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PoliGAF 2017 |OT1| From Russia with Love

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Drakeon

Member
So...none of this matters then.
It only matters if you can flip a few Republicans. Tillerson is the best hope there, although still kinda a long shot. I get the sense that you might be able to convince those who are extremely anti Russia, aka, McCain, Graham, Rubio, to vote no. Not a great chance, but better than stopping DeVos or others.

I'd love to stop Pruitt, but not sure where you get the votes.
 
Trump met with William Pryor over the weekend, someone on his Supreme Court shortlist.

Pryor thinks that gay sex should be illegal and tried to get an innocent man given the death penalty for not having a good lawyer. Pryor says that raped women should have to carry their pregnancies to term and that Miranda Rights is the worst thing to ever happen to the country other than abortion.

Aaaannnd...Pryor has been attacked as a RINO because he said that having the Ten Commandments in the Alabama courthouse violated Alabama law and because he once ruled in favor of a transgender woman.

The Cruz lunatics are so lunaticy.
 

thefro

Member
Assuming Dem lockstep (damn you, Joe Manchin), you only need three R defectors and they're sunk. Tillerson could get that if not for Manchin's shittiness. DeVos may well get it after that total shitshow.

People are fucking pissed at DeVos on my Facebook, so I think we have a shot there.

Don't underestimate a bunch of pissed-off teachers.
 
I do think it's possible DeVos could not get confirmed. We don't have a SCOTUS Justice Harriet Miers for reasons of complete incompetence.

Granted, Miers wasn't a GOP donor.
 

Diablos

Member
Trump met with William Pryor over the weekend, someone on his Supreme Court shortlist.

Pryor thinks that gay sex should be illegal and tried to get an innocent man given the death penalty for not having a good lawyer. Pryor says that raped women should have to carry their pregnancies to term and that Miranda Rights is the worst thing to ever happen to the country other than abortion.

Aaaannnd...Pryor has been attacked as a RINO because he said that having the Ten Commandments in the Alabama courthouse violated Alabama law and because he once ruled in favor of a transgender woman.

The Cruz lunatics are so lunaticy.
Fuck... fuck fuck fuck.

We are in so much trouble.

I watched part of Obama's 2009 inaugural address. I feel like we got robbed. Trump should not be President. Period.

I feel like this is going to be another night where I have trouble sleeping for the simple fact that I am so fucking pissed off.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Trump met with William Pryor over the weekend, someone on his Supreme Court shortlist.

Pryor thinks that gay sex should be illegal and tried to get an innocent man given the death penalty for not having a good lawyer. Pryor says that raped women should have to carry their pregnancies to term and that Miranda Rights is the worst thing to ever happen to the country other than abortion.

Aaaannnd...Pryor has been attacked as a RINO because he said that having the Ten Commandments in the Alabama courthouse violated Alabama law and because he once ruled in favor of a transgender woman.

The Cruz lunatics are so lunaticy.

Dear god, if Kennedy and RGB go during Trump's term we might be looking at a real tragedy in terms of gay marriage.

Nazis keep sending bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers.

http://fox2now.com/2017/01/18/jewish-community-center-in-creve-coeur-evacuated-for-bomb-threat/

Someone needs to stop these Nazis from breeding.

Considering Nazis are the baseline for evil, you'd think people would be too embarrassed to be Nazis and yet here we are. How the hell did this shit survive? (I know how I just can't believe it)


And it's stuff like this that gives me hope.
 
North Korea is fucking stoked about a Trump presidency and has intentionally leaked that they have two pseudo ICBMs to troll Trump and frighten him.

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has probably built two missiles presumed to be intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and placed them on mobile launchers for test-firing in the near future, military officials said Thursday.

The two missiles are estimated to not exceed 15 meters in length, making them shorter than the North's existing ICBMs, the 19-20 meter-long KN-08 and the 17-18 meter-long KN-14, the officials familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency.

The North appears to have intentionally leaked the new missiles to send a "strategic message" to the incoming government of Donald Trump who takes office on Friday, they said.

The officials didn't provide the exact date for when the missiles were picked up by intelligence, although it is estimated that the U.S. detected them on Monday when the U.S. Navy hurriedly moved its sea-based X-band radar system to the western part of the Pacific Ocean from seas off Hawaii.

Experts say the North is likely to fire off a new ballistic missile that flies some 2,500 kilometers and claim that it has succeeded in launching an ICBM. An ICBM usually has a range exceeding 5,500 kilometers.

"It will take at least two to three years for Pyongyang to master ICBM capabilities and five more years before they can be deployed operationally," said Kim Dong-yeob, a professor at Kyungnam University's North Korean studies school.

The North is widely expected to test-fire a missile when the Trump government outlines its policies toward the communist state or around the time of the annual Seoul-Washington joint military drill kickoff in March.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/01/18/0200000000AEN20170118010400315.html
 
If North Korea can launch nukes in 2022, you probably would have to start an Iraq War type war.

A 10% chance that NK is insane enough to actually kill everyone in LA and San Fran is too high too risk.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
I'm sure China isn't okaying their craziness as a response to Trump...nope.

You know what the scary part is? That might actually be accurate.

So not only could Trump potentially put Taiwan in harm's way, now South Korea could be in trouble too. What an irony considering he beat one of the architects of our pivot to Asia.

If North Korea can launch nukes in 2022, you probably would have to start an Iraq War type war.

A 10% chance that NK is insane enough to actually kill everyone in LA and San Fran is too high too risk.

At which point Seoul disappears from all our maps. There's no part of this situation that isn't scary.
 
Zuck, you dumb motherfucker, you just gave hundreds of millions to white supremacists (Oculus), how do you think you'll win the Dem nomination for president?

C2gRUqmXgAAPsWD.jpg
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Zuck, you dumb motherfucker, you just gave hundreds of millions to white supremacists (Oculus), how do you think you'll win the Dem nomination for president?

C2gRUqmXgAAPsWD.jpg

Could be he's going to try and go the Bloomberg independent route, only he doesn't have the experience Bloomberg does.
 
Zuck, you dumb motherfucker, you just gave hundreds of millions to white supremacists (Oculus), how do you think you'll win the Dem nomination for president?

C2gRUqmXgAAPsWD.jpg
Zuckerberg's problem is he has no political moxie. I think he'd be caught flat-footed by any negative campaigning.

Trump is very thin-skinned but he's also very nasty, he has no problem getting in the mud. I'd be concerned about Zuckerberg being one of those airy sunshine and farts liberals who thinks we just need to understand those racist coal miners.

I want to say I have no problem honing our economic message to middle class midwesterners, but that should only go so far. Dunno if Zuck would be capable of walking that line.

If he's serious about this he needs to jump into a safe Congressional seat first and learn the ropes. Yeah, Trump didn't have any experience either but he's also like 70 and was friends with the Clintons, the Bushes etc. He was certainly in orbit.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Dems should block anyone who will refuse to divest before the primary from running.

Agreed. We need to be able to hit Trump hard on his blatant corruption.

If he's serious about this he needs to jump into a safe Congressional seat first and learn the ropes. Yeah, Trump didn't have any experience either but he's also like 70 and was friends with the Clintons, the Bushes etc. He was certainly in orbit.

This is assuming he wants to run as a Dem. If he wants to go that independent route a congressional seat won't be enough. He'll need something on the level of governor of a big state to be taken seriously. The only reason anyone takes Bloomberg seriously is he was mayor of NYC, which is essentially an equivalent job.
 

antonz

Member
It only matters if you can flip a few Republicans. Tillerson is the best hope there, although still kinda a long shot. I get the sense that you might be able to convince those who are extremely anti Russia, aka, McCain, Graham, Rubio, to vote no. Not a great chance, but better than stopping DeVos or others.

I'd love to stop Pruitt, but not sure where you get the votes.

Tillerson is getting his appointment. Corker has already stated even if his committee refuses to endorse him that he will bring Tillerson to the floor for a vote anyways.

Republicans are in full fuck everything mode
 
Dear god, if Kennedy and RGB go during Trump's term we might be looking at a real tragedy in terms of gay marriage.
Random aside. While it was an important moment for equality and is probably used as shorthand for broader issues sometimes, the centering of gay civil rights around marriage as the be all and end all is kind of detrimental. This person and people like him occupying the SC would end up harming a lot more than just marriage.
 
Donald Trump has surrounded himself completely with Nazis because only Nazis praise Andrew Jackson anymore.

Mr. Trump said that people compared his success to the popular movement that put Andrew Jackson in the White House.

“There hasn’t been anything like this since Andrew Jackson,” Mr. Trump quoted his admirers saying. “Andrew Jackson? What year was Andrew Jackson? That was a long time ago.”

Mr. Trump then gave the year — 1828 — and went on to suggest that his own nationalist movement had usurped Mr. Jackson’s.

He said that even “the haters” who disliked him called his movement “unprecedented.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/...ce-dinner.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
 
Rachel Maddow going over how Trump's transition hasn't really filled any positions other than cabinet level staff is pretty scary. Alot of security positions are going to be empty.
 
Rachel Maddow going over how Trump's transition hasn't really filled any positions other than cabinet level staff is pretty scary. Alot of security positions are going to be empty.

Right, but at least Trump is lazy and doesn't care about low level positions so they'll take months to get filled.
 
Rachel Maddow going over how Trump's transition hasn't really filled any positions other than cabinet level staff is pretty scary. Alot of security positions are going to be empty.
Seems like this is the sort of thing that could lead to several... incidents. The kind that presidents tend to benefit from in a show of national solidarity.

Unless Democrats play it really shrewd and pin the blame on Trump for being a reckless imbecile.
 

Pixieking

Banned
Seems like this is the sort of thing that could lead to several... incidents. The kind that presidents tend to benefit from in a show of national solidarity.

Unless Democrats play it really shrewd and pin the blame on Trump for being a reckless imbecile.

It's possible to go both ways. A statement saying "Due to the administration's reckless and lazy attitude - not least by the President himself - everyday US citizens are being put at risk, and Republican's insistence on not pushing back against Trump's hateful remarks are only making matters worse. But we cannot let anyone lead us down a path of hate and violence - we must come together, to prove that [insert incident or group here] cannot break us or bend us, or demoralise us."

Blame Trump and his administration, and call for unity. Sorted.
 

royalan

Member
It's possible to go both ways. A statement saying "Due to the administration's reckless and lazy attitude - not least by the President himself - everyday US citizens are being put at risk, and Republican's insistence on not pushing back against Trump's hateful remarks are only making matters worse. But we cannot let anyone lead us down a path of hate and violence - we must come together, to prove that [insert incident or group here] cannot break us or bend us, or demoralise us."

Blame Trump and his administration, and call for unity. Sorted.

It honestly pains me to say this, but this kind of message has no teeth in modern American politics.

Love Trumps Hate

When They Go Low, We Go High

Let's Come Together Kumbayah BlaBlaBla...

These messages test well because they fuel a false sense of superiority among people who already feel they have the moral high ground, but they don't motivate butts to get out of seats, make phone calls, and write checks.

You have got to make the enemy clear. Paint them, define them, be honest about what can be taken away from you. What they WILL take from you, if you don't act. Dems need to stop running away from this and hiding behind cushy-ass messaging, because we actually DO have a very real enemy. Use them.
 
Seems like this is the sort of thing that could lead to several... incidents. The kind that presidents tend to benefit from in a show of national solidarity.

Unless Democrats play it really shrewd and pin the blame on Trump for being a reckless imbecile.

The last eight years have destroyed the rally around the flag effect. Ebola and ISIS caused the Dems to have huge losses in the 2014 midterms instead of causing people to rally around Obama.
 
Zuckerberg's problem is that he's a nerd.

Done.

Dems just learned this lesson.

That and he's a rich white guy who capitulated to conservative outrage and thus allowed Facebook and their "news" section to be proliferated with bonafide fake news.

He's milquetoast "liberal" who hasn't stood up for liberal values basically ever.
 

Maengun1

Member
Zuckerberg's problem is that he's a nerd.

Done.

Dems just learned this lesson.


On top of the other things I was worried about all last year was the simple fact that if you break down each presidential election to "jock v nerd" -- obviously some years match up better than others -- the jock candidate has won every year going back to ...1976? I'm not sure that one can be broken down like that at all. But the rational part of my brain was like "is Trump really a jock though? He's more like a stupid asshole everyone laughs at ..."

Then pussygate happened and we started seeing national polls with Hill up 10+ points and I mostly relaxed. In hindsight that probably fucking helped him
 
On top of the other things I was worried about all last year was the simple fact that if you break down each presidential election to "jock v nerd" -- obviously some years match up better than others -- the jock candidate has won every year going back to ...1976? I'm not sure that one can be broken down like that at all. But the rational part of my brain was like "is Trump really a jock though? He's more like a stupid asshole everyone laughs at ..."

Then pussygate happened and we started seeing national polls with Hill up 10+ points and I mostly relaxed. In hindsight that probably fucking helped him

Well, Ford played football at Michigan and Carter studied nuclear engineering.
 

numble

Member
That and he's a rich white guy who capitulated to conservative outrage and thus allowed Facebook and their "news" section to be proliferated with bonafide fake news.

He's milquetoast "liberal" who hasn't stood up for liberal values basically ever.
Really, voters do not care. If they did, there would be a boycott of Facebook right now. Most voters view Facebook as an essential part of their lives.

It's also easily spun by saying you wouldn't want someone reviewing everything you want to share with your friends on Facebook.
 

royalan

Member
Really, voters do not care. If they did, there would be a boycott of Facebook right now. Most voters view Facebook as an essential part of their lives.

The good will towards social media platforms rarely ever extends to their creators though.

I mean, remember MySpace? Everyone had a MySpace account at one point, but Tom was always a joke.
 
I think you're underestimating North Dakota's willingness to vote Democratic. It's not like it's Idaho or Kansas, and it's had two popular Democratic senators in the very recent past.

Also this is normally the height of a Presidential honeymoon, so if those are the best numbers Trump can muster, it'll be a tough few years for him.
I thought South Dakota was the more Democratic one?
 
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