Politics Thread

[Juice]

So suddenly Republicans are pro Affirmative Action concepts. But only for refugees.


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Yes because victims of genocide are the same as college acceptance rates.

[boozehound]

They're imbeciles I'll agree on that. I just don't see how they differ from the previous presidency all that much though.

There seems to be an increasingly insular and authoritarian bent to this regime that I didn't get from the Obama administration, or any previous administration (I wasn't alive for Nixon). Also remember that Republicans are supposed to be less authoritarian and more concerned with individual freedoms and state's rights than the Democrats.

The tone of the rhetoric is far different this time around, which makes the whole thing feel a lot more authoritarian than any president I can recall. I don't recall Obama, or Bush for that matter, yelling at CNN that they are fake news and refusing to answer questions, or aggressively denying provable facts. Repeatedly. Then sending his press secretary out to do the same thing.

This is not normal, and considered in it's totality I don't think it's on par with any previous administration, even if individual pieces of it may be. This is an unbalanced man with unbalanced, and often incompetent, people advising him. This jackoff is too busy obsessing over the size of the crowd at his inauguration to properly draft a clear and enforceable executive order. We chose literally the worst option possible this election cycle, with the possible exception of Jill Stein.

[Caf]

There seems to be an increasingly insular and authoritarian bent to this regime that I didn't get from the Obama administration, or any previous administration (I wasn't alive for Nixon). Also remember that Republicans are supposed to be less authoritarian and more concerned with individual freedoms and state's rights than the Democrats.

The tone of the rhetoric is far different this time around, which makes the whole thing feel a lot more authoritarian than any president I can recall. I don't recall Obama, or Bush for that matter, yelling at CNN that they are fake news and refusing to answer questions, or aggressively denying provable facts. Repeatedly. Then sending his press secretary out to do the same thing.

This is not normal, and considered in it's totality I don't think it's on par with any previous administration, even if individual pieces of it may be. This is an unbalanced man with unbalanced, and often incompetent, people advising him. This jackoff is too busy obsessing over the size of the crowd at his inauguration to properly draft a clear and enforceable executive order. We chose literally the worst option possible this election cycle, with the possible exception of Jill Stein.

I would be very careful about labeling what is going on as incompetence. That is too convenient. Steve Bannon is operating very purposefully and intelligently towards what he wants to achieve.

[boozehound]

I would be very careful about labeling what is going on as incompetence. That is too convenient. Steve Bannon is operating very purposefully and intelligently towards what he wants to achieve.

Maybe, but some of these things seem to only be explainable as incompetence. Steve Bannon may be an evil genius, but a lot of the rank and file surrounding Trump, and Trump himself, are providing a lot of evidence that they might just be idiots.

I'm not fully ready to sign off on Bannon as some sort of cartoonish super villain, but even if he is, his henchmen are total morons.

For example - what is the possible positive outcome of issuing an immigration ban on Muslims but failing to include current green card holders, etc? The only thing I can possibly think of (outside of incompetence) is that it is designed to test the strength of the backlash? Generally when you move toward authoritarianism and start rolling back people's civil rights you want to do so as quietly as possible so as not to generate unrest.

[SemajParlor]

Yes because victims of genocide are the same as college acceptance rates.

Haha, yeah I’m not sure if party line jabs need to be made at this point in time. Personally I’ve been past that point for a while now. I think it’s important that we collectively realize what we have going on here.

[Juice]

There seems to be an increasingly insular and authoritarian bent to this regime that I didn't get from the Obama administration, or any previous administration (I wasn't alive for Nixon). Also remember that Republicans are supposed to be less authoritarian and more concerned with individual freedoms and state's rights than the Democrats.

The tone of the rhetoric is far different this time around, which makes the whole thing feel a lot more authoritarian than any president I can recall. I don't recall Obama, or Bush for that matter, yelling at CNN that they are fake news and refusing to answer questions, or aggressively denying provable facts. Repeatedly. Then sending his press secretary out to do the same thing.

This is not normal, and considered in it's totality I don't think it's on par with any previous administration, even if individual pieces of it may be. This is an unbalanced man with unbalanced, and often incompetent, people advising him. This jackoff is too busy obsessing over the size of the crowd at his inauguration to properly draft a clear and enforceable executive order. We chose literally the worst option possible this election cycle, with the possible exception of Jill Stein.

And I completely agree with that. None of this is being done in conjunction with Congress (since they're too cowardly to say anything regardless). But earlier visa bans and travel bans by Obama were done with executive orders too and no Democrats said shit. And let's also not pretend that Democrats all of a sudden give a shit about limited government and checks on federal power. I actually do which is why I voted for Gary Johnson in this election. I know he wasn't an ideal candidate but he best represented my views, especially compared to Trump who isn't a Republic and could tell he was going to increase (or definitely not decrease) the size of the federal government. But what I despise most is people suddenly giving a shit about what a president can and cannot do when Obama abused that power for years.

[boozehound]

Haha, yeah I’m not sure if party line jabs need to be made at this point in time. Personally I’ve been past that point for a while now. I think it’s important that we collectively realize what we have going on here.

I agree. I'm getting very uncomfortable with a lot of this. It seems that the more 'mainstream' people around this administration may have limited influence.

Removing the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and replacing them with Steve Bannon on the National Security Council is a big deal. Here is a pretty center-cut Business Insider article outlining some of the moves.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump...council-2017-1

I really hope that we, as a Country, are ready to squash this thing when it goes over the line because it's heading there fast. Foreign policy and National Security are serious things that have very real consequences that are often measured in human lives. This is not funny anymore.

[boozehound]

And I completely agree with that. None of this is being done in conjunction with Congress (since they're too cowardly to say anything regardless). But earlier visa bans and travel bans by Obama were done with executive orders too and no Democrats said shit. And let's also not pretend that Democrats all of a sudden give a shit about limited government and checks on federal power. I actually do which is why I voted for Gary Johnson in this election. I know he wasn't an ideal candidate but he best represented my views, especially compared to Trump who isn't a Republic and could tell he was going to increase (or definitely not decrease) the size of the federal government. But what I despise most is people suddenly giving a shit about what a president can and cannot do when Obama abused that power for years.

Fair enough. I think one of the key differences may be that Obama didn't talk and act like a crazy person. If it was Jeb Bush doing this shit I think there would be a lot less concern all around. It probably also would have been done in a more measured manner and clearly explained to people to avoid the spectacle of people with current visas being turned away or detained at airports, which is also a significant difference between how Obama handled this vs. how Trump is handling it.

At the end of the day I don't give a shit about party affiliation. I don't think I've ever voted across the board one way or another on a ballot, and I have voted for presidential candidates from 3 different parties. I do care about the overall health of our Republic, and I think the Trump administration appears to represent a significant threat to it. It's a fair point that a lot of liberals tolerated things from Obama that they aren't tolerating from Trump, but I think there are some key differences there that make me more concerned with limiting this lunatic's power than worry about consistently applied logic.

[paulxu]

I think this conservative from the Bush administration has a pretty good handle on what we are facing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...tm_source=hpfb

[boozehound]

I think this conservative from the Bush administration has a pretty good handle on what we are facing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...tm_source=hpfb

Seems pretty spot on to me. I think we are standing on the precipice of an important moment in United States history. I wish I was more confident about how this whole thing is going to end. Hopefully we can depose him before he does too much lasting damage.