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[Oblivion]

I hate to defend cruz by any perspective, but that sound byte is taken out of context.

So?

 

[NeoXChaos]

I'd take a President Cruz right now over what we have.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Oh, perhaps. I may be misremembering the article.

According to The Guardian;

The mission was approved over dinner five days after the presidential inauguration by Trump and his closest advisers, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his special adviser and former Breitbart executive Stephen Bannon, as well as defence secretary General Jim Mattis.

Both the New York Times and Reuters carried quotes from unnamed military officials that seemed to shift blame for the mission to Trump and his inner team. It would be an extraordinary development for a president, who is commander-in-chief, to be briefed against in such detail.

According to Reuters via New York Magazine;

U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations.

As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced Al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Ted Cruz is a great debater.

https://twitter.com/cafedotcom/status/829182411045011456

My sister died from MS last year.

Fuck Ted Cruz.

 

[Pixieking]

According to The Guardian;



According to Reuters via New York Magazine;

Ah, see I remember the second quote, but not the first. And, technically, the second quote just says that there were technical failures - "without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations" - not that it wasn't approved by the military.

But, yeah, the first quote definitely seems to say that the military didn't think it should've been okay'd.

 

[Oblivion]

My sister died from MS last year.

Fuck Ted Cruz.

Holy shit....sorry to hear that, man.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I'd take a President Cruz right now over what we have.

Eh, nah. I think Cruz would be better at ramming through legislation.

The saving grace of Trump thus far seems to be that he's an angry idiot. That certainly has its repercussions, but it also means stuff like the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank could be left fairly intact by the time he's through.

Anyone think we can take down Cruz in 2018? Flip Texas, Arizona and Nevada for a 51-49 Senate majority. Could serve as a test run for winning the Sun Belt as a Plan B to flipping back the Midwest in 2020.

 

[Sibylus]

Anything is an improvement over Prez Bannon.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Eh, nah. I think Cruz would be better at ramming through legislation.

The saving grace of Trump thus far seems to be that he's an angry idiot. That certainly has its repercussions, but it also means stuff like the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank could be left fairly intact by the time he's through.

Anyone think we can take down Cruz in 2018? Flip Texas, Arizona and Nevada for a 51-49 Senate majority. Could serve as a test run for winning the Sun Belt as a Plan B to flipping back the Midwest in 2020.

I've been pushing Cruz's seat as the best long shot plan for actually winning the senate. His favorables in Texas are pretty bad now too, I think.

 

[RastaMentality]

I've been pushing Cruz's seat as the best long shot plan for actually winning the senate. His favorables in Texas are pretty bad now too, I think.

i feel like a young good looking gun toting Dem in the vein of Kander could do it.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Ralston says that the Dems have no one to run for Nevada Senate in 2018.

But we'll see I guess :/

 

[NeoXChaos]

Ralston says that the Dems have no one to run for Nevada Senate in 2018.

But we'll see I guess :/

Did he say if they have someone for GOV and the other statewide offices?

 

[Spoiled Milk]

PoliGAF 2017 |OT1| This is why we lose!

I laughed, 10/10

Obama punted the decision due to lack of concrete intelligence. This was a solid decision, considering the US forces got caught in a cross-fire and were surprised by women taking out guns and shooting at them.

So, this is exactly what Hillary meant when she said someone who could be baited by a tweet is not someone you want in charge. It's reckless, with no awareness of the reasoning behind Obama's punt, or any desire to push for more intelligence in order to ensure fewer friendly casualties. "Approved by military" does not mean fool-proof or without issues, and thinking that it does is exactly why Trump went ahead with it.

No, he punted the decision because the next moonless night landed after inauguration. It was signed off by his secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff. There was no CONOPS but that's an Obama thing and is a bad idea anyway (although well intentioned).

 

[Pixieking]

I laughed, 10/10


No, he punted the decision because the next moonless night landed after inauguration. It was signed off by his secretary of defense and joint chiefs of staff. There was no CONOPS but that's an Obama thing and is a bad idea anyway (although well intentioned).

Oh, indeed, my mistake. I blame the early hour (it's 8.45am here).

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Did he say if they have someone for GOV and the other statewide offices?

Not sure.

But it's odd that apparently there's no one in the Nevada Dems who is good who could run for Senate in 2018? Most of positions in Nevada are held by Democrats right now.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Ralston says that the Dems have no one to run for Nevada Senate in 2018.

But we'll see I guess :/

I'd like to see Ross Miller run for something.

Maybe one of the new Congresspeople could step up, too.

 

[Chris R]

Man, midterms are going to suck Alaska is still going to have it's terrible Rep and our somewhat decent "independent" governor is going to lose to some republican stooge.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Man, midterms are going to suck Alaska is still going to have it's terrible Rep and our somewhat decent "independent" governor is going to lose to some republican stooge.

Never say never.

Wonder if Begich would go for the at-large district. Or would that be seen as a step down? Does it really matter in an at-large state? Sure your voice is smaller in the House, but you also get to be that state's entire delegation.

Guessing he goes for his old seat in 2020 if anything, though.

 

[Chris R]

Begich could get his seat back in 2020 if Trump REALLY fucks up. States going to shit anyways. Still pisses me off he lost it to begin with

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I'm not sure if I understand candidate quality for non-presidential races sometimes.

Joe Heck was hyped up even though he had negative charisma and Katie McGinty did fairly well too for having negative charisma and no achievements and no political success.

Sometimes it feels like you just have to check the basic boxes of being able to get visibility and for people not to hate you and raising money and then you're fine most of the time.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

Could that Alaskan lieutenant governor run for anything national? Or is he sticking with the sort-of unity ticket for sure?

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Katie McGinty did nothing from 2010 to 2016 except get smashed in the 2014 Dem primary (she finished 4th!) and be a lobbyist to get the EPA to reduce regulations on her company and she had never been elected to public office before and she was the worst speaker I've seen in my life.

And she still did as well as Hillary and against an incumbent!

So maybe it doesn't matter if the Dems have no one good in Nevada to run in 2018, they just need a body.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I'm not sure if I understand candidate quality for non-presidential races sometimes.

Joe Heck was hyped up even though he had negative charisma and Katie McGinty did fairly well too for having negative charisma and no achievements and no political success.

Sometimes it feels like you just have to check the basic boxes of being able to get visibility and for people not to hate you and raising money and then you're fine most of the time.

I think Kander running as far ahead as he did shows that downballot candidate quality can absolutely make a difference. Granted, it would have made for a much stronger argument if he actually won, but still.

I'll agree with you so far as it matters significantly less, probably. Only the bases get super invested in downballot.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I think Kander running as far ahead as he did shows that downballot candidate quality can absolutely make a difference. Granted, it would have made for a much stronger argument if he actually won, but still.

But the Democratic Party loves promoting loyalists with the charisma of a wet paper bag, and Kander doesn't fit the bill. We need more woefully incompetent people--and if they could be corrupt with pockets full of wall street money that would be exceptional in the current political climate.

 

[Bonen no Max'd]

I think it also matter more in a midterm, like, no one to the right of Kirk is going to win Illinois no matter how big the backlash to Obama is, right?

Feingold also had noticeably different downballot results from Clinton (aside from over/underperforming, they just had their votes come from different places), same with Strickland and Murphy sucking and Kander being good.

 

[Chumley]

So is Spicer going to resign? I know nonstop bad press worked great for Trump, but this guy's nonstop bad press could be seen as stealing the spotlight from Donald.

 

[Aaron Strife]

But the Democratic Party loves promoting loyalists with the charisma of a wet paper bag, and Kander doesn't fit the bill. We need more woefully incompetent people--and if they could be corrupt with pockets full of wall street money that would be exceptional in the current political climate.

To be fair, I think that's just politics. Most of the people who run or can run are old, crooked and boring, or obnoxious goons like Alan Grayson or Tim Canova.

If your goal is to get an Obama in every single race you're going to come up short. Kander was far and away the best candidate in either party in 2016 and he still lost. If young people want fresher, more charismatic candidates they should run.

 

[mo60]

Eh, nah. I think Cruz would be better at ramming through legislation.

The saving grace of Trump thus far seems to be that he's an angry idiot. That certainly has its repercussions, but it also means stuff like the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank could be left fairly intact by the time he's through.

Anyone think we can take down Cruz in 2018? Flip Texas, Arizona and Nevada for a 51-49 Senate majority. Could serve as a test run for winning the Sun Belt as a Plan B to flipping back the Midwest in 2020.

Yeah. It would be a good idea for to try something like that, but the democrats shouldn't rely on texas in 2018 and 2020. I think winning just Arizona,Florida,NE-2, ME-2(This district may swing heavily back towards the democrats in 2020 if trump's presidency continues to be a dumpster fire), NC(maybe if turnout in urban areas is insanely high in 2020),WI, PA and maybe MI in 2020 is enough to get over 300EV's on the presidential side.The democrats should definitely target those states in 2020

 

[JesseEwiak]

To be fair, I think that's just politics. Most of the people who run or can run are old, crooked and boring, or obnoxious goons like Alan Grayson or Tim Canova.

If your goal is to get an Obama in every single race you're going to come up short. Kander was far and away the best candidate in either party in 2016 and he still lost. If young people want fresher, more charismatic candidates they should run.

Yup, the amount of charismatic, intelligent, scandal free people who want to and can raise the money to win an election aren't all that high. That's why most politicians all around the world are usually ya' know, politicians.

 

[mo60]

Katie McGinty did nothing from 2010 to 2016 except get smashed in the 2014 Dem primary (she finished 4th!) and be a lobbyist to get the EPA to reduce regulations on her company and she had never been elected to public office before and she was the worst speaker I've seen in my life.

And she still did as well as Hillary and against an incumbent!

So maybe it doesn't matter if the Dems have no one good in Nevada to run in 2018, they just need a body.

They also need a candidate that can appeal to voters in Washoe County and Clark County in case rural turnout is crazy high in 2018 for the republicans.Hilary got lucky in 2016 that she won Clark County and to a lesser extent Washoe County by enough to win Nevada.

Edit: Technically democrats can win Nevada by just winning Clark County by a double digit margin if they either barely win Washoe County or barely lose it.

 

[messiaen]

Absolutely the Washington Post.

And I'm tempted to say "Absolutely not the New York Times". It's too variable, and whilst their piece a few days ago about the Trump administration behind-the-scenes was good, I'm not going to promote them after the shitty "both sides-ism" of their campaign coverage.

I got an email about the LA Times being $20 for 6 months. Tempted to take them-up on it, but my WaPo subscription is up in a couple of months, so going to have to set-aside money to renew that.

I'm subscribed to The New Yorker, and that's got some great long-form analysis and coverage. It's not my everyday go-to, but every time I visit the site, there's something worthwhile there I spend time reading.

Wow! $20 for 6 months. That's a great deal, was that just an email offer? Or is it an active promotion somewhere? I'd be totally down for that. WaPo is six months free with Prime, so I'm checking that out as well.

 

[Maengun1]

In a weird place right now with politics personally. Hard to know how to feel about anything. Like, yeah I wish DeVos hadn't gotten confirmed. I wish I lived in a world where Mitch McConnell can't force Liz Warren to stop reading a letter from Coretta King on the senate floor because it denigrates the virtual Klansman who is about to become AG.

But on the other hand, it's better that people stay pissed off? If DeVos was thrown out, liberals feel like they "won" and then we probably get a new education secretary who is just marginally less awful (probably not even) and people stop being pissed off. Same with Sessions.

Idk. What I really want is a different outcome last November, but I'm kinda rooting for dumpster fire at this point. Sucks that we're all gonna suffer, but ....I tried to get people to listen before the election.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I'm playing through Pokemon Y and its plot is basically

Spoiler

a man with terrible hair who believes all things are zero sum tries to commit genocide because of his lack of understanding of win-win scenarios

and I don't need this right now, Pokemon >_>

 

[Toxi]

I'm playing through Pokemon Y and its plot is basically

Spoiler

a man with terrible hair who believes all things are zero sum tries to commit genocide because of his lack of understanding of win-win scenarios

and I don't need this right now, Pokemon >_>

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

.

Scientist: "Take him seriously, not literally!"

 

[The Technomancer]

Blood boiling about the Sessions nomination

 

[Retromelon]

In pokemon alpha sapphire, the main bad guy archie summons a creature of such immense power that it showers the world in ceaseless rain. Only after this beast refuses to be controlled by him, and threatens to flood the entire world and kill millions, does he acknowledge that he was wrong. After you bust your ass to capture kyogre and prevent all this, Archie gives a dramatic I'm sorry speech for almost flooding the world, and walks away free. No jail time or repercussions.

Pokemon stopped having decent stories after gen 2

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

In a weird place right now with politics personally. Hard to know how to feel about anything. Like, yeah I wish DeVos hadn't gotten confirmed. I wish I lived in a world where Mitch McConnell can't force Liz Warren to stop reading a letter from Coretta King on the senate floor because it denigrates the virtual Klansman who is about to become AG.

But on the other hand, it's better that people stay pissed off? If DeVos was thrown out, liberals feel like they "won" and then we probably get a new education secretary who is just marginally less awful (probably not even) and people stop being pissed off. Same with Sessions.

Idk. What I really want is a different outcome last November, but I'm kinda rooting for dumpster fire at this point. Sucks that we're all gonna suffer, but ....I tried to get people to listen before the election.

Well the silver lining is that had Clinton won, the animosity towards her would have led to another Republican wave in 2018 and 2020. Democrats still are in the worst position but at least there's a slim but faster chance to turn things around.

 

[Black Republican]

cant wait for some dems to vote for Sessions today! looking at Manchin!*

 

[Pixieking]

Wow! $20 for 6 months. That's a great deal, was that just an email offer? Or is it an active promotion somewhere? I'd be totally down for that. WaPo is six months free with Prime, so I'm checking that out as well.

Seems to just be an email offer. I had a quick look, and though the site it redirects to is pretty generic, I think it identifies my email account somewhere along the line. Sorry for getting your hopes up. :/

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

cant wait for some dems to vote for Sessions today! looking at Manchin!*

Uh, there had better not be any Dems voting for Sessions. Not after another night of taking the Senate floor. And certainly not after how Warren was treated.

 

[sazzy]

what a surreal headline

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ape-the-u-s/?utm_term=.861eb0966fad&tid=sm_tw

 

[Pixieking]

Who would've thought the next refugee humanitarian crisis would be in the US? The GOP should die of shame at this point.

 

[neurosisxeno]

So I was looking up Israel's healthcare system earlier for the debate thread, and it says they have universal coverage with 4 HMO's handling everyone. Doesn't sound that terrible, wondering if I'm missing something.

 

[mo60]

what a surreal headline

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ape-the-u-s/?utm_term=.861eb0966fad&tid=sm_tw

I heard of a refugee a few weeks ago that got frostbite while trying go from the US to Canada.

 

[Chumley]

Hey, Joe Scarborough isn't being an idiot this morning. Calling out every senate Republican for being sniveling hypocrites and morons over the Warren speaking ban.

 

[sazzy]

Hey, Joe Scarborough isn't being an idiot this morning. Calling out every senate Republican for being sniveling hypocrites and morons over the Warren speaking ban.

He's rarely an idiot, sometimes annoying, but not an idiot; Morning Joe tends to offer up the most balanced, moderate commentary on whatever is making the news.

Anyway... check this tweet out:

 

[Maledict]

He's rarely an idiot, sometimes annoying, but not an idiot; Morning Joe tends to offer up the most balanced, moderate commentary on whatever is making the news.

Anyway... check this tweet out:

What the hell? Balanced and moderate? Are you Donald Trump?

Morning Joe is anything but balanced. He is an ethically compromised Trump supporter who has repeatedly bent over backwards to legitimise him and attack his opponent yes. He's literally meeting with Trump regularly. It's a shocking display of corruption and lack of journalistic ethics.

 

[Chumley]

I spoke too soon apparently Mitch McConnell is playing 4 dimensional chess and shut down Warren to prop her up so she runs against Trump in 2020.

 

[metalslimer]

He's rarely an idiot, sometimes annoying, but not an idiot; Morning Joe tends to offer up the most balanced, moderate commentary on whatever is making the news.

Anyway... check this tweet out:

No he's mostly a dumbass whof thinks he is far more intelligent than he is. No wonder he gets along with Trump. The one saving grace is they get a decent number of guests who will try and correct him