend to at least know what having rights feels like and can't imagine what life would be like without them. As opposed to, for example, a medieval peasant who just takes it for granted that they don't talk above their station for the same reason - it's been like that for generations and they can't imagine doing any different.

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:13:27 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191578: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:12:29 PM

[up][up][up] Perhaps they should have just shown him episodes of Dinosaurs during the White house briefings. I mean, he does pay attention to the TV, right? And the last episode might, just might, have stuck with him (and remember, that one aired 1994 - freaking 23 years ago!!!!. Hopefully it doesn't become truth in television).

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:12:43 PM by Swanpride

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#191579: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:12:54 PM

However, IMO pessimism is considerably preferable to the former in such a situation, as it makes it more likely for a person to be Properly Paranoid and thus not get caught by surprise, and also it becomes harder for said person to hit the Despair Event Horizon.

Not really sure I agree. The current situation was brought about in large part because so many people where convinced all politicians are the same, and nothing can be done about it ever. Voter apathy seems much more akin to the belief that you can't make things better rather than things will work out no matter what, and that's been a problem for how long now?

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#191581: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:16:37 PM

I'm pretty sure freedom fries were a joke.

Right...?

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#191582: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:18:05 PM

~Link To The Future: Sorry

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#191583: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:20:25 PM

but my point is it that it seems that the majority of the American people can see Trump's attempts at authoritarianism from a hundred miles away.
They can see it, alright. The problem is that they think they won't be affected, or that ideological purity demands that they only raise the most token of efforts to oppose it.

Or they agree with it. Wholeheartedly.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
FireCrawler2002 Since: Apr, 2017
#191584: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:22:30 PM

Nicaraguans are planning on asking Ortega to sign the Paris Accord just to avoid being associated with the US: https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/870406930614898719

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:24:43 PM by FireCrawler2002

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#191585: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:23:20 PM

@191534 I see mine, Mike Crapo, in there.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#191586: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:24:42 PM

[up][up]Understandable, considering that they didn't sign it for opposite reasons yet people are already lumping them in with Cheeto.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
FireCrawler2002 Since: Apr, 2017
#191587: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:25:15 PM

[up] Wouldn't be surprised if Assad would do the same just to spite the US too and leave them all on their own.

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:26:30 PM by FireCrawler2002

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#191588: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:26:07 PM

I kind of want to write a comprehensive takedown on Trump's view of the Paris Agreement

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#191589: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:26:11 PM

I am not giving that piece of vermin (the senator whose website is the list of the senators who sent the letter) any pageviews. I am guessing, it's mostly midwest/deep red state senators?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#191590: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:27:33 PM

[up]Yeah...it's all the usual suspects

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191591: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:28:47 PM

Yeah, I kind of feel sorry about Nicaragua, next to no of the pundits goes through the effort to explain why they didn't sign. They really don't deserve this!

I actually believe that Syria is under some kind of sanctions, so they aren't able to sign, even if they wanted to. I don't think that Assad is in a position to make any long term agreements for the country. But I doubt they care, they are more worried about breathing in poison from one moment to another.

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:30:43 PM by Swanpride

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#191592: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:31:47 PM

Assad isn't even seen as the legitimate leader of Syria by half of the big players in the Accord. No way he can sign on.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
FireCrawler2002 Since: Apr, 2017
#191593: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:33:32 PM

[up][up] So the US's only remaining friend is literally a Middle-Eastern country tearing itself apart with civil war and home to one of the worst terrorists groups on the planet. Brilliant.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#191594: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:33:37 PM

Not really sure I agree. The current situation was brought about in large part because so many people where convinced all politicians are the same, and nothing can be done about it ever. Voter apathy seems much more akin to the belief that you can't make things better rather than things will work out no matter what, and that's been a problem for how long now?
That's defeatism, not pessimism. Please do not confuse them for each other or conflate them into a single thing.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#191595: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:34:13 PM

So Russia and China were signed on to the Accords as well?

Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191596: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:35:35 PM

Having read up about freedom fries now, I have two additional thoughts:

Seriously, Liberty Cabbage?

And your Hot Dogs are supposed to be Frankfurter? I object to this notion....

FireCrawler2002 Since: Apr, 2017
#191597: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:36:31 PM

[up][up] Yep. Only the US, Nicaragua and Syria aren't, and Nicaragua might be signing soon just to avoid being grouped in with the US, leaving Syria the US's only friend...

edited 2nd Jun '17 1:36:48 PM by FireCrawler2002

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#191598: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:41:37 PM

That's defeatism, not pessimism. Please do not confuse them for each other or conflate them into a single thing.

I guess that's fair, but you have to admit the two are related, and with the current events, it's a bit hard to tell the two a part. Bringing it back, a number of posters here certainly come off as if nothing good is ever going to happen ever again, and paint it as being realistic. That's not much better.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#191599: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:42:37 PM

I don't think that anyone is seriously expecting Russia to do much. The world moving away from fossil fuel is not in their interest since their economy is entirely based on the oil price. But Putin knows exactly that not signing would made Russia even more a pariah state and that he can wriggle out of doing anything substantial quite easily.

China on the other hand is quite serious about this. They just cancelled a number of coal projects and look into not just into green energy but also green cities. Partly because the pollution in China is so bad, they are already feeling the impact of not treating the environment right quite keenly. But they have also noticed that it is a lucrative business. They are big in solar energy. It is also a way for them to move closer to Europe, despite the cultural and political differences. Now that the USA is pulling back, they will most likely surge forward, trying to get ahead of India. Both countries are very interested in trade relationships with the EU (the main reason why there isn't a trade deal with either of them is because the EU attaches those pesky human rights and fair market rules to those agreements), hence Merkel meeting with both the Indian and the Chinese leader last weak, in order to push them in the right direction.

Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#191600: Jun 2nd 2017 at 1:43:01 PM

[up][up] Actually, hot dogs were hot dogs before the US had any problems with Germany. French Toast was originally German Toast, though. And Great Britain's House of Windsor used to be the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (which sounds a lot cooler, actually).


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