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

[Gray Lensman]

She's toast. I imagine she thinks this bipartisan gun bill will prove she has value, but it won't. Not in the face of, well ... everything else.

Even if the gun bill had given her value, the SCOTUS decisions from this week undid all of that and then some.

[Tendrin]

Even if the gun bill had given her value, the SCOTUS decisions from this week undid all of that and then some.

Her approval with the party in AZ remains absolutely dismal. She enjoys a higher approval rating with the GOP than with her own party, and they're still never going to vote for her, as the only reason she enjoys that approval is because she's frustrating the 'democrat agenda'.

And when next week rolls around the Supreme Court continues to dismantle the federal government, the conservatives will continue to have a lot to celebrate about their minority capture of the levers of power for generations to come.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

She's toast. I imagine she thinks this bipartisan gun bill will prove she has value, but it won't. Not in the face of, well ... everything else.

I suspect it was Sinema's intention to be just one term and done, perhaps leveraging her short lived political career into a second act as a talking head on Faux News. She's more than enough of a loon for that network and would fit in well there.

[Tendrin]

I suspect it was Sinema's intention to be just one term and done, perhaps leveraging her short lived political career into a second act as a talking head on Faux News. She's more than enough of a loon for that network and would fit in well there.

Honestly, there's a lot of chatter that she's fully delusional about her prospects and thinks she's going to be president.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Honestly, there's a lot of chatter that she's fully delusional about her prospects and thinks she's going to be president.

President of what? The psych ward in an Arizona nut house?

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, who we noted had elevated his career in Wisconsin politics by dragging his feet and refusing to prosecute cases against Republican Governor Scott Walker and Republican state legislator Joel Kleefisch when both were caught in ethical and potentially criminal endeavors in carrying out their offices. Schimel has gone on record to say he opposes minimum wage increases, and more importantly, he stated his desire to use his office to fight tooth and nail against honoring the Supreme Court's ruling in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, and even agreed his opposition to the law would be similar to those who opposed interracial marriage becoming legal 60 years ago. This of course made local reporters ask the question of if Schimel was a racist, and lo and behold after some digging, they found training videos from the State Department of Justice in 2009 and 2013 where Schimel made racist and sexist comments while instructing trainees, including putting on false accents to appear as racial caricatures. Of course, these details came up just prior to the 2014 election, and Schimel slid by and won office with 52% of the vote. Schimel's history of being terrible at his job and not pressing charges continued through 2015, apparently, as he decided against prosecuting oktwo Wisconsin police officers who gunned down a hostage during a siege at a motorcycle shop, with their body camera footage contradicting their version of events. He also to measures to remove environmental oversight from Wisconsin's water supply, and trust in big business interests to keep it safe. In 2017 alone, Schimel made headlines in Wisconsin for several controversies, including settling a case against a company caught as serial polluters without imposing a fine against them, claiming the company was sufficiently punished by making them invest in themselves to stop polluting in the first place and then dropping a fraud case against the wealthy Eliason brothers, where they faced 10 felony charges, instead, leaving the case to be handled in civil court and in lawsuits only. This, after a YEAR of trying to put a gag order on the case so no details about it leaked to the public. Then, the public discovered that he spent $10,000 of taxpayer money to create gold collector coins for himself, his staff, and Wisconsin Law Enforcement that say, “Kicking Ass Every Day”, by effectively saying his department was great, deserved them, and that they worked far harder than other state workers, like at the Wisconsin DMV. Schimel blatantly lied in a TV interview, Schimel claiming that Wisconsin does not have a back log of untested rape kits that have yet to be investigated when in reality… There were SIX THOUSAND OF THEM. And, in late April of 2017 a day after Brad Schimel claimed he would not be opening an investigation into potential voter fraud, he is threatened with being investigated himself by convicted felon and Breitbart “reporter” James O’Keefe. O’Keefe threatened to harass Schimel, he caved, and opened an investigation based on lies, at taxpayer expense. (Big surprise… they found no evidence of voter fraud.) In April of 2018, he got a little too honest and defended Wisconsin’s anti-democratic Voter ID law by proudly stating how it “helped Trump get elected”. Yeah, no more pretenses about mythical “voter fraud”, he outright admitted it helped swing a presidential election to Republicans. A month later, in May of 2018, reports surfaced about how Schimel took time out of his busy schedule ten months prior in July of 2017 to attend an anti-gay conference in California hosted by a “Christian group”, the Alliance for Defending Freedom that’s actually more really of a “hate group”, by the definition of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Even worse for Schimel, there are e-mails that show he would have liked for no one to have noticed his little fun-times-hating-the-gays vacation stop, and his only defense for the trip was that it wasn’t on taxpayer expense. Of course, that’s because the ADF group itself paid for Schimel’s travel and hotel, which is a gift you have to report in your campaign finance reports, and he didn’t. On the ADF’s end… they apparently advised attendees on how to keep their attendance secret from the public, and how to avoid public records laws. Brad Schimel lost in the 2018 elections to Josh Kaul.



On this date in both 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”published our original profile of the sitting U.S. House Representative from Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, Andy Harris, who was first elected to office in… yes, of course, the 2010 Tea Party Wave, after a failed Congressional campaign in 2008, and prior to that, a full decade in the Maryland State Senate from 1999-2009. That failed 2008 campaign involved Harris unseating incumbent GOP Congressman Gary Gilchrest by running to his right, and claiming that Gilchrest, a Vietnam veteran, was not truly supportive enough of the Iraq War during his time in Congress. Gilchrest ended up supporting Democrat Frank Kratovil in the general election, forcing Harris to try again in 2010. And Gilchrest is still disgusted with him until this day… which is understandable, given the circumstances.

Including the fact that Harris, a physician, ran for office by whipping up paranoia about the Affordable Care Act. But during his orientation in late 2010, he threw a tantrum that he would not be given health insurance immediately, and would have to wait all of two months until he was sworn in before it would kick in. Let us repeat that… the man who campaigned against socialized healthcare practically s*** himself in rage that he would have to wait two months to get some of it for himself.

Harris, the only Republican member of the Maryland delegation in the House, comes to our attention because while we would like to say he’s a son of a Hungarian immigrant father and Polish immigrant mother and that should make him a good example of a Republican with attitudes towards immigration… but no, it’s quite worse than that. Andy Harris likes to remember his father, Zoltan Harris, as a man who was taken to a Russian gulag for being a determined anti-Communist soldier… the timeline of that, however, neglects to mention that Zoltan Harris fought for the pro-Hitler Hungarian army that was fighting the Allies during World War II.

So, yes, neglecting to mention that your father was pro-Nazi is a concern.

The support for Hungarian fascists did not skip a generation, as Andy Harris has come out hard in support of Hungarian strongman and Putin ally Viktor Orban, actually writing it down on Congressional letterhead. And he’s snuck across the pond to speak at events in Budapest in favor of Orban, with his opening act being Sharon Slater, the head of an anti-LGBTQ hate group from Arizona who thinks that homosexuality is a “mental disorder” caused by childhood trauma that can be treated with gay conversion therapy. But Harris has gone as far as to write the U.S. State Department and ask them to pull the financial support our government gives towards journalists in Hungary, who, y’know, report on human rights violations being committed by Orban’s regime.

But that is not the only far-right Eastern European country where Harris has shown interest… in 2018, Harris planned to visit far-right Czech white nationalist Tomio Okamura with a delegation of true Congress-critters that included Dana Rohrabacher, Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, and of course, former Iowa Congressman, Steve King. Not for nothing, but if your dad was in a pro-Nazi group and you didn’t hold the same ideals, maybe you wouldn’t want to hang out with trash like Okamura, who had called for the gassing of Jews, gays, and Roma.

[worstblogever]

But Andy Harris is not discriminating in the company he keeps, or political endorsements he gives… as in 2017, he endorsed Roy Moore even AFTER the public learned Moore had a long history of predatory behavior towards young girls (to say nothing of the rampant racism and homophobia). It's not a one off, where he sticks up for the worst people. After all, 2018, Harris came out hard in defense of Brett Kavanaugh, making accusations that his highly credible accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was just “a troubled woman”, and her testimony should be disregarded.

I mean, there is no bottom for how gutless Andy Harris can be. He might pretend to be a patriot, but it’s hard to claim that when you go and vote against healthcare for 9-11 First Responders and call the Zadroga Act “fiscally irresponsible”. Or how in 2018 he was caught funneling campaign dollars to his wife illegally and was slapped with an ethics violation. This has continued into current events, as he’s started feuding with fellow Republican and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan for responsibly keeping his state’s business closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Harris compared Hogan’s “stay at home” order that applied to church services to “Communist China” and “North Korea”. Hogan, to his credit, blew Harris off, saying, “he’s got a right to say whatever crazy things he wants to say”.

Maryland’s 1st Congressional District has a +14 Republican lean, which is amazing considering out of the rest of the state’s districts, the next most conservative is a +6 Democratic lean. That helped Harris win in 2020 with 63% of the vote, and he’s returned to the Capitol to continue on with one of the more grotesque voting records in all of Congress:

• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Harris ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Harris votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• October 2nd, 2020: Andy Harris boldly votes “present” as a resolution is presented in the House to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after its followers started to make death threats against Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
• December 10th, 2020: Harris signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 6th, 2021: Andy Harris votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 7th, 2021: Rep. Harris nearly gets into a physical altercation with Texas Congressman and former NFL linebacker Colin Allred by throwing a tantrum during remarks certifying the 2020 election votes.
• January 12th, 2021: A swath of legislators from Maryland call upon Harris to resign for helping stoke and incite the mob on January 6th.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Harris votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
• January 21st, 2021: Harris is the subject of an investigation by the Capitol Police after trying to get a handgun past metal detectors, only two weeks after the Capitol Attack.
• February 4th, 2021: Andy Harris votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments.
• February 25th, 2021: Harris votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Harris votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Andy Harris votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Harris votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Harris votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
• March 17th, 2021: Harris is one of twelve Republicans who pick a side to have rooted for in the failed coup attempt on 1/6/21 and votes against awarding Congressional gold medals to members of the Capitol Police who bravely defended members of Congress during the attack.
• May 19th, 2021: Andy Harris votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• May 20th, 2021: Harris is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
• June 15th, 2021: Rep. Harris is one of twenty-one Republicans who pick a side to have rooted for in the failed coup attempt on 1/6/21 and votes against awarding Congressional gold medals to members of the Capitol Police who bravely defended members of Congress during the attack.
• August 28th, 2021: Harris files articles of impeachment against Secretary of State Anthony Blinken after a car bombing in Kabul during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan (which Donald Trump signed off on leaving the countries to the mercies of the Taliban).
• November 5th, 2021: Andy Harris votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Harris votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Andy Harris would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Andy Harris is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
• May 18th, 2022: Rep. Harris votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
• May 19th, 2022: Harris votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.

Andy Harris is a disgrace, and of course, did not face a primary challenger in 2022. It’s still up in the air who his Democratic opponent will be in November, but Maryland’s 1st District still has about a +14 Republican lean, meaning it would be a HUGE upset if he got taken down in 2022.

We can’t help but still hope for an upset.

[CSTowle]

I don't know why I bother posting in here, no-one seems to give a **** about much that I have to say so maybe this is pointless but I have a question:

How do y'all still believe the U.S is a democracy? It seems closer to an oligarchy to me. Anyway, onward we go...

You're likely on to something there. I think the right in this country will vote Republican no matter what. I mean, the Republicans could do anything and the (minority) population that supports them would just bend the knee. No matter what. They'll pick party over country every time. This has been proven time and again.

They don't care about democracy. They don't care about norms and taboos. They don't care about honesty or integrity.

They care about getting more power and money for themselves and their criminal friends on Wall Street. Under their rule the rich get richer and the poor just die. They literally couldn't care less.

On people caring about what you post, I think we're all here for a discussion and probably have different posters whose opinions we agree with, disagree with, and occasionally roll our eyes to, but we all generally are tolerant and responsive to the opinions of others (even if that means dogpiling on conservatives or those too far left of center). This is a place to discuss, debate, and just vent (and days like yesterday are great for that). I think expectation of more is unrealistic, but I give credit to the board to being accepting (even when disagreeing) of most posters/postings.

On Democracy, sadly Palin was right (though I doubt she knew why, and was likely just regurgitating something she heard from another conservative because Democracy sounded suspiciously close to Democrat so *bad*) in that we're a representative democracy/republic. It's why we complain about the Electoral College weighing land as being more important than actual human votes, it's why holding up the Founders as infallible when they wanted representation only for white/straight/christian/male/landed folk and owned/sold human beings while planning the slaughter/theft of land of the native population really doesn't hold up to scrutiny with even a minute's worth of thought (that many will never have, because that's questioning the spirit of America and traitor commie talk), and why even though we can apply political pressure if even a small portion of us are united and loud enough they count on our apathy and laziness to not do that and it allows those with connections and resources to shape laws and the system to their advantage. It's an imperfect system crafted by imperfect beings, ourselves among them.

On integrity and Republican voters, sadly they do think standing up for gun rights over child's lives is the moral choice. They do think standing up for what they see as the killing of babies (whatever science says about a lump of cells being a human being, because science is also now the enemy or at least to be questioned where it contradicts feelings) as the moral choice. And they will vote for those things over their own financial and societal interests because they care more about (or are at least more easily able to be emotionally manipulated by) those issues. As far as the politicians who exploit this while collecting money and connections from wealthier citizens who likely don't care much about wedge issues so much as regulations and taxes (the reason the Republican Party pursued Evangelicals to begin with, they needed votes for their small government/low tax rate goals which aren't popular generally) and are cozy with Wall Street, I'd again blame apathy and ignorance. If you say the thing people want to hear they're going to respond.

We have examples in the Democratic Party as well (also those cozy with Wall Street who tend to care more about donations and connections than accomplishing goals). You tend to get what you vote for, and narcissistic liars are going to be better at winning that job than well-meaning doers of things (your "deep state" types). Trying to get folks to do research and pay attention so they can vote for earnest, qualified candidates when they have their own issues (mortgage, raising kids, work, hobbies, etc.) is like getting a kid to choose to eat brussel sprouts over birthday cake. It shouldn't be, but again we're flawed human beings.

I have worked in a busy rough emergency room for over 20 years. If it has taught me anything it is that there are more stupid Americans out there. Sooooooooo many.

I see this sentiment often, and I get it (America bad). It feels good to vent and it's a popular enough opinion. But I feel like if you really look at any large population or country you'll come to the conclusion that the vast majority of people are stupid in one way or another. We all have ignorance and prejudice and while you might say "well Sweden does X while in the US we do Y" and some countries might fit your ideal of a nation more than ours I guarantee you they have things that would make you cringe as well. It's also why we have the political issues we have and education/debate is only going to go so far so quickly. We're dealing with cultures and mindsets that have developed over centuries/millennia and aren't going to shift on a dime or current political sentiment among an outspoken group of progressives online. It's going to take work and time and we're going to have setbacks (like yesterday).

I've always considered the point of protesting to be to call attention to the importance of the problem and sway public opinion in favor of your cause. Public opinion influences politicians who are concerned about getting re-elected.
Smashing windows, looting and starting fires won't accomplish that. No politician wants to associate themselves with that and so no change can come from it. In fact the opposite will happen. The message will become lost due the media coverage of the violence and the opposition will be vindicated in their criticism of the movement. Hard-line, anti crime politicians will gain more traction with the conservative base and the cause moves backwards.

Agreed. Handing the enemy a victory and a false equivalence when they choose violence instead of allowing their emotions to get out of control.

What would it accomplish though? Violence and people dying going to make people stop voting for Republicans? Going to make the Conservatives on the SC retire so Biden can quickly appoint 3 more before midterms?

Anger is great. But, the wrong anger gives us January 6th. The right anger is what happened in Georgia, voter turnout increasing, and turning the state blue even if for a short while. That energy has to keep up.

It shouldnt have taken this for people to know the GOP must be stopped and forced to shun their trash base.

Agreed. I have many friends (as I'm sure you all do) who are heartbroken and/or angry over yesterday. My advice is to make sure you're registered, make sure you vote, talk to friends and family (where you think they'd be sympathetic) and get them registered/ready as well), and if you have the time and/or money volunteer to help out Democratic politicians in your area. Funnel that anger, because otherwise it's just frosting on the cake of getting their way for the MAGA crowd.

I spent a few months as an insurance salesman. Got to travel all over Missouri, to places I didn't even know existed, like Moscow Mills. I got to meet all sorts of people in their homes. And every single one was incredibly nice and friendly. And I'm sure about 2/3 of them would vote against their own interests, just because the candidate has an 'R' next to their name. And for the life of me, I could never understand that.

Politicians have considered abortion rights to be a third rail of politics, ever since Roe was first decided. I'm sure they felt that the court would never overturn it, and it was just easier to live with Roe instead of trying to pass a law.

And yeah, the Democrats had a supermajority in 2009, and Obama used that as an opportunity to pass a health care law- which was something that he had promised to both the American people, and to Ted Kennedy for his support in the election. And it cost him a lot- enough that he lost his majority in the midterms, and never regained it for the rest of his Presidency.

People seem to think the President can wave his hand, and magically things get done. But that's not a President, that's a KING. Which we fought a whole revolution to get rid of. People think the same thing with Biden, which is honestly starting to piss me off. HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING. He can write some limited executive orders that the courts can then block, and he can try to shame the Republicans- which wont work, because they have no shame. Until he gets over 60 in the Senate- or enough in the Senate that they can finally do away with the filibuster without needing Manchin.

Agreed that people are flawed and human and have their ignorance, and trying to dehumanize them as inherently evil/irredeemable (as comforting a thought as that might seem) does little to change minds/hearts and will lead to further polarization/tribalism. On whether or not there was political capital to codify Roe, I agree with you and Kirby that there not only was a "cease fire" attitude among the Parties with the expectation that abortion rights were here to stay, but also that if they'd tried they'd have failed and likely handed the Republicans an easy victory and maybe for some time. Now circumstances have changed and clearly that "gentlemen's agreement" is over so I'd encourage (hell, expect) Democrats to start pursuing it. But I don't blame Democratic politicians in the past for giving more benefit of the doubt to the other side of the aisle than they clearly deserved.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

I suspect it was Sinema's intention to be just one term and done, perhaps leveraging her short lived political career into a second act as a talking head on Faux News. She's more than enough of a loon for that network and would fit in well there.

She'll likely get a job as some kinda corporate lobbyist or advisor or something. Or whatever bullshit Bakari Sellers is doing.

[Jack Dracula]

Like I said before, we can blame Sinema and Manchin, but I don't think they're as much as a aberration as people think they are.. let's say we vote in more dems in the midterms. How many of them will conveniently turn out to be another Manchinema 2.0?

Allowing an existing problem to perpetuate or worsen due to fear of unintended consequences isn’t rational. Taking action Carrie’s the possibility of success where inaction guarantees either no change or a worsening situation.

[Kirby101]

Like I said before, we can blame Sinema and Manchin, but I don't think they're as much as a aberration as people think they are.. let's say we vote in more dems in the midterms. How many of them will conveniently turn out to be another Manchinema 2.0?

Since they are only 2 out of 50, and Manchin is way out of touch with the Democratic base, or even the center of the country, I would say the odds are that adding a few more Dems would vote for the things we need.

[Odd Rödney]

And people not voting for Hilllary gave us Trump who lucked into 3 Supreme Court justices.

Dems had a supermajority in 2009, but folks refuse to vote in the PRIMARIES in 2010, that definitely didn't help either.

I also believe that when enough people throw up their hands and decide not to vote, things only shift further in that direction.

All of this could have been prevented if voting was compulsory. It is in some places.

Meanwhile, the fascism of the GOP just keeps growing.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...y-17261619.php



This is pure stochastic terrorism and they're proud of it.

Good lord, that is abhorrent. They are completely shameless fascists at this point. How terrible.

On people caring about what you post, I think we're all here for a discussion and probably have different posters whose opinions we agree with, disagree with, and occasionally roll our eyes to, but we all generally are tolerant and responsive to the opinions of others (even if that means dogpiling on conservatives or those too far left of center). This is a place to discuss, debate, and just vent (and days like yesterday are great for that). I think expectation of more is unrealistic, but I give credit to the board to being accepting (even when disagreeing) of most posters/postings.

Fair. CBR is a rad place to chat. Y'all are great. Sometimes I just feel like we don't converse as much as we scream into the void. Clearly that is wrong though, as is shown by this very conversation.

On Democracy, sadly Palin was right (though I doubt she knew why, and was likely just regurgitating something she heard from another conservative because Democracy sounded suspiciously close to Democrat so *bad*) in that we're a representative democracy/republic. It's why we complain about the Electoral College weighing land as being more important than actual human votes, it's why holding up the Founders as infallible when they wanted representation only for white/straight/christian/male/landed folk and owned/sold human beings while planning the slaughter/theft of land of the native population really doesn't hold up to scrutiny with even a minute's worth of thought (that many will never have, because that's questioning the spirit of America and traitor commie talk), and why even though we can apply political pressure if even a small portion of us are united and loud enough they count on our apathy and laziness to not do that and it allows those with connections and resources to shape laws and the system to their advantage. It's an imperfect system crafted by imperfect beings, ourselves among them.

Indeed. Well said. And I don't think it'll change unless we have a more educated electorate with a compulsory voting system. It'll never happen though 'cause I can already hear "but mah liberties" in the distance, because of the mere mention of compulsory voting.

On integrity and Republican voters, sadly they do think standing up for gun rights over child's lives is the moral choice. They do think standing up for what they see as the killing of babies (whatever science says about a lump of cells being a human being, because science is also now the enemy or at least to be questioned where it contradicts feelings) as the moral choice. And they will vote for those things over their own financial and societal interests because they care more about (or are at least more easily able to be emotionally manipulated by) those issues. As far as the politicians who exploit this while collecting money and connections from wealthier citizens who likely don't care much about wedge issues so much as regulations and taxes (the reason the Republican Party pursued Evangelicals to begin with, they needed votes for their small government/low tax rate goals which aren't popular generally) and are cozy with Wall Street, I'd again blame apathy and ignorance. If you say the thing people want to hear they're going to respond.

They're also the ones saying "facts don't care about your feelings", ironic? Or just stupid? I can never tell.

We have examples in the Democratic Party as well (also those cozy with Wall Street who tend to care more about donations and connections than accomplishing goals). You tend to get what you vote for, and narcissistic liars are going to be better at winning that job than well-meaning doers of things (your "deep state" types). Trying to get folks to do research and pay attention so they can vote for earnest, qualified candidates when they have their own issues (mortgage, raising kids, work, hobbies, etc.) is like getting a kid to choose to eat brussel sprouts over birthday cake. It shouldn't be, but again we're flawed human beings.

If we get money outta politics (campaign finance reform) we *might* be able to change some of that but, once again, I have my doubts. Living in the U.S for the past 20 years has made me profoundly cynical. I really try not to be that way. I really do. But *gestures vaguely*, everything is effed.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

Now circumstances have changed and clearly that "gentlemen's agreement" is over so I'd encourage (hell, expect) Democrats to start pursuing it. But I don't blame Democratic politicians in the past for giving more benefit of the doubt to the other side of the aisle than they clearly deserved.

That's one of the biggest problems Trump's presidency has exposed. some serious weaknesses in our ability to hold our elected officials to certain standards, standards that before him nobody dared to challenge because it would have been political suicide. As we can see, a fervent base that will follow their leader no matter what he says or does renders the Constitution as it is written relatively toothless. Trump was especially toxic because before him we had the myth of government accountability. It’s like a kid (politician) learning Santa Claus (voters kicking corrupt politicians out) isn’t real, so doing whatever they want (that ones the same).

No one wanted to be the first to drive through corruption and risk losing their entire career. Trump was so rich he didn’t care: He could lose the presidency and end up better off.

Now all the career politicians know - and they’re experimenting with what exactly they can get away with.

[Odd Rödney]

That's one of the biggest problems Trump's presidency has exposed. some serious weaknesses in our ability to hold our elected officials to certain standards, standards that before him nobody dared to challenge because it would have been political suicide. As we can see, a fervent base that will follow their leader no matter what he says or does renders the Constitution as it is written relatively toothless. Trump was especially toxic because before him we had the myth of government accountability. It’s like a kid (politician) learning Santa Claus (voters kicking corrupt politicians out) isn’t real, so doing whatever they want (that ones the same).

No one wanted to be the first to drive through corruption and risk losing their entire career. Trump was so rich he didn’t care: He could lose the presidency and end up better off.

Now all the career politicians know - and they’re experimenting with what exactly they can get away with.

100% You've hit the nail on the head.

Trump was the first to really test those limits and we've learned just how fragile our system is. It could all come crashing down quite easily.

[Mister Mets]

Speaking of Mets has he even posted today?

Mets has been busy today, and there's a lot to respond to.

If Mets wanted to become a Breitbart wannabe while posting the "activist" minimum here in order to show a "resume" there, I would actually be impressed by his record.

Assuming it was nothing like that, erase any impression for me.

At least Revolutionary Jack rightfully called him out as a troll in case all else was in vain.

I'm just disappointed at the poor understanding of much of the country.

I've been much more willing to criticize my party from the center than you guys are to criticize Democrats, which would be bad branding for a Breitbart-style conservative troll.

Many of you will strongly disagree with positions that I hold, but I do come by them honestly and there are also going to be many people to my right, who come by those views honestly as well.

Honestly, there's a lot of chatter that she's fully delusional about her prospects and thinks she's going to be president.

This doesn't seem to make sense. The only thing she's doing to have a national impact is pissing off the base.

She isn't giving national interviews to the mainstream media, or the Substack/ Joe Rogan crowd, which would be the type of things you'd expect presidential candidates to do.

All of this could have been prevented if voting was compulsory. It is in some places.

Are you sure? Trump and Republicans did better than expected in 2020, and turnout was awesome.

A pushoff for compulsory voting could easily come with a backlash, to say nothing of voters who aren't informed about modern politics going for a protest vote.