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

[Kirby101]

Boris must really want Scotland and N.I. to leave. He sure looks like he is doing everything to make that happen.

[ed2962]

In yesterday's Antifa talk did anyone bring up the guy from last week who tried to set fire to an ICE detention center?

[Kusanagi]

I'm starting to feel Boris Johnson will either be out before the end of the year, or he will be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom with very little in between. It's pretty clear by now with all his 'Won't negotiate with the EU until the backstop is removed' talk is him just trying to make the EU look unreasonable while wanting No Deal.

No deal is a easy win for the SNP, and while I'm not sure, but I do believe the process for Northern Ireland leaving the UK and rejoining the Republic of Ireland is even simpler than Scotland Independence. By which I mean in terms of procedure, the run up to would, of course, be chaos.

[Kirby101]

I'm starting to feel Boris Johnson will either be out before the end of the year, or he will be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom with very little in between. It's pretty clear by now with all his 'Won't negotiate with the EU until the backstop is removed' talk is him just trying to make the EU look unreasonable while wanting No Deal.

No deal is a easy win for the SNP, and while I'm not sure, but I do believe the process for Northern Ireland leaving the UK and rejoining the Republic of Ireland is even simpler than Scotland Independence. By which I mean in terms of procedure, the run up to would, of course, be chaos.

You're right. NI joining Ireland puts them in the EU right away. Scotland must petition the EU for entrance. I would assume Sturgeon is already in back channel talks with the EU about this.

[Tami]

You're right. NI joining Ireland puts them in the EU right away. Scotland must petition the EU for entrance. I would assume Sturgeon is already in back channel talks with the EU about this.

There is a show on HGTV called Love it or List it. The idea of NI splitting with the UK and rejoining Ireland reminds me of this.

So, NI, what would it take for you to stay with the UK?
1.
2.
etc.

NI, what would it take for you to leave the NI and rejoin (move to) Ireland?

1.
2.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Makes Clear What Black Voters Had to Lose

In late summer 2016, the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump embarked on what he claimed was an appeal to African American voters. In August, Trump traveled to Michigan for an event that was part of the push, though reporters noted that his speech was actually given in a predominantly white suburb of Lansing.

“What the hell do you have to lose?” Trump said, addressing his question to black voters. The point, he said, was that African American communities were already a shambles, and their condition could only improve. The remarks drew shocked reactions at the time.

Three years later, as the president attacks Representative Elijah Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, the answer to his question is clear. Trump has sabotaged a law that guaranteed health insurance for many African Americans. He has undermined protections for voting rights. His Justice Department has stopped going after police departments that discriminated against African Americans. He has rolled back environmental protections. Beyond policy, he has used rhetoric that suggests the citizenship of African Americans and other minorities is conditional and less than that of white Americans.

Whenever he is accused of racism, which is frequently, Trump is quick to cite black unemployment rates, which are at historic lows. The president invokes this as if it’s a special favor he has bestowed on African Americans, rather than a self-evident policy goal of the government. Insofar as African American employment has improved, it’s simply as part of a generally growing economy, not targeted policies. Moreover, as Peter Nicholas reports, black unemployment remains twice as high as white rates, and the gap in wages between races is growing. Trump has at other times cited the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal-justice reform law he signed in late 2018. Advocates have widely hailed the law as a positive move.

But in other areas, Trump’s policy record for African Americans is dismal. Begin with policing, a subject of intimate relevance in Baltimore. The city was shaken by protests in April 2015, after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. It was one in a long string of deaths of people under arrest, and the city convulsed in violence. In the aftermath, the Obama Justice Department probed the Baltimore Police Department and found a horrifying record of racial discrimination and disparate enforcement. Baltimore was one of several cities where DOJ investigated abuses and used consent decrees to force departments to reform amid evidence of widespread abuses of African Americans at the hands of police officers....

As the 2020 election approaches, Trump’s question to African American voters is no longer a hypothetical or rhetorical question. So what the hell do they have to lose? Just their health, their health insurance, their right not to be abused by police, their right to vote, and their status as full members of the American polity.

For black folks like me, with "friends" like Trump, I damn sure don't need any enemies!

[aja_christopher]

For black folks like me, with "friends" like Trump, I damn sure don't need any enemies!

"Trump claims he is ‘least racist person in the world’ despite repeated racist attacks"

"Donald Trump has claimed he is the “least racist person in the world”, in spite of his recent racist comments attacking politicians of colour and civil rights figures. Mr. Trump made the claim on Tuesday morning outside the White House, before boarding Marine One.

The comment comes as the president faces criticism from Democrats for racist attacks in recent weeks, which began with attacks on four liberal politicians of colour in the House of Representatives known as “the squad”.

Since those initial attacks – telling representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib to “go back” where they came from – Mr Trump has lashed out at civil rights leader and congressman Elijah Cummings over the state of his district, which includes the City of Baltimore. Mr Trump said that Mr Cummings’ Baltimore district – which is predominantly black – is “rat infested”.

Most recently, Mr Trump attacked reverend Al Sharpton after the civil rights icon posted a photo of himself heading to Baltimore. The president called him a “con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. .. Hates Whites & Cops!"

During his remarks to reporters before boarding Marine One, Mr Trump said that black state legislators in Virginia who are planning on boycotting his appearance at the 400th anniversary event said they are going "against their own people".

He also claimed that African Americans "love the job" he's doing and are "happy as hell" with his recent attacks on Baltimore and Mr Cummings.

And, in spite of Mr Trump's claims to the contrary, it appears as though a majority of Americans believe he is racist.

That's according to a new Quinnipiac poll released on Tuesday, which found that 51 per cent of Americans believe he is racist, compared to 45 per cent who said they do not believe he is.

That poll found that the two parties are pretty divided on the issue, with 86 per cent of Democrats saying they believe he is racist, compared to 8 per cent of Republicans. Meanwhile, 91 per cent of Republicans said he is not a racist, and just 9 per cent of Democrats said the same. Men were more likely to say Mr Trump is not racist, too, while a majority of women said he is racist.

Meanwhile, that Quinnipiac poll found that a whopping 80 per cent of black Americans think Mr Trump is racist."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9027306.html

[GindyPosts]

Trump Makes Clear What Black Voters Had to Lose







For black folks like me, with "friends" like Trump, I damn sure don't need any enemies!

We got that one black user who gushes endlessly about how Trump is doing great things for the African American community. Can't wait for his spin.

[Jack Dracula]

We got that one black user who gushes endlessly about how Trump is doing great things for the African American community. Can't wait for his spin.

You'd think all the Trump-splainers would be spun-out by now.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

"Trump claims he is ‘least racist person in the world’ despite repeated racist attacks"

"Donald Trump has claimed he is the “least racist person in the world”, in spite of his recent racist comments attacking politicians of colour and civil rights figures. Mr. Trump made the claim on Tuesday morning outside the White House, before boarding Marine One.

The comment comes as the president faces criticism from Democrats for racist attacks in recent weeks, which began with attacks on four liberal politicians of colour in the House of Representatives known as “the squad”.

Since those initial attacks – telling representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib to “go back” where they came from – Mr Trump has lashed out at civil rights leader and congressman Elijah Cummings over the state of his district, which includes the City of Baltimore. Mr Trump said that Mr Cummings’ Baltimore district – which is predominantly black – is “rat infested”.

Most recently, Mr Trump attacked reverend Al Sharpton after the civil rights icon posted a photo of himself heading to Baltimore. The president called him a “con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. .. Hates Whites & Cops!"

During his remarks to reporters before boarding Marine One, Mr Trump said that black state legislators in Virginia who are planning on boycotting his appearance at the 400th anniversary event said they are going "against their own people".

He also claimed that African Americans "love the job" he's doing and are "happy as hell" with his recent attacks on Baltimore and Mr Cummings.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9027306.html

I want to know exactly who those African-Americans Trump, or the stooges in his administration are talking to, beyond the dupes and/or turncoats slurping the Republican Kool-Aid, or, as I suspect, Mango Mussolini is just lying out his ass again.

[aja_christopher]

I want to know exactly who those African-Americans Trump, or the stooges in his administration are talking to, beyond the dupes and/or turncoats slurping the Republican Kool-Aid, or, as I suspect, Mango Mussolini is just lying out his ass again.

Carson, Kanye, Diamond, Silk.

[worstblogever]

Having finally got to read just a bit on Harris and the seemingly new approach to healthcare...

I don't even really begrudge her being where she now seems to be on the issue. While I would disagree with her approach, I guess that I can sort of see what she might be going for.

That said, the idea that she still seemed to be confused about what was happening in a debate that happened that long ago? Just kind odd. It's not like there was zero coverage, and she just happened to realize how it sounded the other day.

DailyKos article: Sanders Campaign immediately smears the Harris healthcare plan

[Electricmastro]

Maybe it's not my place to say this, but after seeing so many people complain about how too many US police are racist, trigger-happy with guns, corrupt, just all around bad people that should lose their jobs, etc., and push aside any data, evidence, and facts that don't make out the police problem to be an epidemic, I can't help but wonder what their plans and goals are, because I get the feeling that they just spend all day and all night complaining about how the police are bad people, but don't really seem to go the extra mile in serving their own communities if they're so frustrated and passionate about it.

[PaulBullion]

You scare me.

Not me.

She gives me hope.

[Tami]

DailyKos article: Sanders Campaign immediately smears the Harris healthcare plan

And still people wonder why I equate Sanders with Trump.