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U.S. Politics: The Biggest Trade in WNBA History

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
bobjr said:
Press Secretary is a hard job, most only stay on for about 2 years at most. The problem is Trump would either harass, say something the opposite of what you just said, or lie. No one really wants the job.

One thing I never get is why all GOP members take his abuse though. For someone who will throw them under the bus in a heartbeat they're sure good at defending him, even when they're safe in elections.
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A large portion of it is caused by the fact that a significant portion of GOP voters still support Trump. Don't forget that Trump legitimately won the primaries and the general election, while more 'professional' politicians like Jeb Bush were barely even a factor in the primaries. By turning against Trump you're basically saying to your voters that they were wrong, a very dangerous move as it undermines democracy. Even though Trump's pretty awful at governing, he's pretty great at campaigning and making people believe him.
 
bobjr

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
He's great at campaigning to a specific base. As Republicans lose raw voting numbers their best defense right now is trying to restrict voting. Short term it would hurt if he makes the GOP pull your funding, but if you're not getting an election for 4-6 years you don't want to have to defend Trump to 80% of other voters.
 
Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga

_
bobjr said:
Press Secretary is a hard job, most only stay on for about 2 years at most. The problem is Trump would either harass, say something the opposite of what you just said, or lie. No one really wants the job.

One thing I never get is why all GOP members take his abuse though. For someone who will throw them under the bus in a heartbeat they're sure good at defending him, even when they're safe in elections.
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Considering that you're job is essentially a paid liar for the government, I'd agree it's a hard job. The key to doing well in that position is knowing how to save the government face, twist words, give evasive answers, etc. It's always been like that. Trump just gave infinitely more difficult lies to defend.
 
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Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
bobjr said:
He's great at campaigning to a specific base. As Republicans lose raw voting numbers their best defense right now is trying to restrict voting. Short term it would hurt if he makes the GOP pull your funding, but if you're not getting an election for 4-6 years you don't want to have to defend Trump to 80% of other voters.
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Is it really a matter of restricting voting or is it more drawing districts in a certain way? Both parties gerrymander, but the GOP has benefited substantially from it in the 2010s, thanks to their gubernatorial victories in those elections. Unless the 2018 governor elections swing considerably blue, Trump could possibly survive a reelection by just appealing to his base.
 
M

Mordent99

Banned
Ambyssin said:
Is it really a matter of restricting voting or is it more drawing districts in a certain way? Both parties gerrymander, but the GOP has benefited substantially from it in the 2010s, thanks to their gubernatorial victories in those elections. Unless the 2018 governor elections swing considerably blue, Trump could possibly survive a reelection by just appealing to his base.
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You say that as if it's a good thing. Well, Trump won't survive. The man has a worse approval rating than George H. W. Bush did.

Nate Silver is predicting that 2018 will be "cloudy with a chance of landslide" in favor of Democrats.

It seems Sessions is really having a bad week:

http://dieharddemocrat.com/2017/07/22/jeff-sessions-exposed-9218

The new guy ain't doing much better, blatantly praising a controversial publication:

http://dieharddemocrat.com/2017/07/...munications-praises-unlikely-publication-9224

In other news, anyone remember Kim Davis?

http://dieharddemocrat.com/2017/07/22/federal-judge-rules-kim-davis-9197

Not a pleasant memory, but it seems karma has finally caught up to her.
 
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Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Well I appreciate Silver's prediction, but I'm taking it with a grain of salt. A lot can happen in 14 months and, living somewhere that leans conservative, I can say from experience it doesn't matter how many news stories you show to people. If they like Trump, they'll keep liking him, plain and simple. I'm not a very optimistic person when it comes to politics. Were I to bet, I'd put money on the GOP keeping control of Congress in 2018. Maybe they lose House seats, but I don't think the current landscape of Congressional districts presents a good scenario for things to flip. I'd happily lose that bet, though.
 
M

Mordent99

Banned
Ambyssin said:
Well I appreciate Silver's prediction, but I'm taking it with a grain of salt. A lot can happen in 14 months and, living somewhere that leans conservative, I can say from experience it doesn't matter how many news stories you show to people. If they like Trump, they'll keep liking him, plain and simple. I'm not a very optimistic person when it comes to politics. Were I to bet, I'd put money on the GOP keeping control of Congress in 2018. Maybe they lose House seats, but I don't think the current landscape of Congressional districts presents a good scenario for things to flip. I'd happily lose that bet, though.
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Trump won't even last THAT long, IMOHO:

https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...pardon-twitter-russia-investigation/23043166/

Your assumptions all hinge on a reelection with the standard procedure. I'm almost certain Trump will not abide by the law, and not leave office that way. Not when he keeps thumbing his nose at the legal system and thinking he's a dictator.

Nixon's biggest mistake was the Saturday Night Massacre. It ignited a political and legal firestorm that had never been seen before.

Trump however, is threatening to leap off a slippery slope even Nixon refused to challenge.
 
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Pikachu52

Pikachu52

Well-Known Member
Ambyssin said:
But I'm sure Spicer will now land some sort of nice talking head role. Maybe even a book deal or two. So, I can't really feel sorry for the guy or any successor.
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A book deal I'm not sure about because, what could Sean Spicer write about?

An insider's view of the White House or a biography of his time as the press secretary, if honest, would only serve to detail how chaotic the White House is and would thus largely be a bad reflection on Trump. He'd loose a lot of friends doing that. Plus there's not much to write about - he was only there 6 months. Lying is probably out the question given how many leaks there have been around it: https://www.vox.com/2017/7/21/16011484/sean-spicer-resigns-anthony-scaramucci

I suppose he could take the angle of "the press where really mean to me and are all fake news." That would bolster Trump's narrative, but that would be all but kissing the boot of the boss from hell who spent the last few months wanting to get rid of him. He could write about his time in the Bush administration or the GOP generally, or do the usual boilerplate conservatism we see in books by Ben Carson and Sean Hannity.

I personally think the media talking head, probably with Fox News is more likely. Or some other media/strategist role in the GOP itself.
 
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Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Mordent99 said:
Nixon's biggest mistake was the Saturday Night Massacre. It ignited a political and legal firestorm that had never been seen before.

Trump however, is threatening to leap off a slippery slope even Nixon refused to challenge.
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Maybe, but remember that Congress was controlled by the Democrats throughout the Watergate Scandal (and the previous Congress was Democrat-controlled as well). Given A) the GOP is in control, B) it's political blasphemy to undermine a sitting President in your own party, and C) politics are extremely polarizing these days, I don't see things getting to that point. Or, at bare minimum, not in the 2+ years it took Watergate to lead to Nixon's resignation.

At this point, I'm just rooting for continued gridlock or GOP in-fighting.
 
M

Mordent99

Banned
Ambyssin said:
Maybe, but remember that Congress was controlled by the Democrats throughout the Watergate Scandal (and the previous Congress was Democrat-controlled as well).

Given A) the GOP is in control, B) it's political blasphemy to undermine a sitting President in your own party, and C) politics are extremely polarizing these days, I don't see things getting to that point. Or, at bare minimum, not in the 2+ years it took Watergate to lead to Nixon's resignation.

At this point, I'm just rooting for continued gridlock or GOP in-fighting.
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Nixon only had 4 holdouts in the House who did NOT want to impeach him. Trump's apologists seem to think Republicans have no choice but to back him, but their failure to repeal the ACA proves otherwise.

I've seen the town hall meetings. Those folk are NOT going to reelect them if this continues.

If I didn't know better, I'd say you, A) are a pessimist and have a very low opinion of the ability of honest politicians, or, B) you have no desire for the current situation to change.

Here's the cold, hard, facts. The Republicans cannot survive as a party and stay in control with Trump in office. they can either, A) reject Trump and salvage their careers, or B) collapse when his actions are condemned as war crimes and human rights abuses.

Not both.

Edit: Want more proof of where Congress' loyalty stands?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40696682

THIS is a true Morton's Fork for Trump. If he signs this bill, not only is Russia punished for meddling in the election, his ability to lift sanctions on them is sharply limited.

If he vetoes it, however, Congress (who passed it with bipartisan cooperation) will want to know WHY.
 
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Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
It's definitely option A. But, as I said before, I live in a place surrounded by Trump's base. I can't just pretend people like that don't exist or that they'll willingly change their tunes when I show them facts.

I didn't check over the exact numbers on the Senate vote for that sanctions bill, but does it have enough bipartisan support to potentially override a veto? BBC and Reuters didn't make that clear in their articles.
 
M

Mordent99

Banned
Here is a more thorough story on it:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/22/politics/congress-deal-russia-sanctions/index.html

As you can see, it hasn't been voted on yet, but it is a extended version of a bill that passed 98 to 2. This new version will likely have a veto-proof majority.

This version of the bill has a provision that says a bill intended to prevent the lifting or easing sanctions (like say, repealing of the Magnitsky Act, which is Putin’s likely goal) must be called to a vote if even one representative desires a vote. That means such a bill cannot be stalled. That pretty much means if Trump wants to repeal the Magnitsky act and the Democrats propose a bill to maintain it, the House will be unable to stall vote on that bill.

And if you do live in an area where you are "surrounded by Trump's base" my advice is stop watching guys like Alex Jones and Fox News.
 
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Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
I don't watch cable news networks of any variety (or whatever Alex Jones claims to be). But I appreciate the concern.
 
bobjr

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFisw5rXYAE2KWw.jpg

Cheers to the Zuck for trying to learn about not being a robot while avoiding providing basic support to employees while you have 65 billion dollars.

Also don't let that distract you from the healthcare bill vote tomorrow that will put possibly millions out of healthcare.
 
The Admiral

The Admiral

the star of the masquerade
And John McCain's vote means that the Senate will proceed with the motion to destroy our healthcare system. Immediately after, he started into a speech criticizing the Senate and them not doing things, or something like that.

Mother****er, you are literally voting on the most secretive bill... I think ever. None of you even know what's in it. Cornyn even said that reading through it was ~a luxury~.

Honestly, the fact that he was allowed to return to work when his brain is this full of holes is completely messed up.
 
bobjr

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
Go easy on McCain. There are 49 other pieces of **** that deserve everything you can throw at them too.
 
Ambyssin

Ambyssin

Winter can't come soon enough
Well it's a motion to proceed to debate, but they're not specifying which bill they're actually debating on. So, I guess their strategy is to use sheer and utter confusion to get something passed so that the average person won't understand what's happening until it's too late (and then won't know who to blame by extension)? Awful to hear. Even worse to know that Pence's tiebreaking vote was needed for this. This is no guarantee of anything, of course, but it's not a good sign either.
 
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