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

[Tendrin]

....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businessman Todd Ricketts has been chosen to become the new finance chairman at the Republican National Committee, a Republican official said on Tuesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...source=twitter

What this article notably does not include, apparently, is that this is the brother of the Governor of Nebraska.

[numberthirty]

Sure, but...

The Ricketts are probably on a short list of folks no matter who they were tied to. Think about the money they were tossing around during the primary/general.

[numberthirty]

Let alone that while his brother is Governor, his other brother Joe put a lot of money into trying to run Trump out of the primary.

[Tendrin]

Yeah, but I will point out that the article /makes no mention of that/.

At all.

[JackDaw]

Just finished reading Jeff Sparrow's "No Way But This" (In Search of Paul Robeson.)

This is a fascinating book. I assume Paul Robeson will be remembered as a wonderful singer as long as people are still interested in music. This book explains in fair detail why he deserves to be remembered with respect and admiration for many other reasons.

There are many profoundly moving passages in the book. Not least when Paul R was called for interrogation by the Committee on UnAmerican Activities (a better name might have been The Committee of UnAmerican Activities.) Paul..who qualified as a lawyer..turned the interrogation on its head by eventually answering questions by questions of his own. (For example his reply to stock question of "Are you a communist" was answered by his question "Would you like to follow me into the ballot booth, watch me vote, break open the box and see how I'd voted?")

Total respect to Paul R for standing up to that Committee. In that and many other stances he took (e.g. his total opposition to racism) Paul R took the right course.

Tragically..on one massive issue (his failure to condemn the Russian regime when he became aware of its ruthless evil) he was surely wrong. The book does an excellent job of explaining why Paul R made that particular mistake...the story is (I think) a true tragedy in that some of his truly noble qualities lead him to that particular mistake, with the consequences blighting his final years of life.

[InformationGeek]

Just going to be real here, perhaps the people you all wanted to give a rebuttal didnt want to do that in the first place? Just a thought.

[Tami]

Kennedy maybe their best shot really. He will be around 40 by 2020. Perhaps the party is thinking , to beat an older Republican candidate ...we need to tap into the youth again and Joe Kennedy maybe the answer. There is time for others to emerge. But look at the last 20+ years. In both cases the Democratic party got behind 2 young candidates who really no one imagined they would have.


Bill Clinton in 1992 was 46 years old.
Barack Obama in 2008 was 47 years old.


In both cases youth came out and they will need that again in 2020.

U.S. Senate Democrats currently in the 55 and Under Club

Chris Murphy August 3, 1973 (age 44)
Brian Schatz October 20, 1972 (age 45)
Martin Heinrich October 17, 1971 (age 46)
Cory Booker April 27, 1969 (age 48)
Tammy Duckworth March 12, 1968 (age 49)
Kirsten Gillibrand December 9, 1966 (age 51)
Michael Bennet November 28, 1964 (age 53)
Kamala Harris October 20, 1964 (age 53)
Catherine Cortez Masto March 29, 1964 (age 53)
Chris Coons September 9, 1963 (age 54)
Tammy Baldwin February 11, 1962 (age 55)

[Trey Strain]

Kennedy speaking in Spanish the other night killed his chances. What in the hell was he thinking about?

[Tami]

Kennedy speaking in Spanish the other night killed his chances. What in the hell was he thinking about?

I don't see that a problem, I see that as a good thing.

[TheInvisibleMan]

I don't see that a problem, I see that as a good thing.

W spoke Spanish, pretty well actually

it won him the governorship in Texas and he also had a number of speeches as POTUS where he spoke Spanish

[Trey Strain]

I don't see that a problem, I see that as a good thing.

You might think that's great politics, but I promise it's suicide. The Democrats shut down the government over DACA and got their asses handed to them.

People have gotten savvy enough to ask themselves how close people like Kennedy live to undocumented immigrants, and the answer is, very far away. Unless of course you're referring to the low-wage help on those folks' estates.

A smart person doesn't double down on a huge blunder. People might forget about Señor Kennedy's words by 2032, but not by 2020.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

You might think that's great politics, but I promise it's suicide. The Democrats shut down the government over DACA and got their asses handed to them.

I beg to differ. The Democrats got CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) funding renewed for six years. I'd call that a huge win, not an ass whupping, so would parents.

[Trey Strain]

I beg to differ. The Democrats got CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) funding renewed for six years. I'd call that a huge win, not an ass whupping, so would parents.

We'll see come Election Day.

[Trey Strain]

The same smug overconfidence is building among Trump's opponents that built up in 2016. And do you know why? It's because those folks talk only to each other, and they shut down anyone else. Look at this forum. There used to be some Trump supporters here, but they got chased away. That's what always happens, and Trump's foes then beat their chests and proclaim that they won. But they're not winning. I expect the Democrats will gain quite a bit in Congress in 2018, but 2020 might be a very different story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahkMA6JPOHU

[WestPhillyPunisher]

People have gotten savvy enough to ask themselves how close people like Kennedy live to undocumented immigrants, and the answer is, very far away. Unless of course you're referring to the low-wage help on those folks' estates.

And how close do you think Republicans live to said immigrants? Probably a hell of a lot further, and THEY'RE the ones who want them all out, undocumented and otherwise, pushing programs and policies that are as xenophobic as they get.