I was going to make the same joke but with Kim Jong Un. The fact we can debate who is your president's favorite dictator is telling.
Though, honestly, we all know who his favorite dictator is: DJ Trump.
Though, honestly, we all know who his favorite dictator is: DJ Trump.
figmentPez
Staff member
Kavanaugh is trending on Twitter again. NYT published info on how the investigation into him was a sham (duh!) and there are more credible reports of his sexual misconduct. I'm not surprised at all.
Strictly speaking, he can be impeached and removed from office (it hasn't been done before, but there is nothing saying they can't). Alternatively, they can just reduce the maximum number of judges and remove him that way. Or add more judges and just dilute his effect that way.
There are ways around the Republicans. It's just up to the Democrats to actually get some courage and do something about it.
figmentPez
Staff member
This presidency is making me aware of just how much of the US government is like the rules of Cricket. So many things that aren't specifically against the rules, but still aren't done because "it's not Cricket".
Have you looked at England lately? They're even worse.
Dave
Staff member
The number of justices seated have changed several times, peaking at 10. It originally started with only 6.
Zappit
Staff member
Holy fuck. The whistleblower complaint the acting DNI tried to hide deals with Trump’s interactions with foreign leaders and a “promise” made to one of them. The Intelligence official was so disturbed by Trump’s behavior he/she filed the complaint shortly after an unspecified incident. It was filed August 12th. Trump had meetings with Putin, Kim Jong Un, the president of Pakistan, the leader of the Netherland in the weeks prior.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/politics/acting-dni-maguire-agrees-testify-house-intel/index.html
They can’t hide this one. It’s a whistleblower complaint - it HAS to be brought to the attention of Congress.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/politics/acting-dni-maguire-agrees-testify-house-intel/index.html
They can’t hide this one. It’s a whistleblower complaint - it HAS to be brought to the attention of Congress.
Oh sweet summer child. They don't have to hide it, just throw it on the pile.
figmentPez
Staff member
That only matters if Congress actually does something. Which they don't seem to have any interest in doing.
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What we'll get is a square meter of crabgrass that he didn't pay for.
Mexico will pay for the crabgrass!
My mother knows I am leaning left these days and knows to leave me alone about anything Trump for the health of our relationship. In turn, I don't talk about politics in any capacity, positive or negative, when we visit her.
I totally forgot that my dad and his wife, who I rarely speak with, are also very dedicated republicans. My step-mom on a recent call was bragging about going to the Trump rally in New Mexico (I don't know how my dad felt, he was kind of stone faced through the whole call) and all I could do was grin and go, "Oh neat" while she talked about how amazing it was. I really, really wanted to say some shit.
The things I do for family.
I totally forgot that my dad and his wife, who I rarely speak with, are also very dedicated republicans. My step-mom on a recent call was bragging about going to the Trump rally in New Mexico (I don't know how my dad felt, he was kind of stone faced through the whole call) and all I could do was grin and go, "Oh neat" while she talked about how amazing it was. I really, really wanted to say some shit.
The things I do for family.
Honestly, the more I look back, I never remember my dad being overly political. He only became semi-political when he married my step-mom, and even then it felt like it was always her doing the talking and him just kind of nodding, which knowing my dad, he would do just so he wouldn't have a conflict with her later. I have never had a viable political conversation with him and part of me is scared about having one. Ignorance is bliss, right?
I remember the day I lost a lot of respect for my mother. I used to just let it go because I considered myself independent and anti-political for most of my 20s, and my mother has always been a very selfless person that puts others she knows before herself. She is even taking care of some elderly friends that are unable to take care of themselves. Then one day, while I was there picking up my kids, I was talking about the new DuckTales cartoon, and mentioned how one character was voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, then this happened as my kids were playing right next to us...
Mother "Oh? Who is that?"
Me "He is the guy behind Hamilton."
Mother "Pft, Hamilton? Sounds like a total libtard."
Me "Mother. Never say that in front of my children again."
Mother "What?"
Me "I refrain from saying anything bad about republicans or using stupid insulting slurs in front of my children because of it's divisiveness. Please do the same."
She got that rare look of anger and embarrassment and slinked off to the living room while I took the kids home. It was one of the few times I stood up to her on this and the main instigator on our unspoken no-politics rule. It was the moment I realized as much as I don't like a lot of democrats, there is no way I was going to go right again if even my mother is using stupid phrases like that.
Ah, but you see, "libtard" isn't an insult according to many on the right. Just like I have several people I've cut from my life who insisted calling the nationalist party here "nazis" wasn't derogatory. Yeah, it is, unless they're literal nazis (hint: Trumpian Republicans are nazis by now).
If they're still in the party at this late date, they're all fucking nazis.
Fixed
I feel like all the good people of the Republican party have been chased out. I use my dad as an example. He was a registered Republican, served in the army, and a blue collar kind of guy who was the core of the Republican party. It was around the early to mid 2000s that he felt like it wasn't the same anymore. He became an independent and even voted for Obama twice, despite not really liking some of Obama's policies. He just felt that he couldn't go with McCain (he hated Palin) or Romney. He despises Trump. And if my dad, a man who thought Reagan was a great president, could vote for Obama twice and hates Trump... what does that say about the GOP now?
They're still in the party now? They have no ethics. Fuck 'em.
Someone should make a movie about them. Mr. Smith Returns to Washington, or something like that.
--Patrick
The issue comes down to the fact some people treat politics less like actual issues and policies and more like a sports team they have to root for no matter what. Watch how much some people will bend over backwards with excuses when their best wide receiver gets caught raping someone or whatever other bad shit. They don't want to lose their best player, so they make up whatever shit they can to justify it. "She lied!" "Animals fight all the time!", etc.
Trump is like the Michael Vick of politics.
We won't change the system until we get to a point that we can stop treating it all like one big competition, but with how polarized we have become over the last few decades, I don't really see it happening.
Trump is like the Michael Vick of politics.
We won't change the system until we get to a point that we can stop treating it all like one big competition, but with how polarized we have become over the last few decades, I don't really see it happening.
The last good republican was what, Eisenhower? He'd probably be considered a socialist by today's republican party.
But really, it's not the republican party that is the source of this corruption. They are the vehicle, but it's the Koch brothers (I guess brother now) that engineered the republican party into what it is now.
But really, it's not the republican party that is the source of this corruption. They are the vehicle, but it's the Koch brothers (I guess brother now) that engineered the republican party into what it is now.
Why should the government spend money on a highway system? The private sector can do it much more profitably. If you really need to use a road, just either pay the toll, or subscribe to the monthly road service from the 7 different companies. It gives YOU the choice. Obviously these job creators will get heavy government tax-breaks.
He also expanded social security, and continued the "New Deal" policies that were already in place when he took office, rather than the current republican goal of undo anything ever done at all costs.
I disagree that one has to be "that" type of republican.
George Bush (senior) was a politician I disagreed with on a thousand topics, but he wasn't corrosive to the social fabric or (self-)destructive. He, or a John McCain, or a whole bunch of other Republicans, had views I strongly disagreed with, but that's allowed. People are allowed to think smaller government is better, that more economic freedom is worth the cost of less social protections. It's not like everyone who doesn't fall in between Greta Thurnberg and AOC is by definition evil.
Since the early '00s, the Republican party has become more and more extreme and anti-social, reactionary. First the Tea party, now the Trumpers, have created a dangerous combination with the hardline religious fringes to form a group of backwards thinking that has quite literally poisoned all of the right.
The same has happened and is happening across Europe and the world, in every country a little bit different.
Being fiscally conservative, advocating for small government, being ethically conservative - none of these are by definition evil or wrong.
Wanting to install a white fascist superstate based on religious doctrines and trying to destroy or eradicate everyone not a WASP - that's probably evil. Lacking basic humanity and compassion, that's evil. Putting profit of corporations above the greater good. Reading the Bible and thinking "pull yourself up by your bootstraps, let the poor die, I'm not my brother's keeper, and anyone who looks or talks different from me isn't mine".
George Bush (senior) was a politician I disagreed with on a thousand topics, but he wasn't corrosive to the social fabric or (self-)destructive. He, or a John McCain, or a whole bunch of other Republicans, had views I strongly disagreed with, but that's allowed. People are allowed to think smaller government is better, that more economic freedom is worth the cost of less social protections. It's not like everyone who doesn't fall in between Greta Thurnberg and AOC is by definition evil.
Since the early '00s, the Republican party has become more and more extreme and anti-social, reactionary. First the Tea party, now the Trumpers, have created a dangerous combination with the hardline religious fringes to form a group of backwards thinking that has quite literally poisoned all of the right.
The same has happened and is happening across Europe and the world, in every country a little bit different.
Being fiscally conservative, advocating for small government, being ethically conservative - none of these are by definition evil or wrong.
Wanting to install a white fascist superstate based on religious doctrines and trying to destroy or eradicate everyone not a WASP - that's probably evil. Lacking basic humanity and compassion, that's evil. Putting profit of corporations above the greater good. Reading the Bible and thinking "pull yourself up by your bootstraps, let the poor die, I'm not my brother's keeper, and anyone who looks or talks different from me isn't mine".
I'll stop you right there. He's responsible for Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater. Both worked on his 1988 campaign. The men who brought us Willie Horton and Fox Noise.
That's as corrosive and destructive as it gets.