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politics
Last Post 04/26/2020 06:49 PM by smokey 52. 198 Replies.
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 02/18/2016 07:32 PM |
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LOL....well spotted, smokey. In this case, I was referring to Donald. 
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 02/18/2016 07:40 PM |
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Chinook,
If people do sober up, how many qualified leaders are in the running? I only note two, and neither is a Republican. IMHO, Kasich is the closest Republican to be qualified, but he still misses. I still like Hillary, even though she is not perfect.
smokey |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 02/19/2016 06:49 AM |
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| My brother just heard Colin Powell speak. He chose not to run in 2000 because his wife wasn't up to the absurdly invasive scrutiny the self important press applies. Think of it: no Iraq invasion. As for right now, we do need a foreign policy, which has been a weak spot for the current pres. |
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 02/20/2016 07:11 PM |
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lsd: I used to respect Colin Powell. He once related a story (maybe on 60 Minutes?) of getting stopped in his VW bug while driving in the south and getting grief from the policeman because of his bumper sticker, and since then of avoiding public discussions of politics. I lost most of my respect for him when he presented the blurry pictures to support the false claim of WMDs in Iraq. As much as I dislike the Donald, I do agree with his take on the lies surrounding the Iraq invasion. However, the Donald has his own bevy of lies with respect to opposing that war.
I cannot understand the Republicans in NH and SC who think the Donald is qualified to run for president, but of course you need to evaluate the other Republican choices. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 02/20/2016 09:57 PM |
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| Bush is out... same problem I would have faced had I run-- name recognition |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 02/23/2016 12:16 PM |
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Best Comment yet for ol' Donny boy - "Nessun cristiano" I loved it, thought Trump's head was going explode!!
Well smokey, not really surprised by Trump's popularity, "W" proved that any moron can be elected in this country, TWICE!!
The stupidity of the American public is astounding |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 02/25/2016 01:01 AM |
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Gonzo, the black senator from New York said a few years back that GWB was proof of the fallacy of white supremacy. My take is that the rest of the world is quite aware that we, the American people, get to choose the man to be the most powerful in the world. And witness.
Ben |
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Nick A
Posts:625
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| 02/25/2016 12:59 PM |
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| Creo que debo estudiar mi epanol mejor. |
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 02/25/2016 01:20 PM |
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Ben,
"the black senator from New York"
Did you mean Congressman? Rangel? The senators I remember without looking it up are Schumer, Gillebrand, Clinton, Javits, Keating, D'Amato, & Kennedy. |
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 02/26/2016 07:14 PM |
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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. or WTF? Christie endorsed Trump? Money talks, and nobody walks. or drives across the GWB if Chris is pissed. but there may be a VP or cabinet post available.
Ben, I left out Moynihan in the list of NY US senators. I guess I should look it up on Wiki to see if I left others out. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 02/26/2016 08:33 PM |
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Christie endorsed the Donald *after* selling his donor list to Rubio.
You can't make this stuff up! |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 02/26/2016 08:35 PM |
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Essay from former Clinton cabinet member and leftie gadfly Robert Reich. I'm not a fanboy, but this essay makes sense and helps me make sense of what is going on:
"The End of the American Political Establishment?
Step back from the campaign fray for just a moment and consider the enormity of what’s already occurred.
A 74-year-old Jew from Vermont who describes himself as a democratic socialist, who wasn’t even a Democrat until recently, has come within a whisker of beating Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucus, routed her in the New Hampshire primary, and garnered over 47 percent of the caucus-goers in Nevada, of all places.
And a 69-year-old billionaire who has never held elective office or had anything to do with the Republican Party has taken a commanding lead in the Republican primaries.
Something very big has happened, and it’s not due to Bernie Sanders’ magnetism or Donald Trump’s likability.
It’s a rebellion against the establishment.
The question is why the establishment has been so slow to see this. A year ago – which now seems like an eternity – it proclaimed Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush shoe-ins.
Both had all the advantages – deep bases of funders, well-established networks of political insiders, experienced political advisers, all the name recognition you could want.
But even now that Bush is out and Hillary is still leading but vulnerable, the establishment still doesn’t see what’s occurred. They explain everything by pointing to weaknesses: Bush, they now say, “never connected” and Hillary “has a trust problem.”
A respected political insider recently told me most Americans are largely content. “The economy is in good shape,” he said. “Most Americans are better off than they’ve been in years. The problem has been the major candidates themselves.”
I beg to differ.
Economic indicators may be up but they don’t reflect the economic insecurity most Americans still feel, nor the seeming arbitrariness and unfairness they experience.
Nor do the major indicators show the linkages Americans see between wealth and power, crony capitalism, declining real wages, soaring CEO pay, and a billionaire class that’s turning our democracy into an oligarchy.
Median family income is lower now than it was sixteen years ago, adjusted for inflation.
Most economic gains, meanwhile, have gone to top.
These gains have translated into political power to rig the system with bank bailouts, corporate subsidies, special tax loopholes, trade deals, and increasing market power – all of which have further pushed down wages and pulled up profits.
Those at the very top of the top have rigged the system even more thoroughly. Since 1995, the average income tax rate for the 400 top-earning Americans has plummeted from 30 percent to 18 percent.
Wealth, power, and crony capitalism fit together. So far in the 2016 election, the richest 400 Americans have accounted for over a third of all campaign contributions.
Americans know a takeover has occurred and they blame the establishment for it.
There’s no official definition of the “establishment” but it presumably includes all of the people and institutions that have wielded significant power over the American political economy, and are therefore deemed complicit.
At its core are the major corporations, their top executives, and Washington lobbyists and trade associations; the biggest Wall Street banks, their top officers, traders, hedge-fund and private-equity managers, and their lackeys in Washington; the billionaires who invest directly in politics; and the political leaders of both parties, their political operatives, and fundraisers.
Arrayed around this core are the deniers and apologists – those who attribute what’s happened to “neutral market forces,” or say the system can’t be changed, or who urge that any reform be small and incremental.
Some Americans are rebelling against all this by supporting an authoritarian demagogue who wants to fortify America against foreigners as well as foreign-made goods. Others are rebelling by joining a so-called “political revolution.”
The establishment is having conniptions. They call Trump crazy and Sanders irresponsible. They charge that Trump’s isolationism and Bernie’s ambitious government programs will stymie economic growth.
The establishment doesn’t get that most Americans couldn’t care less about economic growth because for years they’ve got few of its benefits, while suffering most of its burdens in the forms of lost jobs and lower wages.
Most people are more concerned about economic security and a fair chance to make it.
The establishment doesn’t see what’s happening because it has cut itself off from the lives of most Americans. It also doesn’t wish to understand, because that would mean acknowledging its role in bringing all this on.
Yet regardless of the political fates of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, the rebellion against the establishment will continue.
Eventually, those with significant economic and political power in America will have to either commit to fundamental reform, or relinquish their power. |
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smokey52
Posts:493
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| 02/29/2016 07:37 PM |
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The Repugnants seem to be playing a game of limbo: How low can you go? and, Can we make the bar any lower? Kasich and Carson are sitting out the game and getting ignored. DT never heard of the KKK or white supremacists, MR talks about pissing pants, and TC infers that the Donald has a small penis because he has small hands. It is really getting disgusting.
Happy Super Tuesday!
smokey |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 02/29/2016 08:37 PM |
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The coronation of King Donald begins tomorrow.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-america-made-donald-trump-unstoppable-20160224
Against Clinton he can continue to use same tactics and he might just pull it off. He'd have a much harder time against Sanders cause on economy and trade they're actually aligned. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 02/29/2016 09:17 PM |
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| The pundits say only a handful of purple states will be in play for the general election in November, and all the money and other resources will be devoted to these swing states. I reside in one of them, Virginia. Our primary is part of super Tuesday tomorrow. The robocalls we've had lately will be nothing compared to next fall. Count your blessings if your state is a foregone conclusion. |
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