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2018 American Political Scene

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  • Originally posted by TopHatter View Post
    So, the Trump is either the worst-informed person on the planet or a fucking moron. Which is it?
    I refuse to make a choice and I resent you for asking me to. :-D
    sigpic

    Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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    • Originally posted by citanon View Post
      Turns out McMaster isnt leaving yet. Press reports are apparently Kelly maneuvering to push him out. HRM is expected to return to the military at some point in the next months, with a 4th star. Meanwhile, still unclear who will replace him. Bolton is liked by Trump but disliked by others:

      Trump gives McMaster the Tillerson treatment
      https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...cmaster-467782
      I don't understand how Bolton is a diplomat. He is such a d-bag. I met him while I was in high school and he was getting visibly frustrated at my friend because he was asking about the nuclear bunker-buster testing. If you can't hold your temper in front of a dumbass five foot nothing teenager, how can you be ambassador to the UN?
      "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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      • i bet he won't get picked as UN Ambassador, not because of his qualifications or rather lack thereof-- but because Trump won't go for a guy with a ratty looking walrus-mustache. i'm totally serious.
        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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        • Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
          If you can't hold your temper in front of a dumbass five foot nothing teenager, how can you be ambassador to the UN?
          Reminds me of something from Glengarry Glen Ross:

          "You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you c--ksucker? You can't take this, how can you take the abuse you get on a sit? You don't like it, leave."
          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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          • [QUOTE=TopHatter;1037700
            So, the Trump is either the worst-informed person on the planet or a fucking moron. Which is it?[/QUOTE]

            I think this question requires a 'Schrodinger's Cat' approach. Until a measurement is made Trump remains both badly informed and a moron.
            If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

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            • Primary day in Illinois.

              Major action is in the Democratic Governor seat. We have three viable candidates: billionaire Jay Pritzker (who dropped $70 million on the primary and has by far the best name recognition), Daniel Biss (sitting state rep who is trying to capture the Bernie vote, but failing since he supported pension reform), and Chris Kennedy (an unpolished outsider who progressives seem to like, and has the endorsement of the right-leaning Chicago Tribune).

              I'm expecting Pritzker to win. He's got the money, the name recognition, and most of the party insiders and endorsements. I'm hoping for Biss, who doesn't seem like an idiot. I hope Chris Kennedy is thoroughly drummed. No more Kennedys!


              The GOP side has a contest between sitting Governor Bruce Rauner and challenge Jeanne Ives. Ives got flack for her racist/sexist/whateverist youtube ad, but I'm against her because she seems like an idiot with unrealistic expectations. Rauner has little chance (polling 10 points behind every Dem candidate), but he pushed for state reforms about as much as you could expect. There's little you can do when the Democrats have near super-majorities in both houses, and the State Supreme Court basically says any pension reform is unconstitutional. Proposed constitutional amendments have been shot down by voters in the past.
              "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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              • ^ good job, 2/2.
                There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                Comment


                • The only one I am a bit surprised by is the Lipinski/Newman one.

                  It's IL-3, which is solid (D) and has been for like 25 years, but it's been held by a pro-life Blue Dog Dem for a long time. The Bernie Bros put up a primary challenger and the DNC didn't throw a lifeline to Lipinski (the incumbent).

                  He ended up winning by a pretty thin margin. Pretty much guaranteed to win, since the Republican candidate is a Nazi. Like, a literal Nazi.

                  Everyone is happy the incumbent Assessor Berrios is gone. Basically had a huge kick-back scheme with property tax lawyers that the only way to appeal your over-assessed valuation was to go through the property tax lawyers, can't appeal on your own.

                  Everyone in my social group is a little dejected that our Governor Race is going to be a battle of billionaires.
                  "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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                  • latest budget deal just came out. for all intents and purposes, pretty sure The Wall just died.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
                      Everyone in my social group is a little dejected that our Governor Race is going to be a battle of billionaires.
                      It always amuses me when the Democratic candidate is a "One Percenter".
                      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                      Comment


                      • It always amuses me when the Democratic candidate is a "One Percenter".
                        Dems have got a long history of that, lol. part of the reason why FDR was hated with such a passion by the GOP was because he was viewed as a class traitor!

                        oh well, at least after this week i don't think we'll need to be thinking about Candidate Mark Zuckerberg for some time.
                        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by astralis View Post
                          Dems have got a long history of that, lol.
                          Which is exactly why I held the OWS crowd with such contempt
                          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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                          • the basis of some of the OWS stuff is legitimate-- there is an enormous and unhealthy concentration of money in US society/economy today-- but as an organization it was utterly chaotic and unfocused, as lefty groups tend to be.

                            i'm not a natural lefty-- i like reasonable, orderly cooperation, with compromise and not posturing. the utter insanity and reactionary nature of today's GOP/conservatism has pushed me increasingly into that corner, though-- and i suspect millions of other Americans as well. Trump is a symptom and not the cause.
                            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                            Comment


                            • Worrying a lot about wealth or income inequality pretty much puts you in the lefty camp. This survey is a bit old, but it says about half of Americans think inequality is a major problem:
                              http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/05/23/...omic-mobility/

                              Pretty sure you'd see an awfully large partisan and ideological divide in those numbers. Like, very apparent in these numbers, about why people are rich or poor:

                              http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...fferent-views/

                              I'm pretty skeptical about the FIRE sector in general. Like, among right-wingers, I'm rare in that I don't think Warren Buffet is particularly praise-worthy, since he got most of his gains through exploitation and arbitrage opportunities in finance (which puts me almost in the Jacobin category on that question). But anything that smells like wealth envy is an immediate turn-off. Anything that sounds like targeting a specific income inequality level is REALLY a turn-off.


                              I've related this before, but it's amusing to hear this from my social group, because I am in the upper middle class and hear this from my social group. Like, my friend whining about rich people: dude, your dad gave you $300,000 for a house that you could never have afforded otherwise, after he gave your sister $300,000 for a house, and threw you both $50-60k weddings. YOU ARE THE RICH.
                              Last edited by GVChamp; 22 Mar 18,, 19:44.
                              "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
                                Like, my friend whining about rich people: dude, your dad gave you $300,000 for a house that you could never have afforded otherwise, after he gave your sister $300,000 for a house, and threw you both $50-60k weddings. YOU ARE THE RICH.
                                That's what I was talking about when I referred to my contempt for OWS. They hold millionaires like Obama and Sanders up as gods but scream "inequality" at people that are financially successful, but not left-of-center politically.

                                Originally posted by astralis View Post
                                i like reasonable, orderly cooperation, with compromise and not posturing. the utter insanity and reactionary nature of today's GOP/conservatism has pushed me increasingly into that corner, though-- and i suspect millions of other Americans as well. Trump is a symptom and not the cause.
                                100% with you there, brother.
                                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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