All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[PaulBullion]

Today is Trump’s last full day as President of the United States. Tomorrow at noon Biden takes over his place; going from being president-elect to be the President. But what do you guys think Soon-to-be-former President Trump will be remembered for the most in history? The Muslim Ban or inciting the Capitol Seige attack?

I have a feeling today Trump is gonna do something nuts to cap off his presidency that might further tarnish his legacy than he already has(and that’s saying something). What crazy pardons is going to do today? I’m biting my finger nails in nervousness about how the series finale of the dark four year reality tv show that is the Trump administration ends.

I'm imagining his advisors trying to get him to focus to sign pardons, while he keeps snorting drugs and breaking things.

[Agent Z]

Here Are The Police Officers And Other Public Employees Arrested In Connection To Capitol Riot

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybe...h=6108b13c45ae

[Kirby101]

I think MAGA started as a workers having decent pay again and maybe that is what it means to a lot of people. But it quickly degenerated into something else because the white nationalism is what Trump played to. Had he rejected the white nationalism, stuck to jobs, really cared at all about middle class workers or anybody else and had any competence, well, that would not be Trump.

Then they were deluded. Trump not only opposed a minimum wage increase, he opposes the minimum wage in general. He has always treated the people who worked for him like **** and stole wages from them. And workers who still thinks tax cuts for the rich means more and better jobs for them are willfully ignorant.

[PwrdOn]

How so?

In an earlier post, someone described Trump's view as "Citizenship is a privilege to be doled out to the chosen few."

Anyone who doesn't support open borders supports the view that citizenship is a privilege to be doled out to the chosen few. There might be a difference of degree, but you're still doling citizenship to some but not others.

When I've suggested that Democratic candidates and activists are sympathetic to de facto open borders, I get a lot of pushback, which suggests the consensus on the board is that Democrats generally believe that citizenship is a privilege to be be doled out to the few.

It doesn't help your point because for most people on the left, at least those with principle, immigration policy is an issue where their professed moral principles clash with their own self interest in a rather dramatic way, and reconciling these is something that can be quite difficult to wrestle with. It's not like it is with people like you, where it's easy for you to just go "well if citizenship isn't a privilege for the chosen few then we'll have open borders, and that's bad, so I guess citizenship is a privilege for the chosen few." That doesn't really reflect well on you or your party, and it makes it more difficult to trust you when it comes to any other issue.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Today is Trump’s last full day as President of the United States. Tomorrow at noon Biden takes over his place; going from being president-elect to be the President. But what do you guys think Soon-to-be-former President Trump will be remembered for the most in history? The Muslim Ban or inciting the Capitol Seige attack?

What should he be most remembered for in history, is what I think you are asking.

History is a weird thing and one cannot know always at the outset what people are going to be remembered for. For instance, the 1918 Pandemic was a big defining moment and event in the 20th Century, and Wilson's administration. Yet the Pandemic has been famously underwritten and under-memorialized in popular and political consciousness. People talk of Wilson and mention Versailles, the League of Nations but not the 1918 Pandemic. People thought W. would be remembered and condemned as the worst POTUS in 2007 and he's still considered plenty bad but more and more, people see W. as a mediocre President, and if anything the defining action he's remembered for is the 2000 Election more than his Presidency at least at present.

Legacy rarely works out the way you think. Why is it that Richard Nixon is condemned universally as a villain in popular culture and media while the similarly corrupt Ronald Reagan and his Iran Contra hearings and other scandals were slapped on the wrist and swept under the rug?

But I think for the next 10 years, Donald Trump will be condemned as an evil President and an evil man and occupy the same position that Nixon did.

Historically, Trump will be considered America's most successful demagogue -- Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, Barry Goldwater, George Wallace, Ross Perot -- came and went, they crashed and burnt, and they became proverbial failures. But Trump went further than them to actually govern albeit he ultimately failed and lost re-election. Still Trump showed what happened if that kind of populist demagogue actually made it to office and govern. What was theoretical with the earlier failed demagogues is now actual in the case of 45.

I’m biting my finger nails in nervousness about how the series finale of the dark four year reality tv show that is the Trump administration ends.

In this day of revivals, reunions, reboots and so on, is there even such a thing as a "series finale"?

[ed2962]

Then they were deluded. Trump not only opposed a minimum wage increase, he opposes the minimum wage in general. He has always treated the people who worked for him like **** and stole wages from them. And workers who still thinks tax cuts for the rich means more and better jobs for them is willfully ignorant.

There's tons of regular people Trump fans who believe this. They feel that pre-Covid the economy was great and it was because of Trump's tax cuts and deregulation. It's a con that the GOP has been able successfully sell for decades.

[CJStriker]

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Watching the Trumpsters react to Garth Brooks confirming he's gonna play at the ceremony tomorrow has been fun. The anger , the betrayal and more. Its more fun to watch this play out. Remember the newest fb meme was Biden wasn't gonna have a ceremony at all because he was in hiding. Now not only is that gone to hell , they lost Garth Brooks too.

[PaulBullion]

Watching the Trumpsters react to Garth Brooks confirming he's gonna play at the ceremony tomorrow has been fun. The anger , the betrayal and more. Its more fun to watch this play out. Remember the newest fb meme was Biden wasn't gonna have a ceremony at all because he was in hiding. Now not only is that gone to hell , they lost Garth Brooks too.

They keep forgetting that Garth was never one of them.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Then they were deluded. Trump not only opposed a minimum wage increase, he opposes the minimum wage in general. He has always treated the people who worked for him like **** and stole wages from them. And workers who still thinks tax cuts for the rich means more and better jobs for them is willfully ignorant.

They’re worse than ignorant, they’re flat out stupid as hell.

Watching the Trumpsters react to Garth Brooks confirming he's gonna play at the ceremony tomorrow has been fun. The anger , the betrayal and more. Its more fun to watch this play out. Remember the newest fb meme was Biden wasn't gonna have a ceremony at all because he was in hiding. Now not only is that gone to hell , they lost Garth Brooks too.

Because of the one-two punch of the virus and last week’s failed insurrection, there won’t be any crowds at tomorrow’s inauguration. How much you wanna bet Trump will boast that his swearing in ceremony had a larger attendance than Biden’s?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...0-000-n1254575

400,000 COVID deaths reached just as Trump leaves office.

For perspective, America lost 407,316 soldiers in World War 2...both theaters (Pacific and European) over 5 years 1941-1945.

[Kirby101]

It doesn't help your point because for most people on the left, at least those with principle, immigration policy is an issue where their professed moral principles clash with their own self interest in a rather dramatic way, and reconciling these is something that can be quite difficult to wrestle with. It's not like it is with people like you, where it's easy for you to just go "well if citizenship isn't a privilege for the chosen few then we'll have open borders, and that's bad, so I guess citizenship is a privilege for the chosen few." That doesn't really reflect well on you or your party, and it makes it more difficult to trust you when it comes to any other issue.

His argument seems to be if you don't have unrestricted immigration and citizenship, it is by default only for a "chosen few". Even though most of us with an understanding of the English language would know that "chosen few" is a term that would mean highly restrictive and exclusionary. As if wanted a fair and welcoming path to citizenship is the same as "chosen few". A clue is the word "few", it means something to most people.

[SuperiorIronman]

They’re worse than ignorant, they’re flat out stupid as hell.



Because of the one-two punch of the virus and last week’s failed insurrection, there won’t be any crowds at tomorrow’s inauguration. How much you wanna bet Trump will boast that his swearing in ceremony had a larger attendance than Biden’s?

If there's a crowd at all there will be a problem to me. COVID basically means to me that if the formality has to be done, do it. But they aren't to have anybody in that crowd. You can have the biggest crowd you want but during the pandemic it's what is to some a death sentence and super spreader event. Crowds in this case shouldn't matter because lives are on the line due to the disease, a thing that wasn't the case when Trump's inauguration occurred.

[Powerboy]

There's tons of regular people Trump fans who believe this. They feel that pre-Covid the economy was great and it was because of Trump's tax cuts and deregulation. It's a con that the GOP has been able successfully sell for decades.

I've read a few articles that point out that it is naive to believe that this attempted coup to change the results of an election was really based on a belief that there was mass voter fraud all based on one lie. On the surface, yes. But deep down, subconsciously, it's an overwhelming anger at the way Joe Average feels he and she has been treated, especially economically, for a long time.

Of course, the problem is that these people don't see where the primary source of the problem is and throw in with the party that is the main source of the problem. This is likely because, even if they don't recognize it, there's that core prehistoric tribal fear of "other" who are encroaching on their territory, their hunting grounds, etc.

Everybody is susceptible to these primitive instincts but, almost by definition, conservatives are backwards thinking or at least "stand in place ang go no further" thinking.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If there's a crowd at all there will be a problem to me. COVID basically means to me that if the formality has to be done, do it. But they aren't to have anybody in that crowd. You can have the biggest crowd you want but during the pandemic it's what is to some a death sentence and super spreader event. Crowds in this case shouldn't matter because lives are on the line due to the disease, a thing that wasn't the case when Trump's inauguration occurred.

I have zero problem with the absence of people at the inauguration. Hell, I’m on record saying the event should’ve been moved indoors to a secure location or done virtually because of the risk of violence after what happened last week. God forbid if the virus had erupted in 2016 and Trump went ahead with a full scale event, crowds and all because his ego would’ve accepted nothing less.