All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Dalak]

Is there anything they can do that will actually do anything? Since saying stern things and asking for resignations means very little as recent history has shown us, what can you suggest that would be consequences? I remember a 'true progressive' being bandied about a few months ago that had abortion issues as well, so that's clearly not grounds for an ethics investigation or taking the seat away legally. As far as I know all they can do is wait for the people to support a new candidate for his seat when it's time to vote, since the republicans aren't about to censure/scold a dem working with them without a good reason. That would mean it's up to everyone who disagrees with him to find, support, and FUND someone to replace him, so I say that anyone posting here about how bad he is put their money where their mouth is and do something about it since that's the only consequences that seem to matter in these cases.

[Dalak]

Oh, exactly. If one side backs up their argument with facts and the other side backs up their argument with bullshit, it is not a violation of objectivity to point out the bullshit. Objectivity does not mean that you don't take a side. On the contrary, it means taking the side of the truth.

That's why so many conservatives are convinced to their bones that there is a liberal bias so many places that there is none. It's not liberal to not accept conservative lies at face value, nor is it progressive to require people use actual facts in their arguments as opposed to alternative facts aka LIES. It's the way arguments are supposed to work when you are talking about things that will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, instead of fearmongering, bigotry, and disdain for the public at large or truth itself as long as they keep their personal power and wealth.

[numberthirty]

Is there anything they can do that will actually do anything?

Perfectly fair question.

Let's say there isn't any really straightforward way to hold them accountable(which I actually tend to agree might be the case). What are you supposed to do about what that does to how voters feel in the bigger picture? If you are stuck not being able to create a really clear line between "Them"/"Us" when it comes to something like Manchin being in on that, I absolutely believe that it puts you in a more vulnerable spot when you are trying to drum up support elsewhere.

[Tendrin]

US Senate Minority Leader*Chuck Schumer*(D-N.Y.) said he will force a vote on a bill that would reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.
Legislation to reverse the repeal "doesn’t need the support of the majority leader," Schumer said during a press conference Friday,*according to*The Hill. "We can bring it to the floor and force a vote. So, there will be a vote to repeal the rule that the FCC passed."
The Federal Communications Commission*voted to repeal*its own net neutrality rules last week, and the repeal will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. But Congress can overturn agency actions by invoking the Congressional Review Act (CRA), as it did earlier this year in order to*eliminate consumer broadband privacy protections. [...]
"It's in our power to do that and that's the beauty of the CRA rule," Schumer said. "Sometimes we don't like them, when they used it to repeal some of the pro-environmental regulations, but now we can use the CRA to our benefit, and we intend to."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/201...net-neutrality

Limits to what Democrats can do while in the minority (which a lot of people just don't understand apparently) but if Schumer can peel off just a couple of nervous Republicans, they can undo this ridiculous FCC decision.

It is unlikely, however, as Republicans are running as if they'll never have to worry about being out of the majority again.

[Dalak]

Perfectly fair question.

Let's say there isn't any really straightforward way to hold them accountable(which I actually tend to agree might be the case). What are you supposed to do about what that does to how voters feel in the bigger picture? If you are stuck not being able to create a really clear line between "Them"/"Us" when it comes to something like Manchin being in on that, I absolutely believe that it puts you in a more vulnerable spot when you are trying to drum up support elsewhere.

I already said: FIND a candidate that embodies what you want to be done in DC, SUPPORT them visibly and spread their message to energize those voters, and FUND them as much as you believe the RNC & right leaning PACs will be funding attacks on them hard from the get-go (Especially if you don't trust the DNC).

[numberthirty]

I already said: FIND a candidate that embodies what you want to be done in DC, SUPPORT them visibly and spread their message to energize those voters, and FUND them as much as you believe the RNC & right leaning PACs will be funding attacks on them hard from the get-go (Especially if you don't trust the DNC).

Actually...

- Done. https://www.paulajean2018.com/

- Already done.

[Dalak]

Actually...

- Done. https://www.paulajean2018.com/

- Already done.

Then instead of just cutting down Manchin and saying that not enough is being done why aren't you talking her up at every opportunity as a compare/contrast when things come up? The SUPPORT is just as important as the others don'tchaknow?

Do like Tazirai and man a phone bank or go around to all the forums you post on helping to get her the exposure she needs if people are going to consider her worth voting for.

E: Edited for flubbed name

[numberthirty]

Then instead of just cutting down Manchin and saying that not enough is being done why aren't you talking her up at every opportunity as a compare/contrast when things come up? The SUPPORT is just as important as the others don'tchaknow?

Do like Tazirai and man a phone bank or go around to all the forums you post on helping to get her the exposure she needs if people are going to consider her worth voting for.

E: Edited for flubbed name

For starters, I just did.

As for not making it about just cutting down Manchin, tell him to quit giving me a reason. It's not like I'm taking a bunch of unfair shots at the guy.

That said, there's absolutely going to be a time. For now(since it's a central issue at the moment) -

https://twitter.com/paulajean2018/st...86348662120448

[numberthirty]

The article mentioned in that Tweet(?) -

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3...-investigation

Manchin: I've 'moved on' from Trump sexual misconduct allegations

But, yeah. Let's not make it about taking shots at that guy...

[Dalak]

For starters, I just did.

As for not making it about just cutting down Manchin, tell him to quit giving me a reason. It's not like I'm taking a bunch of unfair shots at the guy.

That said, there's absolutely going to be a time. For now(since it's a central issue at the moment) -

https://twitter.com/paulajean2018/st...86348662120448

What you did in your two posts is definitely not talking her up, it's just posting a single link in each with no explanation. While that's often what you do for inexplicable reasons you DO know how to talk someone up: Just talk about her like you did Bernie.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

#CorkerKickback Turns Up The Flame Under Senator For His Tax Vote Switch

Bob Corker says he had no idea the perk was in the bill because “I never saw the actual text” before supporting it. I'm calling bullshit on that. Meanwhile....

**********

Republicans Already Say They’ll Need Another Bill To Fix Their Tax Mistakes

Normally, you’d want to fix problems before passing a law, not after. And yet, Republicans will vote practically en masse for this clusterfuck of a bill. Wonderful.

**********

Amtrak Derailment Over Washington State Highway Kills Multiple People

The Amtrak Cascades 501 service was approved to reach speeds of up to 79 mph, on a new route meant to bypass an area with heavy passenger train traffic. But investigators late Monday said that that the train was traveling 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. Officials said they did not know why the train was going so fast.

Reminds me of a similar derailment that happened here in Philadelphia in 2015.

**********

Former Intelligence Chief James Clapper: Putin Is Handling Trump Like A Russian ‘Asset’

“We have to remember Putin’s background. He’s a KGB officer.” And Trump is his bitch.

**********

Roy Moore Still Won’t Concede Defeat. It’s Been A Week Since The Election.

His opponent, Senator-elect Doug Jones, has urged him to “move on.” Good luck with that pipe dream.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, who has expressed a desire to pass anti-immigrant laws in his state similar to Arizona’s controversial SB1070, tried to prevent a single Syrian refugee from being resettled into his state, and has signed a myriad of insane bills that have hit his desk from Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature, including ones to legalize firearms being carried in state and local parks (because we need headlines about playgrounds being turned into battlegrounds), prevent sex education teachers from discussing “gateway sexual activities” like touching of the thigh or buttocks, ordering welfare recipients to be drug tested (which proved again to be a failed policy where they only found 1 person out of 812 until a judge overturned the law), and legalizing the use of the electric chair for executions in his state again. Gov. Haslam also spent some time arguing with a federal judge that same-sex marriage should be allowed in his state, filing an appeal because the decision was “frustrating the will of the people of Tennessee”.

It has been a mostly quiet year for Gov. Haslam, as he has gone into full lame duck mode now that he’s term-limited as governor… and the federal fraud scandal surrounding his family’s trucking company has apparently made him think twice about running for U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Sen. Bob Corker. So this very well will be our last entry about Bill Haslam, who we hope will spend his future trying to hide from federal investigators, and watching his brother’s NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, continue to be the laughing stock of football.

[numberthirty]

Something else that is worth discussing when it comes to Manchin...

Take this clip -



Sounds like one of the Good Guys, no?

Now, let's take a little bit closer look. First off, let's take a look at Manchin's 2018 campaign staff.

http://wvpublic.org/post/sen-joe-man...ction#stream/0

Sen. Joe Manchin Assembles Campaign Team for 2018 Election

The West Virginia Democrat announced Wednesday that longtime friend Larry Puccio will serve as his re-election campaign's senior adviser. Puccio served as chief of staff when Manchin was governor and is a former chairman of the state Democratic Party.

While he's listed as a "Longtime Friend"/"Former Chairman Of The State Democratic Party", there's something about Puccio folks ought to know. He represents Mylan, Inc.

http://ethics.wv.gov/SiteCollectionD...ust%202017.pdf

Now, for a bit of information on them. -

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.33e155242dc8

Senator to investigate opioid makers’ role in drug crisis

A spokeswoman for Mylan later added that "we very much hope that the Senator expands her interest to include the top ten suppliers of opioid drugs to the U.S. market. In 2016, Mylan ranked as the number 17 supplier of opioids sold in the U.S., representing approximately 1% of the entire U.S. opioid market."

So it's worth noting that while Manchin certainly seems to talk the talk on the opioid crisis, a guy that represents what appears to be a rather unrepentant drug maker will be his campaign's senior advisor.

[aja_christopher]

Question is what are we going to try and do to stop this?

Personally, I'm going to vote accordingly.

Realistically speaking, this is simply how politics work. The Democrats were in power for a time (under Obama) and they passed legislation on equal pay for women, universal health care, ending the war in Iraq, federal minimum wage increases, Wall Street reform, and more.

Then the pendulum swung to the right and people around the country put Republicans in office, who then started blocking every thing proposed by the Democrats, up to and including the party's nominee for the Supreme Court.

Now that the Republicans are in power (under President Trump) they are doing everything they can to undo the progress made by Democrats and promote their own "conservative" agenda instead -- the cycle continues, just as it did when the pendulum swung from Bill Clinton to Bush and then to Obama.

What can be done about it? Voting Republicans out of office again and keeping them out of office -- however, I'm not going to sit here and argue that progressive candidates (like Sanders and Warren) are the key when they can't even win primary nominations, much less nationwide elections.

As I've pointed out before, I was -- and remain -- a fan of "progressive" Democrats like Dennis Kucinich, but I also understand that Obama's centrist policies were better suited to win general elections, where you need the votes of not only those on the "left" but also independents who tend to be more moderate in their outlook.

It should also be noted that a lot of my support for progressive proposals comes from having seen the effectiveness of many government programs firsthand -- both as a military "brat" and having lived in England for a year after graduating from high school, where I noted how their public education and health care systems (and well as sensible gun control legislation) seemed to lead to having a more stable society overall -- over here we consider that "progressive" while to the rest of the civilized world it's just the status quo. Most Americans, not having lived abroad, aren't going to have that unique perspective: we simply accept things like crippling debt as the "cost" of quality higher education and medical care, and mass shootings as a "second amendment issue", not understanding that there are feasible alternatives.

That said, I supported Kucinich but the reality is that "progressive" politics don't win general elections: thus, Obama became the nominee and then the President. Yes, he compromised on many issues, but he and the rest of the Democrats also passed a lot of legislation that was "progressive" in nature, including the Affordable Care Act, something that many thought was impossible prior to his election.

Point being -- you don't need "progressives" in office to pass progressive legislation and equally importantly, progressive candidates rarely win national elections, regardless.

If you can somehow find a way to get enough progressive candidates into positions of power and prove me wrong, then I'll gladly admit that said policies can succeed in the national arena, but the reality is that most Americans -- whether Democrat or Republican -- simply don't vote that way, as "progressives" like Kucinich and Sanders have proven by repeatedly losing (handily) to more "centrist" candidates such as Obama and Clinton.

That doesn't mean that I think you should stop fighting for your ideals or holding Democrats accountable -- it just means that from what I've seen, the American public in general doesn't usually vote to support the progressive politics (and politicians) that you keep promoting, and until that changes I don't see the purpose in trying to argue that they are the key to Democrats succeeding in elections, whether Presidential or otherwise.

[Tami]

US outnumbered 14 to 1 as it vetoes UN vote on status of Jerusalem

A UN security council resolution calling for the withdrawal of Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has been backed by every council member except the US, which used its veto.

The unanimity of the rest of the council was a stark rebuke to the Trump administration over its unilateral move earlier this month, which upended decades of international consensus.

The Egyptian-drafted resolution did not specifically mention the US or Trump but expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem”.

A spokesman for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, responded to the veto by saying it was “unacceptable and threatens the stability of the international community because it disrespects it”.

The UK and France had indicated in advance that they would would back the text, which demanded that all countries comply with pre-existing UN security council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The resolution was denounced in furious language by the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, who described it as “an insult” that would not be forgotten. “The United States will not be told by any country where we can put our embassy,” she said.

“It’s scandalous to say we are putting back peace efforts,” she added. “The fact that this veto is being done in defence of American sovereignty and in defence of America’s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the security council.”