Official Current Affairs & Politics Thread II

[Claud]

This format is significantly better than the debates held by TV networks. It's impossible to give a well-thought answer in 12 seconds.

Watch on YouTube

[MrDollarBills]

a female or minority isnt beating trump. too many sexist/racists in this country on top of trumps white supremacist supporters for that to work. Biden has 0 chance. trump would bury him. like with hillary... you can sling in the mud with trump and win, he lives in the mud.

Bernie could win, maybe pete

I disagree. I think if the Dems present a candidate that can motivate the base to get out and vote it won't matter.

We do agree however, on Biden not being that guy:

Read on Twitter

How is this man leading in the polls right now?

I am seriously thinking that this country, as we know it, is doomed.

[Prokorov]

a female or minority isnt beating trump. too many sexist/racists in this country on top of trumps white supremacist supporters for that to work. Biden has 0 chance. trump would bury him. like with hillary... you can sling in the mud with trump and win, he lives in the mud.

Bernie could win, maybe pete

I disagree. I think if the Dems present a candidate that can motivate the base to get out and vote it won't matter.

We do agree however, on Biden not being that guy:

Read on Twitter

How is this man leading in the polls right now?

I am seriously thinking that this country, as we know it, is doomed.

are you really confused as to why he is leading.

he is an old white dude with no other old white dude options.

[MrDollarBills]

a female or minority isnt beating trump. too many sexist/racists in this country on top of trumps white supremacist supporters for that to work. Biden has 0 chance. trump would bury him. like with hillary... you can sling in the mud with trump and win, he lives in the mud.

Bernie could win, maybe pete

I disagree. I think if the Dems present a candidate that can motivate the base to get out and vote it won't matter.

We do agree however, on Biden not being that guy:

Read on Twitter

How is this man leading in the polls right now?

I am seriously thinking that this country, as we know it, is doomed.

are you really confused as to why he is leading.

he is an old white dude with no other old white dude options.

This country deserves the **** ing its getting right now.

[gigantes]

An insider weighs in on Jeffrey Epstein's "suicide," as seen on Reddit:

I’m a corrections officer. This should never have been possible. During the intake process due to the nature of his crimes and being famous he should have already been on special watch. Then after the first attempt he would have been in a special cell. He would be in what we call a “pickle suit” it’s a green suit that you can’t tear or tie to anything. His blankets would be the same material. He would only get hygiene products under supervision. Only thing allowed in his cell would be a book and court papers. Then we would be monitored more closely. This is a huge failing on the jail. I want a massive investigation on how this was able to happen.

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/cohqmr/jeffrey_epstein_accused_sex_trafficker_dies_by/ewibv4b/

[MrDollarBills]

An insider weighs in on Jeffrey Epstein's "suicide," as seen on Reddit:

I’m a corrections officer. This should never have been possible. During the intake process due to the nature of his crimes and being famous he should have already been on special watch. Then after the first attempt he would have been in a special cell. He would be in what we call a “pickle suit” it’s a green suit that you can’t tear or tie to anything. His blankets would be the same material. He would only get hygiene products under supervision. Only thing allowed in his cell would be a book and court papers. Then we would be monitored more closely. This is a huge failing on the jail. I want a massive investigation on how this was able to happen.

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/cohqmr/jeffrey_epstein_accused_sex_trafficker_dies_by/ewibv4b/

Can't expect a legit investigation at this point with Barr's DOJ.

[Claud]

We live in an Orwellian society officially. Madness.

[MrDollarBills]

We live in an Orwellian society officially. Madness.

Yep. This is 1984 officially.

[Rich Rane]

There's apparently a Straight Pride Parade today in Boston. It looks more like a Trump rally.

Read on Twitter

[MrDollarBills]

There's apparently a Straight Pride Parade today in Boston. It looks more like a Trump rally.

Read on Twitter

The leaders of that parade have ties to white supremacist groups.

So yeah, Trump rally.

[Rich Rane]

There's apparently a Straight Pride Parade today in Boston. It looks more like a Trump rally.

Read on Twitter

The leaders of that parade have ties to white supremacist groups.

So yeah, Trump rally.

Kinda weird 95% of the small amount of people there were men. You could find more straight women at a gay pride parade.

[MrDollarBills]

There's apparently a Straight Pride Parade today in Boston. It looks more like a Trump rally.

Read on Twitter

The leaders of that parade have ties to white supremacist groups.

So yeah, Trump rally.

Kinda weird 95% of the small amount of people there were men. You could find more straight women at a gay pride parade.

Straight women don't like to be around incels and red pillers.

[gigantes]

BWAHAHAHA...

[gigantes]

Play dumbass games, win dumbass prizes, I guess?


"50,000 unvaccinated children head to Wisconsin schools as the U.S. copes with worst measles outbreak in 27 years."
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2019/09/03/measles-wisconsin-nears-50-000-unvaccinated-children-u-s-copes-outbreak/2152352001/

[MrDollarBills]

Play dumbass games, win dumbass prizes, I guess?


"50,000 unvaccinated children head to Wisconsin schools as the U.S. copes with worst measles outbreak in 27 years."
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2019/09/03/measles-wisconsin-nears-50-000-unvaccinated-children-u-s-copes-outbreak/2152352001/

I feel sorry for the children who are being abused by these moronic anti vaxxer parents, but they should be allowed within 50 feet of a school.

New York State is rightfully barring children who have not been vaccinated from their schools and rightfully so. Antivaxxers are filthy, nasty people.

[gigantes]

I feel sorry for the children who are being abused by these moronic anti vaxxer parents, but they should be allowed within 50 feet of a school.

New York State is rightfully barring children who have not been vaccinated from their schools and rightfully so. Antivaxxers are filthy, nasty people.

IIRC some diseases that were effectively wiped out in the US are making a comeback because of these nincompoops. I forget if measles is in that group.

I'd love to see these people enrolled in some kind of "Oregon Trail" program. They'd be kitted-out with the latest amenities from the 1850's, plus a wagon, oxen, and supplies. Their task would be to start from Missouri and see if they can make it to Oregon City. No vaccines, and little practical medicine, other than maybe a few bottles of Captain Shmoo's original tonic.

Let's see how useful that empty echo chamber is, then.

[MrDollarBills]

I feel sorry for the children who are being abused by these moronic anti vaxxer parents, but they should be allowed within 50 feet of a school.

New York State is rightfully barring children who have not been vaccinated from their schools and rightfully so. Antivaxxers are filthy, nasty people.

IIRC some diseases that were effectively wiped out in the US are making a comeback because of these nincompoops. I forget if measles is in that group.

I'd love to see these people enrolled in some kind of "Oregon Trail" program. They'd be kitted-out with the latest amenities from the 1850's, plus a wagon, oxen, and supplies. Their task would be to start from Missouri and see if they can make it to Oregon City. No vaccines, and little practical medicine, other than maybe a few bottles of Captain Shmoo's original tonic.

Let's see how useful that empty echo chamber is, then.

The **** ed up part is that a lot of the anti vaccine hysteria was caused by online propaganda spread by Russian trolls (read: Russian foreign intelligence agents). This is the end result of years of covert warfare in order to weaken the American populace.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-trolls-promoted-anti-vaccination-propaganda-measles-outbreak-1332016

Seems like a pattern.

“We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within."

-Nikita Khrushchev

[TheNetsFan]

I feel sorry for the children who are being abused by these moronic anti vaxxer parents, but they should be allowed within 50 feet of a school.

New York State is rightfully barring children who have not been vaccinated from their schools and rightfully so. Antivaxxers are filthy, nasty people.

IIRC some diseases that were effectively wiped out in the US are making a comeback because of these nincompoops. I forget if measles is in that group.

I'd love to see these people enrolled in some kind of "Oregon Trail" program. They'd be kitted-out with the latest amenities from the 1850's, plus a wagon, oxen, and supplies. Their task would be to start from Missouri and see if they can make it to Oregon City. No vaccines, and little practical medicine, other than maybe a few bottles of Captain Shmoo's original tonic.

Let's see how useful that empty echo chamber is, then.

The **** ed up part is that a lot of the anti vaccine hysteria was caused by online propaganda spread by Russian trolls (read: Russian foreign intelligence agents). This is the end result of years of covert warfare in order to weaken the American populace.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-trolls-promoted-anti-vaccination-propaganda-measles-outbreak-1332016

Seems like a pattern.

“We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within."

-Nikita Khrushchev

On my way to my previous job, I had to drive by an anti-vaccine billboard every day. Pissed me off each time I saw it.

[gigantes]

Mother Joseph and Jones... is this stuff actually actually true?

Because this shizzle is absolutely terrifying, if true.

Trump is a massive problem, but the real problem in the US is that there is no Congress.

There is a functioning House of Representatives, but the powers of Congress can only be exercised if there is both a functioning House and a functioning Senate.

The US Senate is completely broken, and for all intents and purposes does not even exist anymore as any type of functioning body. No legislation can be written there, no bills can pass through there, no nominees for high office can be vetted or denied appointment because the Senate now serves as an institution that selects a Majority Leader to act as a shadow president, nothing more. The Senate shadow president has an absolute veto over any and all legislation, much more powerful than the actual President’s veto because it cannot be overridden.

The parties completely control the Senate, and the individual Senators are mere proxies for their party, which is why they are not swayed by any rational argument and are content to be a mere rubber stamp (if their party is president) or an impenetrable roadblock (if the other party is president). Foreign governments have enormous influence over the GOP, yet the GOPs power in the Senate stems from a structural advantage that can never be overcome because it flows from a handful of empty rural states that have permanently Republican voting populations that will not ever change (or may take 50+ years to change). There is this a permanent “balance” in the Senate divided roughly equally between GOP and Democrats when counted by number of states, but is entirely unbalanced when looked at by population represented, because the two Democrats representing California alone represent more constituents than a dozen GOP Senators from the Midwest and mountain states. The Senate has become a House of Lords filled with party functionaries from empty burroughs, and it is almost impossible to constitutionally fix.

Without a Senate, Congress is powerless. The House can only pass non-binding resolutions and pursue endless investigations, which is better than no action, but is not a check on a lawless president like Trump.

Trump is able to assume the powers of Congress, such as proclaiming the unilateral authority to impose duties and taxes on any foreign imports at any time of his choosing, for example, because there is no Congress to check him. Even as I write this, he is impounding funds appropriated by Congress for one purpose, and redirecting those funds to a border wall that Congress refused to authorize and pay for. This is extraordinary, and has never happened in US history. It is only possible because there is no functioning Senate.

The lack of a Congress is infinitely more troubling than one rogue President. Trump can do a lot of damage, but the lack of a Congress means that the people have effectively no voice in governing, save for a crapshoot vote for Presidential “dictator” every 4 years, presuming that a future president (or Trump) doesn’t simply eliminate elections altogether, an action that wouldn’t be contested by the current “Congress.” And even the legitimacy of presidential elections is suspect given the current situation where millions more vote for the losing candidate, but the structural advantages of rural voters as institutionalized by the electoral college mean that presidents are elected without winning the popular vote.

All of this is to say that the US democratic experiment is nearing its end. The Congress functioned for 200+ years because the Senate was an institution guided by apolitical norms present from the founding, and individual senators were statesmen rather than party functionaries. That system is dead now; the influence of big money is so strong now that the statesmen have died or retired, and the parties now completely control the Senate.

Eventually, people will wake up and be angry about it. That may happen when the economy crashes or when there is another foreign attack on US elections and no repercussions because the Congress cannot act. If the economy turns sour and the people are stuck with a president and Senate selected by Moscow, the entire government could come crashing down in revolution, the stakes are really that high.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/d1p3pf/trump_is_not_well_accepting_the_reality_about_the/ezoymtq/

[MrDollarBills]

Mother Joseph and Jones... is this stuff actually actually true?

Because this shizzle is absolutely terrifying, if true.

Trump is a massive problem, but the real problem in the US is that there is no Congress.

There is a functioning House of Representatives, but the powers of Congress can only be exercised if there is both a functioning House and a functioning Senate.

The US Senate is completely broken, and for all intents and purposes does not even exist anymore as any type of functioning body. No legislation can be written there, no bills can pass through there, no nominees for high office can be vetted or denied appointment because the Senate now serves as an institution that selects a Majority Leader to act as a shadow president, nothing more. The Senate shadow president has an absolute veto over any and all legislation, much more powerful than the actual President’s veto because it cannot be overridden.

The parties completely control the Senate, and the individual Senators are mere proxies for their party, which is why they are not swayed by any rational argument and are content to be a mere rubber stamp (if their party is president) or an impenetrable roadblock (if the other party is president). Foreign governments have enormous influence over the GOP, yet the GOPs power in the Senate stems from a structural advantage that can never be overcome because it flows from a handful of empty rural states that have permanently Republican voting populations that will not ever change (or may take 50+ years to change). There is this a permanent “balance” in the Senate divided roughly equally between GOP and Democrats when counted by number of states, but is entirely unbalanced when looked at by population represented, because the two Democrats representing California alone represent more constituents than a dozen GOP Senators from the Midwest and mountain states. The Senate has become a House of Lords filled with party functionaries from empty burroughs, and it is almost impossible to constitutionally fix.

Without a Senate, Congress is powerless. The House can only pass non-binding resolutions and pursue endless investigations, which is better than no action, but is not a check on a lawless president like Trump.

Trump is able to assume the powers of Congress, such as proclaiming the unilateral authority to impose duties and taxes on any foreign imports at any time of his choosing, for example, because there is no Congress to check him. Even as I write this, he is impounding funds appropriated by Congress for one purpose, and redirecting those funds to a border wall that Congress refused to authorize and pay for. This is extraordinary, and has never happened in US history. It is only possible because there is no functioning Senate.

The lack of a Congress is infinitely more troubling than one rogue President. Trump can do a lot of damage, but the lack of a Congress means that the people have effectively no voice in governing, save for a crapshoot vote for Presidential “dictator” every 4 years, presuming that a future president (or Trump) doesn’t simply eliminate elections altogether, an action that wouldn’t be contested by the current “Congress.” And even the legitimacy of presidential elections is suspect given the current situation where millions more vote for the losing candidate, but the structural advantages of rural voters as institutionalized by the electoral college mean that presidents are elected without winning the popular vote.

All of this is to say that the US democratic experiment is nearing its end. The Congress functioned for 200+ years because the Senate was an institution guided by apolitical norms present from the founding, and individual senators were statesmen rather than party functionaries. That system is dead now; the influence of big money is so strong now that the statesmen have died or retired, and the parties now completely control the Senate.

Eventually, people will wake up and be angry about it. That may happen when the economy crashes or when there is another foreign attack on US elections and no repercussions because the Congress cannot act. If the economy turns sour and the people are stuck with a president and Senate selected by Moscow, the entire government could come crashing down in revolution, the stakes are really that high.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/d1p3pf/trump_is_not_well_accepting_the_reality_about_the/ezoymtq/

Yes it's true. Mitch McConnell has been violating his oath of office all year long by not bringing bills passed in the House up for vote. the only thing that the Senate does right now is approve federal judges, packing the judicial system with far right wing lunatics that will have lifetime positions. The fact that any position within government is a lifetime appointment is an utterly ridiculous flaw in the system.

This is why retaining the House of Representatives and capturing the Senate in 2020 is the only way to ensure that this country doesn't become a fascist state. Even if Trump gets re elected, a Democratic House and Senate can keep him in check or get him removed from office.

Best case scenario, Dems show up overwhelmingly at the polls in 2020 and both the Executive and Legislative branch come under Dem control, Dems expand the seats of the Supreme court to dilute Republican influence, Brett Kavanaugh gets impeached and removed, and things at least on a government level return to normal.

However, I predict 100% that if Trump is voted out of office, political violence and domestic terrorism will ramp up as white supremacists realize that they've lost control, and Trump will make outrageous claims about election rigging and refuses to concede. Next year will be a frightening year regardless of outcome.