@Cerridwyn Fair enough. We already know the military won’t listen to him. It’s just his idiot followers who think he actually won the election “if only the legal votes are counted.”
@Cerridwyn@klezman
While I do not count myself as one of Trump’s “idiot followers”, I do think there are many on the right who will say things they don’t necessarily believe in order to create a narrative to try to affect an outcome. Just the usual mechanations of modern day American politics. The left uses similar tactics when necessary.
Personally and generally speaking, I don’t have a problem with Trump and his people wanting to investigate potential election fraud and explore legal avenues in an effort to ferret out wrongdoing or even turn close races in some states. That said, I also feel that the rhetoric and accusations have mostly been way over the top and the lawsuits about as effective as Rudy Giuliani’s hair dye.
I hope that President Trump will leave peacefully and expediently when the time comes although I’m sure that “quietly” would be far too much to ask.
Getting back to the point, most of Trump’s supporters, IMHO are blindly supporting him in spite of his election fraud claims, not because of them. I think it’s wrong to categorize them all as idiots or assume that they believe those accusations, even if they claim to do so.
@chipgreen
You know I would never think of you as an idiot of any sort.
And yes, some people are amazingly dishonest and make things up to try to achieve some political end. Trump is the master of that, to the detriment of the entire country and the world. Political “spin” is one thing, but Trump literally waged a war on the truth. If there had been any evidence of electoral fraud and if Trump’s investigations had turned up anything then I’d remain supportive of following through. That’s the only honest stance anybody should take.
However, literally every single case Trump brought to court was dismissed because there was either no cause of action, no injury, a failure to bring them in a timely fashion, or no evidence. The lawyers in their filings and in court were crystal clear that they also were not alleging fraud of any sort - because lying in court can get you disbarred.
So sure, investigate to your heart’s content, but you have to be honest with it and with the American people. That was always Trump’s failure from the start and until the end. His perpetuating of this lie damages the country. The 75% statistic proves the point.
I’ll also throw in here, that of the actual cases of voting fraud that I’ve seen reported (a biased set, I’m sure) the vast majority have been perpetrated by Republican partisans and also only affected a handful (i.e. < 5) of votes. And my understanding is that’s generally been the case with voting fraud in this country: a small number of cases in each election affecting a small number of votes. Only in races as tight as the Iowa congressional district (margin: 6 votes) could that affect the outcome.
The Heritage Foundation maintains a database (https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud). While I have approximately 1.3% overlap with their policy preferences, I trust them to have comprehensively done the research. Although even the “about” page discussing the database makes it sound like a Republican talking point.
Trump remains true to his antidemocratic self, pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” 11,000 votes, based solely on rumor from his sycophants. Meanwhile, his GAO and OMB refuses to assist the transition. He is a catastrophe.
List of GOP senators/senators-elect who are about to decide if they are traitors to the United States:
Ted Cruz, TX
Ron Johnson, WI
James Lankford, OK
Steve Daines, MT
John Kennedy, LA
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Mike Braun, IN
Cynthia Lummis, WY
Roger Marshall, KS
Bill Hagerty, TN
Tommy Tuberville, AL
@DanOR “Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”
@KitMarlot I’d say that sums it up. We have numerous domestic enemies trying to overthrow the duly elected government and these senators, as well as the President, are giving aid and comfort. There will be plenty of witnesses to their treachery. Perhaps you would prefer sedition as the more appropriate charge?
@DanOR@KitMarlot I think sedition is more correct. I’d like to see real consequences for those who act in bad faith, and I don’t care which side of whatever issue or aisle they’re on.
While I will be the first to admit that Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac who refuses to face reality, the hyperbole and bombast from the left and most media outlets has been and continues to be equally annoying.
@chipgreen And honestly, that’s my thing. I don’t like Trump and didn’t vote for him, but I like and respect many of the ‘deplorables’ who did. Many of them are not idiots. Some of them are ill-informed and see ghosts around dark corners, but most of them have rational reasons for supporting him. De-legitimizing someone else’s opinions and preferences is its own form of tyranny.
@chipgreen Sorry, could you be more specific as to what constitutes hyperbole and bombast?
I’ll refrain from engaging in both-sider-ism here because that’s what bugs me the most about some of these discussions, except to point out the Fox News claims that Obama was going to impose Shariah law on the United States.
@klezman
The hyperbole and bombast from the left has been going on for 4 years now, not just since the recent election. All the investigations, accusations and impeachment proceedings were filled to the brim with hyperbole and bombast. And yes, there was plenty of it to go around from the right about Obama when he was President as well. And again from the left when Bush was President. And from the right when Clinton was President. Rinse, lather, repeat.
I have grown weary of it from both sides over the years and it only serves to inflame those whose backers are on the side it’s coming from and entrench those against it on the other side. I almost wish our pols would just throw down every once in awhile like they do in… Taiwan? Maybe there would be some of the schoolyard chumminess after a good row between the two sides. Of course it wouldn’t last, but even a little break would be refreshing.
@chipgreen I appreciate your acknowledging that this is not a recent invention of the left.
One difference that’s seemed apparent to me is that the more recent ones done by the right have more of an intent to affect election outcomes while much (but by no means all) of the stuff from the left seems to actually want to figure out whether something happened. I could grant that the first Benghazi investigation was trying to do that, but the umpteenth?
As for impeachment, I think Trump should have been booted from office for trying to squeeze a foreign country for election assistance. Obviously ymmv, but that was one of the few things where I thought the rhetoric coming from the actual House members (particularly Adam Schiff) was perfectly accurate. I don’t pay much attention to the media for many of the reasons you outline.
@chipgreen@klezman I hate to be piling on because I appreciate that we’re still attempting to hang out despite the political divide. But I am not sure it is possible to be hyperbolic about Trump.
From his earliest days he and his family tried to evict people of color from their housing developments; took out full page ads (for no particular reason) calling for the execution of the now exonerated Central Park 5; bankrupted municipalities (he bear culpability for those actions); he (and his siblings) defrauded the government of revenue in a complicated scheme to reduce his inheritance taxes; he went out of his way to reduce his brother’s childrens’ inheritance on his father’s deathbed and forced their cooperation with a settlement by threatening to withhold medical care from his nephew; he at worst assaulted a number of women and acted reprehensibly at best; and (this is not a moral failing, perhaps) his entire fortune is from inheritance and licensing revenue as television host while pretending to “do business”.
While president, he continue to put his perceived self-interest above every element of his job. I cannot say that for any other president since Nixon and Nixon only on his worst days.
I don’t get the enthusiasm of his supporters but, given such support, I understand why simps like Rubio and Cruz march as best they can to his ill timed drumbeat.
@chipgreen That video is, as they say, fucking awesome. Rick Mercer is a comedic genius, at least if you’re Canadian. Have you ever watched his special called Talking To Americans?
@canonizer - precisely. A terrible excuse for a human who never rose to the job he got elected to do.
@canonizer@chipgreen@FritzCat@klezman Reps and Dems have been playing a different game since at least the 1960’s, with Tricky Dick and his evil entourage blueprinting the conservative strategy of lying, cheating, and stealing their way through election cycles. The Dems, on the other hand, have chosen to “go high” when the Reps go low. Dumb. In battle, the only reason to “go high” is to rain boulders on the enemy below, but that’s not in the Dem’s playbook.
@klezman
Not to my knowledge? I have never lived in Canada. My oldest sister was born there but by the time I was born, our family had relocated to the Cleveland area. I have a lot of Aunts/Uncles and cousins in Alberta and another cousin in the Yukon.
@chipgreen If one (or both) of your parents was born in Canada you should already be a citizen. You’d just need to get the proof of citizenship by submitting your information and proof of your parent’s Canadian birth certificate. It’s super easy - got it for my first kid immediately and we’re about to send it off for our second.
@chipgreen@FritzCat Good job marrying a Canadian!
Yeah, technically they’re citizens at birth and just need the certificate. So it’s really just an administrative process more than a discretionary one. Which is really nice.
@klezman
Thanks, I will have to find out if my Dad’s birth certificate is in my sister’s possession. The fact that he is 10 years deceased may complicate matters.
Finally feeling a bit of hope that Mitch McConnell won’t be the Senate majority leader. That anti democratic Yutz can get bent. (Note, this is about him, not Republicans more generally.)
It is reasonable to protest (even violently) when the people you believe in tell you that an election was rigged. That makes Trump, Cruz, Hawley, Rubio, Jordan, Nunes and dozens of others complicit in the destruction in DC.
Their fearmongering is odious. To borrow a phrase: lock them up.
@losthighwayz You are absolutely correct. If the mob had been people of color there would be many dead and many many more injured and jailed, not just sent home
@DanOR@losthighwayz Several discussions on NPR and other places about exactly this. The chair of African American Studies at Princeton was blunt: the police response yesterday made it abundantly clear that there are rules for white people and rules for everybody else. (I paraphrased)
"These terrorists (they are not protesters; they are not rioters; they are terrorists, insurrectionists, and traitors) have violated the following federal laws:
18 U.S.C. § 2385. Seditious Conspiracy. If “two or more people… conspire… by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof,” penalties are fines and twenty years imprisonment.
18 U.S.C. § 1361. Destruction of Government Property. If the damage exceeds $100, penalties are fines up to $250,000 and ten years imprisonment.
18 U.S.C. § 111. Assaulting Federal Officers. Fines vary, 20 years imprisonment.
18 U.S.C. § 351. Assault on Members of Congress. One year imprisonment.
41 CFR 102-74.380. Creating a Hazard on Federal Property. Penalties vary.
36 CFR 2.34 (and elsewhere). Disorderly Conduct. 90 days imprisonment, $300 fine."
@davirom Not a Trump supporter, more of an anti-Trump Hater, but I’m a fan of both the First Amendment and the rule of law. Probably not many Trump supporters who think critically about wine (or at all.) This was an appalling case of angry protesters getting out of hand (not unlike Seattle’s CHAZ or the riots in Kenosha this summer) and every perpetrator should be punished according to law. There’s plenty of fiery rhetoric out there, but don’t forget that Congress concluded their business shortly before dawn. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”
-Federalist No. 51
Yup, you’re all correct best I can tell.
-White privilege in that only one person was killed
-Terrorists attacking the Capitol
-The need for the 25th amendment and/or another super quick impeachment
-Complicity from certain Republican officeholders, who may now qualify to be removed from office under the 14th amendment for inciting this insurrection
Also, Biden sounded like a real president of the USA in his announcement earlier. Such a relief.
“Also, Biden sounded like a real president of the USA in his announcement earlier. Such a relief.”
I’m liking Biden more and more.
And yes, I’d like to hear from the DJT apologists on this forum too.
Politics aside, today was a disgrace and an embarrassment for our entire country. No matter which political party anyone supports, they need to respect our democracy and maintain human decency.
The president (as well as other officials, staff, family, etc) that flat out incited today’s events and attempt at “mob rule” should be held accountable. Sadly, I have a feeling that’s not likely to happen.
@kawichris650 Yeah, I’m not optimistic that perpetrators will be held accountable, especially the perpetrator in chief, DJT.
Although I did hear on NPR this morning that several people have been charged by the DOJ so far and they expect to file charges against many more people.
But the international perspective was also helpful: how does the USA prove to the world that this truly is a beacon of democracy? Is it possible to do that without holding Trump accountable for sowing distrust in elections, in democracy, and for inciting political violence - perhaps the single most undemocratic thing he could have done?
The silence from Trump and/or Republicans on here condemning the violence incited by a sitting President and/or the police hypocrisy when dealing with people of color is deafening.
The President’s language and rhetoric often goes too far," … “I think, yesterday in particular, the President’s language and rhetoric crossed the line and it was reckless. I disagree with it, and I have disagreed with the President’s language and rhetoric for the last four years.”
Cruz JUST OFFERED REPRESENTED TEXAS IN CONTESTING THE ELECTIONS OF OTHER STATES IN ORDER TO BOOST TRUMP’S OPINION OF HIM.
Just amazing to see these spineless people walking upright. Goddamn medical miracle.
Here’s a multiple choice option to make it easier for conservatives to respond :
A ) Denial: “It didn’t happen”, “Fake news”
B ) False equivalency: “The left has done worse”
C ) Deathbed conversion: “There’s only 12 days left in his term, but gee, maybe he IS a bad guy”
D ) Ignorance: “Who knew 4+ years of this rhetoric would come to this?”
E ) Outright lying: “Those weren’t Trump supporters at the rally and in the Capitol, they were antifa”
@davirom
Are you looking for responses from conservatives now? Because before you were after “Trump apologists”. I am the former, not the latter.
Of course the siege on the Capital was horrible and inexcusable. Right wing fringe groups were the main instigators (not Antifa or BLM or Anarchists as some claim, although there is always the possibility that there were a handful of “professional agitators” mixed in, just as there were in the BLM riots last year). Just as in those BLM riots, there were a small percentage of violent protesters who made everyone look bad.
Qanon conspiracy theorists, Proud Boys, Boogaloo, White supremacists and Nationalists, right-wing militia types, etc. These groups are not representative of the average Republican or conservative. They are, however, much more mainstream than they have any right to be, based upon Trump’s refusal to condemn groups such as theirs as long as they support(ed) him. They were always fringe groups until Trump started wooing them (with his “good people on both sides” rhetoric).
Hopefully they will recede back into the fringes in the coming years.
@davirom
I will walk back the comment that you were addressing “Trump apologists” previously. In looking back you merely said “supporters” although I am not in that slightly broader category either.
@chipgreen Thank you for a reasoned reply to what was intended to be an attempt at facetious humor. Although, all of the listed “answers” correspond to responses I read that were made by Trump supporters when asked for comment.
You say the right-wing groups you mention are “not representative of the average Republican or conservative”, but given that Trump got 74 million votes I have to question what it means to be average in that population. Even if you discount the single-issue voters Trump appealed to (abortion, guns, tax reductions, etc.) there are still a lot of Republicans who are willing to vote for someone who lies constantly, dismantles needed infrastructure (I’m thinking of the pandemic response team Obama left that was functioning when DJT took over), separates families and puts the kids in cages, etc. etc. etc.
I guess I’m old fashioned, but to me character counts. At one time I considered myself a Rockefeller Republican, but the Republican party that could include me no longer exists. Even though I was once considered conservative and hold the same views, the “average” Republican has moved so far to the right of me s/he may as well be on another planet.
@chipgreen@davirom Hell, even this socially liberal Canadian could have held his nose and voted for Republicans as recently as Bush 2. But today’s GOP? Not a chance in hell.
(The holding my nose would have been because of the sexism and anti-abortion stance of the GOP even then.)
@davirom@klezman
You’re saying there isn’t a single Republican you could vote for today? You realize that there is a rather large faction of Never-Trumpers, yes? And even some who publicly supported Trump but have disapproved of things he has said and done along the way. An example of that would be Ohio’s Governor Mike Dewine, who has gained wide bipartisan support for his handling of the pandemic here in OH.
It is disappointing to see you continue to paint the right with such broad strokes.
@chipgreen@DanOR@klezman I could have supported Romney except to get the nomination he ran to the right (e.g. repudiating Romneycare in MA) and Obama seemed the better choice to me. I might have supported John McCain or Jeff Flake. I don’t say Republicans are unappealing per se, but it seems the ones who rise high enough to be on a ballot feel the need to pander to the Trumpkins; the archetypes being Hawley and Cruz, but there are also a hundred or so in the House that made a pointless stand to overthrow the election.
@chipgreen@davirom I suppose I should have clarified - I know less about Republican parties at the state level. The national Republican Party has, to me, moved so far away from an entity that I could support on so many things. I simply cannot support a party that wants to roll back civil rights, put religion ahead of everything else (I say this as a somewhat observant person), and pander to the worst things in the United States. Even if I agree with some of their policy preferences they are just too far from what I consider to be reasonable. It’s not just about Trump, it’s about the whole platform they’ve espoused for the past decade.
I don’t know much about Dewine. I did like John Kasich when he was running for the Republican nomination, although even he, on further looking, was amazingly anti-abortion, which is a nonstarter for me. I simply cannot agree that the government should interfere in a woman’s reproductive rights (before fetal viability).
So while there might be individual Republicans who I think are honest and principled, the federal Republican Party is too full of rot for me.
Full disclosure, though, I’m also not exactly a progressive on many things and dislike much of the rhetoric from the far left and disagree with some (many?) of their policy proposals.
@davirom After rpm’s (not tagging him per his request) patronizing screed on 1/10, looks like there is another choice:
F ) Justifying: America, you brought this on yourselves
I find it interesting how many of these “brave patriots” are on the run, in hiding, or backpedaling now that their revolution has flamed out and their leader is hunkered down in the WH. “I was just recording it for the media”; “I was trying to convince the others to be respectful”; “I didn’t mean to be there but got swept in with the crowd”; “It’s not my fault that others were out of control”. The hunt is on for these seditious rats and they will be brought to account.
@chipgreen I agree with you but want to make the distinction between arsonists and looters, which largely cause property damage (not condoning that) and an insurrectionist mob which wanted to overthrow the US government. There is, at least to me, a huge difference in the threat level each represents.
@chipgreen@DanOR You mean insurrectionists like Richard Barnett of Arkansas, last photographed with his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk? Imbeciles like that aren’t exactly latter day Guy Fawks.
Impeachment should proceed even though Trump will only be in office for 2 weeks. What he did should not go unpunished, and it prevents him from running for any office in the future. As a bonus, our tax dollars won’t be going to pay him a pension, providing health insurance, or paying for his security for the rest of his life.
Regarding our politics in general, Democrats have to ask themselves why 74 million Americans believed it was better to vote for Trump than Biden. I understand the far right, hardcore 33% supporting a Republican candidate no matter what. But what about the other 10-15% that still said Trump was better than any alternative the Democrats could offer? That’s after 4 years of seeing him continually lie, pander to extremists (or at the very least not willing to condemn them), turned combatting the Corona virus into a political issue that likely resulted in thousands of preventable deaths, and numerous other things. Is this simply tribalism where people will vote R or D, no matter the quality of the human being representing their party?
@dirtdoctor I’m with you on impeachment. He also needs to be impeached and convicted (a) as a matter of principle for inciting an insurrection against the United States, and (b) so that he can be prevented from ever holding elected office again.
I think part of the answer to your other questions is the right wing media bubble that only rarely lets reality in. There are plenty of side by side screenshots you can find of Fox News vs other websites during the insurrection at the Capitol. It’s maddening.
@canonizer@dirtdoctor
Maybe because Biden has been running for President on and off for close to 40 years now. He’s like a Democratic Ralph Nader. But suddenly in 2020 he is the best you guys can offer? The best “Not Trump” you could come up with? Ugh.
@canonizer@chipgreen
I guess what I was trying to say can be applied to both parties, in that they should be looking at their messaging and priorities to broaden their appeal to more Americans. Maybe @klezman is right and it’s just a function of how people get their news, whether it’s left/right wing national media or Twitter/Facebook feeds that spew crazy conspiracy theories that people automatically think are true without doing any research (I personally think this is the bigger issue).
I guess I have a follow up question for @chipgreen. What characteristics would a Democratic candidate need to gain more support from center-right Republicans? I agree that Biden was not that most inspirational candidate, but for me he seemed to have several characteristics that were important. He was closer to the center than the far left and he generally seems to care about fellow Americans. Yes, his speeches are generally not inspiring and he often says stupid things, but you rarely hear anyone say something bad about his character and intentions. For me, even before looking at policies, the first step in deciding my vote is to evaluate whether or not the candidate is a good person. I don’t know how anyone can look at the entirety of Trump’s life and come to the conclusion that he cares about anything but himself. The constant lies, things he said about women and potentially did to them, making fun of a disabled man, constantly peddling unfounded conspiracy theories, never admitting a mistake, worrying about his economy and re-election instead of telling Americans the truth about COVID-19, and it just goes on. It was an easy choice between Biden and Trump, and I’ll admit it was more difficult in 2016 but ultimately I thought Hilary was the lesser of 2 evils (which I think Trump has proven true).
Maybe my lesson is Americans care less about a person’s morals as long as they promise to cut their taxes or give them free healthcare and pay their college tuition.
@canonizer because the Democratic party is the major party opposing the Republican party candidate, Donald Trump, for whom 74mm Americans voted. The question posed isn’t “why did the Republican candidate lose”, but “how could 49% of Americans vote for a person we consider evil”. One conclusion is that 49% of Americans are evil, but there are others.
@canonizer@chipgreen@dirtdoctor
I don’t think Biden was inspiring, but he’s the right candidate for this moment in so many ways. He exemplifies all of the good qualities we want to see in our leaders and has so few of the bad ones. He’s just so human in a way that makes me proud to have him be an example for my kids.
The thing about what I said about messaging is a bit more subtle than that. The Democrats have a broadly popular agenda if you ask about the policies in isolation, but when you ask about the “Democratic agenda” its popularity goes down. Better messaging should be able to fix this gap.
My prescription for the Republicans is to propose a conservative slant on policies that do what people actually want. Their messaging is so effective (aided and abetted by Fox News, OANN, etc) that they’ve created an alternate reality for their party. And they need to stop stoking racial resentments, being anti-abortion, and sexist. Only then can there be a true battle of ideas.
What characteristics would a Democratic candidate need to gain more support from center-right Republicans?
Firstly, more of my fellow Republicans need to move closer to the center and stop trying to shame us moderates with terms like “RINO”. Secondly, I think Biden actually does embody some of the characteristics that center-right Repubs would require but he feels like a retread. He is quite obviously past his peak (as was McCain for the Repubs when he finally got his nomination) and is a perennial also-ran. The constant gaffes and the serial hair-sniffing don’t help.
Clearly any Dem would have to express a willingness to reach across the aisle to have a chance at bipartisan appeal, at the risk of losing goodwill within his/her own party. These candidates (on both sides), to a large extent, are formed from our own image. We as a nation have to move collectively towards the center before candidates will start to follow suit. I don’t think it will work the other way around.
@KitMarlot I think the Republicans have successfully created 2 wedge issues in the last 50 years that have siphoned off democrats: abortion and unrestricted gun rights. On a personal level, I think Democrats could find a middle path on gun rights since the population supports reasonable safety measures; given the overwhelming female constituency there isn’t any daylight on reproductive issues (which I support).
The third issue that Republicans claim is taxes and there is something uniquely aspirational about the American belief for lowering marginal tax rates. Trump could have cut taxes for everyone other than the highest bracket but instead gave the overwhelming windfall in tax reduction to the wealthiest/highest earning people. Democrats could easily leave all the tax brackets as is except adding 2 marginal brackets (the obvious figures being 39.6 and then something in the 40s). I’m sure there will be screams of SOCIALISM even though there is nothing historically remarkable about such rates after WWII.
[And then there is this WILD shift in blue collar/manufacturing towards Trump when the Republican party seeks only to reduce the power of labor at a moment when labor’s power (and share of corporate revenue) has dwindled horribly.]
I don’t think 49% of the population is evil. I think there is something wrong when a substantial majority of Republicans believe that the presidential election was stolen (despite many House seats flipping back to Rs). There is something profoundly wrong, and perhaps evil, with the people (Trump, Cruz, Hawley, Limbaugh, Bongino, et al) who amplify that lie. And to suggest that this is the same as the 2016 cri de coeur of “not my president”, when Clinton conceded the day after the election, can charitably only be called bad faith.
Watching Republican leadership try to overthrow the government in a procedural ratification of electorates is beyond disturbing. Watching “conservative” pundits blame Antifa or BLM for the violent attempted coup in DC makes me feel ill. Watching Trump tell a group of white nationalists to walk over to the Capitol to overturn a stolen election makes me want to see him rot in prison.
@canonizer@KitMarlot
Thanks for the thoughtful beginning portion of your post. We need collaborative efforts like this from our politicians. Where can we find common ground? Where can we compromise? Let’s start there, get some successes under our belts and then work backwards to the more contested ideals with some positive momentum and goodwill already having been generated.
@canonizer@chipgreen@KitMarlot Unfortunately, for all that the “mates” on this board may be able to reach a kumbya moment, national politicians are too heavily invested (and by that I mean fundraising) in division to give more than a sly sort of lip service to bipartisanship. The only issue with a chance that I can think of at the moment is infrastructure repair.
@canonizer@davirom@KitMarlot
I know what you mean. As someone who has been dragged half-willingly into local politics, I have seen firsthand how the party bosses demand unwavering loyalty from their stable of candidates.
Without the support of local, state and/or national parties, candidates would be forced to do all their own fundraising and that is no easy task without party support. That leaves guys like Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Yang or perhaps an Elon Musk who can actually thumb their noses at one or both parties and choose their own platforms.
But ultimately, the party bosses want candidates who can win. It once again comes back to us, the public, to demand more centrist candidates.
This has to be the most respectful, even-tempered political discussion board around, maybe due to the liberal consumption of our favorite beverage. Some of the others are more like a MMA death match. Congrats everyone for keeping it civil!
@canonizer@DanOR@FritzCat
There was nothing un-civil or disrespectful about his posts when he was participating. You, however, resorted to name-calling a number of times in response to him. Just sayin’…
@canonizer@chipgreen@DanOR@FritzCat on the flipside I was chastised by rj and rpm for one grammar error which was rather annoying. I have seen many grammatical errors on here and to be singled out because they did not agree with my position was petty to say the least.
@canonizer@DanOR@FritzCat@losthighwayz
I don’t disagree. Unfortunately, you are known to be a school administrator so apparently got held to a higher standard?
I don’t think I used any names but I was frustrated by Twitch. He used the conclusion that Trump was reelected as evidence and shrugged off sourced information stating otherwise.
@canonizer@DanOR I went back through my comments for the past 30 days, and the last PoliTicks thread, and found that I did indeed make derogatory statements about Twitch22. I re-read the posts, and am just amazed by how patient others have been with him. I think his posts were terribly disrespectful.
@canonizer@chipgreen@DanOR@FritzCat sure, if I was posting on our school website or mailing a parent letter! This is a forum where peeps are entitled to slack a bit, right?
@canonizer@DanOR@FritzCat
I guess I didn’t catch the disrespect although I was skimming a lot, finding the volume of posts a bit overwhelming at that time and as an elections official, was just plain exhausted from months of stress, long hours and working weekends. Thankfully my county pulled off the election without a hitch despite having to overcome quite a bit of adversity along the way!
@DanOR You comment about ‘respectful and even-tempered’ is risible. Virtually every voice that has been on the right here has left because real discussion has not possible for some time. We cannot even agree on what the facts are, let alone discuss political ideas. That’s why I left and won’t be back - other than this post, because the self-congratulation for having driven out conservative voices needs to be pricked like a boil. Just because we’re no longer out in public, doesn’t mean we’ve gone away or will go away.
With the banning of Trump and the de-platforming of multiple conservative voices, Democratic calls for humiliation and firing of anyone who supported Trump, we are heading straight towards despotism, destruction of the Bill of Rights, and worse.
As personally offensive as Trump has been, his policies for the most part have been highly beneficial to most Americans, and have made the world a safer, better place. He spent four years fending of the most scurrilous and false attacks from the left, the Democratic Party (but I repeat myself), and still managed to accomplish much.
If the left were so confident in its ideas and the honesty of the recent elections, it would be the first in line to have open counting of votes, verification of voter signatures, open recounts; and would welcome the full and complete airing of all of the evidence put forward of vote fraud - the opposite of what has happened: the challenges have never been openly and fully aired, but have been shut down without evidentiary hearings or dismissed out of hand. That is not the way to convince 74-odd million voters that you didn’t steal the election. And if the left weren’t totalitarian - fascist - it wouldn’t be busy de-platforming conservative sites and authors, getting people fired for their political views and demanding essentially ‘reeducation’ for Trump supporters.
The form of the republic will continue, but liberty as the Founders understood it is dead - and you are all like the good burghers in Nietzsche’s aphorism 125 from The Gay Science (Die Frölische Wissenschaft) who laughed at the ‘madman’ who came into their midst and decried the death of God… he came too soon and it had not yet arrived, though they had done the deed themselves. I’d like to think most of you are intelligent enough that you will eventually rue what you have done, but I’m not sanguine about it.
@rpm, I’m hesitantly tagging you since you unequivocally stated your intention to leave the conversation.
Why is there such conviction that a hand recount is necessary in the swing States where Republicans picked up House seats? Numerous states under conservative leadership (eg Raffensberger) conducted recounts. The Intelligence community said it was a secure election. There does not seem to be any there, there.
I think it’s weird that there’s this natural acceptance that every one of 74M Trump votes was legitimately cast but Biden’s are suspect. The baseline assumption that distasteful electoral results must be false stuns me.
Clinton conceded the day after the election in 2016. For two months, Republicans have been chanting, “Stop the steal.” The assault on the Capitol is a natural outgrowth of this rejection of democracy by conservative leaders/thinkers.
I’m sorry we can only agree on distrusting each other’s news sources.
@rpm
I really do try to listen to the opinion of others, so I’ll first ask a few questions and end with a comment. You and I have never met, and I don’t know you except for your few posts. Hopefully your statement about not participating except for that one post is not true, stoking the fire and then walking away.
First a few questions. You state something is a fact when many would view it is your opinion, thereby talking in generalities instead of stating facts that back your opinion. Specifically you state “his policies for the most part have been highly beneficial to most Americans, and have made the world a safer, better place.” This is clearly an opinion, one that I think many would disagree with. I would ask that you provide the facts used to develop the opinion of being in a better place than we were 4 years ago.
You state that democrats “would welcome the full and complete airing of all of the evidence put forward of vote fraud”. Trump’s team submitted over 60 lawsuits and our courts, many of them led by Trump appointed judges, consistently have said there was either no proof or legal grounds for their lawsuits. The question, do you believe that our justice system did not provide Trump a chance to question the election that just occurred or are you saying the process of future elections needs to be reviewed/revised? Regarding this past election, continually repeating that there was fraud doesn’t make it a fact, especially when the conclusion of every investigation, review and recount has suggested otherwise, including the Barr led DOJ.
Last question, do you think freedom of speech extends to private industries and companies? These platforms clearly provided Trump leniency over the past 4 years, up until the past few months. Should they have let him continue to use their platforms to allow a person to organize riots on the capital, especially when there is a big push (Trump included) to eliminate the law that protects these platforms from being held accountable for the member posts?
For the comment, and what irked me about your post, the statement/implication that democrats are fascist and will/should regret their current opinions/actions after stating that republicans have left this conversation because how that were treated. That’s like throwing stones in glass houses. What good is going to come from making such a statement?
@DanOR@rpm
I’m actually a soils/geotechnical engineer, evaluating soil’s ability to support structures such as buildings, bridges, dams, and pavements.
@DanOR@dirtdoctor@rpm
I think you all know my position - we are all better off with a diversity of voices joining in respectful and even tempered discussion/debate. I’ve bent over backward to avoid (as best I can) making statements that would inflame others. I hope I’ve succeeded.
Not so long ago this forum was frequented by right-leaning people, but over the last couple years of the Obama presidency and throughout the Trump presidency some folks (none who are tagged here) seemed to get angrier and angrier. Arguments seemed to go farther and farther from facts.
So I hope that tempers can calm down and with the passing of the Trump era hopefully we can find our way back to having useful and insightful debates on policy and the best ways to steer the country toward a bright future.
@DanOR@dirtdoctor@klezman@rpm my biggest issue is that many are willing to give Trump a pass (vile, racist, sexist, and divisive speech and/or actions) so long as he has sound policies (which are debatable). How is this ok?
@DanOR@klezman@losthighwayz@rpm
Since fascism was recently raised in a post, here’s an article published by Newsweek and written by a professor emeritus at Columbia University:
It looks like Mitch McConnell, Liz Cheney and untold numbers of additional Republicans are ready and willing to vote for Impeachment at this point, to wash their hands of Trump and prevent him from running again in 2024.
While the siege on the Capitol was the last straw, I believe the fracture was already in progress. Trump’s (and his lackeys) antics were to blame for both GA Republicans losing the runoff elections that would have kept control of the Senate. Trump, as usual, was more concerned about himself than what was good for the party.
A repositioning of the party has already begun as the article surmises that “Mr McConnell, it seems, has calculated that losing some of the president’s most loyal following would be less damaging than the exodus of moderates that would occur if he and other leaders stand by Mr Trump.”.
Furthermore, it goes on to point out that “For Mr McConnell it is all about winning. The bald facts are that in 2016 Republicans controlled the White House, the Senate and the House. After four years of Mr Trump they have lost all three.”.
This correlates with my own contention that, ultimately, the party bosses want to win and if it requires fielding more moderate candidates to do so, then that’s what they will do. It remains up to the American public to take back the Republican party from the likes of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Q-Anon crazies.
@chipgreen Agreed, especially about McConnell and his thirst for power (which requires a service to winning above all).
I hope the GOP can figure out how to moderate, but I think a clean break between the Trumpers and the rest into a new party would be good. This country needs an honest centre, left, and right voice in politics.
I am still a fan of the (supposed) silent majority of moderates forming a new party. It’d be tremendously successful.
I did not vote for Trump in 2016 because I was afraid he would do something erratic and dangerous like start a nuclear war with South Korea. As I waited for impending international conflict, the Mainstream Media criticized every decision he made and refused to credit his successes and I began to wonder if I was being brainwashed. This summer, despite his refusal to do simple things to improve his chances of reelection (like not putting on a mask) I started thinking that Americans were generally better off than they were 4 years ago, that on balance he did a better job with the pandemic than Hillary Clinton would have done, and that Joe Biden might be ok but there was no way he’d last 4 years (and Kamala Harris was a wild card.)* Then, the first debate happened and I decided that I just couldn’t vote for him. Of course, the events of the last 2 months have vindicated all the pundits who predicted catastrophe 4 years ago, so enjoy the Schadenfreude guys, but be careful with the tinder. It’s a dry forest out there, lots of people thinking that ideological purity has a place in party politics and that violence is justified when you don’t get what you want.
*These are my opinions, these are not facts. I’m not going to substantiate them with evidence, this is simply how I feel. You are encouraged to think my opinions suck, but I’d rather not hear about it unless you can find a way to say it respectfully.
@KitMarlot Why do you think Clinton would have handled the pandemic in a worse way than Trump? While estimates vary, Trump’s inaction and downplaying the pandemic have led to tens of thousands more deaths than more competent responses. Furthermore, a competent response would have avoided politicizing a virus.
While I’m not certain Clinton wouldn’t have fallen into some of the same traps, at least she lives in a world of facts.
@klezman I said I wasn’t going to substantiate my opinions, but I suppose this one needs some explanation. I named Mrs. Clinton because she was the dem nominee in 2016, but I could have subbed “Democrat X”. (Once more, these are my opinions) Operation Warp Speed, forcing GM to make ventilators and letting local govt’s decide on lockdowns don’t happen with a Democrat in charge. PPP and $600 bonus for unemployment maybe, but I’d be surprised if stimulus checks go out as quickly as they did without someone as independent as someone like Trump.
Furthermore, a competent response would have avoided politicizing a virus.
And you think Mrs. Clinton wouldn’t have?
While I’m not certain Clinton wouldn’t have fallen into some of the same traps
She certainly wouldn’t have had daily press conferences where she put her ignorance on display, but there isn’t a whole lot a federal government (non-authoritarian class) can do once an unknown virus is loose. We were woefully unprepared.
@KitMarlot I don’t understand the “be careful with the tinder.” Biden won the election; democrats wanted a normal transition. Trump refuses to concede and will not attend the inauguration.
Where is the liberal schadenfreude? We just want the loser to accede to the Republic’s wishes.
@KitMarlot@klezman Bringing Mrs. Clinton into this discussion is simply diversion, a chance to trot out a familiar boogeyman. The far right has demonized Mrs. Clinton to the point where millions believe she worships satan and slaughters babies. Unfortunately, that’s not hyperbole, it’s a sad comment on the gullibility of Americans. As a result, many conservatives believe her capable of any evil and incapable of anything constructive. She in fact is extremely intelligent and if faced with the covid crisis, her efforts and effectiveness would easily eclipse trump, whose response was catatonic at best, if not criminal malfeasance.
@KitMarlot Fair enough. You are, of course, welcome to your opinions and I’m not trying to persuade you. I’m simply trying to understand how you arrived at that opinion.
An administration that denies reality and scoffs at science is particularly poorly positioned to deal with a pandemic. That’s really why I think any other administration, Democrat or Republican, would have managed better than did Trump.
We both acknowledge that’s opinion. We’ll get to see what a Biden administration does starting next week.
@KitMarlot my parents always taught me to treat others like you want to be treated. I truly believe the media despises Trump because he has been attacking them both as a unit and individually since he took office. As a leader he could have done a much better job to mend fences. He chose not to.
I can’t help myself, as it’s in my nature as an analytical engineer, not to comment about providing facts/reasoning/observations to explain one’s opinions. I am guilty of asking the “why” question, as that’s how I try to understand how someone derived an opinion. Why it that now considered wrong? It’s not an attempt at being derogatory or to belittle, but to gain an understanding of an opinion so that we can have a civil discussion.
If it’s okay to just state an opinion as if it’s a fact, without providing reasoning or background, that when you get a bunch of people believing that Democrats are a bunch of pedophiles running a child sex trafficking business behind a pizza parlor in Maryland, while Trump is a Savior that is going to win a war against them.
Bringing Mrs. Clinton into this discussion is simply diversion, a chance to trot out a familiar boogeyman. The far right has demonized Mrs. Clinton to the point where millions believe she worships satan and slaughters babies. Unfortunately, that’s not hyperbole…
Overreact, much?
Considering the high stakes involved for our country with the pandemic, what has stopped her from coming up with some useful suggestions on how to better handle it? Lots of other people have weighed in with opinions and suggestions while she has remained silent. Maybe she is still working on her health care reform project that she started n 1993.
@losthighwayz He gives as good as he gets, and you could say he started it. No argument there. I think the media is outraged for both the ridiculous things he says and the way their reporting of his antics doesn’t change hearts and minds. Their power is diminished. I know when I hear/read something outrageous that he said I check multiple sources first before deciding if I 1.) believe it and 2.) care.
@canonizer@losthighwayz I hope impeachment removes him from public view instead of making a martyr of him. It was wise putting Jefferson Davis in Ft. Monroe even if he deserved to be hanged on the spot. Started the healing process after the Civil War on solid footing.
@klezman I’m hopeful by what I’ve seen from Biden so far. Its a good sign that he’s been making both Republicans and Democrats mad with his cabinet picks.
@KitMarlot Exactly. I don’t think he’s exciting, but I don’t want excitement in politics. I think he’s the person for the moment, somebody who is by nature a unifier and not a divider.
@KitMarlot@klezman
Yeah and I thought Obama would be the great unifier after all the bad will generated by Bush Jr. for invading Iraq. Instead, he continued the same foreign policies as Bush while concentrating on ramming through “Obamacare” to create a legacy for himself. Considering that Biden was part of that administration, I am not holding my breath on the unification thing but time will tell.
@chipgreen@KitMarlot@klezman@rjquillin Uhhh, because he was brown? I know…“he’s making this about race again”, but I really do believe that for many, especially on the right/in the south, that is a significant factor.
@KitMarlot@klezman I do think that Bernie becoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee is genius! Now Bernie will have to look at both sides of the budget equation rather than just handing out money like candy. (At least I hope this happens)
“Just 43 percent of African-Americans say Obama made things better for black people, while roughly half say they see no difference. Six percent say Obama has made things worse”
@KitMarlot That’s pretty good, actually. I think Obama’s intent was to make things better for all Americans. It would have been bad if he had focused on making things better for African-Americans. Note that I’ve always been a big fan of Carter, so you’ve got to suspect my opinions on everything.
@chipgreen@KitMarlot Honest question - do you think there was any policy Obama could propose (faithful to his campaign promises in any way) that would have garnered Republican support? Even restricting the question to a health care overhaul.
@rjquillin Welcome back to the discussion, your absence was noted. I might give credit to your “both sides”-ism if you can point out anything the Dems have done that compares to the GOP’s failing to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland for the last YEAR of Obama’s term (to “let the voters decide”), then pushing through Amy Coney Barrett in a matter of weeks before this election.
Under threat of legal action from Dominion, here is the American Thinker’s retraction for their part in amplifying the COMPLETE FUCKING LIE that was the notion that fraud played any part whatsoever in the election of Joe Biden because said lies had NO BASIS IN FACT. I hope their profiteering, warmongering, grifting souls rot in hell for encouraging division and violence in our Union.
I’m sorry for the caps but, man, my f’ing blood pressure.
American Thinker and contributors Andrea Widburg, R.D. Wedge, Brian Tomlinson, and Peggy Ryan have published pieces on www.AmericanThinker.com that falsely accuse US Dominion Inc., Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., and Dominion Voting Systems Corporation (collectively “Dominion”) of conspiring to steal the November 2020 election from Donald Trump.
These pieces rely on discredited sources who have peddled debunked theories about Dominion’s supposed ties to Venezuela, fraud on Dominion’s machines that resulted in massive vote switching or weighted votes, and other claims falsely stating that there is credible evidence that Dominion acted fraudulently.
These statements are completely false and have no basis in fact. Industry experts and public officials alike have confirmed that Dominion conducted itself appropriately and that there is simply no evidence to support these claims.
It was wrong for us to publish these false statements. We apologize to Dominion for all of the harm this caused them and their employees. We also apologize to our readers for abandoning 9 journalistic principles and misrepresenting Dominion’s track record and its limited role in tabulating votes for the November 2020 election. We regret this grave error.
@canonizer Is there a reason why you left this part of the page off of your post?
We received a lengthy letter from Dominion’s defamation lawyers
explaining why they believe that their client has been the victim of
defamatory statements. Having considered the full import of the
letter, we have agreed to their request that we publish the following
statement:
They knowingly amplified absolute lies about Dominion. They do not have any journalistic standards, let alone rigorous ones. They have so much first amendment protection and could easily turn aside any litigation if they hadn’t actually manufactured the story.
Why is it hard for people to say that voter fraud played no part in the election? I guess I’d feel better about calls for unity if there was an admission about the legitimacy of our incoming government.
@canonizer@Mark_L@rjquillin CYA
Cover your ass, abbreviated CYA, is an activity done by an individual to protect themselves from possible subsequent criticism, legal penalties, or other repercussions, usually in a work-related or bureaucratic context. Wikipedia
There, I helped you out, but “honestly” I don’t believe that anyone who lives in our society didn’t know that.
@FritzCat@Mark_L@rjquillin I’ve never come across it. When I looked it up, the first definition just said abbreviation for see ya, which seemed unlikely.
As far as covering myself, I introduced the retraction by saying it was in response to threatened legal action by dominion.
Why is it hard for people to say that voter fraud played no part in the election?
Voter fraud plays a part in nearly every election. But it’s usually a very small part. Was there more fraud in this election than most other elections? Highly likely, in fact I would bet on it when passions run so high on both sides. Was there enough fraud to swing the election? Highly unlikely. But it’s not realistic to think that there was no fraud whatsoever.
@chipgreen@Mark_L@rjquillin I don’t think I was suggesting that there was not a single instance of voter fraud. I’ll reaffirm that statement that it did not play any part whatsoever in the outcome of the election. The gcc, cisa, nass have deemed it the most secure election in American history.
But voters feel like it was stolen or, at best, unfair because that message being continually bandied about. The inauguration is 3 days away and Trump hasn’t conceded.
Anyway, I’ll think I’ll have one of those vintage winesmith sparklers on Wednesday.
@canonizer@chipgreen@Mark_L@rjquillin Acknowledging that Biden will be sworn in is not the same as conceding and telling the country that Biden won the election, fair and square, and earned the privilege of being President.
@canonizer@klezman@Mark_L@rjquillin
So, he didn’t concede the way you wanted him to?
You forgot to add that he should write it 500 times on the chalkboard.
You forgot to add that he should write it 500 times on the chalkboard.
Lol, not to be hyperbolic…
We merely want him to say he concedes, which is what every other presidential loser has done. We want peaceful transfers of power because that is at the core of this experiment in democracy. It’s obviously too much to ask of Trump.
And then, ultimately, we should ask why he has been lying about the election results since early Nov. Cui bono?
For now, we should all toss some popcorn in the microwave to see what pardons come out in the next 2.25 days. It’s such a shame that they won’t be announced on Twitter.
Even if you believe Trump’s recognition of reality that he’s not being sworn in for a second term is a concession of sorts, you have to admit that it’s far from what this country expects as a formal concession. That’s when the loser announces to the world the he or she lost, usually after having called to congratulate the winner on their victory.
@canonizer@klezman@Mark_L@rjquillin
Trump is a sore loser. No debate there. Personally, I’m happy that he intends to pack up and get out of town before the Inauguration. I think it’s better for everyone involved that he does just that.
@canonizer@chipgreen@klezman@Mark_L@rjquillin Bad actors spawn other bad actors. That’s where we find ourselves right now, with trump having led his minions down a very dark path, to the detriment of our country. There is a time for fighting and a time for healing and he doesn’t know the difference, or doesn’t care.
@davirom@FritzCat
Do you suppose Giuliani visited all 100 of the soon to be pardonees to work out payment arrangements? What about the ones who wouldn’t or couldn’t pay $2 million? Now add those to the 100 who supposedly can - how many visits would Giuliani and his henchmen have had to make to visit all those inmates and make those arrangements?
Do you suppose the inmates could just get on the horn and make a single phone call to arrange for the availability of those funds? And without prison officials being aware of the scheme despite tapped phone lines? Or maybe the prison officials are getting a kickback? Now how many more conversations have had to take place?
Are these all going to be lump sum payments? Who is going to launder all these payments?
Seriously, Qanon’s “plan” makes more sense than this baloney.
@davirom@FritzCat
A quick addendum to note that I am not necessarily disputing the account of John Kiriakou referenced in your first link - but I am absolutely disputing your quantum leap into asserting that Trump is going to be paid $2 million apiece from each person whom he is about to pardon.
@chipgreen@davirom@FritzCat FWIW, I read that more as rhetorical flourish than as a literal statement. As you said, not really a chance 100 federal felons have that kind of cash on hand.
@davirom@FritzCat
As I figured, you were completely serious. The logistics alone of “selling” 100 pardons makes the idea laughable.
Who is this unnamed, shadowy Giuliani “associate” anyway? He who waits until Rudy has to take a leak to proposition the target for $2 million for a pardon. I think the writer of this tripe (Martin Pengelly) has read too many John Grisham books.
So the people calling for hard evidence of voter fraud accept bribery insinuations about President Trump as fact?
I wrote something longer but for a meaningful voter fraud to have taken place whereby the Rs won many seats in the House but loss the presidency would have required an extensive conspiracy across states with different election and registration systems. It is unlikely to the point of impossibility.
For Trump to accept a bribe he literally only has to accept a bribe. 100 is probably a hyperbolic headline. But given his history in “business” and the emoluments that he has regularly accepted (events/people staying at his properties, asking Woody Johnson to request moving the British Open), it doesn’t stretch the imaginations of people negatively predisposed to him.
I am not a person who calls for hard evidence of voter fraud, I am a person has watched Trump lawyers file 62 lawsuits across the country (but only in states Trump lost) and fail to present any.
@chipgreen@davirom@FritzCat
I’m still trying to understand something, chip. Which of the following are you saying:
a) Trump is not likely to be swayed by people offering him money for favours (pardons/commutations in this case), and it’s pure insinuation
b) Trump is likely taking money for these favours, just not at the scale in davirom’s post, making the initial post hyperbolic
c) Trump will take whatever he can get, it’s just not proven
d) None of the above
@canonizer@chipgreen@KitMarlot
Given that Trump has funnelled tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to his businesses, what would you all say to a package that (a) prevents this from happening ever again, and (b) requires the non-arms length businesses to repay the government any profits from government spending there.
Basically, I think it’s fine if Trump (or any future government appointee/elected official) wants to spend time at the properties he owns. But my tax dollars should not go toward anything beyond the direct cost of him staying there.
@davirom@FritzCat@klezman
I thought it was pretty obvious. I am saying;
e) There is no organized effort by Rudy Giuliani and/or his “associates” to sell pardons for $2 million apiece on behalf of Trump.
@chipgreen@davirom@FritzCat OK, fair enough. I didn’t actually intuit that particular view of it from what you’d said, so thanks for clarifying. I also don’t think Trump and buddies are necessarily soliciting payments for pardons.
I think I’m mostly in the (b) camp. I think Trump would happily take money in exchange for a favour of that sort. I also think plenty of people know that about him and would try to make it happen. Ergo, I think it’s likely Trump will profit directly from at least a few of his pardons. And like many things about this (thankfully outgoing) administration, the fact that nobody would deny this is a distinct possibility is the major issue to me.
@chipgreen@KitMarlot My apologizes to those on this forum who were offended by the suggestion that Trump would sell pardons for money. Pardons seem to have been reserved for political payback (Lil Wayne, anyone?). Now commutations, which are not required to be disclosed . . .
@davirom Trump’s offensive, and I’m not offended by the suggestion. In fact, I think it is more likely than not that he did peddle influence, but I’d be surprised if any solid evidence turns up. Boss has got a lot of buffers. What offends me is that reporters are so quick to report innuendo as fact (and that people believe it) when it involves a certain orange haired ex-president. I sincerely hope he’s “ex” for good.
@davirom@KitMarlot
How do you explain his granting clemency for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatric? I’m not inclined to research all 143 pardons but I’m guessing there are quite a few other examples that would also go against your assumptions.
@chipgreen@KitMarlot I don’t have a fully formed hypothesis for each pardon, I was looking for commonality. I hadn’t looked at Kilpatric but now having done so I found this synopsis from AP of his conviction: “In 2013, Kilpatrick was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes. The government called it the “Kilpatrick enterprise,” a scheme to shake down contractors and reward allies.” Sounds sympatico with Trump to me.
I also found that the US Attorney for eastern MI has resigned, as is customary since he was appointed by the outgoing president, but in doing so he criticized Trump for making the pardon, which is not customary. FWIW, for all that he was a Trump appointee, he sounds like someone who I can appreciate as a public servant.
At least we can agree not to research all the pardons.
Here is something else Biden is not: Someone whose worldview was shaped in important ways by time at an elite university campus and the cultural debates that thrive in that setting. He is the first president since Ronald Reagan for whom this is true.
Let’s change the discussion away from Biden vs Trump, each person will be more critical of another with opposing views. That will never change.
Let’s talk policy. What are your thoughts on the proposed pandemic relief plan? I am not a fan of sending everyone a check, simply because there are many Americans (more than 50%?) that have not been economically impacted by the pandemic. However, I’m not sure how the funds could be allocated to impacted individuals without spending a bunch of money in the bureaucracy of administering such a relief package. Maybe it is more economical to send everyone a check and hope that individuals not impacted spend the money or donate it to a charity. Also, I would prefer to spend our government’s money on a infrastructure bill to help employ folks and improve our communities long-term.
Regarding the additional checks/tax credits, is it wrong to ask individuals to give something back to the country in return for the immediate help? When filing taxes, could we ask individuals to provide some proof of community service or charitable donation in return for receiving the tax credit?
One last item on the proposed relief bill. I really don’t like the idea of tying a federal minimum wage to the bill, that’s like asking for a fight in Congress. Regarding a minimum wage, instead of setting a fixed $15 dollar wage for every state, why not have a way of adjusting the minimum wage by applying cost of living adjustments for each state? $15 in Des Moines, Iowa goes a lot farther than $15 in NYC.
I agree the shotgun approach to getting money into people’s hands is less than ideal. This was litigated, at least somewhat, by Congress last year in the first stimulus. If they’d been on top of it rather than left themselves with a need to rush again, it would make sense to be more narrowly tailored in the cash infusion. Perhaps linking it to unemployment run by the states would have worked, I don’t know.
I think it would be a smart provision if 2020 tax forms were adjusted to have people “justify” their receipt of the payments. Like showing a decrease in income from the prior year or something. Although I think I also read that those payments are taxable income, so there’s that.
$15/hour at 40 hours/week is like $32k/year. How many places can you live, even as a single person, for that kind of income? I agree that the minimum wage could/should be adjusted for location. Many states already do this by increasing theirs, and I believe they still could under a new federal minimum. To me this is simple: the federal minimum wage should be indexed to the poverty level. Probably at about 2x the 2 or 3 person level. Turns out that’s close to $15/hour of full time work. https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines
Should this be part of this bill at this time? That, I’m less sure of. I’d probably hold it off on parts of the economy that are suffering right now and can’t even afford to pay the pittance minimum wage they’re paying now. But then again, PPP loans/grants could solve some of this if you view it as a joint strike.
@klezman@rjquillin
I haven’t done enough research to have a strong opinion on an appropriate minimum wage. I would note that I do not agree with calculating the wage based off a 40 hour work week. I wish I only needed to work 45 hours let alone 40. Raising that number to 50 hours and using the same $34k/yr goal, drops the minimum wage to about $12/hr. That seems like a good baseline, with adjustments based on location and implementation over a given timeframe, maybe a couple years.
In regards to the argument that companies can’t afford such an increase, are they/we not already subsidizing via food stamps, welfare, and other social programs paid for via tax dollars. Of course the issue then becomes, if the need for those tax dollars is reduced, does Uncle Sam start spending more elsewhere instead of reducing the tax burden on companies and individuals.
@dirtdoctor@rjquillin when I was a kid, a minimum wage job was basically for teenagers to make some spending money on the side. Too many people now need to subsist off of it.
I suspect, being an engineer, you’re well paid and on salary, exempt from the requirements of the fair labor standards act. (As am I.)
But now we’re in quibbling range - what is the “correct” annualized salary for an American who works minimum wage jobs to feed and house themselves?
@dirtdoctor If we self segregate into a group that thinks is government purview…
Sending checks to people who use the stimulus for subsistence is basically a bailout for banks & landlords (ie banks of landlords carrying debt).
On wages - if we as a country decided that we were willing to spend more than the least possible amount on food/goods, that would cover the expense of wages and restoring US manufacturing.
@canonizer@dirtdoctor@klezman
I can still recall when my supervisor advised me I was getting a raise, the first in my working career.
10¢/hour boost. From $1.25 to $1.35. The minimum wage had gone up.
@canonizer@klezman@rjquillin
Not to completely change course, but instead of mandating a higher minimum wage to raise individuals above poverty levels, why don’t we focus on developing our workforce? A long time ago our country decided that providing everyone an opportunity to earn a high school diploma was in America’s best interest. Now it’s many decades later and we’re in a completely different economy requiring different skills, it seems like it makes sense to provide some higher level of education. I don’t think I would support 4 years of free college, but 2 year degrees/trade programs might be interesting. That would cover the basics req’d in most 4-yr programs, then everyone pays their way when they specialize. It also allows, and potentially promotes, the pursuit of a trade/craft, such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. There’s a real shortage of people in those fields and you can make a great living.
@dirtdoctor I started working at a gas (pardon me…) Service Station at $2.25/hr. which was enough for me, not to live, but to pay for my education, which started at $50/semester for tuition in CA at that time.
Apparently CA thought that an educated populace was of value. I agree with dirtdoctor…make the first level of college/trade school inexpensive.
As for the “stimulus”, I have received money that I don’t really need. I will pay taxes on that money, and those who need it won’t, which takes care of the problem somewhat. It saddens me that so many people will be dead or financially ruined after this pandemic is done.
@hscottk Isn’t it also a test of the Republicans who say they want unity and healing to work together with Dems to craft comprehensive immigration reform? Or will they obstruct and hope for chaos they can exploit to their base?
@davirom@hscottk Much as I want to see comprehensive immigration reform (especially having gone through the system) I’m not sure the caravan of refugees is totally relevant. That seems like more of a foreign policy issue: if their home country wasn’t so ravaged they’d have less reason to brave such a ridiculously long and dangerous journey.
Then again, perhaps it’s an opening for a deal.
@davirom@klezman Biden supports a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally and is a strong supporter of DACA. The caravan falls into neither of these categories. Will he push to have them stopped before they reach the border? Will he allow them all to petition for asylum in the US? It will be interesting to see if he can handle these issues without angering the far left who helped put him in office.
@davirom@hscottk Exactly.
Refugee laws were not really built for this sort of mass exodous, so perhaps a different approach is needed. But this country should never stop taking in refugees. Just think of all the European Jews who’d have lived through the Holocaust if the USA (and others) had better refugee laws.
@hscottk@klezman Mea culpa. It was a poor choice of specifics. I was hoping to make the broader point that problems affecting the country are the country’s problems, not just the president’s.
No matter where you stand on the political spectra, I strongly recommend watching Biden’s inaugural address. I truly hope he does his best to steer the country toward unity.
I despise Trump but the Senate trial feels like a waste of time to me. His encouraging Republicans to storm the Capitol seems like a lifetime ago. All of his milquetoast party opposition has dwindled.
Was listening to a historian discuss the stolen election in the context of 1920s Germany and the great lie.
@canonizer You don’t think it’s important for the Congress to speak loudly that those who foment insurrection to face consequences? Especially our so-called leaders?
I’m just not sure how this will proceed far enough without the necessary Republican support; meanwhile, the days are short to move forward with the legislative agenda.
I think the comparison to the Great Lie is apt - that Germany could have won the war but for those traitorous peace negotiators. It feels baked at this point and the absolutely insane Q following (which must be somewhere approaching 10-20% of the country) is going to see any result as evidence of the rightness of their made up/insane cause.
I do think crimes should be prosecuted and penalties levied for them. Personally, I would like to see Trump tried criminally, in Georgia and possibly NY, and jailed. I don’t think he needs a 25 year sentence - 36 months would be fine.
@canonizer “ain’t nothin’ gonna happen”, but those who went into the Capitol need to be prosecuted. And, a thorough investigation of those fomenting needs to happen, with possibly some convictions, and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley need to GTFO.
@FritzCat Mcconnell is backtracking. It isn’t even going to take years for this idea to pervade the Republican party. They couldn’t even step away from it for a month. This is done more to help Cruz’s popularity than anything else he has done in his career.
@canonizer@FritzCat Yeah, seems to be the case. So then I wish nothing more for the Republican party than to disintegrate and leave the Democrats in full charge of the federal government for the next 12-16 years. Not my globally preferred outcome, because I’d like to see a thoughtful right-leaning party in this country. But this Republican party has lost any and all credibility. Very sad.
@davirom
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. If she can get elected in GA, it just shows you how badly Trump and his cohorts screwed the pooch when it came to the runoff election. Perfect example of why sane Conservatives need to take back the Republican party.
@canonizer@chipgreen I agree with Chip, although it would be an easier call if some prominent (non-standard?) Republicans were at least calling her out, more that is, than a senator who has already announced his retirement.
If her opinions don’t cross the line for standard Republicans, then they have enlarged their tent to include her. Her constituents (standard Republicans?) elected her knowing she liked a Facebook post in January 2019 reading “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove Nancy Pelosi. She has called the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings hoaxes, so the leadership placed her on the education committee. Oh, and Jews are responsible for CA wildfires with lasers from space.
A Trump inspired (if not led) insurrection didn’t do it, this woman hasn’t done it, what will it take before standard Republicans rise up for more than a news cycle to say this is not who we are?
@canonizer@davirom
This situation is still in progress. Although the downside to disavowing her is that it could turn her into a martyr of sorts, making her even more popular among the conspiracy, nationalist and militia types - especially if she is expelled from Congress or forced to resign. Regardless, I hope that she is at least removed from the Education & Labor Committee.
@chipgreen I thought I was done with this particular thread, but I just stumbled on my new favorite quotation of the day. It comes from John Cowan, the Republican who ran against Marjorie Taylor Greene (“MTG”) in the 2020 primary:
“MTG is the AOC of the GOP. But as much as I hate to say it, AOC is nowhere as crazy as this,” Cowan said. “I’m a neurosurgeon. I diagnose crazy every day. It took five minutes talking to her to realize there were bats in the attic. And then we saw she had skeletons in the closet.”
He is considering running against her again in 2022.
The likelihood is that MTG will vote in line with party 99% of the time, except when she thinks there is better exposure by breaking with them in some presently unforeseeable moment of bipartisanship. I’m sure a debt ceiling battle is in our future.
Comparing AOC (who believes in social safety nets) and MTG (who believes Jews created a laser to start CA wildfires) is beyond contemptible. MTG is one of the costs for years of undermining democracy.
@canonizer@chipgreen At the risk of trying to mind-read Dr. Cowan, I don’t think he is saying there is some kind of crazy-ometer that can be strapped onto people to determine the empirical and therefore comparable level of crazy inside. (But wouldn’t it be nice?) I interpret the quotation as the speaker saying he has not interviewed AOC but he disagrees with her ideas and positions and he considers them unworkable, undesirable, or “crazy”. Whereas his assessment of MTG is based on first hand knowledge and is clinical. Different kinds of crazy. YMMV.
@chipgreen@davirom I think that’s charitable. It’s borderline unprofessional to diagnose people publicly, not to mention that neurosurgeons are not psychologists/psychiatrists/neurologists. Having an MD doesn’t make someone an expert on the entire strata of medical knowledge.
If he is exhibiting clinical knowledge of MTG, that suggests he is doing so of AOC as well in stating that she is not as crazy.
@canonizer@chipgreen Thank you, I was trying to be charitable. The word choice of “clinical” was mine, not Dr. Cowan’s, so I don’t think his professionalism is at issue here. I stated up front that I was attempting to read his mind. An alternate theory might be that his assessment is based on their public statements and in his political judgement MTG is farther off the right wing tail of the political spectrum than OAC is off the left. Still mind reading.
@chipgreen@davirom I think that’s a lot of nuance. Practically speaking, Cowan and MTG have the same politics. They share the identical constituency. They are more alike than either is to AOC, who, again, supports safety nets and not racism (what a monster).
@canonizer The repetition assuredly helped.
I found their performance disgraceful on the whole. Although they made a few good points, they still missed the entire point. Wilfully.
The vote stands as a pivotal moment for the party Mr. Trump molded into a cult of personality, one likely to leave a deep blemish in the historical record. Now that Republicans have passed up an opportunity to banish him through impeachment, it is not clear when — or how — they might go about transforming their party into something other than a vessel for a semiretired demagogue who was repudiated by a majority of voters.
…
The determination of so many Republican lawmakers to discard the mountain of evidence against Mr. Trump — including the revelation that he had sided with the rioters in a heated conversation with the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy — reflects how thoroughly the party has come to be defined by one man, and how divorced it now appears to be from any deeper set of policy aspirations and ethical or social principles.
…
After campaigning last year on a message of law and order, most Republican lawmakers decided not to apply those standards to a former commander in chief who made common cause with an organized mob. A party that often proclaimed that “Blue lives matter” balked at punishing a politician whose enraged supporters had assaulted the Capitol Police. A generation’s worth of rhetoric about personal responsibility appeared to founder against the perceived imperative of accommodating Mr. Trump.
I don’t post here much, but when I heard the news I was in disbelief and I’m wondering how others feel. From any/all sides.
If jury members announced before a trial that they already knew how they’d vote and the trial wouldn’t change their minds, the court would dismiss those jury members.
Twice now Republican senators have done just that and voted to acquit Trump. They have failed to uphold the oath they took when they entered office. Many of them were acting like disinterested students during a school assembly, actively ignoring the prosecution while they made their case. There was ample evidence showing Trump incited the insurrection. I honestly don’t believe there’s any denying it.
This shouldn’t be about Republicans vs Democrats. It should be about human decency, and Trump is an awful human being. Yes… that’s my opinion, but millions of other people feel the same way and I’m clearly not an outlier.
In the end, the world saw the violence that was incited by Trump, and the Republican senators chose to look the other way. I sincerely hope when midterm elections roll around, the elected officials who have shown such apathy do not get re-elected.
@kawichris650 IMO it’s not about whether Trump is a terrible human being or not. It’s about whether he violated his oath of office, and he most assuredly did. The defense didn’t even argue against that point - because they couldn’t.
Forty-three republicans violated their oath of office, but since there will be no repercussions, and in fact they will be rewarded for their treachery, nothing will change. They are contemptible lapdogs who should be run out of Washington on a rail.
As entertaining as it is to discuss nothing but negative opinions of Republican politicians and those who support them ad nauseum, does anyone have any thoughts about Andrew Cuomo?
I checked out cnn.com for shits and giggles and did a ctrl-f for “Cuomo”. Out of over 200 headlines on their front page, how many hits do you think I got? If you said “0” you are a winner.
I guess they would rather report about Ted Cruz’s Cancun trip (prominently featured) than the fact that Cuomo’s own party has turned against him for his handling of nursing homes and their residents during the worst of the pandemic. Now that his own staff has admitted to the lies and cover-ups, while others have come forward with their own tales of being berated and/or threatened by Cuomo to regurgitate his talking points (“or else”), what should be done? A federal investigation seems like a starting point. With all the tales of bullying and belittling, Cuomo is sounding an awful lot like that person Dems love to hate (hint: he just moved to Florida). Can/should he be pressured to resign?
@chipgreen I haven’t read enough about this to have an opinion on whether he should resign or how culpable he was/is in the nursing homes matter.
But I am unimpressed (verging on appalled, actually) that CNN’s home page doesn’t mention it at all. Not that I’ve ever thought CNN was a top notch source, to be sure.
I did notice that the NY Times has run several stories on him recently that paint him in a bad light.
(For those keeping score - NY Times remains a much better source of news than CNN, web or broadcast. Also the media bias chart has been updated: https://www.adfontesmedia.com/static-mbc/
NY Times remains high up, but has moved left. Fox has moved both to the right and down. Both compared to prior versions.)
@klezman
I saw it on Yahoo’s front page earlier in the day while at work and for some reason wondered what CNN had to say about it. I scrolled up and down and couldn’t find anything. It seemed like a pretty big story so I figured it had to be there somewhere which is when I ctrl-f’d it.
I did eventually find an article when I used their Search function, however, so they didn’t ignore it completely and the article was dated 2/18 so it is surprising it couldn’t break the top 200 on the very day it was published. Maybe Chris Cuomo has enough clout to bury it?
Anyway, I am surprised that you aren’t more up on this as it was widely known for some time that he was sending elderly people with Covid to nursing homes instead of hospitals, thus exposing the most vulnerable to the disease, in effect killing hundreds if not thousands that might not have otherwise been infected. What wasn’t known at the time was that he was also covering up the number of those deaths.
@chipgreen I’m up on the first part of it, at least a bit. I’ve not been following the nursing home stuff as much in the last couple months since our work on estimating that risk concluded back then.
As you know, I try to not have different standards for people with different party affiliations. If he’s covered stuff up or committed crimes he should suffer the consequences.
@chipgreen@klezman
This is my first time hearing about it, but nonetheless I couldn’t agree more. I stand by my previous comment about human decency over party affiliation. It’s unfortunate so many people with political power see it the other way around.
@chipgreen@kawichris650@klezman Partisan finger pointing, imo, is a zero sum game. Cuomo did this, Cruz did that, AOC said this, MTG said that, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. To move the country forward, assuming that is what the people on this board would like to see, I suggest changing the focus to issues instead of personalities. Yes, I have a history here and this proposal may seem convenient as the villain du jour is a Democrat, but there is a new administration that seems also to care about policy instead of just “winning”. As I see it, among the issues that might, possibly, find middle ground and enactment are the 3 I’s: immigration, infrastructure, and insurance (medical). OK, I fudged the last one a little to make it an “I”. Thoughts?
@chipgreen@davirom@kawichris650 Yes, please, to all three.
Then add in voting rights and human rights. The house has already introduced bills on both of those issues.
@chipgreen@davirom@kawichris650@Mark_L I’m not convinced term limits will solve much on their own. The polarization and inaction from Congress seems, imo, more a result of the way they get elected rather than how long they’re there. Move to a ranked choice voting system nationwide and jungle primaries. That’ll get candidates to move toward the centre rather than pandering to the extremes of their party’s base.
Put in some reasonable term limits, say 18 years or so, and you’re looking at what should be a much better system. Coupled with a voting rights improvement (e.g. standardizing early voting, ballot design, mail-in ballot rules, and banning gerrymandering) this country could even become a leader in democracy again!
@davirom@kawichris650@klezman
You can call it partisan finger pointing and of course I did purposely single out a Democrat to demonize but it’s about his actions and words, not his party.
It looks like he could very well get impeached in the near future. I believe that you have also brought up some worthy discussion topics but we can talk about more than one thing at a time and I would encourage anyone who has an opinion or something to say about the Cuomo situation to please do so.
@chipgreen I don’t know all there is to know about nursing-homegate, but it appears that Cuomo and his people made a big mistake early on when little was known about the 'rona. And, we did have a huge mess in NY City. However, since that time he has worked tirelessly for the people of NY State, and I want him to continue to do so.
@FritzCat
You are either very forgiving or a Cuomo apologist. You might feel differently if your Uncle had died of Covid in a NY nursing home like State Senator Ron Kim, whose livelihood was apparently threatened by Cuomo for daring to speak out.
I know you are an AOC fan. She is not so forgiving and is calling for a full investigation. Do you agree with her or would you prefer to chalk it up to honest mistakes and ignorance without an investigation?
Immigration: I am in favor of the wall and disappointed that Trump did not build more of it. However, I am also in favor of doing something to streamline the process of becoming an American citizen so that it is easier for immigrants to come to this country legally, on a path towards citizenship. But those who are here illegally or arrive illegally need to be sent back and turned back, respectively.
Infrastructure: I am very much in favor of spending money on our Nation’s infrastructure. Cybersecurity, bridges, roads, electrical grids, mass transit, water and drainage systems, etc. I would also like to see much of that work being done in inner cities. Let’s rebuild instead of continuously expanding into previously uninhabited areas, destroying natural habitats along the way and then claiming that animals like deer are a public nuisance and need to be culled now that they are roaming the streets that used to be forests.
Insurance (medical): Obamacare has been an abomination, bowing to big pharma and insurance companies who wrote much of the legislation that had to be passed to find out what was inside (thanks, Nancy!). Obama was so determined to create this legacy for himself that he sold his soul to ram it through. I believe he had good intentions initially but he was all too willing to throw them by the wayside in order to get a deal done. He should have stood his ground on the single payer option and insisted on price controls for pharmaceuticals, for starters. Yes, I would actually support a single payer system. Instead, we got a half-assed deal that, while successful in getting more people covered by medical insurance than had been previously, failed in so many other ways as to negate that fact and more. Meanwhile the cost of medical insurance, hospital care and drugs keeps on going up much faster than the rate of inflation just like it did before. Sadly, I feel it would require too much time, effort and money to repeal the ACA and start over but let’s fix what’s broken!
Finally, an “E” for Education. Props to Biden for shooting down the loan forgiveness crap. But at the same time, what can be done to lessen the cost of a college education? I believe most Universities are top heavy. Let’s start by getting rid of half of the administrators and their bloated salaries. This, from the son of a former Dean of the Engineering school at CWRU, ha!
@chipgreen I don’t think I’ve said I’m a fan of AOC, but I do support a full investigation of what happened in nursing homes because of Cuomo and his administration. Until that investigation has occurred, I am going to be a Cuomo apologist. I’m sorry that anyone had to die, or have a relative die due to COVID-19, but I think that Cuomo is doing more to save residents from that fate than many state governors and federal folks from the last administration. Did Cuomo make mistakes early-on? I bet he did, due to lack of knowledge. Is it human nature to be embarrassed by mistakes and try to hide them, and even lash out at people who might uncover those mistakes? Yes it is. Has he worked hard since then? Yes he has. I want to know more, and see where the investigation goes before condemning Cuomo.
@chipgreen
Time to talk substance! I’ll just pick a couple things.
First, why do you think a wall on the US-Mexico border is a good idea? We have far better technology using drones and remote sensing equipment to catch people coming across illegally. That approach is also far superior environmentally.
I also understand the appeal of “punishing” people who came here illegally. (More than most, I might add, since I’ve come here through proper processes.) But removing the ~11 million illegal immigrants from this country will have a whole lot of effects we don’t like, probably starting with a massive spike in food prices. I think the best solution out of a whole lot of suboptimal options is to legalize those here prior to the start of the Biden administration (as in the current bill) but only as far as getting permanent residency with the standard back-taxes/penalties/etc. I think citizenship should only be an option for the “dreamers”. IMO, that addresses reality while also not overly rewarding those who came here illegally.
I disagree with your characterisation of how the ACA came to be, but there’s no point in litigating that here. I did not see any specific issues you have with it aside from the lack of a public option or moving fully to single-payer. I agree a public option or moving to single-payer is the right answer.
@chipgreen
Immigration: The assault on the capitol showed that physical barriers don’t work. As I said previously, I used to be considered conservative and I still object to spending $22 million per mile of wall even if I thought it might work (see article). Mexico stated right out the gate they wouldn’t pay for it, and didn’t, so who does? The American taxpayer, specifically out of funds intended for military counter-narcotics. IMO the wall is both a bad idea and poorly executed. I agree with you that there needs to be an easier path to legality if not citizenship, and I would add a guest worker program. I don’t see sending “them” back as a practical solution. I don’t like the privacy implications of identifying “them”, the potential costs of operating such an endeavor, the impacts on our economy as alluded to by @klezman, or stigmatizing ICE agents who have a legitimate function, by having them show up, sometimes in the middle of the night, to forcibly remove people from their homes or workplaces (see article). I also object to administrators like the acting director in 2017 quoted in the article who believes it is the agency’s mandate to instill fear.
Infrastructure: I agree with everything you said.
Insurance (medical): I have a problem labeling as an “abomination” a program that has provided access to healthcare to tens of millions of previously uninsured or uninsurable people. There are defects in the law which I would characterize as attempts to bring Republicans on board while Obama was still naïve enough to believe congressional Republicans were interested in anything more than obstruction. I would point out that from the passage of the ACA in 2010 to today there has never been a comprehensive plan from Republicans to replace it. Kill it, yes. Replace it, no. I agree with you that a form of single payer is a better solution, but back in 2010 it was a non-starter. My interpretation is that Obama decided to get his foot in the door and, as has happened, people would be satisfied (see article) and open to a more comprehensive solution down the road. As an aside, it was Bush II who pushed through the legislation that forbids Medicare from negotiating drug prices (see article) thereby contributing to the drug cost spiral.
Education: I agree with you both on loan forgiveness (with a caveat) and the exorbitant cost of college education. I was fortunate to get my kids through while it only outrageous . Politically, I don’t know how one legislates to predominantly private institutions concerning their org charts. Each of the states could of course mandate changes for their individual state-run colleges and universities, but I suspect that would result in migration of faculty (who are often also administrators) to states or private institutions with fewer restrictions. My unworkable proposal is to dissolve college athletics or limit their budgets including, no especially, coaches salaries, to what can be raised from outside sources, e.g., television, apparel, advertising, etc. BTW, the caveat is: If there is a way to make higher ed more affordable then folks who went through the system before those changes are implemented should get some kind of concession.
@chipgreen New Yorker here - Cuomo has always been terrible. His petty spats with deblahblah at the beginning of the pandemic caused extra confusion and probably death. His cover up and threats about nursing home revelations is scandalous. But the lack of support he received from the federal government, when they knew (see Trump’s interviews with Bob Woodward) covid was highly contagious and airborne is perhaps the only mitigating factor in how much I dislike Cuomo.
Cuomo is an arrogant and self aggrandizing pos. Publishing a book about his success in dealing with covid strikes me as extraordinarily egotistical. For all of that, covid hit the densest part of the country (from European travel, not China) first and, lacking control over interstate/international travel, knowledge and equipment, was set up to fail. Additionally, Trump was reportedly wanted blue states to suffer
Anyway, I’m not going to lose sleep if Cuomo goes to jail. F him.
@canonizer
The more I learn/read about Cuomo the more he seems like the “opposite side of the same coin” with Trump. Although Trump has him (and pretty much everyone) beat on the narcissism index, Cuomo doesn’t appear to be far behind. Writing a book bragging about his own leadership skills while still in the middle of a pandemic, the early stages of which he effed up bigtime? And the end was still nowhere in sight? Yeah, pat yourself on the back, Andy!
@klezman
I am good with using other methods than a physical wall, especially if they are more efficient.
I am not in favor of actively looking for people to deport but when you run across them - hasta luego!
I do not agree with legalizing everyone who is here already but I could accept some sort of amnesty period where they can register and either get on a path to citizenship or a work visa or whatever, as long as they are going through the proper channels.
@davirom
It looks like we may have more in common than previously thought.
This is just the type of common ground I wish our politicians would seek to find as a jumping off point to working together to get things done. But would opinion based news allow the entrenched masses to find it acceptable?
No moderates allowed!
Oh, the outrage of Dinos and Rinos! Prehistoric politics?
@chipgreen given your response, it sounds like we’re actually on basically the same page. I’m not sure the difference between providing a path to legal status compared to how you phrased it. Anything meeting what I described would necessitate implementing it basically how you described.
OK, let’s pass legislation to deal with the illegals who are already here, then adopt Canada’s policies towards immigration going forward. What do you think?
@chipgreen I don’t actually know the details of my home country’s immigration policies.
But a clear merit-based system obviously makes sense. The system in this country is crazy for a number of reasons. And having been though it myself I can attest to how utterly capricious it feels, even if you’re following the rules.
@chipgreen@klezman True story: My daughter (US citizen) got a masters degree in Canada. On the way in, Canadian immigration told her emphatically that she had a student visa and whenever she dropped out or graduated, she had to go back. After she graduated my wife and I drove up to collect her and on the way out the immigration officer asked her, sincerely I believe, “What, you’re not staying?”
Ironic that Cuomo’s nursing home deaths scandal has been overshadowed by his sexual harassment scandal(s). To me at least, the former is more egregious than the latter but it’s all about the “me too” movement these days.
@chipgreen clearly he’s a lovely guy.
My stance on harassment or assault claims has always been the same: listen to the accuser(s), investigate honestly and thoroughly, and take appropriate action. Jumping to “just believe” an accuser and stop there is just insane.
Any comments, especially from the right-leaning folks here, about Biden’s progress in getting vaccines into people? And the revelation that he brokered a deal between J&J and Merck to speed up production of the J&J vaccine and is using the Defense Production Act to speed this all up?
To my mind, this is what leadership on SARS-CoV-2 looks like. It’s also showing the best of what government can do to help people.
@klezman re: J&J and Merck…
They were already setting this up in January, just waiting for the approval to move forward. Common practice from what I’ve heard.
How is it that ‘what am I doing here?’ Biden assisted this?
Props to Biden for not hindering the ramped up production and props to Trump for having re-appropriated $10 billion along the way to keep “Operation Warp Speed” at warp speed. One of Trump’s greatest accomplishments IMHO and it’s good to see Biden take the ball and run with it.
@chipgreen@FritzCat the response from the incoming administration was that although operation warp speed may have helped speed along the vaccines’ development (and those involved have different opinions on that, from what I’ve read) the previous administration had precisely zero plans for actually getting vaccines into people. I honestly wish it had been otherwise because maybe I’d have a vaccine by now. But here we are.
@klezman@rjquillin the “Pfizer vaccine” is actually a partnership with BioNTech (because Pfizer didn’t do MRNA) and Oxford partnered with AstraZeneca (because Oxford couldn’t do manufacturing.) Even greedy healthcare companies occasionally prioritize well-being.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@klezman How long would it have taken for you to get vaccine without operation warp speed?
I think you’re asking two different questions. How long would it have taken to get a vaccine developed and approved without warp speed? Probably not much different because Moderna was already testing theirs within a few weeks after it was declared a pandemic. That’s the thing about RNA vaccines - quick to develop. My understanding is that where it helped was providing assurances and maybe funds for scaling up production.
How much longer or shorter to get vaccines in arms once approved? The evidence says warp speed did nothing on that front given there were zero distribution plans when Biden took office.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@klezman@rjquillin I guess I really don’t care if bureaucrats, luck or skill gets the credit for an FDA-approved vaccine 12 months from the emergence of a novel virus. We take it for granted now because it happened, but last year experts said that was impossible. I’m just not sure how much credit to give the guy who’s been there for 6 weeks.
What I will give Pres. Biden credit for is getting schools reopened ASAP. Must sound less reckless coming out of his mouth.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@rjquillin
Yes, experts thought it was impossible because a RNA vaccine had never been done before. That has zero to do with any administration and everything to do with the scientists who’ve been working on it for the past 25-ish years. It also had to do with the logistics of a clinical trial having enough data to affirm safety. It’s “fortunate” that so many people got infected in the summer/fall around the world that we got safety and efficacy data far faster than expected. So I’m not really giving Biden any credit for getting the vaccine developed, nor am I giving Trump much credit for it. The thing I am giving Biden credit for is managing the logistics of distribution and actually getting vaccines into people’s arms. I’m also giving him credit for bringing Merck and J&J together in this deal. (Similarly to how I do give Trump credit for the Israel-UAE deal.)
As for schools, Trump wanted to just leave everything open and to hell with whoever got infected and died.* Biden actually wants to do things safely. A world of difference, imo.
Honestly, the pandemic was a chance for Trump to show he could put politics aside for even half a second, listen to the best available evidence, and lead an effort to minimize the effects of the pandemic. I truly wish he hadn’t failed so spectacularly on all counts.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@klezman
Strange though, how both delayed announcing until just after the elections. Can’t give Trump any credit for cutting any red tape that helped development and production.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@rjquillin
If he cut red tape of that sort I’ll happily give him credit for it. I just never saw anything telling me that he did.
I’m not sure why you’re implying that releases of scientific data from Merck showing that its drug didn’t work and they were stopping development was somehow politically timed by it being on Jan 25. J&J doesn’t even enter into that since they’ve been working on getting their vaccine approved, which got through just last week.
Hard to believe, I guess, that not everything in this world is political?
@FritzCat@KitMarlot@klezman@rjquillin
The Trump administration’s cutting through red tape was at least as impressive as the speed with which vaccines were developed. Do you have any idea how long it usually takes to get FDA approval?
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@klezman
Some will just be unwilling to accept Trump did anything of value. Personality was not his greatest accomplishment, policy was.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@rjquillin
I know that any president would have minimized the requirements as Trump did. At least I sure as hell hope so. I think literally every regulatory agency around the world convened their expert panels to review the evidence as quickly as possible. To whatever extent Trump helped that happen with FDA: great! Emergency Use Authorization (the pathway it was approved) is not a new Trump creation, though. I think it’s been around for decades. (And yes, I know how long drug development usually takes, being a bioengineer. We had many classes discussing it in grad school. There’s a lot to discuss on that front.)
I’m willing to give Trump credit for things of value he did. I just happen to be of the opinion that most of what he “accomplished” on the policy front was a travesty rather than good. Obviously ymmv on that one! Even the things that were ostensibly “good”, like the tax bill, was a dud for us, raising our taxes by 5 figures.
@chipgreen@FritzCat@KitMarlot@klezman@rjquillin
I still don’t understand why conservatives still want to defend how Trump handled the virus. Yes, I give his administration credit for purchasing vaccine doses in advance to promote production, but I don’t see the speed of vaccine development and approval as being unique to his administration. Is the argument that an Obama or Biden administration would have slowed down the process? I just don’t buy that.
I personally think his handling of the virus cost him a 2nd term, and likely thousands of Americans their lives. Imagine if he actually told people how dangerous the virus was from the beginning instead of saying it was like a flu and would just disappear. Then there’s making mask wearing a political thing. Once scientists realized that masks were important, how many infections could have been prevented if he embraced and promoted wearing masks? On top of that, at the time when America had the highest rates of infections and deaths, his sole focus was himself and lying about a rigged/stolen election,
Some will just be unwilling to accept Trump did anything of value. Personality was not his greatest accomplishment, policy was.
I’ll give credit where credit is due. Here’s a quote from The Washington Post:
“He [Trump] launched Operation Warp Speed, the greatest public health achievement in history. Until now, the record for the fastest vaccine development was four years. Operation Warp Speed did it in nine months.”
I agree with Klez and his point about FDA emergency use authorization. Trump obviously didn’t implement that. Nonetheless, if the above quote is true and the fastest previous vaccine development was four years, then the nine month time frame for getting a Covid-19 vaccine is certainly impressive.
I’ll credit Trump and Operation Warp Speed for cutting through red tape, getting funding, and helping to speed up the process. However, he initially downplayed the virus and a lot of lives were lost as a result of that.
I think it’s just as (if not more) important to credit all of the researchers and all of the time they spent working around the clock in order to develop safe and effective vaccines as quickly as they did.
I still don’t understand why conservatives still want to defend how Trump handled the virus.
Personally, I was defending how he fast-tracked vaccine creation, which is not the same thing as how he handled the virus.
Imagine if he actually told people how dangerous the virus was from the beginning instead of saying it was like a flu and would just disappear.
Yes, imagine if he did. What would that level of fear have done to the American psyche? Suicides, overdoses, mental illness and domestic violence all would have likely risen even more than they have over the past year. The stock market may have crashed. Even more businesses would have failed. More people out of work. More people without adequate food. More hoarding of supplies. The list goes on and on.
I’m not saying that I think his approach was the right one but I am saying that overplaying the danger of COVID-19 might have been even worse than underplaying it. No matter who was in charge and no matter how they handled it, people would have been unhappy. It was pretty much a no-win situation.
Once scientists realized that masks were important, how many infections could have been prevented if he embraced and promoted wearing masks?
One of the things that makes me angry is the way the mask issue was addressed initially by health professionals, namely the CDC and also Dr. Fauci. They specifically told people not to buy or use masks. They knew full well that masks would help stop the spread of COVID. I remember having this discussion with my partner at work. They said almost immediately that it was an airborne disease spread through respiratory droplets, yet we were supposed to believe that washing hands and not touching our faces was the best way to prevent it? Oh, and immediately disrobe and wash all your clothes in hot water after returning home from work each day! And don’t touch the bottoms of your shoes, you could be carrying it around!
They also made it clear that there was a finite supply of masks and that they were needed by hospital staff and first responders, so you didn’t have to read between the lines too hard to figure it out. If the masks were not helpful in preventing the spread then why were they so critical for those on the front lines? Also, use some common sense - the virus is spread through the air in respiratory droplets. That means that you breathe them in. A mask could only help prevent that.
Yet, here they all were telling us not to use masks because they wouldn’t help prevent it. It was THE BIG LIE. And when you start out with a BIG LIE it’s a little harder to get people to trust you down the line.
While I agree with you that Trump should have promoted mask wearing once the CDC and Dr. Fauci finally admitted the truth to the American public, a lot of damage had already been done.
On top of that, at the time when America had the highest rates of infections and deaths, his sole focus was himself and lying about a rigged/stolen election,
I agree that Trump went off the rails there at the end. I guess that when the going gets tough, narcissists ultimately resort to narcissism.
@dirtdoctor Not suggesting that Biden, Obama or Bush would have ‘slowed vaccine development down’. What I do think is that this particular administration cut red tape, funded development and organized testing phases in a novel way. I know the guy in the oval office wasn’t a scientist, but I do believe he empowered officials to ask “what is holding us up” and overcome those hurdles in a novel way.
Now, as far as your assertion that his
“handling of the virus cost him a 2nd term”
Emphatically agree with this (but to be clear I don’t miss him)
and likely thousands of Americans their lives"
This is more questionable. I would like to point to the discussion of the differences between California’s and Florida’s health outcomes. The only point I’d like to make is that there is only so much elected officials can do when faced with a novel virus. We’d do well to acknowledge the uncertainty.
Yes, I give his administration credit for purchasing vaccine doses in advance to promote production, but I don’t see the speed of vaccine development and approval as being unique to his administration.
Yes, exactly.
then the nine month time frame for getting a Covid-19 vaccine is certainly impressive.
Ridiculously impressive, yes. But even that misses 80% of it. The actual vaccine was in a phase 1 clinical trial 63 days after the viral genome was sequenced: March 16. (Note that Operation Warp Speed was announced on May 15, 2 months later. So let’s get our timelines straight here.) All because of 25+ years of research into using mRNA to deliver the antigen-creating material alongside novel ways to deliver it to cells in a way that makes vaccine development extremely rapid. That was the whole point, after all. Moderna and BioNTech both saw the emergent need for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and swiftly changed their development priorities to meet a global need. This is a great example of corporations doing the right thing and being nimble - I wish we saw it more often.
Yes, imagine if he did. What would that level of fear have done to the American psyche? Suicides, overdoses, mental illness and domestic violence all would have likely risen even more than they have over the past year. The stock market may have crashed. Even more businesses would have failed. More people out of work. More people without adequate food. More hoarding of supplies. The list goes on and on.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment. There’s a very big difference between fear-mongering and being honest yet reassuring. Trump was the wrong guy for the job, to be sure, given his malignant narcissism, but he didn’t even try. Can you imagine the alternate world where Trump encouraged a nationwide lockdown for 3 weeks, coordinated a strategy to get everything opened back up, and (especially) kids back in school? He’d have been a hero for it, and I’d have been first in line to say so. That was about the only way to avoid the calamities you mention, which are most assuredly real.
One of the things that makes me angry is the way the mask issue was addressed initially by health professionals, namely the CDC and also Dr. Fauci. They specifically told people not to buy or use masks. They knew full well that masks would help stop the spread of COVID. I remember having this discussion with my partner at work.
I’m mildly annoyed at how this was handled by the pros, but much more filled with fiery rage about how Trump dealt with it, by turning it into a political issue. Remember, early on Trump basically said this was a “blue state problem” and we could all go suck on an egg.
Your work partner’s analysis of the situation was flat out wrong. Sorry. Masks serve a variety of functions, and there’s also a wide variety of ways a virus can spread by “respiratory droplet”. Early on in the pandemic, the initial assessment by all involved was that this virus was NOT airborne. In a scientific context, “airborne” specifically means via aerosol: viral particles are suspended in the air mixed with a water-based droplet AND that those droplets are small enough to stay airborne without falling to the floor AND that there’d be enough virus in them to infect somebody breathing them in. Early on in the pandemic we most certainly did not know that. It was initially assumed that it spread by larger respiratory droplets that do not form aerosols and fall onto surfaces. Much work was done in the scientific community to assess how true that was, leading to early recommendations that were proven wrong and also leading us to eventually conclude that this virus indeed does spread via aerosol. Depending on how much evidence you needed to be convinced, this was established some time between June and September. This article from August suggests significant disagreement remained at the time: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413047/
Now that we’ve established the proper timeline and facts, I can put out my opinion that guidelines actually changed far too slowly to keep pace with the scientific discoveries. The early recommendations to wash your food and boxes when you received them was (imo) over the top and bordering on silly - but remember that at the time we also thought the fatality rate was around 5% and that it spread very easily via fomite (fomite = live virus on surfaces, usually as a result of respiratory droplets landing on them). So while the public health messages, imo, should have been far more measured and nuanced, they weren’t totally out of bounds. This is also where I agree with you, chip, that going overboard could have easily crossed the line into fear-mongering.
As for masks. That was always a tough one. If we were South Korea then this would never have been and issue because they had lots of masks. But this is the United States and mask supply was nowhere near enough to keep medical personnel sufficiently supplied. Remember the hoarding of canned food and toilet paper last spring? Medical masks and N95 masks were, in this country, always only intended for professional use, and supplies were set for that use. IMO, it was reasonable last March/April to tell the public to leave the masks for the pros - not just for protecting them from COVID but also for just daily use in surgeries and in professions where you’re exposed to shit in the air. Was it objectively right or wrong? I don’t know, and 20-20 hindsight provides a whole lot of bias in evaluating decisions made at the time.
While I agree with you that Trump should have promoted mask wearing once the CDC and Dr. Fauci finally admitted the truth to the American public, a lot of damage had already been done.
Not sure why you’re hating on Fauci. The guy is a dedicated public servant scientist. He was also muzzled by Trump, to the point where he was no longer allowed to speak his mind.
Even ignoring that, Fauci (and the rest of the scientific team) did a pretty good job of staying current with the science. There was no lie here. The established timeline of scientific progress (which was in itself extremely impressive) jibes pretty well with when the CDC teams changed their recommendations. If I’m missing something on these timelines, please feel free to correct the record.
This is more questionable. I would like to point to the discussion of the differences between California’s and Florida’s health outcomes. The only point I’d like to make is that there is only so much elected officials can do when faced with a novel virus. We’d do well to acknowledge the uncertainty.
I’m not sure comparing Florida to California (or any pair of states) is all that fair. California had a ton of early cases and then for a while was the model for the nation, keeping case rates low. Then transmission (possibly from new variants, we’ve since learned) jumped up and we regressed to the mean. I think more instructive comparisons are to other countries around the world. The biggest difference here is the (politically-based) rejection of basic public health measures that kept transmission rates high. The overall level of unhealthy people in the country also keeps our death rates high. So yes, there’s nothing any president could have done after the fact about the general level of comorbidities, and our death rates likely would be higher than much of the rest of the world, but we still have 5x the cases and deaths compared to our population. Why does the USA have 5x the cases than it should compared to its population?
Also with respect to Operation Warp Speed, turns out the BioNTech didn’t do anything with Operation Warp Speed aside from sell a bunch of doses to the USA last July.
So let’s please give credit where due, but not overstate or understate how much these programs affected their development.
And let’s also remember that Operation Warp Speed completely neglected to establish a delivery plan for the vaccines. I will give the Biden administration credit for getting that piece of the puzzle properly solved, although they had precisely nothing to do with getting the vaccines created/approved. The number of doses getting out to states/localities and the number actually making it into people’s arms is increasing weekly.
@kawichris650@rjquillin the 9 month thing isn’t as impressive when we pause to acknowledge the numerous vaccines created without ows funding were created in the same amount of time. It’s somewhat lucky that we were well equipped to sequence and vaccinate this type of virus.
I’m finding it hard to disagree with any of the provisions as written in this summary. I’m happy to entertain analyses as to why any of these provisions would be bad for the country.
for whatever reason it became political (like seemingly everything about 2016-2020.)
IFTFY
Yes, the “wet market” origin story has long been unlikely at best and discredited at worst. It does seem likely that it escaped from a lab, and there are certainly conspiracy theories out there that this was some sort of biological weapon (for which there is no evidence).
I care about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 for only one reason: what lessons can we learn to help make sure we can (a) be more prepared for the next one and (b) prevent the next one to the degree possible.
@KitMarlot@klezman
I read the article a couple days ago. I have always suspected it originated in that lab.
It is a political issue when China tries to cover it up and lies about it, as it spreads around the World and people are dying from it. Who knows how long they knew about it and what they did to those who tried to spread the news. We now know for a fact that it was in the US already in January 2020 at the latest. There is evidence that it may have already been here in November or December of 2019.
@chipgreen@KitMarlot sur, agreed with all that. Except I don’t think any of that makes it an American political issue. International diplomatic issue, definitely.
These columns are usually quite long, but are good reads. He tries to pull together various academic and political writings to give a survey of what people are thinking.
This week’s column is quite relevant to the polarization we’ve seen in the country but also in this forum. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/opinion/biden-stimulus-culture-war.html
Interesting thoughts on abortion. At least some anti-abortion/“pro-life” advocates seem to finally be realizing that “pro-life” means you need to deal with the lives that actually come into the world, not just ensuring that they get there. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/opinion/pro-life-movement-14th-amendment.html
@rjquillin
Now that’s an understatement!
Very much looking forward to the end of 2020 on December 51st.
@klezman
I wouldn’t hold your breath
@Cerridwyn You think Trump won’t leave?
@klezman
He has already shown he’s not smart enough to leave with dignity. I just hope there’s not a blood bath.
@Cerridwyn Fair enough. We already know the military won’t listen to him. It’s just his idiot followers who think he actually won the election “if only the legal votes are counted.”
@klezman
@Cerridwyn @klezman
While I do not count myself as one of Trump’s “idiot followers”, I do think there are many on the right who will say things they don’t necessarily believe in order to create a narrative to try to affect an outcome. Just the usual mechanations of modern day American politics. The left uses similar tactics when necessary.
Personally and generally speaking, I don’t have a problem with Trump and his people wanting to investigate potential election fraud and explore legal avenues in an effort to ferret out wrongdoing or even turn close races in some states. That said, I also feel that the rhetoric and accusations have mostly been way over the top and the lawsuits about as effective as Rudy Giuliani’s hair dye.
I hope that President Trump will leave peacefully and expediently when the time comes although I’m sure that “quietly” would be far too much to ask.
Getting back to the point, most of Trump’s supporters, IMHO are blindly supporting him in spite of his election fraud claims, not because of them. I think it’s wrong to categorize them all as idiots or assume that they believe those accusations, even if they claim to do so.
@chipgreen
The majority of polled republicans think Biden stole the election from Trump, ie: that Trump won.
@chipgreen
You know I would never think of you as an idiot of any sort.
And yes, some people are amazingly dishonest and make things up to try to achieve some political end. Trump is the master of that, to the detriment of the entire country and the world. Political “spin” is one thing, but Trump literally waged a war on the truth.
If there had been any evidence of electoral fraud and if Trump’s investigations had turned up anything then I’d remain supportive of following through. That’s the only honest stance anybody should take.
However, literally every single case Trump brought to court was dismissed because there was either no cause of action, no injury, a failure to bring them in a timely fashion, or no evidence. The lawyers in their filings and in court were crystal clear that they also were not alleging fraud of any sort - because lying in court can get you disbarred.
So sure, investigate to your heart’s content, but you have to be honest with it and with the American people. That was always Trump’s failure from the start and until the end. His perpetuating of this lie damages the country. The 75% statistic proves the point.
I’ll also throw in here, that of the actual cases of voting fraud that I’ve seen reported (a biased set, I’m sure) the vast majority have been perpetrated by Republican partisans and also only affected a handful (i.e. < 5) of votes. And my understanding is that’s generally been the case with voting fraud in this country: a small number of cases in each election affecting a small number of votes. Only in races as tight as the Iowa congressional district (margin: 6 votes) could that affect the outcome.
The Heritage Foundation maintains a database (https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud). While I have approximately 1.3% overlap with their policy preferences, I trust them to have comprehensively done the research. Although even the “about” page discussing the database makes it sound like a Republican talking point.
This is quite interesting.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/20/us/politics/election-hispanics-asians-voting.html
Trump remains true to his antidemocratic self, pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” 11,000 votes, based solely on rumor from his sycophants. Meanwhile, his GAO and OMB refuses to assist the transition. He is a catastrophe.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/d45acb92-4dc4-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html
@canonizer One would think there’d be actual consequences for attacking our democracy like this.
@klezman Another perfect phone call! And there were lawyers present on both sides of the call.
List of GOP senators/senators-elect who are about to decide if they are traitors to the United States:
Ted Cruz, TX
Ron Johnson, WI
James Lankford, OK
Steve Daines, MT
John Kennedy, LA
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Mike Braun, IN
Cynthia Lummis, WY
Roger Marshall, KS
Bill Hagerty, TN
Tommy Tuberville, AL
@DanOR “Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/article/article-iii
@KitMarlot I’d say that sums it up. We have numerous domestic enemies trying to overthrow the duly elected government and these senators, as well as the President, are giving aid and comfort. There will be plenty of witnesses to their treachery. Perhaps you would prefer sedition as the more appropriate charge?
@DanOR @KitMarlot I think sedition is more correct. I’d like to see real consequences for those who act in bad faith, and I don’t care which side of whatever issue or aisle they’re on.
While I will be the first to admit that Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac who refuses to face reality, the hyperbole and bombast from the left and most media outlets has been and continues to be equally annoying.
@chipgreen And honestly, that’s my thing. I don’t like Trump and didn’t vote for him, but I like and respect many of the ‘deplorables’ who did. Many of them are not idiots. Some of them are ill-informed and see ghosts around dark corners, but most of them have rational reasons for supporting him. De-legitimizing someone else’s opinions and preferences is its own form of tyranny.
@chipgreen Sorry, could you be more specific as to what constitutes hyperbole and bombast?
I’ll refrain from engaging in both-sider-ism here because that’s what bugs me the most about some of these discussions, except to point out the Fox News claims that Obama was going to impose Shariah law on the United States.
@klezman
The hyperbole and bombast from the left has been going on for 4 years now, not just since the recent election. All the investigations, accusations and impeachment proceedings were filled to the brim with hyperbole and bombast. And yes, there was plenty of it to go around from the right about Obama when he was President as well. And again from the left when Bush was President. And from the right when Clinton was President. Rinse, lather, repeat.
I have grown weary of it from both sides over the years and it only serves to inflame those whose backers are on the side it’s coming from and entrench those against it on the other side. I almost wish our pols would just throw down every once in awhile like they do in… Taiwan? Maybe there would be some of the schoolyard chumminess after a good row between the two sides. Of course it wouldn’t last, but even a little break would be refreshing.
@chipgreen I appreciate your acknowledging that this is not a recent invention of the left.
One difference that’s seemed apparent to me is that the more recent ones done by the right have more of an intent to affect election outcomes while much (but by no means all) of the stuff from the left seems to actually want to figure out whether something happened. I could grant that the first Benghazi investigation was trying to do that, but the umpteenth?
As for impeachment, I think Trump should have been booted from office for trying to squeeze a foreign country for election assistance. Obviously ymmv, but that was one of the few things where I thought the rhetoric coming from the actual House members (particularly Adam Schiff) was perfectly accurate. I don’t pay much attention to the media for many of the reasons you outline.
@klezman
Check it out, this video was made specifically for suffering Canadians.
@chipgreen @klezman I hate to be piling on because I appreciate that we’re still attempting to hang out despite the political divide. But I am not sure it is possible to be hyperbolic about Trump.
From his earliest days he and his family tried to evict people of color from their housing developments; took out full page ads (for no particular reason) calling for the execution of the now exonerated Central Park 5; bankrupted municipalities (he bear culpability for those actions); he (and his siblings) defrauded the government of revenue in a complicated scheme to reduce his inheritance taxes; he went out of his way to reduce his brother’s childrens’ inheritance on his father’s deathbed and forced their cooperation with a settlement by threatening to withhold medical care from his nephew; he at worst assaulted a number of women and acted reprehensibly at best; and (this is not a moral failing, perhaps) his entire fortune is from inheritance and licensing revenue as television host while pretending to “do business”.
While president, he continue to put his perceived self-interest above every element of his job. I cannot say that for any other president since Nixon and Nixon only on his worst days.
I don’t get the enthusiasm of his supporters but, given such support, I understand why simps like Rubio and Cruz march as best they can to his ill timed drumbeat.
@canonizer @chipgreen @klezman
We’ll said, thank you. I have difficulty understanding why people support such a horrible example of a human being.
@chipgreen That video is, as they say, fucking awesome. Rick Mercer is a comedic genius, at least if you’re Canadian. Have you ever watched his special called Talking To Americans?
@canonizer - precisely. A terrible excuse for a human who never rose to the job he got elected to do.
POPSOCKETS! SPROCKETS! DAVY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@chipgreen @FritzCat @klezman *excepting my typos.
@canonizer @chipgreen @FritzCat @klezman Reps and Dems have been playing a different game since at least the 1960’s, with Tricky Dick and his evil entourage blueprinting the conservative strategy of lying, cheating, and stealing their way through election cycles. The Dems, on the other hand, have chosen to “go high” when the Reps go low. Dumb. In battle, the only reason to “go high” is to rain boulders on the enemy below, but that’s not in the Dem’s playbook.
@klezman
I have not seen his special. As the son of a Canadian, I will have to look for that.
@chipgreen I didn’t know you were Canadian! (You should have citizenship if your parent was born in Canada.)
@klezman
Not to my knowledge? I have never lived in Canada. My oldest sister was born there but by the time I was born, our family had relocated to the Cleveland area. I have a lot of Aunts/Uncles and cousins in Alberta and another cousin in the Yukon.
@chipgreen If one (or both) of your parents was born in Canada you should already be a citizen. You’d just need to get the proof of citizenship by submitting your information and proof of your parent’s Canadian birth certificate. It’s super easy - got it for my first kid immediately and we’re about to send it off for our second.
@chipgreen @klezman Yeah, my daughters were born in the US, their mom was Canadian. They easily got dual citizenship.
@chipgreen @FritzCat Good job marrying a Canadian!
Yeah, technically they’re citizens at birth and just need the certificate. So it’s really just an administrative process more than a discretionary one. Which is really nice.
@klezman
Thanks, I will have to find out if my Dad’s birth certificate is in my sister’s possession. The fact that he is 10 years deceased may complicate matters.
@chipgreen https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/proof-citizenship.html
Finally feeling a bit of hope that Mitch McConnell won’t be the Senate majority leader. That anti democratic Yutz can get bent. (Note, this is about him, not Republicans more generally.)
@klezman 2021 off to a great start!
It is reasonable to protest (even violently) when the people you believe in tell you that an election was rigged. That makes Trump, Cruz, Hawley, Rubio, Jordan, Nunes and dozens of others complicit in the destruction in DC.
Their fearmongering is odious. To borrow a phrase: lock them up.
This could end up looking like tiananmen square.
I am very sad and angry. My heart hurts.
A few months ago I was ridiculed for my grammar by a few on here (you know who you are) for calling out white privilege.
Today, white men are storming the Capitol and nothing has been done. If they were people of color I promise you the outcome would be different.
White privilege is alive and well in America. Make no mistake about it.
@losthighwayz You are absolutely correct. If the mob had been people of color there would be many dead and many many more injured and jailed, not just sent home
@DanOR @losthighwayz Several discussions on NPR and other places about exactly this. The chair of African American Studies at Princeton was blunt: the police response yesterday made it abundantly clear that there are rules for white people and rules for everybody else. (I paraphrased)
@losthighwayz A visual comparison of the response to BLM in D.C. in June and DJT yesterday.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/police-response-black-lives-matter-protest-us-capitol/index.html
@davirom what bothers me is when people deflect this reality
I do believe that Pence and McConnell would be in favor of removing Trump from Office under the 25rh Amendment section 4.
from: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumpist-terrorists-just-violated-six-222739184.html
"These terrorists (they are not protesters; they are not rioters; they are terrorists, insurrectionists, and traitors) have violated the following federal laws:
There are a number of supporters of Trump and his allies who participate on this forum. I would be interested in their perspective on today’s events.
@davirom Not a Trump supporter, more of an anti-Trump Hater, but I’m a fan of both the First Amendment and the rule of law. Probably not many Trump supporters who think critically about wine (or at all.) This was an appalling case of angry protesters getting out of hand (not unlike Seattle’s CHAZ or the riots in Kenosha this summer) and every perpetrator should be punished according to law. There’s plenty of fiery rhetoric out there, but don’t forget that Congress concluded their business shortly before dawn. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”
-Federalist No. 51
Yup, you’re all correct best I can tell.
-White privilege in that only one person was killed
-Terrorists attacking the Capitol
-The need for the 25th amendment and/or another super quick impeachment
-Complicity from certain Republican officeholders, who may now qualify to be removed from office under the 14th amendment for inciting this insurrection
Also, Biden sounded like a real president of the USA in his announcement earlier. Such a relief.
@klezman I was also impressed with Biden. I would not have been so nice.
“Also, Biden sounded like a real president of the USA in his announcement earlier. Such a relief.”
I’m liking Biden more and more.
And yes, I’d like to hear from the DJT apologists on this forum too.
Politics aside, today was a disgrace and an embarrassment for our entire country. No matter which political party anyone supports, they need to respect our democracy and maintain human decency.
The president (as well as other officials, staff, family, etc) that flat out incited today’s events and attempt at “mob rule” should be held accountable. Sadly, I have a feeling that’s not likely to happen.
@kawichris650 Yeah, I’m not optimistic that perpetrators will be held accountable, especially the perpetrator in chief, DJT.
Although I did hear on NPR this morning that several people have been charged by the DOJ so far and they expect to file charges against many more people.
But the international perspective was also helpful: how does the USA prove to the world that this truly is a beacon of democracy? Is it possible to do that without holding Trump accountable for sowing distrust in elections, in democracy, and for inciting political violence - perhaps the single most undemocratic thing he could have done?
Seeing reports that the explosive devices were real.
The silence from Trump and/or Republicans on here condemning the violence incited by a sitting President and/or the police hypocrisy when dealing with people of color is deafening.
@losthighwayz Cruz literally just said:
Cruz JUST OFFERED REPRESENTED TEXAS IN CONTESTING THE ELECTIONS OF OTHER STATES IN ORDER TO BOOST TRUMP’S OPINION OF HIM.
Just amazing to see these spineless people walking upright. Goddamn medical miracle.
https://abc13.com/ted-cruz-dc-riots-did-cause-interview-riot/9443987/
Here’s a multiple choice option to make it easier for conservatives to respond :
A ) Denial: “It didn’t happen”, “Fake news”
B ) False equivalency: “The left has done worse”
C ) Deathbed conversion: “There’s only 12 days left in his term, but gee, maybe he IS a bad guy”
D ) Ignorance: “Who knew 4+ years of this rhetoric would come to this?”
E ) Outright lying: “Those weren’t Trump supporters at the rally and in the Capitol, they were antifa”
@davirom
Are you looking for responses from conservatives now? Because before you were after “Trump apologists”. I am the former, not the latter.
Of course the siege on the Capital was horrible and inexcusable. Right wing fringe groups were the main instigators (not Antifa or BLM or Anarchists as some claim, although there is always the possibility that there were a handful of “professional agitators” mixed in, just as there were in the BLM riots last year). Just as in those BLM riots, there were a small percentage of violent protesters who made everyone look bad.
Qanon conspiracy theorists, Proud Boys, Boogaloo, White supremacists and Nationalists, right-wing militia types, etc. These groups are not representative of the average Republican or conservative. They are, however, much more mainstream than they have any right to be, based upon Trump’s refusal to condemn groups such as theirs as long as they support(ed) him. They were always fringe groups until Trump started wooing them (with his “good people on both sides” rhetoric).
Hopefully they will recede back into the fringes in the coming years.
@davirom
I will walk back the comment that you were addressing “Trump apologists” previously. In looking back you merely said “supporters” although I am not in that slightly broader category either.
@chipgreen Thank you for a reasoned reply to what was intended to be an attempt at facetious humor. Although, all of the listed “answers” correspond to responses I read that were made by Trump supporters when asked for comment.
You say the right-wing groups you mention are “not representative of the average Republican or conservative”, but given that Trump got 74 million votes I have to question what it means to be average in that population. Even if you discount the single-issue voters Trump appealed to (abortion, guns, tax reductions, etc.) there are still a lot of Republicans who are willing to vote for someone who lies constantly, dismantles needed infrastructure (I’m thinking of the pandemic response team Obama left that was functioning when DJT took over), separates families and puts the kids in cages, etc. etc. etc.
I guess I’m old fashioned, but to me character counts. At one time I considered myself a Rockefeller Republican, but the Republican party that could include me no longer exists. Even though I was once considered conservative and hold the same views, the “average” Republican has moved so far to the right of me s/he may as well be on another planet.
@chipgreen @davirom Hell, even this socially liberal Canadian could have held his nose and voted for Republicans as recently as Bush 2. But today’s GOP? Not a chance in hell.
(The holding my nose would have been because of the sexism and anti-abortion stance of the GOP even then.)
@davirom @klezman
You’re saying there isn’t a single Republican you could vote for today? You realize that there is a rather large faction of Never-Trumpers, yes? And even some who publicly supported Trump but have disapproved of things he has said and done along the way. An example of that would be Ohio’s Governor Mike Dewine, who has gained wide bipartisan support for his handling of the pandemic here in OH.
It is disappointing to see you continue to paint the right with such broad strokes.
@chipgreen @davirom @klezman If I were forced to vote for a Republican, there are two that would not make me gag: Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse.
@chipgreen @DanOR @klezman I could have supported Romney except to get the nomination he ran to the right (e.g. repudiating Romneycare in MA) and Obama seemed the better choice to me. I might have supported John McCain or Jeff Flake. I don’t say Republicans are unappealing per se, but it seems the ones who rise high enough to be on a ballot feel the need to pander to the Trumpkins; the archetypes being Hawley and Cruz, but there are also a hundred or so in the House that made a pointless stand to overthrow the election.
@chipgreen @davirom I suppose I should have clarified - I know less about Republican parties at the state level. The national Republican Party has, to me, moved so far away from an entity that I could support on so many things. I simply cannot support a party that wants to roll back civil rights, put religion ahead of everything else (I say this as a somewhat observant person), and pander to the worst things in the United States. Even if I agree with some of their policy preferences they are just too far from what I consider to be reasonable. It’s not just about Trump, it’s about the whole platform they’ve espoused for the past decade.
I don’t know much about Dewine. I did like John Kasich when he was running for the Republican nomination, although even he, on further looking, was amazingly anti-abortion, which is a nonstarter for me. I simply cannot agree that the government should interfere in a woman’s reproductive rights (before fetal viability).
So while there might be individual Republicans who I think are honest and principled, the federal Republican Party is too full of rot for me.
Full disclosure, though, I’m also not exactly a progressive on many things and dislike much of the rhetoric from the far left and disagree with some (many?) of their policy proposals.
@davirom After rpm’s (not tagging him per his request) patronizing screed on 1/10, looks like there is another choice:
F ) Justifying: America, you brought this on yourselves
I find it interesting how many of these “brave patriots” are on the run, in hiding, or backpedaling now that their revolution has flamed out and their leader is hunkered down in the WH. “I was just recording it for the media”; “I was trying to convince the others to be respectful”; “I didn’t mean to be there but got swept in with the crowd”; “It’s not my fault that others were out of control”. The hunt is on for these seditious rats and they will be brought to account.
@DanOR
As well they should, just as the arsonists and looters associated with the BLM riots should be punished for their heinous actions.
@chipgreen I agree with you but want to make the distinction between arsonists and looters, which largely cause property damage (not condoning that) and an insurrectionist mob which wanted to overthrow the US government. There is, at least to me, a huge difference in the threat level each represents.
@chipgreen @DanOR You mean insurrectionists like Richard Barnett of Arkansas, last photographed with his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk? Imbeciles like that aren’t exactly latter day Guy Fawks.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot And for that we can be thankful! But it doesn’t take a genius to pull a trigger or light a fuse - even I can do that.
“patriot” (n) Someone who pulls down the American flag to replace it with a Trump or Confederate banner.
My 2 cents:
Impeachment should proceed even though Trump will only be in office for 2 weeks. What he did should not go unpunished, and it prevents him from running for any office in the future. As a bonus, our tax dollars won’t be going to pay him a pension, providing health insurance, or paying for his security for the rest of his life.
Regarding our politics in general, Democrats have to ask themselves why 74 million Americans believed it was better to vote for Trump than Biden. I understand the far right, hardcore 33% supporting a Republican candidate no matter what. But what about the other 10-15% that still said Trump was better than any alternative the Democrats could offer? That’s after 4 years of seeing him continually lie, pander to extremists (or at the very least not willing to condemn them), turned combatting the Corona virus into a political issue that likely resulted in thousands of preventable deaths, and numerous other things. Is this simply tribalism where people will vote R or D, no matter the quality of the human being representing their party?
@dirtdoctor I’m with you on impeachment. He also needs to be impeached and convicted (a) as a matter of principle for inciting an insurrection against the United States, and (b) so that he can be prevented from ever holding elected office again.
I think part of the answer to your other questions is the right wing media bubble that only rarely lets reality in. There are plenty of side by side screenshots you can find of Fox News vs other websites during the insurrection at the Capitol. It’s maddening.
@dirtdoctor And the Wall Street Journal agrees, more or less. Even with their pot shots at Democrats.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-final-days-11610062773?mod=e2two
@dirtdoctor I don’t understand why only democrats have to ask this and republicans do not likewise wonder that they cannot compete nationally.
@canonizer @dirtdoctor
Maybe because Biden has been running for President on and off for close to 40 years now. He’s like a Democratic Ralph Nader. But suddenly in 2020 he is the best you guys can offer? The best “Not Trump” you could come up with? Ugh.
@canonizer @chipgreen
I guess what I was trying to say can be applied to both parties, in that they should be looking at their messaging and priorities to broaden their appeal to more Americans. Maybe @klezman is right and it’s just a function of how people get their news, whether it’s left/right wing national media or Twitter/Facebook feeds that spew crazy conspiracy theories that people automatically think are true without doing any research (I personally think this is the bigger issue).
I guess I have a follow up question for @chipgreen. What characteristics would a Democratic candidate need to gain more support from center-right Republicans? I agree that Biden was not that most inspirational candidate, but for me he seemed to have several characteristics that were important. He was closer to the center than the far left and he generally seems to care about fellow Americans. Yes, his speeches are generally not inspiring and he often says stupid things, but you rarely hear anyone say something bad about his character and intentions. For me, even before looking at policies, the first step in deciding my vote is to evaluate whether or not the candidate is a good person. I don’t know how anyone can look at the entirety of Trump’s life and come to the conclusion that he cares about anything but himself. The constant lies, things he said about women and potentially did to them, making fun of a disabled man, constantly peddling unfounded conspiracy theories, never admitting a mistake, worrying about his economy and re-election instead of telling Americans the truth about COVID-19, and it just goes on. It was an easy choice between Biden and Trump, and I’ll admit it was more difficult in 2016 but ultimately I thought Hilary was the lesser of 2 evils (which I think Trump has proven true).
Maybe my lesson is Americans care less about a person’s morals as long as they promise to cut their taxes or give them free healthcare and pay their college tuition.
@canonizer because the Democratic party is the major party opposing the Republican party candidate, Donald Trump, for whom 74mm Americans voted. The question posed isn’t “why did the Republican candidate lose”, but “how could 49% of Americans vote for a person we consider evil”. One conclusion is that 49% of Americans are evil, but there are others.
@canonizer @chipgreen @dirtdoctor
I don’t think Biden was inspiring, but he’s the right candidate for this moment in so many ways. He exemplifies all of the good qualities we want to see in our leaders and has so few of the bad ones. He’s just so human in a way that makes me proud to have him be an example for my kids.
The thing about what I said about messaging is a bit more subtle than that. The Democrats have a broadly popular agenda if you ask about the policies in isolation, but when you ask about the “Democratic agenda” its popularity goes down. Better messaging should be able to fix this gap.
My prescription for the Republicans is to propose a conservative slant on policies that do what people actually want. Their messaging is so effective (aided and abetted by Fox News, OANN, etc) that they’ve created an alternate reality for their party. And they need to stop stoking racial resentments, being anti-abortion, and sexist. Only then can there be a true battle of ideas.
@canonizer @dirtdoctor @klezman
Firstly, more of my fellow Republicans need to move closer to the center and stop trying to shame us moderates with terms like “RINO”. Secondly, I think Biden actually does embody some of the characteristics that center-right Repubs would require but he feels like a retread. He is quite obviously past his peak (as was McCain for the Repubs when he finally got his nomination) and is a perennial also-ran. The constant gaffes and the serial hair-sniffing don’t help.
Clearly any Dem would have to express a willingness to reach across the aisle to have a chance at bipartisan appeal, at the risk of losing goodwill within his/her own party. These candidates (on both sides), to a large extent, are formed from our own image. We as a nation have to move collectively towards the center before candidates will start to follow suit. I don’t think it will work the other way around.
@KitMarlot I think the Republicans have successfully created 2 wedge issues in the last 50 years that have siphoned off democrats: abortion and unrestricted gun rights. On a personal level, I think Democrats could find a middle path on gun rights since the population supports reasonable safety measures; given the overwhelming female constituency there isn’t any daylight on reproductive issues (which I support).
The third issue that Republicans claim is taxes and there is something uniquely aspirational about the American belief for lowering marginal tax rates. Trump could have cut taxes for everyone other than the highest bracket but instead gave the overwhelming windfall in tax reduction to the wealthiest/highest earning people. Democrats could easily leave all the tax brackets as is except adding 2 marginal brackets (the obvious figures being 39.6 and then something in the 40s). I’m sure there will be screams of SOCIALISM even though there is nothing historically remarkable about such rates after WWII.
[And then there is this WILD shift in blue collar/manufacturing towards Trump when the Republican party seeks only to reduce the power of labor at a moment when labor’s power (and share of corporate revenue) has dwindled horribly.]
I don’t think 49% of the population is evil. I think there is something wrong when a substantial majority of Republicans believe that the presidential election was stolen (despite many House seats flipping back to Rs). There is something profoundly wrong, and perhaps evil, with the people (Trump, Cruz, Hawley, Limbaugh, Bongino, et al) who amplify that lie. And to suggest that this is the same as the 2016 cri de coeur of “not my president”, when Clinton conceded the day after the election, can charitably only be called bad faith.
Watching Republican leadership try to overthrow the government in a procedural ratification of electorates is beyond disturbing. Watching “conservative” pundits blame Antifa or BLM for the violent attempted coup in DC makes me feel ill. Watching Trump tell a group of white nationalists to walk over to the Capitol to overturn a stolen election makes me want to see him rot in prison.
@canonizer @KitMarlot
Thanks for the thoughtful beginning portion of your post. We need collaborative efforts like this from our politicians. Where can we find common ground? Where can we compromise? Let’s start there, get some successes under our belts and then work backwards to the more contested ideals with some positive momentum and goodwill already having been generated.
@canonizer @chipgreen @KitMarlot Unfortunately, for all that the “mates” on this board may be able to reach a kumbya moment, national politicians are too heavily invested (and by that I mean fundraising) in division to give more than a sly sort of lip service to bipartisanship. The only issue with a chance that I can think of at the moment is infrastructure repair.
@canonizer @davirom @KitMarlot
I know what you mean. As someone who has been dragged half-willingly into local politics, I have seen firsthand how the party bosses demand unwavering loyalty from their stable of candidates.
Without the support of local, state and/or national parties, candidates would be forced to do all their own fundraising and that is no easy task without party support. That leaves guys like Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Yang or perhaps an Elon Musk who can actually thumb their noses at one or both parties and choose their own platforms.
But ultimately, the party bosses want candidates who can win. It once again comes back to us, the public, to demand more centrist candidates.
Maybe this is just another example of the old "Problem, Reaction, Solution " just wondering?
This has to be the most respectful, even-tempered political discussion board around, maybe due to the liberal consumption of our favorite beverage. Some of the others are more like a MMA death match. Congrats everyone for keeping it civil!
@DanOR it looks like we’ve turned it into a liberal echo chamber to some extent and there’s a great deal of agreement.
@canonizer @DanOR Note that Twitch22 has left the discussion.
@canonizer @DanOR @FritzCat
There was nothing un-civil or disrespectful about his posts when he was participating. You, however, resorted to name-calling a number of times in response to him. Just sayin’…
@canonizer @chipgreen @DanOR @FritzCat on the flipside I was chastised by rj and rpm for one grammar error which was rather annoying. I have seen many grammatical errors on here and to be singled out because they did not agree with my position was petty to say the least.
@canonizer @DanOR @FritzCat @losthighwayz
I don’t disagree. Unfortunately, you are known to be a school administrator so apparently got held to a higher standard?
@chipgreen
I don’t think I used any names but I was frustrated by Twitch. He used the conclusion that Trump was reelected as evidence and shrugged off sourced information stating otherwise.
@canonizer @DanOR I went back through my comments for the past 30 days, and the last PoliTicks thread, and found that I did indeed make derogatory statements about Twitch22. I re-read the posts, and am just amazed by how patient others have been with him. I think his posts were terribly disrespectful.
@canonizer @chipgreen @DanOR @FritzCat sure, if I was posting on our school website or mailing a parent letter! This is a forum where peeps are entitled to slack a bit, right?
@canonizer @DanOR @FritzCat
I guess I didn’t catch the disrespect although I was skimming a lot, finding the volume of posts a bit overwhelming at that time and as an elections official, was just plain exhausted from months of stress, long hours and working weekends. Thankfully my county pulled off the election without a hitch despite having to overcome quite a bit of adversity along the way!
@canonizer @chipgreen @DanOR Seriously, thank you for your service.
@DanOR You comment about ‘respectful and even-tempered’ is risible. Virtually every voice that has been on the right here has left because real discussion has not possible for some time. We cannot even agree on what the facts are, let alone discuss political ideas. That’s why I left and won’t be back - other than this post, because the self-congratulation for having driven out conservative voices needs to be pricked like a boil. Just because we’re no longer out in public, doesn’t mean we’ve gone away or will go away.
With the banning of Trump and the de-platforming of multiple conservative voices, Democratic calls for humiliation and firing of anyone who supported Trump, we are heading straight towards despotism, destruction of the Bill of Rights, and worse.
As personally offensive as Trump has been, his policies for the most part have been highly beneficial to most Americans, and have made the world a safer, better place. He spent four years fending of the most scurrilous and false attacks from the left, the Democratic Party (but I repeat myself), and still managed to accomplish much.
If the left were so confident in its ideas and the honesty of the recent elections, it would be the first in line to have open counting of votes, verification of voter signatures, open recounts; and would welcome the full and complete airing of all of the evidence put forward of vote fraud - the opposite of what has happened: the challenges have never been openly and fully aired, but have been shut down without evidentiary hearings or dismissed out of hand. That is not the way to convince 74-odd million voters that you didn’t steal the election. And if the left weren’t totalitarian - fascist - it wouldn’t be busy de-platforming conservative sites and authors, getting people fired for their political views and demanding essentially ‘reeducation’ for Trump supporters.
The form of the republic will continue, but liberty as the Founders understood it is dead - and you are all like the good burghers in Nietzsche’s aphorism 125 from The Gay Science (Die Frölische Wissenschaft) who laughed at the ‘madman’ who came into their midst and decried the death of God… he came too soon and it had not yet arrived, though they had done the deed themselves. I’d like to think most of you are intelligent enough that you will eventually rue what you have done, but I’m not sanguine about it.
@rpm, I’m hesitantly tagging you since you unequivocally stated your intention to leave the conversation.
Why is there such conviction that a hand recount is necessary in the swing States where Republicans picked up House seats? Numerous states under conservative leadership (eg Raffensberger) conducted recounts. The Intelligence community said it was a secure election. There does not seem to be any there, there.
I think it’s weird that there’s this natural acceptance that every one of 74M Trump votes was legitimately cast but Biden’s are suspect. The baseline assumption that distasteful electoral results must be false stuns me.
Clinton conceded the day after the election in 2016. For two months, Republicans have been chanting, “Stop the steal.” The assault on the Capitol is a natural outgrowth of this rejection of democracy by conservative leaders/thinkers.
I’m sorry we can only agree on distrusting each other’s news sources.
@rpm
I really do try to listen to the opinion of others, so I’ll first ask a few questions and end with a comment. You and I have never met, and I don’t know you except for your few posts. Hopefully your statement about not participating except for that one post is not true, stoking the fire and then walking away.
First a few questions. You state something is a fact when many would view it is your opinion, thereby talking in generalities instead of stating facts that back your opinion. Specifically you state “his policies for the most part have been highly beneficial to most Americans, and have made the world a safer, better place.” This is clearly an opinion, one that I think many would disagree with. I would ask that you provide the facts used to develop the opinion of being in a better place than we were 4 years ago.
You state that democrats “would welcome the full and complete airing of all of the evidence put forward of vote fraud”. Trump’s team submitted over 60 lawsuits and our courts, many of them led by Trump appointed judges, consistently have said there was either no proof or legal grounds for their lawsuits. The question, do you believe that our justice system did not provide Trump a chance to question the election that just occurred or are you saying the process of future elections needs to be reviewed/revised? Regarding this past election, continually repeating that there was fraud doesn’t make it a fact, especially when the conclusion of every investigation, review and recount has suggested otherwise, including the Barr led DOJ.
Last question, do you think freedom of speech extends to private industries and companies? These platforms clearly provided Trump leniency over the past 4 years, up until the past few months. Should they have let him continue to use their platforms to allow a person to organize riots on the capital, especially when there is a big push (Trump included) to eliminate the law that protects these platforms from being held accountable for the member posts?
For the comment, and what irked me about your post, the statement/implication that democrats are fascist and will/should regret their current opinions/actions after stating that republicans have left this conversation because how that were treated. That’s like throwing stones in glass houses. What good is going to come from making such a statement?
@dirtdoctor @rpm I’m curious, are you a PhD soil scientist?
@DanOR @rpm
I’m actually a soils/geotechnical engineer, evaluating soil’s ability to support structures such as buildings, bridges, dams, and pavements.
@DanOR @dirtdoctor @rpm
I think you all know my position - we are all better off with a diversity of voices joining in respectful and even tempered discussion/debate. I’ve bent over backward to avoid (as best I can) making statements that would inflame others. I hope I’ve succeeded.
Not so long ago this forum was frequented by right-leaning people, but over the last couple years of the Obama presidency and throughout the Trump presidency some folks (none who are tagged here) seemed to get angrier and angrier. Arguments seemed to go farther and farther from facts.
So I hope that tempers can calm down and with the passing of the Trump era hopefully we can find our way back to having useful and insightful debates on policy and the best ways to steer the country toward a bright future.
@rpm That’s quite the Parthian shot. Never much cared for those.
@DanOR @dirtdoctor @klezman @rpm my biggest issue is that many are willing to give Trump a pass (vile, racist, sexist, and divisive speech and/or actions) so long as he has sound policies (which are debatable). How is this ok?
@DanOR @klezman @losthighwayz @rpm
Since fascism was recently raised in a post, here’s an article published by Newsweek and written by a professor emeritus at Columbia University:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ive-hesitated-to-call-donald-trump-a-fascist-until-now-opinion/ar-BB1cEZF9?li=BBnb7Kz
Overall, this whole situation is a clear indication of one thing: the need for term limits in D.C.!!
It looks like Mitch McConnell, Liz Cheney and untold numbers of additional Republicans are ready and willing to vote for Impeachment at this point, to wash their hands of Trump and prevent him from running again in 2024.
While the siege on the Capitol was the last straw, I believe the fracture was already in progress. Trump’s (and his lackeys) antics were to blame for both GA Republicans losing the runoff elections that would have kept control of the Senate. Trump, as usual, was more concerned about himself than what was good for the party.
A repositioning of the party has already begun as the article surmises that “Mr McConnell, it seems, has calculated that losing some of the president’s most loyal following would be less damaging than the exodus of moderates that would occur if he and other leaders stand by Mr Trump.”.
Furthermore, it goes on to point out that “For Mr McConnell it is all about winning. The bald facts are that in 2016 Republicans controlled the White House, the Senate and the House. After four years of Mr Trump they have lost all three.”.
This correlates with my own contention that, ultimately, the party bosses want to win and if it requires fielding more moderate candidates to do so, then that’s what they will do. It remains up to the American public to take back the Republican party from the likes of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Q-Anon crazies.
@chipgreen Agreed, especially about McConnell and his thirst for power (which requires a service to winning above all).
I hope the GOP can figure out how to moderate, but I think a clean break between the Trumpers and the rest into a new party would be good. This country needs an honest centre, left, and right voice in politics.
I am still a fan of the (supposed) silent majority of moderates forming a new party. It’d be tremendously successful.
I did not vote for Trump in 2016 because I was afraid he would do something erratic and dangerous like start a nuclear war with South Korea. As I waited for impending international conflict, the Mainstream Media criticized every decision he made and refused to credit his successes and I began to wonder if I was being brainwashed. This summer, despite his refusal to do simple things to improve his chances of reelection (like not putting on a mask) I started thinking that Americans were generally better off than they were 4 years ago, that on balance he did a better job with the pandemic than Hillary Clinton would have done, and that Joe Biden might be ok but there was no way he’d last 4 years (and Kamala Harris was a wild card.)* Then, the first debate happened and I decided that I just couldn’t vote for him. Of course, the events of the last 2 months have vindicated all the pundits who predicted catastrophe 4 years ago, so enjoy the Schadenfreude guys, but be careful with the tinder. It’s a dry forest out there, lots of people thinking that ideological purity has a place in party politics and that violence is justified when you don’t get what you want.
*These are my opinions, these are not facts. I’m not going to substantiate them with evidence, this is simply how I feel. You are encouraged to think my opinions suck, but I’d rather not hear about it unless you can find a way to say it respectfully.
@KitMarlot Why do you think Clinton would have handled the pandemic in a worse way than Trump? While estimates vary, Trump’s inaction and downplaying the pandemic have led to tens of thousands more deaths than more competent responses. Furthermore, a competent response would have avoided politicizing a virus.
While I’m not certain Clinton wouldn’t have fallen into some of the same traps, at least she lives in a world of facts.
@klezman I said I wasn’t going to substantiate my opinions, but I suppose this one needs some explanation. I named Mrs. Clinton because she was the dem nominee in 2016, but I could have subbed “Democrat X”. (Once more, these are my opinions) Operation Warp Speed, forcing GM to make ventilators and letting local govt’s decide on lockdowns don’t happen with a Democrat in charge. PPP and $600 bonus for unemployment maybe, but I’d be surprised if stimulus checks go out as quickly as they did without someone as independent as someone like Trump.
And you think Mrs. Clinton wouldn’t have?
She certainly wouldn’t have had daily press conferences where she put her ignorance on display, but there isn’t a whole lot a federal government (non-authoritarian class) can do once an unknown virus is loose. We were woefully unprepared.
@KitMarlot I don’t understand the “be careful with the tinder.” Biden won the election; democrats wanted a normal transition. Trump refuses to concede and will not attend the inauguration.
Where is the liberal schadenfreude? We just want the loser to accede to the Republic’s wishes.
@KitMarlot @klezman Bringing Mrs. Clinton into this discussion is simply diversion, a chance to trot out a familiar boogeyman. The far right has demonized Mrs. Clinton to the point where millions believe she worships satan and slaughters babies. Unfortunately, that’s not hyperbole, it’s a sad comment on the gullibility of Americans. As a result, many conservatives believe her capable of any evil and incapable of anything constructive. She in fact is extremely intelligent and if faced with the covid crisis, her efforts and effectiveness would easily eclipse trump, whose response was catatonic at best, if not criminal malfeasance.
@DanOR
@KitMarlot Fair enough. You are, of course, welcome to your opinions and I’m not trying to persuade you. I’m simply trying to understand how you arrived at that opinion.
An administration that denies reality and scoffs at science is particularly poorly positioned to deal with a pandemic. That’s really why I think any other administration, Democrat or Republican, would have managed better than did Trump.
We both acknowledge that’s opinion. We’ll get to see what a Biden administration does starting next week.
@KitMarlot my parents always taught me to treat others like you want to be treated. I truly believe the media despises Trump because he has been attacking them both as a unit and individually since he took office. As a leader he could have done a much better job to mend fences. He chose not to.
I can’t help myself, as it’s in my nature as an analytical engineer, not to comment about providing facts/reasoning/observations to explain one’s opinions. I am guilty of asking the “why” question, as that’s how I try to understand how someone derived an opinion. Why it that now considered wrong? It’s not an attempt at being derogatory or to belittle, but to gain an understanding of an opinion so that we can have a civil discussion.
If it’s okay to just state an opinion as if it’s a fact, without providing reasoning or background, that when you get a bunch of people believing that Democrats are a bunch of pedophiles running a child sex trafficking business behind a pizza parlor in Maryland, while Trump is a Savior that is going to win a war against them.
@KitMarlot @losthighwayz Trump loves the media. He clearly loves attention and they almost never failed to provide it.
The media to this day struggles to apply words like lied and racist to him. He has the media completely twisted up
@DanOR @KitMarlot @klezman
Overreact, much?
Considering the high stakes involved for our country with the pandemic, what has stopped her from coming up with some useful suggestions on how to better handle it? Lots of other people have weighed in with opinions and suggestions while she has remained silent. Maybe she is still working on her health care reform project that she started n 1993.
@chipgreen @DanOR @KitMarlot @klezman notice Rj lurks but does not reply to my comments. Its ok to apologize my friend!
@losthighwayz He gives as good as he gets, and you could say he started it. No argument there. I think the media is outraged for both the ridiculous things he says and the way their reporting of his antics doesn’t change hearts and minds. Their power is diminished. I know when I hear/read something outrageous that he said I check multiple sources first before deciding if I 1.) believe it and 2.) care.
@canonizer @losthighwayz I hope impeachment removes him from public view instead of making a martyr of him. It was wise putting Jefferson Davis in Ft. Monroe even if he deserved to be hanged on the spot. Started the healing process after the Civil War on solid footing.
@klezman I’m hopeful by what I’ve seen from Biden so far. Its a good sign that he’s been making both Republicans and Democrats mad with his cabinet picks.
@KitMarlot Exactly. I don’t think he’s exciting, but I don’t want excitement in politics. I think he’s the person for the moment, somebody who is by nature a unifier and not a divider.
@KitMarlot @klezman
Yeah and I thought Obama would be the great unifier after all the bad will generated by Bush Jr. for invading Iraq. Instead, he continued the same foreign policies as Bush while concentrating on ramming through “Obamacare” to create a legacy for himself. Considering that Biden was part of that administration, I am not holding my breath on the unification thing but time will tell.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot @klezman
He certainly had the opportunity, but failed to do so, and in many ways, imo, created an even wider divide.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin Uhhh, because he was brown? I know…“he’s making this about race again”, but I really do believe that for many, especially on the right/in the south, that is a significant factor.
@KitMarlot @klezman I do think that Bernie becoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee is genius! Now Bernie will have to look at both sides of the budget equation rather than just handing out money like candy. (At least I hope this happens)
@FritzCat Counterpoint:
“Just 43 percent of African-Americans say Obama made things better for black people, while roughly half say they see no difference. Six percent say Obama has made things worse”
Full article: https://apnews.com/article/f3daa224024740bc8143739783f364d5
@KitMarlot That’s pretty good, actually. I think Obama’s intent was to make things better for all Americans. It would have been bad if he had focused on making things better for African-Americans. Note that I’ve always been a big fan of Carter, so you’ve got to suspect my opinions on everything.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot Honest question - do you think there was any policy Obama could propose (faithful to his campaign promises in any way) that would have garnered Republican support? Even restricting the question to a health care overhaul.
Oh the irony of today’s offer…
Unity now?
@davirom The GOP cries for unity now ring so disgustingly and absurdly hollow.
In any case, unity cannot come without accountability.
@davirom @klezman
As do those currently coming from the Dems…
@rjquillin Welcome back to the discussion, your absence was noted. I might give credit to your “both sides”-ism if you can point out anything the Dems have done that compares to the GOP’s failing to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland for the last YEAR of Obama’s term (to “let the voters decide”), then pushing through Amy Coney Barrett in a matter of weeks before this election.
Under threat of legal action from Dominion, here is the American Thinker’s retraction for their part in amplifying the COMPLETE FUCKING LIE that was the notion that fraud played any part whatsoever in the election of Joe Biden because said lies had NO BASIS IN FACT. I hope their profiteering, warmongering, grifting souls rot in hell for encouraging division and violence in our Union.
I’m sorry for the caps but, man, my f’ing blood pressure.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/01/statement.html
@canonizer Is there a reason why you left this part of the page off of your post?
@Mark_L
It’s not part of the retraction.
They knowingly amplified absolute lies about Dominion. They do not have any journalistic standards, let alone rigorous ones. They have so much first amendment protection and could easily turn aside any litigation if they hadn’t actually manufactured the story.
@canonizer @Mark_L
It’s called CYA, and my opinion, like all others here, is worth exactly what you paid for it.
@Mark_L @rjquillin I honestly don’t know what cya stands for.
Why is it hard for people to say that voter fraud played no part in the election? I guess I’d feel better about calls for unity if there was an admission about the legitimacy of our incoming government.
@canonizer @Mark_L @rjquillin CYA
Cover your ass, abbreviated CYA, is an activity done by an individual to protect themselves from possible subsequent criticism, legal penalties, or other repercussions, usually in a work-related or bureaucratic context. Wikipedia
There, I helped you out, but “honestly” I don’t believe that anyone who lives in our society didn’t know that.
@FritzCat @Mark_L @rjquillin I’ve never come across it. When I looked it up, the first definition just said abbreviation for see ya, which seemed unlikely.
As far as covering myself, I introduced the retraction by saying it was in response to threatened legal action by dominion.
@canonizer @Mark_L @rjquillin
Voter fraud plays a part in nearly every election. But it’s usually a very small part. Was there more fraud in this election than most other elections? Highly likely, in fact I would bet on it when passions run so high on both sides. Was there enough fraud to swing the election? Highly unlikely. But it’s not realistic to think that there was no fraud whatsoever.
@chipgreen @Mark_L @rjquillin I don’t think I was suggesting that there was not a single instance of voter fraud. I’ll reaffirm that statement that it did not play any part whatsoever in the outcome of the election. The gcc, cisa, nass have deemed it the most secure election in American history.
But voters feel like it was stolen or, at best, unfair because that message being continually bandied about. The inauguration is 3 days away and Trump hasn’t conceded.
Anyway, I’ll think I’ll have one of those vintage winesmith sparklers on Wednesday.
@canonizer @Mark_L @rjquillin
Trump conceded 10 days ago.
@canonizer @chipgreen @Mark_L @rjquillin Acknowledging that Biden will be sworn in is not the same as conceding and telling the country that Biden won the election, fair and square, and earned the privilege of being President.
@canonizer @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin
So, he didn’t concede the way you wanted him to?
You forgot to add that he should write it 500 times on the chalkboard.
@chipgreen @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin
Lol, not to be hyperbolic…
We merely want him to say he concedes, which is what every other presidential loser has done. We want peaceful transfers of power because that is at the core of this experiment in democracy. It’s obviously too much to ask of Trump.
And then, ultimately, we should ask why he has been lying about the election results since early Nov. Cui bono?
For now, we should all toss some popcorn in the microwave to see what pardons come out in the next 2.25 days. It’s such a shame that they won’t be announced on Twitter.
@canonizer @chipgreen @Mark_L @rjquillin
There’s a legitimate debate/difference of opinion over whether his remarks last week count as a formal concession.
https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/01/08/did-president-trump-concede-poll
Even if you believe Trump’s recognition of reality that he’s not being sworn in for a second term is a concession of sorts, you have to admit that it’s far from what this country expects as a formal concession. That’s when the loser announces to the world the he or she lost, usually after having called to congratulate the winner on their victory.
@canonizer @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin
Trump is a sore loser. No debate there. Personally, I’m happy that he intends to pack up and get out of town before the Inauguration. I think it’s better for everyone involved that he does just that.
@chipgreen @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin eh, what’s one more lost norm?
@canonizer @chipgreen @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin Bad actors spawn other bad actors. That’s where we find ourselves right now, with trump having led his minions down a very dark path, to the detriment of our country. There is a time for fighting and a time for healing and he doesn’t know the difference, or doesn’t care.
@canonizer @chipgreen @klezman @Mark_L @rjquillin John Adams, the first guy to skip out of town before an inauguration, was also a sore loser.
So, at $2 million per pardon, and an estimated 100 pardons expected by Wednesday, another windfall and abuse of power by our soon to be ex-president.
@davirom That’s a tidy sum…Grifters gonna grift.
@davirom @FritzCat
Do you suppose Giuliani visited all 100 of the soon to be pardonees to work out payment arrangements? What about the ones who wouldn’t or couldn’t pay $2 million? Now add those to the 100 who supposedly can - how many visits would Giuliani and his henchmen have had to make to visit all those inmates and make those arrangements?
Do you suppose the inmates could just get on the horn and make a single phone call to arrange for the availability of those funds? And without prison officials being aware of the scheme despite tapped phone lines? Or maybe the prison officials are getting a kickback? Now how many more conversations have had to take place?
Are these all going to be lump sum payments? Who is going to launder all these payments?
Seriously, Qanon’s “plan” makes more sense than this baloney.
@davirom @FritzCat
A quick addendum to note that I am not necessarily disputing the account of John Kiriakou referenced in your first link - but I am absolutely disputing your quantum leap into asserting that Trump is going to be paid $2 million apiece from each person whom he is about to pardon.
@chipgreen @davirom @FritzCat FWIW, I read that more as rhetorical flourish than as a literal statement. As you said, not really a chance 100 federal felons have that kind of cash on hand.
@chipgreen @FritzCat Does the amount really matter? Was there any doubt in your mind that pardons were / are for sale?
@davirom @FritzCat
As I figured, you were completely serious. The logistics alone of “selling” 100 pardons makes the idea laughable.
Who is this unnamed, shadowy Giuliani “associate” anyway? He who waits until Rudy has to take a leak to proposition the target for $2 million for a pardon. I think the writer of this tripe (Martin Pengelly) has read too many John Grisham books.
@chipgreen
Maybe he’s “The Big Guy”.
@Mark_L
@chipgreen @Mark_L
A bit of humor here, a welcome trend.
@chipgreen So the people calling for hard evidence of voter fraud accept bribery insinuations about President Trump as fact?
I do hope that once he’s gone reporters will go back to reporting facts, letting their readers make up their own minds like they used to.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot So the people calling for hard evidence of voter fraud accept bribery insinuations about President Trump as fact?
@chipgreen @KitMarlot
I wrote something longer but for a meaningful voter fraud to have taken place whereby the Rs won many seats in the House but loss the presidency would have required an extensive conspiracy across states with different election and registration systems. It is unlikely to the point of impossibility.
For Trump to accept a bribe he literally only has to accept a bribe. 100 is probably a hyperbolic headline. But given his history in “business” and the emoluments that he has regularly accepted (events/people staying at his properties, asking Woody Johnson to request moving the British Open), it doesn’t stretch the imaginations of people negatively predisposed to him.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot Sorry, computer glitch cut off the response.
I am not a person who calls for hard evidence of voter fraud, I am a person has watched Trump lawyers file 62 lawsuits across the country (but only in states Trump lost) and fail to present any.
As to the “insinuations”, is an open DOJ investigation an insinuation? See also. From a man who wants to make bribery of foreign companies legal?
@chipgreen @davirom @FritzCat
I’m still trying to understand something, chip. Which of the following are you saying:
a) Trump is not likely to be swayed by people offering him money for favours (pardons/commutations in this case), and it’s pure insinuation
b) Trump is likely taking money for these favours, just not at the scale in davirom’s post, making the initial post hyperbolic
c) Trump will take whatever he can get, it’s just not proven
d) None of the above
@canonizer @chipgreen @KitMarlot
Given that Trump has funnelled tens or hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to his businesses, what would you all say to a package that (a) prevents this from happening ever again, and (b) requires the non-arms length businesses to repay the government any profits from government spending there.
Basically, I think it’s fine if Trump (or any future government appointee/elected official) wants to spend time at the properties he owns. But my tax dollars should not go toward anything beyond the direct cost of him staying there.
@davirom @FritzCat @klezman
I thought it was pretty obvious. I am saying;
e) There is no organized effort by Rudy Giuliani and/or his “associates” to sell pardons for $2 million apiece on behalf of Trump.
@chipgreen @davirom @klezman …that you know of.
@chipgreen @davirom @FritzCat OK, fair enough. I didn’t actually intuit that particular view of it from what you’d said, so thanks for clarifying. I also don’t think Trump and buddies are necessarily soliciting payments for pardons.
I think I’m mostly in the (b) camp. I think Trump would happily take money in exchange for a favour of that sort. I also think plenty of people know that about him and would try to make it happen. Ergo, I think it’s likely Trump will profit directly from at least a few of his pardons. And like many things about this (thankfully outgoing) administration, the fact that nobody would deny this is a distinct possibility is the major issue to me.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot My apologizes to those on this forum who were offended by the suggestion that Trump would sell pardons for money. Pardons seem to have been reserved for political payback (Lil Wayne, anyone?). Now commutations, which are not required to be disclosed . . .
@davirom Trump’s offensive, and I’m not offended by the suggestion. In fact, I think it is more likely than not that he did peddle influence, but I’d be surprised if any solid evidence turns up. Boss has got a lot of buffers. What offends me is that reporters are so quick to report innuendo as fact (and that people believe it) when it involves a certain orange haired ex-president. I sincerely hope he’s “ex” for good.
@davirom @KitMarlot
How do you explain his granting clemency for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatric? I’m not inclined to research all 143 pardons but I’m guessing there are quite a few other examples that would also go against your assumptions.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot I don’t have a fully formed hypothesis for each pardon, I was looking for commonality. I hadn’t looked at Kilpatric but now having done so I found this synopsis from AP of his conviction: “In 2013, Kilpatrick was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes. The government called it the “Kilpatrick enterprise,” a scheme to shake down contractors and reward allies.” Sounds sympatico with Trump to me.
I also found that the US Attorney for eastern MI has resigned, as is customary since he was appointed by the outgoing president, but in doing so he criticized Trump for making the pardon, which is not customary. FWIW, for all that he was a Trump appointee, he sounds like someone who I can appreciate as a public servant.
At least we can agree not to research all the pardons.
Just read some Interesting thoughts about Biden’s prospects for uniting the country.
One highlight:
Let’s change the discussion away from Biden vs Trump, each person will be more critical of another with opposing views. That will never change.
Let’s talk policy. What are your thoughts on the proposed pandemic relief plan? I am not a fan of sending everyone a check, simply because there are many Americans (more than 50%?) that have not been economically impacted by the pandemic. However, I’m not sure how the funds could be allocated to impacted individuals without spending a bunch of money in the bureaucracy of administering such a relief package. Maybe it is more economical to send everyone a check and hope that individuals not impacted spend the money or donate it to a charity. Also, I would prefer to spend our government’s money on a infrastructure bill to help employ folks and improve our communities long-term.
Regarding the additional checks/tax credits, is it wrong to ask individuals to give something back to the country in return for the immediate help? When filing taxes, could we ask individuals to provide some proof of community service or charitable donation in return for receiving the tax credit?
One last item on the proposed relief bill. I really don’t like the idea of tying a federal minimum wage to the bill, that’s like asking for a fight in Congress. Regarding a minimum wage, instead of setting a fixed $15 dollar wage for every state, why not have a way of adjusting the minimum wage by applying cost of living adjustments for each state? $15 in Des Moines, Iowa goes a lot farther than $15 in NYC.
@dirtdoctor
You do bring up topics that have had far too little honest discussion, however:
and where does that money come from?
Ahhh, yes, they just print it.
@rjquillin
Geez, you knew what I meant. I didn’t want to take 30 minutes editing/wordsmithing a post on a wine site. Our tax dollars…is that better?
Take into account that I’m an engineer, and numbers are my game, not words (although I sure do have to write a lot)
@dirtdoctor @rjquillin Three engineering types we are. This should be fun
I agree the shotgun approach to getting money into people’s hands is less than ideal. This was litigated, at least somewhat, by Congress last year in the first stimulus. If they’d been on top of it rather than left themselves with a need to rush again, it would make sense to be more narrowly tailored in the cash infusion. Perhaps linking it to unemployment run by the states would have worked, I don’t know.
I think it would be a smart provision if 2020 tax forms were adjusted to have people “justify” their receipt of the payments. Like showing a decrease in income from the prior year or something. Although I think I also read that those payments are taxable income, so there’s that.
$15/hour at 40 hours/week is like $32k/year. How many places can you live, even as a single person, for that kind of income? I agree that the minimum wage could/should be adjusted for location. Many states already do this by increasing theirs, and I believe they still could under a new federal minimum. To me this is simple: the federal minimum wage should be indexed to the poverty level. Probably at about 2x the 2 or 3 person level. Turns out that’s close to $15/hour of full time work. https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines
Should this be part of this bill at this time? That, I’m less sure of. I’d probably hold it off on parts of the economy that are suffering right now and can’t even afford to pay the pittance minimum wage they’re paying now. But then again, PPP loans/grants could solve some of this if you view it as a joint strike.
@klezman @rjquillin
I haven’t done enough research to have a strong opinion on an appropriate minimum wage. I would note that I do not agree with calculating the wage based off a 40 hour work week. I wish I only needed to work 45 hours let alone 40. Raising that number to 50 hours and using the same $34k/yr goal, drops the minimum wage to about $12/hr. That seems like a good baseline, with adjustments based on location and implementation over a given timeframe, maybe a couple years.
In regards to the argument that companies can’t afford such an increase, are they/we not already subsidizing via food stamps, welfare, and other social programs paid for via tax dollars. Of course the issue then becomes, if the need for those tax dollars is reduced, does Uncle Sam start spending more elsewhere instead of reducing the tax burden on companies and individuals.
@dirtdoctor @rjquillin when I was a kid, a minimum wage job was basically for teenagers to make some spending money on the side. Too many people now need to subsist off of it.
I suspect, being an engineer, you’re well paid and on salary, exempt from the requirements of the fair labor standards act. (As am I.)
But now we’re in quibbling range - what is the “correct” annualized salary for an American who works minimum wage jobs to feed and house themselves?
@dirtdoctor If we self segregate into a group that thinks is government purview…
Sending checks to people who use the stimulus for subsistence is basically a bailout for banks & landlords (ie banks of landlords carrying debt).
On wages - if we as a country decided that we were willing to spend more than the least possible amount on food/goods, that would cover the expense of wages and restoring US manufacturing.
@canonizer @dirtdoctor @klezman
I can still recall when my supervisor advised me I was getting a raise, the first in my working career.
10¢/hour boost. From $1.25 to $1.35. The minimum wage had gone up.
@canonizer @dirtdoctor @klezman @rjquillin Hmmm, my first job was at an auto parts store at $1.35/hr
@canonizer @klezman @rjquillin
Not to completely change course, but instead of mandating a higher minimum wage to raise individuals above poverty levels, why don’t we focus on developing our workforce? A long time ago our country decided that providing everyone an opportunity to earn a high school diploma was in America’s best interest. Now it’s many decades later and we’re in a completely different economy requiring different skills, it seems like it makes sense to provide some higher level of education. I don’t think I would support 4 years of free college, but 2 year degrees/trade programs might be interesting. That would cover the basics req’d in most 4-yr programs, then everyone pays their way when they specialize. It also allows, and potentially promotes, the pursuit of a trade/craft, such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. There’s a real shortage of people in those fields and you can make a great living.
@dirtdoctor I started working at a gas (pardon me…) Service Station at $2.25/hr. which was enough for me, not to live, but to pay for my education, which started at $50/semester for tuition in CA at that time.
Apparently CA thought that an educated populace was of value. I agree with dirtdoctor…make the first level of college/trade school inexpensive.
As for the “stimulus”, I have received money that I don’t really need. I will pay taxes on that money, and those who need it won’t, which takes care of the problem somewhat. It saddens me that so many people will be dead or financially ruined after this pandemic is done.
This will be a major test for the incoming administration.
https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/958092745/migrant-caravan-thousands-move-into-guatemala-hoping-to-reach-u-s
@hscottk Isn’t it also a test of the Republicans who say they want unity and healing to work together with Dems to craft comprehensive immigration reform? Or will they obstruct and hope for chaos they can exploit to their base?
@davirom @hscottk Much as I want to see comprehensive immigration reform (especially having gone through the system) I’m not sure the caravan of refugees is totally relevant. That seems like more of a foreign policy issue: if their home country wasn’t so ravaged they’d have less reason to brave such a ridiculously long and dangerous journey.
Then again, perhaps it’s an opening for a deal.
@davirom @klezman Biden supports a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally and is a strong supporter of DACA. The caravan falls into neither of these categories. Will he push to have them stopped before they reach the border? Will he allow them all to petition for asylum in the US? It will be interesting to see if he can handle these issues without angering the far left who helped put him in office.
@davirom @hscottk Exactly.
Refugee laws were not really built for this sort of mass exodous, so perhaps a different approach is needed. But this country should never stop taking in refugees. Just think of all the European Jews who’d have lived through the Holocaust if the USA (and others) had better refugee laws.
@hscottk @klezman Mea culpa. It was a poor choice of specifics. I was hoping to make the broader point that problems affecting the country are the country’s problems, not just the president’s.
@davirom @hscottk @klezman
It seemed more like a rhetorical question steeped in cynicism.
No matter where you stand on the political spectra, I strongly recommend watching Biden’s inaugural address. I truly hope he does his best to steer the country toward unity.
I thought this would be a good day to bring this one back. “A Wine Tasting for the Ages”
@ScottW58
Love it!
@chipgreen @ScottW58 Fantastic
@ScottW58
That was great! Thanks for sharing it here.
@ScottW58 Amazing
@ScottW58 What Fun. Thanks for sharing.
@ScottW58 Perfect post for a politics forum on a wine site!
@davirom
Yeah I’m tired of pitchforks and torches
@davirom @ScottW58
What’s so funny 'bout peace, love and wi-ine tasting?
Time to Make America Nice Again!
@losthighwayz Was America ever nice to begin with? (Serious question)
I despise Trump but the Senate trial feels like a waste of time to me. His encouraging Republicans to storm the Capitol seems like a lifetime ago. All of his milquetoast party opposition has dwindled.
Was listening to a historian discuss the stolen election in the context of 1920s Germany and the great lie.
@canonizer You don’t think it’s important for the Congress to speak loudly that those who foment insurrection to face consequences? Especially our so-called leaders?
@canonizer I hope it is not a waste of time. Actions have consequences.
@danandlisa @klezman
I’m just not sure how this will proceed far enough without the necessary Republican support; meanwhile, the days are short to move forward with the legislative agenda.
I think the comparison to the Great Lie is apt - that Germany could have won the war but for those traitorous peace negotiators. It feels baked at this point and the absolutely insane Q following (which must be somewhere approaching 10-20% of the country) is going to see any result as evidence of the rightness of their made up/insane cause.
I do think crimes should be prosecuted and penalties levied for them. Personally, I would like to see Trump tried criminally, in Georgia and possibly NY, and jailed. I don’t think he needs a 25 year sentence - 36 months would be fine.
@canonizer @danandlisa I agree, but I still think that having Senators on record about this will be valuable for the country in the longer term.
@canonizer “ain’t nothin’ gonna happen”, but those who went into the Capitol need to be prosecuted. And, a thorough investigation of those fomenting needs to happen, with possibly some convictions, and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley need to GTFO.
@FritzCat Mcconnell is backtracking. It isn’t even going to take years for this idea to pervade the Republican party. They couldn’t even step away from it for a month. This is done more to help Cruz’s popularity than anything else he has done in his career.
@canonizer @FritzCat Yeah, seems to be the case. So then I wish nothing more for the Republican party than to disintegrate and leave the Democrats in full charge of the federal government for the next 12-16 years. Not my globally preferred outcome, because I’d like to see a thoughtful right-leaning party in this country. But this Republican party has lost any and all credibility. Very sad.
@canonizer @FritzCat @klezman I predict stark choices come the midterms.
@canonizer @davirom @FritzCat @klezman
No worries, Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill will fix everything.
@canonizer @chipgreen @FritzCat @klezman No, but it’s a start
Both parties need a “flush”.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Anyone?
@davirom
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. If she can get elected in GA, it just shows you how badly Trump and his cohorts screwed the pooch when it came to the runoff election. Perfect example of why sane Conservatives need to take back the Republican party.
@chipgreen
I might even join!
@davirom
Ha!
@chipgreen I just happened on that cartoon this morning, and then you set me up!
@davirom pretty much a standard Republican
@canonizer @davirom
That’s a rather harsh assessment.
@canonizer @chipgreen I agree with Chip, although it would be an easier call if some prominent (non-standard?) Republicans were at least calling her out, more that is, than a senator who has already announced his retirement.
If her opinions don’t cross the line for standard Republicans, then they have enlarged their tent to include her. Her constituents (standard Republicans?) elected her knowing she liked a Facebook post in January 2019 reading “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove Nancy Pelosi. She has called the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings hoaxes, so the leadership placed her on the education committee. Oh, and Jews are responsible for CA wildfires with lasers from space.
A Trump inspired (if not led) insurrection didn’t do it, this woman hasn’t done it, what will it take before standard Republicans rise up for more than a news cycle to say this is not who we are?
@canonizer @davirom
This situation is still in progress. Although the downside to disavowing her is that it could turn her into a martyr of sorts, making her even more popular among the conspiracy, nationalist and militia types - especially if she is expelled from Congress or forced to resign. Regardless, I hope that she is at least removed from the Education & Labor Committee.
@chipgreen I thought I was done with this particular thread, but I just stumbled on my new favorite quotation of the day. It comes from John Cowan, the Republican who ran against Marjorie Taylor Greene (“MTG”) in the 2020 primary:
“MTG is the AOC of the GOP. But as much as I hate to say it, AOC is nowhere as crazy as this,” Cowan said. “I’m a neurosurgeon. I diagnose crazy every day. It took five minutes talking to her to realize there were bats in the attic. And then we saw she had skeletons in the closet.”
He is considering running against her again in 2022.
@chipgreen @davirom
re: my harsh assessment
The likelihood is that MTG will vote in line with party 99% of the time, except when she thinks there is better exposure by breaking with them in some presently unforeseeable moment of bipartisanship. I’m sure a debt ceiling battle is in our future.
Comparing AOC (who believes in social safety nets) and MTG (who believes Jews created a laser to start CA wildfires) is beyond contemptible. MTG is one of the costs for years of undermining democracy.
@canonizer @chipgreen At the risk of trying to mind-read Dr. Cowan, I don’t think he is saying there is some kind of crazy-ometer that can be strapped onto people to determine the empirical and therefore comparable level of crazy inside. (But wouldn’t it be nice?) I interpret the quotation as the speaker saying he has not interviewed AOC but he disagrees with her ideas and positions and he considers them unworkable, undesirable, or “crazy”. Whereas his assessment of MTG is based on first hand knowledge and is clinical. Different kinds of crazy. YMMV.
@chipgreen @davirom I think that’s charitable. It’s borderline unprofessional to diagnose people publicly, not to mention that neurosurgeons are not psychologists/psychiatrists/neurologists. Having an MD doesn’t make someone an expert on the entire strata of medical knowledge.
If he is exhibiting clinical knowledge of MTG, that suggests he is doing so of AOC as well in stating that she is not as crazy.
@canonizer @chipgreen Thank you, I was trying to be charitable. The word choice of “clinical” was mine, not Dr. Cowan’s, so I don’t think his professionalism is at issue here. I stated up front that I was attempting to read his mind. An alternate theory might be that his assessment is based on their public statements and in his political judgement MTG is farther off the right wing tail of the political spectrum than OAC is off the left. Still mind reading.
@chipgreen @davirom I think that’s a lot of nuance. Practically speaking, Cowan and MTG have the same politics. They share the identical constituency. They are more alike than either is to AOC, who, again, supports safety nets and not racism (what a monster).
So best guess is the Trump defense will be to put the Senate to sleep.
@canonizer The repetition assuredly helped.
I found their performance disgraceful on the whole. Although they made a few good points, they still missed the entire point. Wilfully.
Half the Senate is asleep most days anyway so the bar is pretty low.
This is absolutely scathing. Also, fairly accurate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/us/politics/trump-impeachment-republicans.html
…
…
I don’t post here much, but when I heard the news I was in disbelief and I’m wondering how others feel. From any/all sides.
If jury members announced before a trial that they already knew how they’d vote and the trial wouldn’t change their minds, the court would dismiss those jury members.
Twice now Republican senators have done just that and voted to acquit Trump. They have failed to uphold the oath they took when they entered office. Many of them were acting like disinterested students during a school assembly, actively ignoring the prosecution while they made their case. There was ample evidence showing Trump incited the insurrection. I honestly don’t believe there’s any denying it.
This shouldn’t be about Republicans vs Democrats. It should be about human decency, and Trump is an awful human being. Yes… that’s my opinion, but millions of other people feel the same way and I’m clearly not an outlier.
In the end, the world saw the violence that was incited by Trump, and the Republican senators chose to look the other way. I sincerely hope when midterm elections roll around, the elected officials who have shown such apathy do not get re-elected.
@kawichris650 IMO it’s not about whether Trump is a terrible human being or not. It’s about whether he violated his oath of office, and he most assuredly did. The defense didn’t even argue against that point - because they couldn’t.
Forty-three republicans violated their oath of office, but since there will be no repercussions, and in fact they will be rewarded for their treachery, nothing will change. They are contemptible lapdogs who should be run out of Washington on a rail.
As entertaining as it is to discuss nothing but negative opinions of Republican politicians and those who support them ad nauseum, does anyone have any thoughts about Andrew Cuomo?
I checked out cnn.com for shits and giggles and did a ctrl-f for “Cuomo”. Out of over 200 headlines on their front page, how many hits do you think I got? If you said “0” you are a winner.
I guess they would rather report about Ted Cruz’s Cancun trip (prominently featured) than the fact that Cuomo’s own party has turned against him for his handling of nursing homes and their residents during the worst of the pandemic. Now that his own staff has admitted to the lies and cover-ups, while others have come forward with their own tales of being berated and/or threatened by Cuomo to regurgitate his talking points (“or else”), what should be done? A federal investigation seems like a starting point. With all the tales of bullying and belittling, Cuomo is sounding an awful lot like that person Dems love to hate (hint: he just moved to Florida). Can/should he be pressured to resign?
@chipgreen I haven’t read enough about this to have an opinion on whether he should resign or how culpable he was/is in the nursing homes matter.
But I am unimpressed (verging on appalled, actually) that CNN’s home page doesn’t mention it at all. Not that I’ve ever thought CNN was a top notch source, to be sure.
I did notice that the NY Times has run several stories on him recently that paint him in a bad light.
(For those keeping score - NY Times remains a much better source of news than CNN, web or broadcast. Also the media bias chart has been updated: https://www.adfontesmedia.com/static-mbc/
NY Times remains high up, but has moved left. Fox has moved both to the right and down. Both compared to prior versions.)
@klezman
I saw it on Yahoo’s front page earlier in the day while at work and for some reason wondered what CNN had to say about it. I scrolled up and down and couldn’t find anything. It seemed like a pretty big story so I figured it had to be there somewhere which is when I ctrl-f’d it.
I did eventually find an article when I used their Search function, however, so they didn’t ignore it completely and the article was dated 2/18 so it is surprising it couldn’t break the top 200 on the very day it was published. Maybe Chris Cuomo has enough clout to bury it?
Anyway, I am surprised that you aren’t more up on this as it was widely known for some time that he was sending elderly people with Covid to nursing homes instead of hospitals, thus exposing the most vulnerable to the disease, in effect killing hundreds if not thousands that might not have otherwise been infected. What wasn’t known at the time was that he was also covering up the number of those deaths.
@chipgreen I’m up on the first part of it, at least a bit. I’ve not been following the nursing home stuff as much in the last couple months since our work on estimating that risk concluded back then.
As you know, I try to not have different standards for people with different party affiliations. If he’s covered stuff up or committed crimes he should suffer the consequences.
@chipgreen @klezman
This is my first time hearing about it, but nonetheless I couldn’t agree more. I stand by my previous comment about human decency over party affiliation. It’s unfortunate so many people with political power see it the other way around.
@chipgreen @kawichris650 @klezman Partisan finger pointing, imo, is a zero sum game. Cuomo did this, Cruz did that, AOC said this, MTG said that, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. To move the country forward, assuming that is what the people on this board would like to see, I suggest changing the focus to issues instead of personalities. Yes, I have a history here and this proposal may seem convenient as the villain du jour is a Democrat, but there is a new administration that seems also to care about policy instead of just “winning”. As I see it, among the issues that might, possibly, find middle ground and enactment are the 3 I’s: immigration, infrastructure, and insurance (medical). OK, I fudged the last one a little to make it an “I”. Thoughts?
@chipgreen @davirom @kawichris650 Yes, please, to all three.
Then add in voting rights and human rights. The house has already introduced bills on both of those issues.
@chipgreen @davirom @kawichris650 @klezman If I had only one thing, let it be term limits.
@chipgreen @davirom @kawichris650 @Mark_L I’m not convinced term limits will solve much on their own. The polarization and inaction from Congress seems, imo, more a result of the way they get elected rather than how long they’re there. Move to a ranked choice voting system nationwide and jungle primaries. That’ll get candidates to move toward the centre rather than pandering to the extremes of their party’s base.
Put in some reasonable term limits, say 18 years or so, and you’re looking at what should be a much better system. Coupled with a voting rights improvement (e.g. standardizing early voting, ballot design, mail-in ballot rules, and banning gerrymandering) this country could even become a leader in democracy again!
@davirom @kawichris650 @klezman
You can call it partisan finger pointing and of course I did purposely single out a Democrat to demonize but it’s about his actions and words, not his party.
It looks like he could very well get impeached in the near future. I believe that you have also brought up some worthy discussion topics but we can talk about more than one thing at a time and I would encourage anyone who has an opinion or something to say about the Cuomo situation to please do so.
@chipgreen I don’t know all there is to know about nursing-homegate, but it appears that Cuomo and his people made a big mistake early on when little was known about the 'rona. And, we did have a huge mess in NY City. However, since that time he has worked tirelessly for the people of NY State, and I want him to continue to do so.
@FritzCat
You are either very forgiving or a Cuomo apologist. You might feel differently if your Uncle had died of Covid in a NY nursing home like State Senator Ron Kim, whose livelihood was apparently threatened by Cuomo for daring to speak out.
I know you are an AOC fan. She is not so forgiving and is calling for a full investigation. Do you agree with her or would you prefer to chalk it up to honest mistakes and ignorance without an investigation?
@davirom @kawichris650 @klezman
AFA your 3 I’s;
Immigration: I am in favor of the wall and disappointed that Trump did not build more of it. However, I am also in favor of doing something to streamline the process of becoming an American citizen so that it is easier for immigrants to come to this country legally, on a path towards citizenship. But those who are here illegally or arrive illegally need to be sent back and turned back, respectively.
Infrastructure: I am very much in favor of spending money on our Nation’s infrastructure. Cybersecurity, bridges, roads, electrical grids, mass transit, water and drainage systems, etc. I would also like to see much of that work being done in inner cities. Let’s rebuild instead of continuously expanding into previously uninhabited areas, destroying natural habitats along the way and then claiming that animals like deer are a public nuisance and need to be culled now that they are roaming the streets that used to be forests.
Insurance (medical): Obamacare has been an abomination, bowing to big pharma and insurance companies who wrote much of the legislation that had to be passed to find out what was inside (thanks, Nancy!). Obama was so determined to create this legacy for himself that he sold his soul to ram it through. I believe he had good intentions initially but he was all too willing to throw them by the wayside in order to get a deal done. He should have stood his ground on the single payer option and insisted on price controls for pharmaceuticals, for starters. Yes, I would actually support a single payer system. Instead, we got a half-assed deal that, while successful in getting more people covered by medical insurance than had been previously, failed in so many other ways as to negate that fact and more. Meanwhile the cost of medical insurance, hospital care and drugs keeps on going up much faster than the rate of inflation just like it did before. Sadly, I feel it would require too much time, effort and money to repeal the ACA and start over but let’s fix what’s broken!
Finally, an “E” for Education. Props to Biden for shooting down the loan forgiveness crap. But at the same time, what can be done to lessen the cost of a college education? I believe most Universities are top heavy. Let’s start by getting rid of half of the administrators and their bloated salaries. This, from the son of a former Dean of the Engineering school at CWRU, ha!
@chipgreen I don’t think I’ve said I’m a fan of AOC, but I do support a full investigation of what happened in nursing homes because of Cuomo and his administration. Until that investigation has occurred, I am going to be a Cuomo apologist. I’m sorry that anyone had to die, or have a relative die due to COVID-19, but I think that Cuomo is doing more to save residents from that fate than many state governors and federal folks from the last administration. Did Cuomo make mistakes early-on? I bet he did, due to lack of knowledge. Is it human nature to be embarrassed by mistakes and try to hide them, and even lash out at people who might uncover those mistakes? Yes it is. Has he worked hard since then? Yes he has. I want to know more, and see where the investigation goes before condemning Cuomo.
@chipgreen
Time to talk substance! I’ll just pick a couple things.
First, why do you think a wall on the US-Mexico border is a good idea? We have far better technology using drones and remote sensing equipment to catch people coming across illegally. That approach is also far superior environmentally.
I also understand the appeal of “punishing” people who came here illegally. (More than most, I might add, since I’ve come here through proper processes.) But removing the ~11 million illegal immigrants from this country will have a whole lot of effects we don’t like, probably starting with a massive spike in food prices. I think the best solution out of a whole lot of suboptimal options is to legalize those here prior to the start of the Biden administration (as in the current bill) but only as far as getting permanent residency with the standard back-taxes/penalties/etc. I think citizenship should only be an option for the “dreamers”. IMO, that addresses reality while also not overly rewarding those who came here illegally.
I disagree with your characterisation of how the ACA came to be, but there’s no point in litigating that here. I did not see any specific issues you have with it aside from the lack of a public option or moving fully to single-payer. I agree a public option or moving to single-payer is the right answer.
@chipgreen
Immigration: The assault on the capitol showed that physical barriers don’t work. As I said previously, I used to be considered conservative and I still object to spending $22 million per mile of wall even if I thought it might work (see article). Mexico stated right out the gate they wouldn’t pay for it, and didn’t, so who does? The American taxpayer, specifically out of funds intended for military counter-narcotics. IMO the wall is both a bad idea and poorly executed. I agree with you that there needs to be an easier path to legality if not citizenship, and I would add a guest worker program. I don’t see sending “them” back as a practical solution. I don’t like the privacy implications of identifying “them”, the potential costs of operating such an endeavor, the impacts on our economy as alluded to by @klezman, or stigmatizing ICE agents who have a legitimate function, by having them show up, sometimes in the middle of the night, to forcibly remove people from their homes or workplaces (see article). I also object to administrators like the acting director in 2017 quoted in the article who believes it is the agency’s mandate to instill fear.
Infrastructure: I agree with everything you said.
Insurance (medical): I have a problem labeling as an “abomination” a program that has provided access to healthcare to tens of millions of previously uninsured or uninsurable people. There are defects in the law which I would characterize as attempts to bring Republicans on board while Obama was still naïve enough to believe congressional Republicans were interested in anything more than obstruction. I would point out that from the passage of the ACA in 2010 to today there has never been a comprehensive plan from Republicans to replace it. Kill it, yes. Replace it, no. I agree with you that a form of single payer is a better solution, but back in 2010 it was a non-starter. My interpretation is that Obama decided to get his foot in the door and, as has happened, people would be satisfied (see article) and open to a more comprehensive solution down the road. As an aside, it was Bush II who pushed through the legislation that forbids Medicare from negotiating drug prices (see article) thereby contributing to the drug cost spiral.
Education: I agree with you both on loan forgiveness (with a caveat) and the exorbitant cost of college education. I was fortunate to get my kids through while it only outrageous
. Politically, I don’t know how one legislates to predominantly private institutions concerning their org charts. Each of the states could of course mandate changes for their individual state-run colleges and universities, but I suspect that would result in migration of faculty (who are often also administrators) to states or private institutions with fewer restrictions. My unworkable proposal is to dissolve college athletics or limit their budgets including, no especially, coaches salaries, to what can be raised from outside sources, e.g., television, apparel, advertising, etc. BTW, the caveat is: If there is a way to make higher ed more affordable then folks who went through the system before those changes are implemented should get some kind of concession.
Whew.
@chipgreen New Yorker here - Cuomo has always been terrible. His petty spats with deblahblah at the beginning of the pandemic caused extra confusion and probably death. His cover up and threats about nursing home revelations is scandalous. But the lack of support he received from the federal government, when they knew (see Trump’s interviews with Bob Woodward) covid was highly contagious and airborne is perhaps the only mitigating factor in how much I dislike Cuomo.
Cuomo is an arrogant and self aggrandizing pos. Publishing a book about his success in dealing with covid strikes me as extraordinarily egotistical. For all of that, covid hit the densest part of the country (from European travel, not China) first and, lacking control over interstate/international travel, knowledge and equipment, was set up to fail. Additionally, Trump was reportedly wanted blue states to suffer
Anyway, I’m not going to lose sleep if Cuomo goes to jail. F him.
@canonizer
The more I learn/read about Cuomo the more he seems like the “opposite side of the same coin” with Trump. Although Trump has him (and pretty much everyone) beat on the narcissism index, Cuomo doesn’t appear to be far behind. Writing a book bragging about his own leadership skills while still in the middle of a pandemic, the early stages of which he effed up bigtime? And the end was still nowhere in sight? Yeah, pat yourself on the back, Andy!
@klezman
I am good with using other methods than a physical wall, especially if they are more efficient.
I am not in favor of actively looking for people to deport but when you run across them - hasta luego!
I do not agree with legalizing everyone who is here already but I could accept some sort of amnesty period where they can register and either get on a path to citizenship or a work visa or whatever, as long as they are going through the proper channels.
@davirom
It looks like we may have more in common than previously thought.
This is just the type of common ground I wish our politicians would seek to find as a jumping off point to working together to get things done. But would opinion based news allow the entrenched masses to find it acceptable?
No moderates allowed!
Oh, the outrage of Dinos and Rinos! Prehistoric politics?
@chipgreen given your response, it sounds like we’re actually on basically the same page. I’m not sure the difference between providing a path to legal status compared to how you phrased it. Anything meeting what I described would necessitate implementing it basically how you described.
So where’s the party for the “sane centre”?
@klezman
Or, “sane center”.
OK, let’s pass legislation to deal with the illegals who are already here, then adopt Canada’s policies towards immigration going forward. What do you think?
@chipgreen I don’t actually know the details of my home country’s immigration policies.
But a clear merit-based system obviously makes sense. The system in this country is crazy for a number of reasons. And having been though it myself I can attest to how utterly capricious it feels, even if you’re following the rules.
@chipgreen @klezman True story: My daughter (US citizen) got a masters degree in Canada. On the way in, Canadian immigration told her emphatically that she had a student visa and whenever she dropped out or graduated, she had to go back. After she graduated my wife and I drove up to collect her and on the way out the immigration officer asked her, sincerely I believe, “What, you’re not staying?”
@chipgreen @davirom That’s hilarious
@chipgreen @klezman Yeah. The kicker to the story is the 3 of us all think it was the same guy both times.
Ironic that Cuomo’s nursing home deaths scandal has been overshadowed by his sexual harassment scandal(s). To me at least, the former is more egregious than the latter but it’s all about the “me too” movement these days.
@chipgreen clearly he’s a lovely guy.
My stance on harassment or assault claims has always been the same: listen to the accuser(s), investigate honestly and thoroughly, and take appropriate action. Jumping to “just believe” an accuser and stop there is just insane.
@chipgreen I think the nursing home cover up is worse than the crime until we know how quickly the federal government was sharing info with NY.
That said, anything that knocks cuomo out is fine with me. He’s always seemed like classic Albany to me, opportunistic and out for himself.
Any comments, especially from the right-leaning folks here, about Biden’s progress in getting vaccines into people? And the revelation that he brokered a deal between J&J and Merck to speed up production of the J&J vaccine and is using the Defense Production Act to speed this all up?
To my mind, this is what leadership on SARS-CoV-2 looks like. It’s also showing the best of what government can do to help people.
@klezman Gonna get crickets. They’re all preparing for Trump’s inauguration tomorrow.
@klezman re: J&J and Merck…
They were already setting this up in January, just waiting for the approval to move forward. Common practice from what I’ve heard.
How is it that ‘what am I doing here?’ Biden assisted this?
@FritzCat @klezman
Cuz… all the right leaning folks are Q-anon?
Props to Biden for not hindering the ramped up production and props to Trump for having re-appropriated $10 billion along the way to keep “Operation Warp Speed” at warp speed. One of Trump’s greatest accomplishments IMHO and it’s good to see Biden take the ball and run with it.
@rjquillin they were doing that in January? First I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t read much about it.
But common practice? Not even close for this sort of thing. The closest thing I can think of that’s common is for one company to license a drug to another to do the manufacturing and marketing. Also, Merck was still making its own vaccine until January 25 when its trials sucked.
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/03/973117712/how-the-white-house-got-2-pharma-foes-to-work-together-on-covid-19-vaccine
According to this, any talks in January were dead by then.
@chipgreen @FritzCat the response from the incoming administration was that although operation warp speed may have helped speed along the vaccines’ development (and those involved have different opinions on that, from what I’ve read) the previous administration had precisely zero plans for actually getting vaccines into people. I honestly wish it had been otherwise because maybe I’d have a vaccine by now. But here we are.
@klezman @rjquillin the “Pfizer vaccine” is actually a partnership with BioNTech (because Pfizer didn’t do MRNA) and Oxford partnered with AstraZeneca (because Oxford couldn’t do manufacturing.) Even greedy healthcare companies occasionally prioritize well-being.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @klezman How long would it have taken for you to get vaccine without operation warp speed?
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @rjquillin yes, I know about the other companies and universities involved. Not sure the relevance.
I think you’re asking two different questions. How long would it have taken to get a vaccine developed and approved without warp speed? Probably not much different because Moderna was already testing theirs within a few weeks after it was declared a pandemic. That’s the thing about RNA vaccines - quick to develop. My understanding is that where it helped was providing assurances and maybe funds for scaling up production.
How much longer or shorter to get vaccines in arms once approved? The evidence says warp speed did nothing on that front given there were zero distribution plans when Biden took office.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @klezman @rjquillin I guess I really don’t care if bureaucrats, luck or skill gets the credit for an FDA-approved vaccine 12 months from the emergence of a novel virus. We take it for granted now because it happened, but last year experts said that was impossible. I’m just not sure how much credit to give the guy who’s been there for 6 weeks.
What I will give Pres. Biden credit for is getting schools reopened ASAP. Must sound less reckless coming out of his mouth.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @rjquillin
Yes, experts thought it was impossible because a RNA vaccine had never been done before. That has zero to do with any administration and everything to do with the scientists who’ve been working on it for the past 25-ish years. It also had to do with the logistics of a clinical trial having enough data to affirm safety. It’s “fortunate” that so many people got infected in the summer/fall around the world that we got safety and efficacy data far faster than expected. So I’m not really giving Biden any credit for getting the vaccine developed, nor am I giving Trump much credit for it. The thing I am giving Biden credit for is managing the logistics of distribution and actually getting vaccines into people’s arms. I’m also giving him credit for bringing Merck and J&J together in this deal. (Similarly to how I do give Trump credit for the Israel-UAE deal.)
As for schools, Trump wanted to just leave everything open and to hell with whoever got infected and died.* Biden actually wants to do things safely. A world of difference, imo.
Honestly, the pandemic was a chance for Trump to show he could put politics aside for even half a second, listen to the best available evidence, and lead an effort to minimize the effects of the pandemic. I truly wish he hadn’t failed so spectacularly on all counts.
*Yes, that’s hyperbole.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @klezman
Strange though, how both delayed announcing until just after the elections. Can’t give Trump any credit for cutting any red tape that helped development and production.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @rjquillin
If he cut red tape of that sort I’ll happily give him credit for it. I just never saw anything telling me that he did.
I’m not sure why you’re implying that releases of scientific data from Merck showing that its drug didn’t work and they were stopping development was somehow politically timed by it being on Jan 25. J&J doesn’t even enter into that since they’ve been working on getting their vaccine approved, which got through just last week.
Hard to believe, I guess, that not everything in this world is political?
@klezman
I wasn’t suggesting there was, I’m referencing the November announcements from Pfizer and Moderna.
@rjquillin the results of their trials in November? I’m sure given that they were positive results that they released them as quickly as they could.
@FritzCat @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin
The Trump administration’s cutting through red tape was at least as impressive as the speed with which vaccines were developed. Do you have any idea how long it usually takes to get FDA approval?
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @klezman
Some will just be unwilling to accept Trump did anything of value. Personality was not his greatest accomplishment, policy was.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @rjquillin
I know that any president would have minimized the requirements as Trump did. At least I sure as hell hope so. I think literally every regulatory agency around the world convened their expert panels to review the evidence as quickly as possible. To whatever extent Trump helped that happen with FDA: great! Emergency Use Authorization (the pathway it was approved) is not a new Trump creation, though. I think it’s been around for decades. (And yes, I know how long drug development usually takes, being a bioengineer. We had many classes discussing it in grad school. There’s a lot to discuss on that front.)
I’m willing to give Trump credit for things of value he did. I just happen to be of the opinion that most of what he “accomplished” on the policy front was a travesty rather than good. Obviously ymmv on that one! Even the things that were ostensibly “good”, like the tax bill, was a dud for us, raising our taxes by 5 figures.
@chipgreen @FritzCat @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin
I still don’t understand why conservatives still want to defend how Trump handled the virus. Yes, I give his administration credit for purchasing vaccine doses in advance to promote production, but I don’t see the speed of vaccine development and approval as being unique to his administration. Is the argument that an Obama or Biden administration would have slowed down the process? I just don’t buy that.
I personally think his handling of the virus cost him a 2nd term, and likely thousands of Americans their lives. Imagine if he actually told people how dangerous the virus was from the beginning instead of saying it was like a flu and would just disappear. Then there’s making mask wearing a political thing. Once scientists realized that masks were important, how many infections could have been prevented if he embraced and promoted wearing masks? On top of that, at the time when America had the highest rates of infections and deaths, his sole focus was himself and lying about a rigged/stolen election,
@rjquillin
I’ll give credit where credit is due. Here’s a quote from The Washington Post:
I agree with Klez and his point about FDA emergency use authorization. Trump obviously didn’t implement that. Nonetheless, if the above quote is true and the fastest previous vaccine development was four years, then the nine month time frame for getting a Covid-19 vaccine is certainly impressive.
I’ll credit Trump and Operation Warp Speed for cutting through red tape, getting funding, and helping to speed up the process. However, he initially downplayed the virus and a lot of lives were lost as a result of that.
I think it’s just as (if not more) important to credit all of the researchers and all of the time they spent working around the clock in order to develop safe and effective vaccines as quickly as they did.
@dirtdoctor @FritzCat @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin
Personally, I was defending how he fast-tracked vaccine creation, which is not the same thing as how he handled the virus.
Yes, imagine if he did. What would that level of fear have done to the American psyche? Suicides, overdoses, mental illness and domestic violence all would have likely risen even more than they have over the past year. The stock market may have crashed. Even more businesses would have failed. More people out of work. More people without adequate food. More hoarding of supplies. The list goes on and on.
I’m not saying that I think his approach was the right one but I am saying that overplaying the danger of COVID-19 might have been even worse than underplaying it. No matter who was in charge and no matter how they handled it, people would have been unhappy. It was pretty much a no-win situation.
One of the things that makes me angry is the way the mask issue was addressed initially by health professionals, namely the CDC and also Dr. Fauci. They specifically told people not to buy or use masks. They knew full well that masks would help stop the spread of COVID. I remember having this discussion with my partner at work. They said almost immediately that it was an airborne disease spread through respiratory droplets, yet we were supposed to believe that washing hands and not touching our faces was the best way to prevent it? Oh, and immediately disrobe and wash all your clothes in hot water after returning home from work each day! And don’t touch the bottoms of your shoes, you could be carrying it around!
They also made it clear that there was a finite supply of masks and that they were needed by hospital staff and first responders, so you didn’t have to read between the lines too hard to figure it out. If the masks were not helpful in preventing the spread then why were they so critical for those on the front lines? Also, use some common sense - the virus is spread through the air in respiratory droplets. That means that you breathe them in. A mask could only help prevent that.
Yet, here they all were telling us not to use masks because they wouldn’t help prevent it. It was THE BIG LIE. And when you start out with a BIG LIE it’s a little harder to get people to trust you down the line.
While I agree with you that Trump should have promoted mask wearing once the CDC and Dr. Fauci finally admitted the truth to the American public, a lot of damage had already been done.
I agree that Trump went off the rails there at the end. I guess that when the going gets tough, narcissists ultimately resort to narcissism.
@chipgreen @dirtdoctor @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin Grifters gonna grift.
@dirtdoctor Not suggesting that Biden, Obama or Bush would have ‘slowed vaccine development down’. What I do think is that this particular administration cut red tape, funded development and organized testing phases in a novel way. I know the guy in the oval office wasn’t a scientist, but I do believe he empowered officials to ask “what is holding us up” and overcome those hurdles in a novel way.
Now, as far as your assertion that his
Emphatically agree with this (but to be clear I don’t miss him)
This is more questionable. I would like to point to the discussion of the differences between California’s and Florida’s health outcomes. The only point I’d like to make is that there is only so much elected officials can do when faced with a novel virus. We’d do well to acknowledge the uncertainty.
@chipgreen @dirtdoctor @FritzCat @KitMarlot @rjquillin
Oy, so much here to address! I’ll see what I can get to quickly since I need to get to work!
Yes, exactly.
Ridiculously impressive, yes. But even that misses 80% of it. The actual vaccine was in a phase 1 clinical trial 63 days after the viral genome was sequenced: March 16. (Note that Operation Warp Speed was announced on May 15, 2 months later. So let’s get our timelines straight here.) All because of 25+ years of research into using mRNA to deliver the antigen-creating material alongside novel ways to deliver it to cells in a way that makes vaccine development extremely rapid. That was the whole point, after all. Moderna and BioNTech both saw the emergent need for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and swiftly changed their development priorities to meet a global need. This is a great example of corporations doing the right thing and being nimble - I wish we saw it more often.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment. There’s a very big difference between fear-mongering and being honest yet reassuring. Trump was the wrong guy for the job, to be sure, given his malignant narcissism, but he didn’t even try. Can you imagine the alternate world where Trump encouraged a nationwide lockdown for 3 weeks, coordinated a strategy to get everything opened back up, and (especially) kids back in school? He’d have been a hero for it, and I’d have been first in line to say so. That was about the only way to avoid the calamities you mention, which are most assuredly real.
I’m mildly annoyed at how this was handled by the pros, but much more filled with fiery rage about how Trump dealt with it, by turning it into a political issue. Remember, early on Trump basically said this was a “blue state problem” and we could all go suck on an egg.
Your work partner’s analysis of the situation was flat out wrong. Sorry. Masks serve a variety of functions, and there’s also a wide variety of ways a virus can spread by “respiratory droplet”. Early on in the pandemic, the initial assessment by all involved was that this virus was NOT airborne. In a scientific context, “airborne” specifically means via aerosol: viral particles are suspended in the air mixed with a water-based droplet AND that those droplets are small enough to stay airborne without falling to the floor AND that there’d be enough virus in them to infect somebody breathing them in. Early on in the pandemic we most certainly did not know that. It was initially assumed that it spread by larger respiratory droplets that do not form aerosols and fall onto surfaces. Much work was done in the scientific community to assess how true that was, leading to early recommendations that were proven wrong and also leading us to eventually conclude that this virus indeed does spread via aerosol. Depending on how much evidence you needed to be convinced, this was established some time between June and September. This article from August suggests significant disagreement remained at the time: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7413047/
Now that we’ve established the proper timeline and facts, I can put out my opinion that guidelines actually changed far too slowly to keep pace with the scientific discoveries. The early recommendations to wash your food and boxes when you received them was (imo) over the top and bordering on silly - but remember that at the time we also thought the fatality rate was around 5% and that it spread very easily via fomite (fomite = live virus on surfaces, usually as a result of respiratory droplets landing on them). So while the public health messages, imo, should have been far more measured and nuanced, they weren’t totally out of bounds. This is also where I agree with you, chip, that going overboard could have easily crossed the line into fear-mongering.
As for masks. That was always a tough one. If we were South Korea then this would never have been and issue because they had lots of masks. But this is the United States and mask supply was nowhere near enough to keep medical personnel sufficiently supplied. Remember the hoarding of canned food and toilet paper last spring? Medical masks and N95 masks were, in this country, always only intended for professional use, and supplies were set for that use. IMO, it was reasonable last March/April to tell the public to leave the masks for the pros - not just for protecting them from COVID but also for just daily use in surgeries and in professions where you’re exposed to shit in the air. Was it objectively right or wrong? I don’t know, and 20-20 hindsight provides a whole lot of bias in evaluating decisions made at the time.
Not sure why you’re hating on Fauci. The guy is a dedicated public servant scientist. He was also muzzled by Trump, to the point where he was no longer allowed to speak his mind.
Even ignoring that, Fauci (and the rest of the scientific team) did a pretty good job of staying current with the science. There was no lie here. The established timeline of scientific progress (which was in itself extremely impressive) jibes pretty well with when the CDC teams changed their recommendations. If I’m missing something on these timelines, please feel free to correct the record.
I’m not sure comparing Florida to California (or any pair of states) is all that fair. California had a ton of early cases and then for a while was the model for the nation, keeping case rates low. Then transmission (possibly from new variants, we’ve since learned) jumped up and we regressed to the mean. I think more instructive comparisons are to other countries around the world. The biggest difference here is the (politically-based) rejection of basic public health measures that kept transmission rates high. The overall level of unhealthy people in the country also keeps our death rates high. So yes, there’s nothing any president could have done after the fact about the general level of comorbidities, and our death rates likely would be higher than much of the rest of the world, but we still have 5x the cases and deaths compared to our population. Why does the USA have 5x the cases than it should compared to its population?
Also with respect to Operation Warp Speed, turns out the BioNTech didn’t do anything with Operation Warp Speed aside from sell a bunch of doses to the USA last July.
So let’s please give credit where due, but not overstate or understate how much these programs affected their development.
And let’s also remember that Operation Warp Speed completely neglected to establish a delivery plan for the vaccines. I will give the Biden administration credit for getting that piece of the puzzle properly solved, although they had precisely nothing to do with getting the vaccines created/approved. The number of doses getting out to states/localities and the number actually making it into people’s arms is increasing weekly.
@kawichris650 @rjquillin the 9 month thing isn’t as impressive when we pause to acknowledge the numerous vaccines created without ows funding were created in the same amount of time. It’s somewhat lucky that we were well equipped to sequence and vaccinate this type of virus.
So what about the now-passed-the-House For The People Act?
Section-by-section summary here: https://democracyreform-sarbanes.house.gov/sites/democracyreform.house.gov/files/SIMPLE-SECTION-BY-SECTION_H.R.-1_FINAL.pdf
I’m finding it hard to disagree with any of the provisions as written in this summary. I’m happy to entertain analyses as to why any of these provisions would be bad for the country.
Nothing to see here, this isn’t the election you’re looking for.
@rjquillin So what I’m seeing is that the system works. One person committed fraud and has been caught. Good!
This is a worthy read for us all: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/03/opinion/progressives-conservatives-think-again.html
@klezman That’s right, but it’s hard!
I’m not sure I care that much about the actual source of the novel coronavirus that upended the world, but according to Josh Rogin (who writes for WaPo and just published a book on the topic) In 2018, Diplomats Warned of Risky Coronavirus Experiments in a Wuhan Lab. No One Listened.
He also claims that the Wuhan Seafood market origin theory has been discredited, which I didn’t realize.
This topic doesn’t belong in a ‘politics’ thread, but for whatever reason it became political (like seemingly everything about 2020.)
@KitMarlot
IFTFY
Yes, the “wet market” origin story has long been unlikely at best and discredited at worst. It does seem likely that it escaped from a lab, and there are certainly conspiracy theories out there that this was some sort of biological weapon (for which there is no evidence).
I care about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 for only one reason: what lessons can we learn to help make sure we can (a) be more prepared for the next one and (b) prevent the next one to the degree possible.
@KitMarlot @klezman
I read the article a couple days ago. I have always suspected it originated in that lab.
It is a political issue when China tries to cover it up and lies about it, as it spreads around the World and people are dying from it. Who knows how long they knew about it and what they did to those who tried to spread the news. We now know for a fact that it was in the US already in January 2020 at the latest. There is evidence that it may have already been here in November or December of 2019.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot sur, agreed with all that. Except I don’t think any of that makes it an American political issue. International diplomatic issue, definitely.
@KitMarlot @klezman
I’m not sure how you separate International diplomacy from politics but, ok… probably splitting hares at this point.
@chipgreen @KitMarlot just making a distinction between domestic tribal fighting vs international politics.
Split hare sounds delicious!
@chipgreen @KitMarlot @klezman
Spatchcock; can you do that to a hare?
@chipgreen @KitMarlot @rjquillin if your scissors are sharp enough…
@chipgreen @KitMarlot @klezman @rjquillin I’m telling the Easter Bunny to hop away from you guys as fast as it can.
@chipgreen @InFrom @KitMarlot @klezman
I’ve said it before and I’m compelled to say it again. Cuomo and Trump, two sides of the same coin.
These columns are usually quite long, but are good reads. He tries to pull together various academic and political writings to give a survey of what people are thinking.
This week’s column is quite relevant to the polarization we’ve seen in the country but also in this forum.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/opinion/biden-stimulus-culture-war.html
Interesting thoughts on abortion. At least some anti-abortion/“pro-life” advocates seem to finally be realizing that “pro-life” means you need to deal with the lives that actually come into the world, not just ensuring that they get there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/opinion/pro-life-movement-14th-amendment.html