monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

@old europe,

Quote:

And yet, Republicans haven't been presenting Ryan's plan as the Republican replacement Obamacare. Or any plan, for that matter.

There is a plan, why do you keep insisting there isn't a plan. You are trying to hard here OE.

Quote:

Trump said "We’re going to have insurance for everybody" only a few weeks ago, and got enormous pushback from Republicans for that statement. It's almost like Republicans who were running on repealing Obamacare for the majority of the last decade are desperately trying to stall, because they don't have a plan. And Trump is just promising whatever pops into his head and sounds good at that moment, because he's Trump.

Should I count the number of fucks I give about what Trump says? I'm happy to see that there is a party that isn't willing to just go along with whatever their President wants. The Dems could learn something from this little exchange.

Quote:

Do you think that, or do you hope that? Because so far, there hasn't been much indication from the Republican leadership that repealing Obamacare rather than having a replacement ready is the top priority.

I want the ACA gone, how Congress goes about it doing it, remains to be seen. I think, I hope, what does it matter, I don't have a vote in Congress and my Senator isn't going to vote the way I want him to anyways. I can only hope that if he votes against the repeal, that we can remove him at the next election.

Quote:

Meaning you disagree with the whole "repeal first, come up with a replacement eventually, maybe" strategy?

I said what I said.

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@wmwcjr,

Starr is still held in high esteem by many on the right up and down the food chain. He did yeoman's work for the right on Clinton and that's not forgotten.

But I sure do share your moral disgust at the history of misogyny which has marked pro sports and college sports and the institutional suppression of sex crimes that has been maddeningly common.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Apparently layman thinks Trump can make people who are in this country illegally and may have committed a crime under the new guidelines immigration officers are able to make at their own discretion, are going to be made into slaves for the wall of Mexico/US.

ehbeth is right, Americans right now are sickening ugly.

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@blatham,

Talk about an apples and oranges comparison.

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@blatham,

I'm still seeing too much (IMNSHO) we should rise above it noise coming from the left.

No. Don't rise above it. Fight it. Get noisy. Be rude. There is absolutely no upside to being more polite than people on the political right.

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Quote:

Maggie Haberman ‏@maggieNYT 1h1 hour ago
Really hard to overstate level of misery radiating from several members of White House staff over last few days.

Maggie is a good reporter. She's been doing this for years and she knows her beat very well.

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@farmerman,

You obviously know a lot about engineering but the law? Not so much.

The 9th Circuit's decision sets precedent only if the Supreme Court affirms it or refuses to hear an appeal.

The Supreme Court has reversed 86% of the 9th Circuit's decisions brought before it. That is a staggering demonstration of malfeasance on the part of those loony liberal judges. It is unethical for judges to allow provocation to influence their decisions, but that's Old Hat for the 9th Circus.

The SC will hear an appeal if for no other reason that there is a conflicting opinion from a MA judge.

Even the "liberal" justices on the SC can't be so politically motivated as allow States' Attorneys Generals to trump the president on matters of immigration and national security.

If they are, God help us as we will be headed towards a breakup of the union.

(And, preemptively, please stow you nonsense about such talk being treasonous)

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@ehBeth,

Quote:

China has plans and has been implementing them nicely for years.

Yes they have. Obama did nothing for 8 years to hold up China and now they are trying to push their "boundaries" well into international waters. Thank you President Obama.

1 Reply

Quote:

National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say

WP
Keep your eye on this. There's a lot of things going on (Conway pushing Ivanka's clothing line, etc) but the Russia/Trump connections story might be the most important and consequential, says me.

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@blatham,

You know, it is slightly possible, the republican congress might just do something about all the ties this administration has to Russia. It is getting too obvious and hard to deny.

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@wmwcjr,

Well no accounting for taste my friend, but question my principles again and that will be the end of my addressing you so.

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@blatham,

It's estimated that Trump's wall would cost each household in our country $120. A stupid idea on the surface; that money can be used for better things.
That wall is only symbolic, and serves no real purpose. How deep below ground and how high above ground is this wall going to be? The real cost will be much higher. The terrain and property rights aren't that simple to overcome.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Walter - What do you think is the difference between an "opinion" piece and an "editorial"

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@revelette1,

Possible, yes. But they'll have to be pushed to edges of pretty terrifying cliffs.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

The corruption in DC has been around forever. It's amazing that it took this long for the middle class and poor to finally speak out.

I think it's a classic inability of people to see the forest through the trees scenario.

Both major political parties have a stranglehold on federal and state government power. Essentially, both parties serve the same masters. They cater to their own greed and thirst for power financed by an oligarchy of billionaires and their many corporate interests. That's the corrupt forest.

To retain the power necessary to fuel the corruption, the parties focus our collective attention on individual trees. They get the self-identified progressives (or liberals) and the self-identified conservatives (of every ilk) to bicker endlessly over red meat issues. If we're fighting over a couple of trees (e.g., the rights of gay people to get married or the rights of women to control their own procreative destinies, for instance), then we're not paying attention to the entire forest. We the people are waking up and realizing we're just dispensable pawns and victims of propaganda.

The power elite want us to continue bickering and remain in our roles as useful idiots. Maybe they'll get what they want, maybe not. The resistance is growing.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

The sticking point in the immigration ban is the part where there is a sentence in there about safeguarding minority religions in those countries thereby singling out the majority Muslims for the ban. In our constitution we are not supposed to hold one religion up over another.

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@cicerone imposter,

Quote:

that money can be used for better things.

Oh god, yes.

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@blatham,

You conveniently left out the rest of what I wrote.

That's not like the old blatham.

In any case layman provided an admirable response.

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@blatham,

blatham wrote:

For me, this is one of the most depressing aspects of the present situation.

Quote:
Perhaps the most striking thing about the chaotic and exhausting first three weeks of the Trump administration is the degree to which Republicans have held together, placing loyalty above all else. The party of Lincoln has sold its soul — and like all Faustian bargains, this one will not end well.
WP

Not the violent riots, not the dissolution of Senate decorum by shrieking Warren and whining Schummer, not the endless attempts by the Left to shut down free speech...the fact that the Republican party is sticking together.

Jesus wept!

1 Reply

@blatham,

blatham wrote:

Just looking at photos of the snowstorm that hit the northeast. I think we got them beat. About four feet of snow in the last week (no wind though). Even with the collapsing of the snow with weight, it's still well over my knees. I'd cleaned my car off twice previously (two seater sports car) but it is now completely invisible, just a white bump. We've had to shovel, of course, but I love a snowfall like this one.

This one has brought this thread into focus for me.

You think you're writing the Blatham Blog wherein all your thoughts are of importance and interest.

Self-absorbed much?

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