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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I didn't realize there was a twitter war going on, although I saw on twitter some of how Hannity was attacking Kimmel on account of The Man Show, and noting how Hannity was also pleased to invite Kimmel's former co-host, Adam Carolla, as a guest.
Although his past work does undercut his current image, and I still think he has somewhat broish views, I rather admire Kimmel and his evolution, and basically see him as having undergone Divergent Character Evolution form Carolla, who is now alt-right.
@Fourthspartan56: There are far too many people online with unrealistic expectations of the 2018 midterms. It's reasonably likely Democrats will retake the House, despite the built in advantage the GOP has thanks to widespread gerrymandering that's likely to still be bogged down in courts by the time the election is head. It's plausible they'll retake the senate, but some people think a Trump impeachment followed by a conviction is plausible.
Unless the GOP turns on him in any significant numbers, it's simply not going to happen regardless of what the Special Counsel investigation turns up; if the Democrats win every single one of the competitive senate races in November, they'd still fall one short of a supermajority even including the independents in their caucus, meaning Trump still gets his veto, and you'd need an additional 8 seats to actually impeach him along party lines. Trying to indict Trump without voting to remove him from office meanwhile would end up before the supreme court, and even the current court would be likely to rule in his favor. If one of the older Justices dies or retires, then he's more or less guaranteed to get a ruling in his favor, regardless of whether he manages to appoint a replacement.
edited 6th Apr '18 4:22:37 PM by CaptainCapsase
What we want to aim for is a majority in the house, that can squash the worst of their agenda, until we vote trump out in in 2020. Of course, we should try to go for any plausible senate seat as well, but that goes without saying.
The good thing about having Trump staying until term, and being voted out, is that it's much easier to prosecute a private citizen than a president.
edited 6th Apr '18 4:26:59 PM by megaeliz
The midterms really aren't about impeaching Trump, instead they are a chance to start blocking some of the damage he can do, and setting up for a win in 2020. Meanwhile, in the best case scenario (Mueller implicates Trump blatantly and charges his inner circle), Trump's political capital is shot.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.![]()
Trump doesn't need additional SC seats to get a ruling that prevents him from being indicted, because, as far as I know, the current consensus in the legal community leans towards you having to impeach and remove the President from office first to indict them, meaning the moderate and conservative justices would likely rule in his favor if the issue came up.
I'm aware of that.
@megaliz: Trump isn't going to go to jail or getting convicted on any serious charges; at best he gets the same deal Nixon got where he resigns in exchange for a pardon. Which is preferable to him instigating a constitutional crisis by trying to pardon himself.
edited 6th Apr '18 4:54:17 PM by CaptainCapsase
- Law requiring all Presidential candidates to release tax returns,
- fill all those vacant seats in all the departments, with particular attention for rebuilding the State Department.
- Authorize our Intelligence Community to take counter-measures against Russia.
- Rebuild relationships with Allies
- Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Measures
Anything else anyone can think of, particularly on the Domestic Front?
edited 6th Apr '18 5:15:16 PM by megaeliz
Kind of tough as a lot of things are norms.
With that said:
Mandatory disclosure of tax returns.
Laws prohibiting emolument kind of things and requiring a complete divestment from businesses.
A ban on anyone with the last name Trump running for office.
While not specific to Trump corruption, I'd like to see amendments to Title VII expressly protecting trans rights, possibly some expansion of the ADA, and legal changes that provide a path-to-citizenship for DACA residents. While a pipe dream, I'd generally favor it being a lot easier to gain lawful permanent residency and citizenship.
Also, as another corrolary, if you could pass another Voting Rights Act that repealed the repeal and included things that got rid of or toned down partisan gerrymandering and provided for automatic restoration of voting rights once a sentence was served, you'd probably go a long way toward stopping another right wing populist from being elected.
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I suspect whoever is elected in 2020 will be more focused on filling their own pockets and consolidating personal power than "fixing" the country. The Trump administration has opened that door, and it's very difficult to close now that there's blood in the water. My own suspicion is that the United States is headed towards a serious political crisis, and I don't think we can really do much other than brace for impact at this point.
edited 6th Apr '18 5:41:09 PM by CaptainCapsase
I honestly don't think the tax returns are such a big deal.
Basically, just re-reverse the Obama era EPA and Labor regs that Trump scrapped as soon as he got into office. The wage gap reporting regulation and regulations on harmful emissions and mining rights come to mind. He hasn't done anything so much as undone what Obama did.
Some election reform would be good too.
They should have sent a poet.Not a bad idea, but like a lot of things, that would be a double edged sword.
Also, I do agree with reinstating regulations, but that's the problem- they're regulations, not laws, and each administration can expand or contract them. Of course, administrations typically didn't repeal/screw with them to the extent that Trump is, but that's another Ain't No Rule kind of thing.
A big thing would be the immediate authorization of countermeasures against Russia. I'm not sure what that would look like, but they need to happen.
Also, I would like to see a tightening up of real estate law/regulations to try to prevent money laundering. That is a big way that foreign, and particularly Russian money gets into the US.
edited 6th Apr '18 5:41:03 PM by megaeliz

This is only tangentially related to politics, but anybody following the Sean Hannity vs. Jimmy Kimmel Twitter war? It's pretty nuts.
I'm on Kimmel's side purely because Hannity is so objectionable, though I think both should cut it out. They're barely acting like adults.