Political Discussion Thread (READ FIRST POST)

[The Old Hack 2,482]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

This actually sort of works for them because with an uninformed electorate, the ensuing chaos reflects on the current administration rather than the miscreants.

I am less certain. So far the GOP has forced through a government shutdown something like four or five times, each time for the pettiest of reasons. And every time they have folded like a bad hand of cards when the resulting opinion swing turned more and more against them. This time their idea was to attach riders the Senate wouldn't approve so it would look like the Senate's fault. And then they couldn't even agree on that within their own ranks. I doubt it will go well for them.

It is really simple. They have a majority in the House. And they couldn't even employ that majority to agree ON THEIR OWN BILL. This will make them look completely ineffective, possibly because that is what they are.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

You are thinking too much. Trump is still in the running - that says right off the bat that nearly half of our populace is so gullible they cannot discern a lie when it is hitting them in the face. He contradicts himself within his rant, and they overlook it. Some double digit per cent are still 'undecided'. What the hell, one team embraces dictators, wants to throw women under the bus, and get rid of vaccines. The other have a sensible plan to grow a productive middle class. Tough decision. I don't think a clear majority are capable of connecting the dots accurately on legislative cause and effect. OTOH, I really hope you are right. We need a break.

The government shutdown is getting to be habitual. I have to save up vacation, because when they do shut down, I don't get paid. (not a fed, feds will get paid retroactively) If it lasts too long, we take unpaid time off. <shrug> It pays well enough most of the time, you just have to plan for the weirdness.

Mitch McConnell's role in this is Leader of Government Constipation. His productivity in our Congress has a large negative value. He's far from the worst person there, but he may have done the most harm.

[mlooney 3,548]

5 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

The government shutdown is getting to be habitual.

It's been that way for well over 2 decades.  At first it was a big deal when it happens, now, unless they are directly effected, it's meh event to most people.  I worry about them because I get a government check every month

[The Old Hack 2,482]

2 hours ago, mlooney said:

It's been that way for well over 2 decades.

And it's been the GOP doing it every time. At this point even if the Democrats eventually do cause a shutdown, people will just blame the Republicans anyway out of sheer habit.

[ijuin 587]

11 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

You are thinking too much. Trump is still in the running - that says right off the bat that nearly half of our populace is so gullible they cannot discern a lie when it is hitting them in the face.

A large fraction of them know that he is lying, and consider it to be irrelevant. They only care that he is hurting their enemies.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,614]

 

You are from a demographic majority or a traditionaly privilaged class.  Now you think your group is suffering.  

Along comes someone saying it is ok to be angry & afraid. And you should blame somone else for your problems.

How does that stratagy work out?

 

[Darth Fluffy 332]

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

It's been that way for well over 2 decades.  At first it was a big deal when it happens, now, unless they are directly effected, it's meh event to most people.  I worry about them because I get a government check every month

You should be good. I think. I'd worry more about Trump screwing with your government check. He has threatened to do such. Consider, Social Security is technically not government money, it is mutual insurance administered by the government. They seem to have conveniently forgotten that.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

It's been that way for well over 2 decades.  At first it was a big deal when it happens, now, unless they are directly effected, it's meh event to most people.  I worry about them because I get a government check every month

Oh, yeah, you're way low; more than two decades, but the frequency of actual shutdowns is increasing. They are also growing longer, albeit slowly.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

2 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

 

You are from a demographic majority or a traditionaly privilaged class.  Now you think your group is suffering.  

Along comes someone saying it is ok to be angry & afraid. And you should blame somone else for your problems.

How does that stratagy work out?

 

Apparently all too well? Enforcing ignorance is a good supportive strategy, they seem to be taking up that mantle all too well.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

In some of the better news I've seen, a Haitian rights group is going after Trump and Vance for spreading lies about Haitians in Springfield and endangering lives. They are cutting to the chase and asking for arrests, and yes, it is already formally requested. Seriously, nail those S.o.B.s for their callous disregard for others. (Apologies to actual bitches. Who's a good doggy? You are!)

[mlooney 3,548]

They need to go for Vance, not Trump.  Let's see them run a country when both are in jail.

[The Old Hack 2,482]

ROFL, Trump claims that Kamala is lying about having worked at McDonalds. Your stable genius, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be here all week. Try the veal XD

[Darth Fluffy 332]

On 9/29/2024 at 6:00 AM, The Old Hack said:

ROFL, Trump claims that Kamala is lying about having worked at McDonalds. Your stable genius, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be here all week. Try the veal XD

His 'logic' on this (I use the term loosely) is that she did not include her entry level job at Mickey D's on a much later in life resume. Presumably having never needed to submit a resume in his life, he has no idea why this would have been inappropriate. Just like Haitians eating cats and dogs in Springfield, he is doubling, tripling, quadrupling, X^n-ing down on this. Because he has the mental maturity of a three year old.

That said, his level of genius is probably stable, because when you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to fall further down.

Also, he does have a certain level of cunning in his persistent bluster. He gets his way far more often than seems reasonable by any stretch. He plays the US court system like a very bad violinist, but so far has faced little consequence for his heinous actions. (I expect it to come crashing down soon, but he might actually get away with it all.) He's like a fungus that flourishes on the compost of his MAGAts. Have you seen the watch scam? "The picture may not be representative of the product", "The product is as-is" (no warranty). It is basically a way to attempt circumventing US campaign finance laws. Per Stormy Daniels, he may not have much of a dick, but he sure has ball to pull this $#!%.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

Weird?

[Darth Fluffy 332]

This comic comment cracked me up: "People think Trump is playing 3-D chess, but actually he is eating the pieces."

[Darth Fluffy 332]

See? Donald Trump gets it!

[mlooney 3,548]

Rat varies between a twit and a great thinker.  Today he's closer to twit.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Rat varies between a twit and a great thinker.  Today he's closer to twit.

That would be, "Closer to the Dumpster."

[Darth Fluffy 332]

Two men were out hiking in the woods, when a bear spotted them and started running toward him. One of the men began to run, but his friend reached into his gear and pulled out a pair of running shoes.

"What are you doing, you can't outrun a bear!"

While this was going on, The Dumpster Fire told his followers, "I don't have to be smart, I just have to be more clever than you."

(The bear eat the running shoes guy, reaching him before he had them tied. His former friend got away while the bear was occupied.)

[ijuin 587]

And that is why the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors believed in having your running shoes on BEFORE you find out that you need to run.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

5 hours ago, ijuin said:

And that is why the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors believed in having your running shoes on BEFORE you find out that you need to run.

Added irony, the bear thought he needed fiber in his diet, and viewed the running shoes as an extra treat.

[Darth Fluffy 332]

In math, it can be difficult to prove a thing many believe to be true, for which investigation shows many examples, but that confirmation remains elusive. A few took centuries to resolve, some are still TBD. In the case of the Four Color Map Theorem, the reliance on computer search with has yet to be directly humanly verified makes its status controversial.

Yet, to prove a conjecture false, it only takes one counterexample. You might suspect, from random observation, that "All prime numbers are odd." If you could repeatedly select a prime number at random from all that exist, you would almost certainly never select an even one. Yet we know the conjecture is not true, two is the counterexample, and in fact because of the definition of prime numbers, there has to be an even one to invalidate ll of the other even numbers.

I have long believed in democracy; the alternatives seem to be much worse, but Donald Trump, who does not believe in democracy, with his cultish followers, is the most convincing counterexample I've seen. He's thrown a bag of wrenches into the internal workings of our democratic republic, and we seem near helpless to clean up the mess.

If he is not locked up within a year, we have fundamentally failed. If Aileen Cannon is not indicted for obstruction of justice, we have failed. If Clarence Thomas is allowed to remain on the Supreme Court, we have failed.

It will be interesting to see how this hand plays out. I'm on the edge of my seat.