hey_monkey
Banned
Yeah, Tippecanoe is really shaky. Living here has been politically depressing.
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PoliGAF 2017 |OT5| The Man In the High Chair
- Thread starter aspiegamer
- Start date
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Spoiled Milk
Banned
tomorrow is the third anniversary of michael brown being shot
This is the most infuriating thing.
Ah. That is an awful name btw. I blame Al Gore...
For everything. We probably wouldn't be much further along fighting climate change if he had been president, but I can't help think how different the arc of the world might have been had those chads not been hanging.
Or, you know we abolished the EC
Trump will probably believe this 100%
Gotta love how they just blatantly make up these dumbass stories as soon as they pick a "target" to serve up as a distraction for the base. Suddenly they're getting all these EVIL SOROS CONNECTIONS for McMaster, conveniently as soon as they have decided to prop him up as the new target.
Wait... I thought that Soros was part of the secret Jewish lobby. Why would Israel be blowing that up? Dammit Roger, get your nonsense right!
We let you goyim have a go at taking him down, but enough is enough, the jewish shadow government is moving in to clean up that mess.
I would short pork.
aspiegamer
Member
The thirst to get rid of McMaster is real. I'm not sure why, but it's real! It is really worth tanking one of the more (comparatively) stable parts of the administration over Loretta Lynch's security clearance, especially when there was no actual compelling reason to turn her away other than a misunderstood Bill Clinton booty call at an airport tarmac? I mean, she was cleared on the unmasking. Not sure what else they want from her.
Lindsey Graham is on CBS basically saying that unless the world steps in and stops NK then the US will. Time for talking is running out. We tried the same stuff for 30 years and it didn't work. Blah blah.
All of this rhetoric reminds me of the cheerleading we heard for war after 9/11 but perhaps with even more resolve because there's the possibility of an ICBM with a nuke on it.
Ugh, if Hillary was always destined to lose I'd take any other Republican over Trump right now if only because they'd deal with the NK situation at least somewhat rationally.
All of this rhetoric reminds me of the cheerleading we heard for war after 9/11 but perhaps with even more resolve because there's the possibility of an ICBM with a nuke on it.
Ugh, if Hillary was always destined to lose I'd take any other Republican over Trump right now if only because they'd deal with the NK situation at least somewhat rationally.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
I mean, Lindsey Graham is a bigger hawk than actual hawks.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
That's not hard, hawks are quite small birds. Even the largest rarely exceed 4ft wingspans.
It's about revenge, isn't it? Because he fired "one of them"?
He makes his supporters feel like they're in on his bullshit with him.
That's the only explanation that makes sense.
Greigor The Fellhand
Member
I just want non-terrifying politics back. =(
Emerson
May contain jokes =>
Like everyone else I'm quite unnerved by the NK developments but I feel like some of the WW3/apocalypse sentiments are a bit overboard.
If we nuked North Korea into oblivion, it would be horrible because Seoul and/or Tokyo might be reduced to rubble. It would be a historic tragedy. But I very much doubt anyone would actually go to bat to defend North Korea. Is China or Russia really going to start a nuclear war with the US over North Korea?
If we nuked North Korea into oblivion, it would be horrible because Seoul and/or Tokyo might be reduced to rubble. It would be a historic tragedy. But I very much doubt anyone would actually go to bat to defend North Korea. Is China or Russia really going to start a nuclear war with the US over North Korea?
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
I mean, less than 100m died in WW1 and WW2 combined (Not counting Spanish Flu deaths).
A nuclear exchange with NK would lead to 100m deaths.
Hat tip to the OT: Paul Manafort's home raided before dawn by FBI agents in late July according to The Washington Post
The Washington Post said:
ArkhamFantasy
Member
No pressure mueller but..... please hurry
Random Human
They were trying to grab your prize. They work for the mercenary. The masked man.
balladofwindfishes
Member
If we nuked NK with no actual nuclear aggression from them (threats don't count), we would basically become the #1 most hated country on the planet and our alliances would be devastated instantly. If the US is willing to throw around some bombs with no regard for diplomacy, why trust us?
This isn't going to happen (no nukes are going to be exchanged any time soon), but "it's no big deal in international politics if we nuke NK" isn't really what would happen if it did happen.
RumbleHumble
Banned
But if we preemptively attacked, we wouldn't use nukes, right? And if we didn't use nukes, what would happen?
I'm very uneducated on this stuff, and while I successfully walked back from being terrified about the end of the world, this whole thing makes me anxious as hell.
Box of Kittens
Banned
It's a tough district. There isn't really a Dem base. Even in 2008, when Obama won the state:
There's almost no Dem bases of support. I think the only county that Obama won that year in the district was Tippecanoe, which he lost in 2012 and Hillary lost in 2016. It's actually a fairly impressive gerrymander.
(This was 2016. Yeesh.)
For the longest time, Dems won the State House more often than not (while getting crushed in the State Senate) and were able to force compromise maps. Then R's took the House in 2010 and the result was ridiculously gerrymandered maps to add to the existing R advantage. I don't see how we can overcome this unless SCOTUS strikes down partisan gerrymandering because even if we get the governorship (and I doubt we will in 2020) the legislature can override a gubernatorial veto with a simple majority vote.
The other thing notable about the 2016 map is Clinton only winning four counties. Of those four, Marion (Indianapolis), Monroe (Bloomington/Indiana University) and Lake (Gary/Northwest Indiana) would go Democratic under any circumstances. St. Joseph (South Bend/Notre Dame) is the only competitive Indiana county she pulled off.
balladofwindfishes
Member
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Indiana
They have not won the State Senate Since 1977
AntraxSuicide
Banned
We'd use regular warfare if we attacked first, specifically aiming at Pyongyang to attempt to end the conflict in a few days.
It's basically off the table though. NK is a bad guy in a cop show who is cornered with a hostage (SK basically has a gun pointed at it at all times).
balladofwindfishes
Member
Would NK ever actually pull the trigger on the hostage, though? Doing that opens up a big can of worms that NK can't deal with and knows they can't deal with.
Kim's found a way to rile up a big country and make himself and his country seem more important than they are. He's doing everything possible to annoy and antagonize without actually taking it past a point where he starts to get hurt by it. He's an opportunist, using Trump to get attention and importance because Trump is stupid and reacts badly to threats.
So with all the worries about nuclear escalation going on in OT, what's poligafs take? I'm not as knowledgeable on North Koreas geopolitics as I should be, but I'm under the impression that they like to sabre rattle a lot. Hopefully Trump's stupidity won't lead to a lot of unneeded carnage though...
AntraxSuicide
Banned
The Kim family wouldn't survive if anyone ever took action against them. They'd get torn apart like Gaddafi. So I do think there could come a point after a military strike where Kim thinks "I'm gonna die, let's see how spitefully I can go out."
I think nuclear attacks are incredibly unlikely. I think NK doing anything is unlikely. But if we attacked them, we're on a razor's edge as to what happens after that.
NK likes to saber rattle, but now that they have working ICBMs and miniaturized nukes that can fit on those missiles, they're rapidly reaching the point where they can credibly back up their threats.
My worst worry is that Trump gets a false alarm late in the night and they have to make a snap decision. Beyond that I don't expect him to actually motivate a forceful military action without it leaking in advance.
balladofwindfishes
Member
North Korea and Kim's rule are only able to survive due to China. China certainly doesn't want a war right on their border, and especially does not want a war that will hurt their exports by forcing them to pick a side.
China says "cut the crap or no more food and money for you" and what's Kim supposed to do? China could take over NK right now if it wanted (if it wasn't an international incident for them to try it right now).
No, that would be foolish.
The ball, as it always has been, will be in NK's court. If they're really foolish enough to attack the US in any way then the international community would condone an appropriate reaction. If they use a nuke? They're history, but it certainly wouldn't be the cause of WW3.
My opinion is 140 characters isn't enough to explain a nuanced stance on NK aggression or threats. More to the point, getting into a pissing contest of ever escalating threats with NK is meaningless. My only worry is what happens when Trump inevitably shoves himself in a corner when he threatens NK action and they act on those threats by launching another test or something, painting Trump as weak.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I'm going to be in China from this Saturday through next Thursday
Fuck
Fuck
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
I'm super annoyed by atheists who purposely misinterpret "I come not to bring peace, but a sword."
This is an insanely easy thing to interpret and shows Jesus in a terrible light in proper context. Jesus is saying "fuck your family, I'm more important."
... You don't need to try to make that worse than it is.
This is an insanely easy thing to interpret and shows Jesus in a terrible light in proper context. Jesus is saying "fuck your family, I'm more important."
... You don't need to try to make that worse than it is.
RumbleHumble
Banned
I was explaining this to a friend. I'm not particularly worried about what NK can do to us, but I'm always cautious about whatever Trump thinks he can do to them without considering any actual consequences.
I guess I join in the general opinion that NK seems more rational than Trump, and the key factor in ensuring nothing happens is Trump not getting ahead of himself.
What I really hope is not a thing like the transgender ban announcement where he just states his policy on twitter and everyone else in the government has to walk that back. If he does that with a strike announcement it's going to be too late to walk that back.
What I really hope is not a thing like the transgender ban announcement where he just states his policy on twitter and everyone else in the government has to walk that back. If he does that with a strike announcement it's going to be too late to walk that back.
https://twitter.com/GlennThrush/status/895301998588952581
I don't know if I buy him going off the cuff with fire and fury but if true it's pretty stupid.
I don't know if I buy him going off the cuff with fire and fury but if true it's pretty stupid.
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
ArkhamFantasy
Member
No chance of congress stripping trumps power to declare war without thier permission?
Shocker.
I'm sure he thought it made him look like a masculine, tough guy. Can't say we didn't know what were getting.
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