The Political Junkie Thread

[acdevil]

All I can say is that it is nice not having carefully phrase posts here (vs DBR thread). I get the reason for it, but it’s frustrating.

I agree with CNC (as per usual). Those voters with their head in the sand about Project 2025 (or tariffs, etc) were just being willfully ignorant.

My oldest daughter is a sophomore in high school so she is already getting college brochures in the mail. I’ve already started the “it’s probably best not to go to school in a red state” discussion.

[Furniture]

Fascinating view on DOGE by Fareed Zakaria. He is looking forward to seeing what it does.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/24/politics ... gps-digvid

[jipops]

Fascinating view on DOGE by Fareed Zakaria. He is looking forward to seeing what it does.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/24/politics ... gps-digvid

It’s hard to go along with his framing here - “looking forward to it”. Unless he’s saying it sarcastically. Of course, there is a need for some government spending reform. But what is the acceptable cost of that reform? And what logical reasoning is there that Elon and Vivek will pose good faith effort to those ends. These are two very extreme ideological individuals with a vast history of propagating lies. These are not economic and public policy bonafides.

Either the DOGE clan will fall flat on its face once realizing this is an undertaking they are ill-equipped for (and they are). Or they’ll push forward with zero regard for consequences and public cost and inflict enormous damage both economically and socially. I think what this will really come down to is another propaganda campaign where the far right will seek to prove that the government just can’t work.

[Phredd3]

Either the DOGE clan will fall flat on its face once realizing this is an undertaking they are ill-equipped for (and they are). Or they’ll push forward with zero regard for consequences and public cost and inflict enormous damage both economically and socially. I think what this will really come down to is another propaganda campaign where the far right will seek to prove that the government just can’t work.

I think it is more sophisticated than that. I think their real mission is to privatize much of what government does and have taxpayers continue to pay for it. This is how oligarchic authoritarian regimes work.

[jipops]

Either the DOGE clan will fall flat on its face once realizing this is an undertaking they are ill-equipped for (and they are). Or they’ll push forward with zero regard for consequences and public cost and inflict enormous damage both economically and socially. I think what this will really come down to is another propaganda campaign where the far right will seek to prove that the government just can’t work.

I think it is more sophisticated than that. I think their real mission is to privatize much of what government does and have taxpayers continue to pay for it. This is how oligarchic authoritarian regimes work.

Right, and therefore some potentially severe social and economic impacts.

[Furniture]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/24/politics ... gps-digvid
[/quote]

It’s hard to go along with his framing here - “looking forward to it”. Unless he’s saying it sarcastically. Of course, there is a need for some government spending reform. But what is the acceptable cost of that reform? And what logical reasoning is there that Elon and Vivek will pose good faith effort to those ends. These are two very extreme ideological individuals with a vast history of propagating lies. These are not economic and public policy bonafides.

Either the DOGE clan will fall flat on its face once realizing this is an undertaking they are ill-equipped for (and they are). Or they’ll push forward with zero regard for consequences and public cost and inflict enormous damage both economically and socially. I think what this will really come down to is another propaganda campaign where the far right will seek to prove that the government just can’t work.
[/quote]

I know I posted it but on second thoughts could it also be about CNN trying to adjust (even more) to be aligned to Trump. I read that a lot of people were upset about Dana Bash both siding the recent neo-nazi March in Ohio.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cnn-dana-bas ... 15298.html

‘CNN anchor Dana Bash said she wasn’t certain whether a group of neo-Nazis marching in Ohio were extremists from the far right or the far left during an interview with a Democratic lawmaker from the state.’

[jipops]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/24/politics ... gps-digvid

It’s hard to go along with his framing here - “looking forward to it”. Unless he’s saying it sarcastically. Of course, there is a need for some government spending reform. But what is the acceptable cost of that reform? And what logical reasoning is there that Elon and Vivek will pose good faith effort to those ends. These are two very extreme ideological individuals with a vast history of propagating lies. These are not economic and public policy bonafides.

Either the DOGE clan will fall flat on its face once realizing this is an undertaking they are ill-equipped for (and they are). Or they’ll push forward with zero regard for consequences and public cost and inflict enormous damage both economically and socially. I think what this will really come down to is another propaganda campaign where the far right will seek to prove that the government just can’t work.
[/quote]

I know I posted it but on second thoughts could it also be about CNN trying to adjust (even more) to be aligned to Trump. I read that a lot of people were upset about Dana Bash both siding the recent neo-nazi March in Ohio.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cnn-dana-bas ... 15298.html

‘CNN anchor Dana Bash said she wasn’t certain whether a group of neo-Nazis marching in Ohio were extremists from the far right or the far left during an interview with a Democratic lawmaker from the state.’
[/quote]

I think this is a more recent example of media bending over backwards to both-sides things.

She may have also been using that to echo frustration over her personal experience with protesters of Israel’s attack on Gaza.

[acdevil]

Elon is going to be serving on this DOGE panel with Ramaswamy.

My question is, does this open him to action from Tesla shareholders (or the other companies)? He’s getting paid a shit ton of money by Tesla and, as a shareholder, I’m none too pleased that he is spreading himself thinner and not doing the job he’s paid to do - not to mention the brand damage he has done to Tesla.

[Furniture]

Elon is going to be serving on this DOGE panel with Ramaswamy.

My question is, does this open him to action from Tesla shareholders (or the other companies)? He’s getting paid a shit ton of money by Tesla and, as a shareholder, I’m none too pleased that he is spreading himself thinner and not doing the job he’s paid to do - not to mention the brand damage he has done to Tesla.

Isn't he Teflon Musk now? Nothing sticks to these people. They make up their own rules with no consequences. What about Trump not signing the ethics agreement that is required for the presidential transition and also not disclosing conflicts of interest.

[ArkieDukie]

Elon is going to be serving on this DOGE panel with Ramaswamy.

My question is, does this open him to action from Tesla shareholders (or the other companies)? He’s getting paid a shit ton of money by Tesla and, as a shareholder, I’m none too pleased that he is spreading himself thinner and not doing the job he’s paid to do - not to mention the brand damage he has done to Tesla.

I have many issues here, the biggest being that he has a ridiculous number of conflicts of interest. My question is, will he get away with eliminating NASA and handing its responsibilities over to SpaceX? I don’t know about anyone else, but I can totally see that happening. I am sure there are also ways he can funnel government money to Tesla and line his own pockets.

[Furniture]

Who cares…..

Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump's win

“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said in a post on X on Tuesday, shortly before the Israel Cabinet signed off on the agreement. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-team-s ... 07578.html

[CameronBornAndBred]

Who cares…..

Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump's win

“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said in a post on X on Tuesday, shortly before the Israel Cabinet signed off on the agreement. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-team-s ... 07578.html

I'm guessing if the deal falls apart, it will be Biden's fault, right?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Who cares…..

Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump's win

“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said in a post on X on Tuesday, shortly before the Israel Cabinet signed off on the agreement. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards deescalation in the Middle East.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-team-s ... 07578.html

I'm guessing if the deal falls apart, it will be Biden's fault, right?

Yup. Heads I win. Tails you lose. And the average idiot American believes it all. The Bible says though shalt have no other God. But Trump is their God. Yet they act all pious.

[ArkieDukie]

Lord help me. I’m visiting my dad, who is currently watching Faux News. The disinformation is unbelievable. They’re talking about illegal immigrants now, and to hear them talk, the number of migrants is dropping because of Trump’s victory. Just one example. Lots of passive-aggressive talk about all the things Trump is going to fix once he is in office.

Last night, in a discussion about cheating in sports, Dad randomly changed the subject to transgenders in women’s sports and how awful it is. I told him it’s not as big a problem as he thinks, and there are bigger issues to worry about. He said, “So you think it’s okay to have men in women’s sports?” If I had been thinking, I would’ve said that the number of women dying as a result of the Trump abortion bans is far greater than the number of transgender women in women’s sports.

[acdevil]

Best thing about getting divorced is I no longer have to suffer through conversations like that with my father-in-law.

[Phredd3]

My father-in-law was a Faux News consumer, as well, but he came to that viewpoint late, after raising two very liberal daughters. As he got more insistently wacko, he agreed to a détente with his daughters. Both husbands agreed to abide by the peace accords.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Best thing about getting divorced is I no longer have to suffer through conversations like that with my father-in-law.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Lord help me. I’m visiting my dad, who is currently watching Faux News. The disinformation is unbelievable. They’re talking about illegal immigrants now, and to hear them talk, the number of migrants is dropping because of Trump’s victory. Just one example. Lots of passive-aggressive talk about all the things Trump is going to fix once he is in office.

Last night, in a discussion about cheating in sports, Dad randomly changed the subject to transgenders in women’s sports and how awful it is. I told him it’s not as big a problem as he thinks, and there are bigger issues to worry about. He said, “So you think it’s okay to have men in women’s sports?” If I had been thinking, I would’ve said that the number of women dying as a result of the Trump abortion bans is far greater than the number of transgender women in women’s sports.

Fox News is responsible with so much of what is wrong with this country. You can truly tell a lot about a person by whether they watch it or a place by whether they have it on. They have poisoned the minds of so many people.

The transgender issue is one of the ones where MAGA nation gets all worked up over something that does not personally impact them at all. Rather than wasting their times worrying about "issues" like this why don't they proactively go make their lives better and stop blaming others for their problems.

I went down the rabbit hole yesterday reading about the San Jose State women's volleyball situation. TL/DR there is an upper class player on their team who is transgender, but no one knew about it until recently. I think a member of the team outed the player (I believe they had been roommates at some point) and has raised a stink about it, so players are not talking to each other, coach isn't talking to players, etc. Several teams have refused to play them. Meanwhile, I don't think the player is much better or more powerful than the women, and the team is fairly average. I'm not sure what the right answer is here but the amount of angst about it and time being spent talking about it (admittedly including by me) is nuts (pardon my pun).

[ArkieDukie]

Here’s the latest. He was talking about Israel vs Palestine and how all that land should belong to Israel because “that has been Jewish land since biblical times.”
Me: when was Israel created? After WW2, right?
Him: yes.
Me: who did the land belong to at the time?
Him: Palestine, but if you go back further in history, that was Jewish land.
Me: if you go back in history, this farm belonged to the Osage Indians. How would you feel if someone came in and told you that you have to give the farm back to the Osage?
Him: well, I wouldn’t like it, but in biblical times Israel belonged to the Jewish people.
(Where is the facepalm emoji?)

I agree with CNC regarding Faux News. They are terrible.

On a different note, my dad believes that Elon Musk saved Twitter and made it profitable. This was after Faux mentioned DOGE and how wonderful it will be. I asked if he thought it was a conflict of interest to have Musk in charge of something that he could benefit from financially due to all his government contracts. The garbage about Twitter was his response.

[CameronBornAndBred]

OK! It's time to fire up the 2028 thread, right?!

Just read an article giving a far distant look at who might be vying for the job on the Dem side, and it dawned on me that it's possible that the next POTUS election will have two fresh faces. That's something we haven't had since Obama's first.

Democrats could have a flood of potential candidates, and there are disagreements within the party over what to prioritize.

Some Democrats say the party needs to start over, injecting itself with new blood for the next presidential contest.

Others say Harris deserves another shot at the presidency, pointing to the 74 million votes cast for her earlier this month.

“Just like in 2016, we’re a little lost and rudderless, and not quite sure what we want going forward,” one Democratic strategist acknowledged.

What seems certain is a crowded field.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ranking-demo ... 00839.html