All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[BruceWayneJr.]

Every conversation I've had with my friends on the left reflected a disgust with Pelosi and Democratic leadership for doing nothing while migrant children continue to be kept in cages, LGBTQ rights are under constant thread via executive order of an Evangelical convinces Trump it's a good idea, and his Cabinet continues to grift while entire agencies spend months with "acting" directors...

Well, the Democratic base was starting to be disgusted that nothing was being done. Trump gave them the excuse they needed, asking a foreign power to intervene in our elections AGAIN. The dust had arguably not settled after the Mueller investigation, and he did the same f***ing thing. How could they NOT impeach, or do something about it? Does Trump really think he's that bulletproof? Will the GOP make him that bulletproof when the inquiry reaches the Senate?

And... that's the thing. The buck is shifted... Democrats were going to lose voter momentum if they did nothing. If they lose, the argument is, "We tried, but the GOP have Trump propped up. But now it's clear what you, as Americans, have to do... We all know Trump is guilty of corruption, and only one party intends to try and do something about it... SO VOTE DEMOCRATIC TICKETS UP AND DOWN THE TICKET IN 2020 BECAUSE THIS CANNOT STAND."

The GOP can either learn from Watergate or not. But if they stand with Trump, 2020 will be a f***ing bloodbath. Bill Clinton lied about a beej, and when all was said and done, he became sympathetic.

Donald Trump does not inspire sympathy, ever. He inspires antipathy. He's just s***ty. And if he starts crowing about getting away with crimes he's f***ing admitting to, 2020 will be a done deal for Democrats. And the GOP will go with him for propping him up.

Best blog ever.

[Tami]

Bizarre

Teacher apologizes for having students write 'funny' captions on slavery pictures

A teacher on Long Island, New York, has apologized for telling students to "make it funny" and "don't bore me" when assigning them to write captions for photos of former slaves after the Civil War.

The unidentified teacher had students at John W. Dodd Middle School in Freeport write “funny” titles and captions for photos of postwar black sharecroppers last week, according to school officials.

In a statement Tuesday, the superintendent of Freeport Public Schools, Dr. Kishore Kuncham, slammed the teacher's assignment as "an insensitive trivialization" and "poorly conceived."

Kuncham said the district opened an investigation Friday after several parents contacted the middle school principal with their concerns about the lesson. The teacher was placed on administrative duty while the investigation was conducted, he said.

“Let me be perfectly clear: Our investigation has determined that this lesson was poorly conceived and executed,” Kuncham said in his statement. “The teacher instructed three separate classes of students to develop captions for photos of post-war sharecroppers.”

Darlene McCurty, who wrote about the assignment in a Sept. 20 Facebook post, said that she was among those who complained. Her post, which has been shared almost 2,000 times, includes images of the worksheets with such captions as “Black girl magic” and “Getting that money” beneath images of the sharecroppers in cotton fields.

McCurty wrote that she was contacted by her granddaughter who was disturbed by the assignment, which was given to one of the girl's friends in a social studies class.

The investigation found the teacher told students to “make it funny” and “don’t bore me” with the photo captions, according to Kuncham.

[kidfresh512]

Every conversation I've had with my friends on the left reflected a disgust with Pelosi and Democratic leadership for doing nothing while migrant children continue to be kept in cages, LGBTQ rights are under constant thread via executive order of an Evangelical convinces Trump it's a good idea, and his Cabinet continues to grift while entire agencies spend months with "acting" directors...

Well, the Democratic base was starting to be disgusted that nothing was being done. Trump gave them the excuse they needed, asking a foreign power to intervene in our elections AGAIN. The dust had arguably not settled after the Mueller investigation, and he did the same f***ing thing. How could they NOT impeach, or do something about it? Does Trump really think he's that bulletproof? Will the GOP make him that bulletproof when the inquiry reaches the Senate?

And... that's the thing. The buck is shifted... Democrats were going to lose voter momentum if they did nothing. If they lose, the argument is, "We tried, but the GOP have Trump propped up. But now it's clear what you, as Americans, have to do... We all know Trump is guilty of corruption, and only one party intends to try and do something about it... SO VOTE DEMOCRATIC TICKETS UP AND DOWN THE TICKET IN 2020 BECAUSE THIS CANNOT STAND."

The GOP can either learn from Watergate or not. But if they stand with Trump, 2020 will be a f***ing bloodbath. Bill Clinton lied about a beej, and when all was said and done, he became sympathetic.

Donald Trump does not inspire sympathy, ever. He inspires antipathy. He's just s***ty. And if he starts crowing about getting away with crimes he's f***ing admitting to, 2020 will be a done deal for Democrats. And the GOP will go with him for propping him up.

That same base has to do their part too and VOTE. The house has passed numerous resolutions and bills that cannot get voted on because Mitch is blocking everything. It's easy to blame Democratic leadership. But, liberals and people that believe in LGBTQ rights, and that children shouldn't be in cages need to vote ALL the time. And not just in Presidential elections when they are sufficiently motivated. Local, state, midterms.

There should be no more illusions that the parties are anywhere similar. Or apathy that "it doesn't really matter" which party gets elected. We have seen what the GOP is willing to be complicit and silent about. We have seen them abandon their constitutional duty to provide a check to power. There should be no "losing voter momentum". That's what got us 2016 and 2 Supreme court judges and countless other Mitch judges that will be deciding our lives for decades.

[Dalak]

That same base has to do their part too and VOTE. The house has passed numerous resolutions and bills that cannot get voted on because Mitch is blocking everything. It's easy to blame Democratic leadership. But, liberals and people that believe in LGBTQ rights, and that children shouldn't be in cages need to vote ALL the time. And not just in Presidential elections when they are sufficiently motivated. Local, state, midterms.

There should be no more illusions that the parties are anywhere similar. Or apathy that "it doesn't really matter" which party gets elected. We have seen what the GOP is willing to be complicit and silent about. We have seen them abandon their constitutional duty to provide a check to power. There should be no "losing voter momentum". That's what got us 2016 and 2 Supreme court judges and countless other Mitch judges that will be deciding our lives for decades.

Who's really blaming Dems for this? I can see getting mad they hadn't started towards impeachment as that's been a grumble for a long while now, but are people really blaming the Dems for Moscow Mitch's refusal to allow votes on these bills?

[Celgress]

A lot of you will get triggered by this but I think the commentator (who was one of the minds behind the Justice Democrats or "Squad") makes some valid points -

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Every conversation I've had with my friends on the left reflected a disgust with Pelosi and Democratic leadership for doing nothing while migrant children continue to be kept in cages, LGBTQ rights are under constant thread via executive order of an Evangelical convinces Trump it's a good idea, and his Cabinet continues to grift while entire agencies spend months with "acting" directors...

Well, the Democratic base was starting to be disgusted that nothing was being done. Trump gave them the excuse they needed, asking a foreign power to intervene in our elections AGAIN. The dust had arguably not settled after the Mueller investigation, and he did the same f***ing thing. How could they NOT impeach, or do something about it? Does Trump really think he's that bulletproof? Will the GOP make him that bulletproof when the inquiry reaches the Senate?

And... that's the thing. The buck is shifted... Democrats were going to lose voter momentum if they did nothing. If they lose, the argument is, "We tried, but the GOP have Trump propped up. But now it's clear what you, as Americans, have to do... We all know Trump is guilty of corruption, and only one party intends to try and do something about it... SO VOTE DEMOCRATIC TICKETS UP AND DOWN THE TICKET IN 2020 BECAUSE THIS CANNOT STAND."

The GOP can either learn from Watergate or not. But if they stand with Trump, 2020 will be a f***ing bloodbath. Bill Clinton lied about a beej, and when all was said and done, he became sympathetic.

Donald Trump does not inspire sympathy, ever. He inspires antipathy. He's just s***ty. And if he starts crowing about getting away with crimes he's f***ing admitting to, 2020 will be a done deal for Democrats. And the GOP will go with him for propping him up.

And Republicans will go down with the ship. They’re in way too deep with Trump to back out now, if anything, look for the GOP to go into cornered animal mode and fight harder than ever to save the Donald’s orange ass. Because if they lose the presidency and the Senate, they could well be out of power as a party for a decade or longer after all the repugnant **** they’ve done.

[worstblogever]

Who's really blaming Dems for this? I can see getting mad they hadn't started towards impeachment as that's been a grumble for a long while now, but are people really blaming the Dems for Moscow Mitch's refusal to allow votes on these bills?

It only dovetails into my point...

If they're mad at Democrats for not being able to get any common-sense legislation passed in the House through the GOP led-Senate... and the GOP Senate also props up an obviously corrupt, and boldly criminal Trump...

Does anyone think the 2020 voting public are going to want to keep Mitch McConnell in place as Senate Majority leader? Or are we going to see Susan Collins, Corey Gardner, Martha McSally, Thom Tillis and possibly others (including McConnell) get booted in favor of Democratic candidates?

The GOP propping up Trump guarantees they're screwed. Impeaching him could be equally bad, though, because they're going to have to replace him with a more-established GOP leader who the Trump-backers who revel in his racism and outsider persona are going to balk at going out to vote for. They're kind of f***ed either way, but their chances of holding onto the Senate and their long-term fortunes will be better without Trump.

[BeastieRunner]

[PaulBullion]

Two things make me think that everybody saying this will be bad for Democrats will look very foolish before this month is over:

1. It's quite likely that the phone call to Ukraine is just the tip of the iceberg. Already today we found out that AG Barr seems to be involved, meaning at the least that he has to recuse himself because he will be called as a witness.

2. Team Trump is so bad at handling this. So bad. My goodness. Mailing out talking points to the enemy. Admitting to crimes on camera and in writing. Doubling down when they should be claiming they misspoke. They are so bad at this. My god. So bad.

[4saken1]

Donald Trump does not inspire sympathy, ever. He inspires antipathy. He's just s***ty. And if he starts crowing about getting away with crimes he's f***ing admitting to, 2020 will be a done deal for Democrats. And the GOP will go with him for propping him up.

I'm all for the impeaching Trump, but I think you vastly overestimate the feckless masses in this country!

[Tami]

I'm all for the impeaching Trump, but I think you vastly overestimate the feckless masses in this country!

Trump isn’t ‘getting away’ with anything

The notion that President Trump is “getting away” with lying, impulsive policy shifts and atrocious judgment (e.g. inviting the Taliban to Camp David, engaging in a self-defeating trade war) because of his hard-core base never made a lot of sense. President George W. Bush’s fervent base stuck with him even after Hurricane Katrina, but that was beside the point. No president’s approval goes to zero (although Trump’s approval rating with women is testing that proposition), but at some point, if an incumbent loses anything approaching a majority, he’s cooked. The newest Post-ABC News poll suggests that is where Trump stands presently

Nearly half (48 percent) strongly disapprove of Trump, compared with only 27 percent who strongly approve.

His security blanket, the economy, is unraveling, even though the country has not yet entered a recession. “The Post-ABC poll finds that Trump’s economic approval rating has also declined from 51 percent in early July to 46 percent in the new survey, with 47 percent disapproving.” A remarkable 60 percent think a recession is likely in the next year, which unfortunately might become a self-fulfilling prophecy if those respondents cut back on spending. And a plurality (43 percent) think Trump’s trade war increases the chance of a recession.

[4saken1]

Who's really blaming Dems for this? I can see getting mad they hadn't started towards impeachment as that's been a grumble for a long while now, but are people really blaming the Dems for Moscow Mitch's refusal to allow votes on these bills?

It goes towards the narrative that government doesn't do anything which the intellectually lazy embrace. It's much easier than looking at the facts and seeing what is actually happening.

[PaulBullion]

Watching a very low energy Trump giving a presser. He is struggling for words. Said "first class" instead of "first hand".

[PaulBullion]

His staff must be delighted that he keeps going off script in this press conference. Their blood pressure must be something.

[4saken1]

A lot of you will get triggered by this but I think the commentator (who was one of the minds behind the Justice Democrats or "Squad") makes some valid points -

Didn't watch the whole video, but I think that I got the gist of it. Big nope! Biden did what leaders from several Western countries were also calling for. He had no need to pressure them to stop investigating the company that his son worked for because the investigation was already dormant for several years. If there's any other poignant information in there, feel free to note where I should start watching.