US Politics Thread

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I’m not watching ITV, but I do follow the news here and the Republic is in great danger. We are a wrong word from a shooting at either the polls or a ballot collection spot.

In AZ, we have ARMED MEN IN CAMO hanging out at maildrop ballot boxes, in full view, attempting to scare people into NOT voting…and there are multiple reports of people being scared away…Democrats, of course! All of this at the URGING of a local Republican office holder!!!

Robocalls have also been used telling people that the IRS and other law enforcement will be using their mail in ballots to search IRS records for unpaid taxes, audits, etc, and any warrants will be served using the mailing address on their ballot. The people who have been doing the robocalls have been fined $5M and convicted of fraud, but the effect remains!

We are a small step from who knows where, and who knows how we will come back from there. Jan 6 was a wake up call to America, but too many people seem to have LIKED what they saw, instead of being horrified by it.

So called “news” outlets are nothing but propaganda mills, and I fear for where it all ends.

Jan 6, 2021 may be a day that historians look back upon as the day America changed irreparably.

I kind of feel that you’re a lost cause and there will be an uprising of a sort soon.

There are too many knee jerk mad people for there not to be.

 

[Bigga]

In some nonsensical, 10th page, small item corner type news, 30 lawmakers ask a teeny tiny irrelevant question...



If you look veeery carefully, you'll see the obscured head of AOC in the background.

Well, gee, I guess the pressure for solution finding peace talks has an effect after all!

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I kind of feel that you’re a lost cause and there will be an uprising of a sort soon.

There are too many knee jerk mad people for there not to be.

Hoping that wasn’t a personal “you’re,” I’m afraid you’re correct.

Sadly, it feels like Xi and Huning are right, that America is a waning superpower that has seen its best days for the 21st century, which China having the ability to exert increasing influence on the world, as the USA did in the 20th century.

I hope against hope it’s not the case, but the general education level, plus the level of anti-government propaganda, plus the MAGA cult (which is, ironically, going to result in reducing any possibility of MAGA!) do not add up to a result one looks forward to seeing. The only question then becomes, what will they do to try to reassert America’s supposed “greatness”?!

 

[ChicagoBlue]

In some nonsensical, 10th page, small item corner type news, 30 lawmakers ask a teeny tiny irrelevant question...



If you look veeery carefully, you'll see the obscured head of AOC in the background.

Well, gee, I guess the pressure for solution finding peace talks has an effect after all!

How A Progressive Bid To Shape Ukraine Policy Imploded

The kerfuffle over a now-withdrawn letter from 30 House Democrats shows how the left is still struggling to communicate effectively on foreign policy.

www.huffpost.com

Not so much…

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Sadly, it feels like Xi and Huning are right, that America is a waning superpower that has seen its best days for the 21st century, which China having the ability to exert increasing influence on the world, as the USA did in the 20th century.

Well, Gordon Gecko said America was a “third-rate power” in “Wall Street” in 1987. You say shit like that when you’re on a stage and have something to sell. Doesn’t make it any more true then than now. California on its own will be the world’s fourth largest economy as measured by GDP this year, surpassing Germany. Meantime China’s banks have the same problems Japan’s did in 1990 — only about 30 times worse — problems from which Japan has never recovered. And that’s without COVID zero.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Well, Gordon Gecko said America was a “third-rate power” in “Wall Street” in 1987. You say shit like that when you’re on a stage and have something to sell. Doesn’t make it any more true then than now. California on its own will be the world’s fourth largest economy as measured by GDP this year, surpassing Germany. Meantime China’s banks have the same problems Japan’s did in 1990 — only about 30 times worse — problems from which Japan has never recovered. And that’s without COVID zero.

You need to bring your focus a tad closer to home, lest you look over, or is it overlook, the train coming down the track…possibly arriving in the next few weeks!

America is built in confidence in its system, its money, and its economic power being sufficient to allow it to see its way through crises. We are teetering on the brink on at least a couple of those, and they go hand in hand.

As I said earlier, I fear for the near future of America…which includes significant concern for my young adult kids to make a better life for themselves than my own…and it’s ability to see its way clear to the distant future.

I think we face challenges the Constitution never envisaged, and the response to those challenges will reverberate to the very feet of liberty in this country. When the crowded theatre is a very large swath of the country’s 330,000,000 population, shouting “Fire!” is NOT an exercise in the freedoms found in the First Amendment!

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

You need to bring your focus a tad closer to home, lest you look over, or is it overlook, the train coming down the track…possibly arriving in the next few weeks!

America is built in confidence in its system, its money, and its economic power being sufficient to allow it to see its way through crises. We are teetering on the brink on at least a couple of those, and they go hand in hand.

As I said earlier, I fear for the near future of America…which includes significant concern for my young adult kids to make a better life for themselves than my own…and it’s ability to see its way clear to the distant future.

I think we face challenges the Constitution never envisaged, and the response to those challenges will reverberate to the very feet of liberty in this country. When the crowded theatre is a very large swath of the country’s 330,000,000 population, shouting “Fire!” is NOT an exercise in the freedoms found in the First Amendment!

I’ve said before — it’s all built on trust. The noise level is elevated because the GOP knows that red states are inevitably going blue. And they haven’t even gone blue yet — but they will. I’ve only written this about a dozen times. In-migration patterns are fundamental. Demographics are fundamental. Millennial/ Gen Z social perspectives are antithetical to what’s left of conservative dogma. They are attempting to lock in power via gerrymandering and the court and now via Sec of State and midlevel election oversight positions because it’s ALL they have. It’s their ONLY way. You see it as teetering on the brink — I see it as the last and inevitable acts of desperate people. If they couldn’t bring it about with control of both houses and the Presidency, I don’t think they can without it.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

You see it as teetering on the brink — I see it as the last and inevitable acts of desperate people.

You said a mouthful there.
I’m glad we agree.

One issue that has surprised some people is that the largest growth demographic in the USA, Hispanics, are not a left wing lock vote, as previously believed.

Regardless, so far, we have seen what the desperate acts of ONE MAN wrought on the most hallowed institution in America. How far might they go next time, and who will be the target(s)?

As you rightly state…desperate times mean desperate measures. Isn’t that what 1/6 was all about?!

 

[Bigga]

How A Progressive Bid To Shape Ukraine Policy Imploded

The kerfuffle over a now-withdrawn letter from 30 House Democrats shows how the left is still struggling to communicate effectively on foreign policy.

www.huffpost.com

Not so much…

Oh, I agree with you.

An ask that asked for nothing with their own continued support of funding a war where they'd have liked talks to begin, was always going to implode.

"The Squad" are a terrible hodgepodge of laudable intentions in name only whilst it supports positions that counter the very nature of why they were voted into office by their constituents.

The 'timing', hot on the heels of AOC's public mauling, was never going to make a difference when straddling two positions on the eve of midterms.

The fact that Jayapal had the nerve to blame her staff for the organising of an event that she signed off on and, physically, was on hand to front and read the statement, just shows the awful state of political discourse; being afraid to challenge the status quo.

What a sad and sorry state of affairs the US Progressives have become since being co-opted by the centre right Dem party.

 

[Bigga]

The US have sent some troops to the doorstep of Ukraine.

Make of it what you will, but I can almost hear the chants of "USA! USA!" in the background...