US Politics-2022

[Lou]

I don't think Romney has a role in today's Republican Party.

If trump decides not to run in 2024, I think deSantis will be their nominee.

ETA: The RNC has voted unanimously to whithdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates. In the aftermath of Jan. 6, the GOP had the opportunity to draw away from trump. Instead, they fully re-embraced him. He is what they are, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. This withdrawal is just one more affirmation of that.

Color me optimistic but IMHO I think the Republican Party is two or three big headlines away from getting away from this hole they have dug.

Several of the members of the Republican leadership have proven that they have no principals or values and will just go wherever they deem their best chance of winning is. There are already many open investigations, scandals, and such. I imagine that in time some of these guys will be discredited, disbarred, impeached, or convicted. And of course a few might just not be reelected.

I don't envision it to be like dominoes falling. but sort of a few smart ones will detect a change in the direction of the wind and will head in a different direction.

 

[Mischief]

Color me optimistic but IMHO I think the Republican Party is two or three big headlines away from getting away from this hole they have dug.

Several of the members of the Republican leadership have proven that they have no principals or values and will just go wherever they deem their best chance of winning is. There are already many open investigations, scandals, and such. I imagine that in time some of these guys will be discredited, disbarred, impeached, or convicted. And of course a few might just not be reelected.

I don't envision it to be like dominoes falling. but sort of a few smart ones will detect a change in the direction of the wind and will head in a different direction.

I hope you are proven right in your optimism, Lou. I'm more pessimistic than I' ve ever been.

 

[Lou]

I hope you are proven right in your optimism, Lou. I'm more pessimistic than I' ve ever been.

I think numbers are on my side.
There are like a half dozen pending investigations on T****p.

The Jan 6 congressional investigation has many prominent Republicans in their crosshairs. Cruz and Hawley being two worth mentioning.

Matt Gaetz is being investigated by the Justice Department.

There are others.... but I can't think of them right now.

 

[Mischief]

I think numbers are on my side.
There are like a half dozen pending investigations on T****p.

The Jan 6 congressional investigation has many prominent Republicans in their crosshairs. Cruz and Hawley being two worth mentioning.

Matt Gaetz is being investigated by the Justice Department.

There are others.... but I can't think of them right now.

The difference between us is that you think any/all of that will change the current course of the GOP, and I don't think it will. The GOP knows it cannot win w/o the MAGA base, so Republicans will continue to pander to that base. Look at what they are doing wrt abortion rights, glbtq rights, voting rights, book bannings, etc.

Part of the difference between us is probably because you live in a blue area, while I have almost always lived in red areas. It's ugly out here, and shows no signs of getting less ugly.

 

[anarchist100]

"Serious threat to Russia"?!?! Are you serious, or do you just enjoy poop posting? (Nevermind answering the latter question - it's rhetorical.)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine wasn't the fault of anyone but Putin, just as America's invasion of Iraq was our fault.

For someone who's supposedly anti-war, you sure spend a lot of time regurgitating the talking points of the premier warmonger of our time and of his disinformation machine.

I see you.

If the nations on Russia's western border where all western allies, that would make it so that in any future conflict Russia wouldn't stand a chance, and Putin knows that America is a hostile empire that desires world domination, therefor he can not allow them to have this great advantage over his country.

 

[Mischief]

If the nations on Russia's western border where all western allies, that would make it so that in any future conflict Russia wouldn't stand a chance, and Putin knows that America is a hostile empire that desires world domination, therefor he can not allow them to have this great advantage over his country.

So, are you doing this gratis, or are you at least on Putin's payroll? (Again, a rhetorical question.)

 

[silva]

The difference between us is that you think any/all of that will change the current course of the GOP, and I don't think it will. The GOP knows it cannot win w/o the MAGA base, so Republicans will continue to pander to that base. Look at what they are doing wrt abortion rights, glbtq rights, voting rights, book bannings, etc.

Part of the difference between us is probably because you live in a blue area, while I have almost always lived in red areas. It's ugly out here, and shows no signs of getting less ugly.

the only republican running in Ohio that's addressing real issues is MikeDewine, the rest are all vying for who kisses trumps a$$ the most, is the most racist,blames the southern border, and wants to make schools teach white straight, Christian people greatness who need woman to know their place, and completely screw teaching history.
These commercials should be comedy routines,but they aren't

 

[silva]

If the nations on Russia's western border where all western allies, that would make it so that in any future conflict Russia wouldn't stand a chance, and Putin knows that America is a hostile empire that desires world domination, therefor he can not allow them to have this great advantage over his country.

exactly when was Russia last threatened? Other than from the peoples own rulers?

 

[anarchist100]

exactly when was Russia last threatened? Other than from the peoples own rulers?

This expansion of western influence in it's self was a threat, if they desired peace with Russia they would not be trying to get a strategic advantage over them. Especially considering that it may lead to a conflict like the current one. If the US/NATO thinks that it is in their interest to fight with Russia they will, and Putin knows that.

 

[Lou]

. The GOP knows it cannot win w/o the MAGA base, so Republicans will continue to pander to that base

I can't swear by these numbers but .... I think that only about 20% of likely voters would vote for T***p. the thing is that is over half of the people who vote Republican.
So that 20% can be a deciding factor - in a red or purple state.

Then what about the third of republicans who won't vote for Trump? If T****p is in jail, will they cast their vote for a Dem or will they just stay home. Either way that can be a deciding factor in both Blue and Purple states.

Another factor is the Independents and the people who don't usually vote. You put T****p and some of his supporters in jail you might get a pretty big bump for Democrats.

Ok, I gotta take the unicorn out for a walk.

 

[Mischief]

This expansion of western influence in it's self was a threat, if they desired peace with Russia they would not be trying to get a strategic advantage over them. Especially considering that it may lead to a conflict like the current one. If the US/NATO thinks that it is in their interest to fight with Russia they will, and Putin knows that.

Do you even listen to the things you say? No one wants a war with Russia. Despite the atrocities Russia is committing on a daily basis, everyone is still bending over backwards to avoid a war. The overarching reason for all of that is that RUSSIA HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

Putin has always known that; it's the reason he's gotten away with all the atrocities he's committed. In fact, he would have gotten away with this invasion just like he got away with invading Crimea, except for one thing - Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy has a gift for using social media to attract the sympathy of the world. If it weren't for Zelensky's gift (and the Ukranians in general have been great at this), the West would have paid attention for a day or two, then shrugged and moved on.

 

[Mischief]

I can't swear by these numbers but .... I think that only about 20% of likely voters would vote for T***p. the thing is that is over half of the people who vote Republican.
So that 20% can be a deciding factor - in a red or purple state.

Then what about the third of republicans who won't vote for Trump? If T****p is in jail, will they cast their vote for a Dem or will they just stay home. Either way that can be a deciding factor in both Blue and Purple states.

Another factor is the Independents and the people who don't usually vote. You put T****p and some of his supporters in jail you might get a pretty big bump for Democrats.

Ok, I gotta take the unicorn out for a walk.

I think your numbers are way off. In 2020, trump won 74,222,958 votes, or 46.8 percent of the votes cast. That’s more votes than any other presidential candidate has ever won, with the exception of Biden.

ETA: I don't think his support has dropped off that much since then.

 

[anarchist100]

Do you even listen to the things you say? No one wants a war with Russia. Despite the atrocities Russia is committing on a daily basis, everyone is still bending over backwards to avoid a war. The overarching reason for all of that is that RUSSIA HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

Putin has always known that; it's the reason he's gotten away with all the atrocities he's committed. In fact, he would have gotten away with this invasion just like he got away with invading Crimea, except for one thing - Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy has a gift for using social media to attract the sympathy of the world. If it weren't for Zelensky's gift (and the Ukranians in general have been great at this), the West would have paid attention for a day or two, then shrugged and moved on.

If Ukraine is a western ally, that gives the west a strategic advantage over Russia, so of course the west is going to care about Ukraine, this isn't like the Rwandan genocide that didn't affect the US therefor they didn't care, we've seen in the past that the US/NATO is willing to use their military power to take advantage of other nations if it suits their interests, and Putin doesn't want that to happen to Russia, if the US did not desire a strategic advantage over Russia they would not try to make Ukraine a western ally, in fact they would avoid it entirely because something like this would happen, all of Putin's invasions, such as the invasion of Crimea, where in response to the expansion of western influence, it wasn't even an invasion, the people of Crimea voted to become part of Russia.

 

[Lou]

I think your numbers are way off. In 2020, trump won 74,222,958 votes, or 46.8 percent of the votes cast. That’s more votes than any other presidential candidate has ever won, with the exception of Biden.

ETA: I don't think his support has dropped off that much since then.

What makes the numbers hard is that one third voted republican, one third voted democrat and one third didn't vote.

when someone like trump runs some people might just stay home. and some people might be more likely to vote. how this plays out is ....

Last year in California's recall, it looked like a lot of voters were going to stay home and not vote. but then Larry Elder got some traction and a lot of people voted just to keep him out.

 

[Sax]

Biden is trying to spin inflation as "Putin's price hike" which is just transparently disingenuous and isn't going to resonate with voters. He's going to get stuck with the blame unless he calls out corporations, but then he'd actually have to do something about it. Blaming Putin doesn't require any hard choices.

Biden needs to start going after large corporations if he wants to win again | Robert Reich

Working Americans – many of whom voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 – are being shafted. Biden needs to deliver for them now or risk losing

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mischief]

Biden is trying to spin inflation as "Putin's price hike" which is just transparently disingenuous and isn't going to resonate with voters. He's going to get stuck with the blame unless he calls out corporations, but then he'd actually have to do something about it. Blaming Putin doesn't require any hard choices.

Biden needs to start going after large corporations if he wants to win again | Robert Reich

Working Americans – many of whom voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 – are being shafted. Biden needs to deliver for them now or risk losing

www.theguardian.com

Inflation is international, not an American-only phenomenon. It started with production & supply chain issues squeezing the supply side. That has been aggravated by Putin's invasion of Ukraine.* And now big businesses are hiking prices to inflate their profits, under cover of #1 and 2. The Biden administration hasn't ignored the third issue, but what exactly do you think the President (any President) can do to set prices businesses charge for their products?

*Ukraine is the world's largest producer of major fertilizer 'ingredients.' Farmers in the U.S. are seeing a doubling or tripling of fertilizer prices this spring because of Putin's invasion. It's questionable whether corn/soybean farmers will be able to break even this year.

Ukraine is also a major producer of grain crops. It is questionable how much grain crops Ukrainian farmers are going to be able to produce this year. In the meantime, they can't get last year's crop to the container ships because of Putin's invasion. The anticipated food shortages are going to cause a lot if starvation in poor countries.

It's unfortunate how few people realize how things reverberate throughout the world.

 

[Mischief]

This is why I posted yesterday about the RNC's decision to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates. It's an ominous sign of what the GOP plans going forward.

The likely result in 2024 is that for the first time since 1972 (when President Richard M. Nixon refused to face George McGovern), there will be a presidential vote with no general election debates. On the surface, this is about protecting Donald Trump, who will almost certainly be the Republican nominee if he chooses to run, from the consequences of a disastrous debate.

But it’s also a sign that the Republican strategy will again feature chaotic, Trumpian whining that is meant to delegitimize the entire presidential campaign process from start to finish, culminating in an attempt to take back the White House by theft if the voters don’t vote the “right” way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/15/republicans-debates-2024-strategy-illegitimate/

 

[Sax]

Inflation is international, not an American-only phenomenon. It started with production & supply chain issues squeezing the supply side. That has been aggravated by Putin's invasion of Ukraine.* And now big businesses are hiking prices to inflate their profits, under cover of #1 and 2. The Biden administration hasn't ignored the third issue, but what exactly do you think the President (any President) can do to set prices businesses charge for their products?

I'm not going to pretend the answer is simple enough for me to come up with. That's the kind of question we have policy experts and presidents for. But Biden could call corporations out publicly and consistently. It would be good politics for him to been seen siding with American consumers against the corporations gouging them, and undercut their ability to use inflation as cover for price hikes.

Such price hikes wouldn't be profitable moves in a more competitive marketplace, so policy could focus on fostering that.

 

[Mischief]

I'm not going to pretend the answer is simple enough for me to come up with. That's the kind of question we have policy experts and presidents for. But Biden could call corporations out publicly and consistently. It would be good politics for him to been seen siding with American consumers against the corporations gouging them, and undercut their ability to use inflation as cover for price hikes.

Such price hikes wouldn't be profitable moves in a more competitive marketplace, so policy could focus on fostering that.

Yeah, I mean, Biden has been calling companies out on price gouging, both in general public statements and apparently in specific phone calls. But really, the President doesn't have authority to set the prices that private enterprises can charge. Congress has a degree of authority in that respect, but if I remember correctly, Republicans voted against recent efforts to cap insulin prices, and what has been going on with those is much more egregious than what companies generally have been doing with recent price hikes.

 

[silva]

Republicans blaming the failed efforts of renewable energy for the rise in gas prices. The very actions that could have saved the US from an energy crisis that they continually fought against, and killed.