2016 Democratic Thread

[southsider2k5]

[Balta1701]

My God...it's a fresh thread. I...I don't know what to do. It's so clean in here.

[Balta1701]

This is among the worst things I've ever seen from a politician not named Donald Trump.

Carly Fiorina went went to Stanford. This is offensive to almost everything I care about and respect.

[caulfield12]

There's pandering and then there's degrading yourself and anyone who follows sports...

 

I can't think of a single Iowa fan who would vote for her as a result, even in the GOP, and probably a lot more votes lost. At any rate, she lost her positive momentum a long time ago. Too late.

 

Christie at least has an outside chance if he finished Top 3-4 in NH.

Edited January 2, 2016 by caulfield12

[greg775]

This is among the worst things I've ever seen from a politician not named Donald Trump.

Carly Fiorina went went to Stanford. This is offensive to almost everything I care about and respect.

I wonder if one of her aides wrote that. Totally unacceptable on so many counts. Nobody can be that dumb, right? To root against your alma mater in a bowl game?? I mean, cmon.

[Y2Jimmy0]

I wonder if one of her aides wrote that. Totally unacceptable on so many counts. Nobody can be that dumb, right? To root against your alma mater in a bowl game?? I mean, cmon.

 

 

Gary Bedore ‏@GaryBedore 3m3 minutes ago

Only way Carly can save face with that tweet is to say one of her campaign workers had her twitter access. Can't root against alma mater.

[greg775]

Gary Bedore ‏@GaryBedore 3m3 minutes ago

Only way Carly can save face with that tweet is to say one of her campaign workers had her twitter access. Can't root against alma mater.

 

There's no way Fiorina can win with a Tweet like that. None at all.

[caulfield12]

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle..._workers_drown/

 

Here's a pretty good reason the GOP still has a shot at the presidency, especially with Kasich as the VP on the ticket.

[greg775]

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/03/the_middle..._workers_drown/

 

Here's a pretty good reason the GOP still has a shot at the presidency, especially with Kasich as the VP on the ticket.

I'd feel better about eight years of Hillary if I felt she had some concrete positive plans to offer. Maybe no president will ever be able to work with Congress again, but I just see Hilly's eight years as a continuation of the stalemate of getting nothing of consequence done. It would be nice if she could reverse the trend and put some money in the pockets of the middle class. There are a lot of people who work hard in this country and still can't afford good living conditions and decent health care.

I feel like we should give Trump a shot. We can always vote him out in four years if he blows.

[Balta1701]

I'd feel better about eight years of Hillary if I felt she had some concrete positive plans to offer. Maybe no president will ever be able to work with Congress again, but I just see Hilly's eight years as a continuation of the stalemate of getting nothing of consequence done. It would be nice if she could reverse the trend and put some money in the pockets of the middle class. There are a lot of people who work hard in this country and still can't afford good living conditions and decent health care.

I feel like we should give Trump a shot. We can always vote him out in four years if he blows.

Because if there's one phrase that describes deporting mexicans and banning religions, it's "concrete, positive plans."

[Brian]

What positive concrete plans has Trump put out there? The Wall? He still hasn't explained how itll get paid for.

[StrangeSox]

What positive concrete plans has Trump put out there? The Wall? He still hasn't explained how itll get paid for.

HE'LL MAKE MEXICO PAY FOR IT!

[greg775]

What positive concrete plans has Trump put out there? The Wall? He still hasn't explained how itll get paid for.

 

Here are his positions on issues. How can you not want him to give it a shot? Again ... can it be any worse?

http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm

 

I will say this bout Obama. He is a likeable guy. He's a Sox fan and wears it proudly and b.) his appearance on Comedians and Cars getting coffee with Seinfeld is AWESOME. I saw it online but couldn't find the link. It was damn funny. I do like Obama, but he got very little done unfortunately.

[StrangeSox]

How Michigan literally poisoned an entire city to save a few bucks

 

You know what's bad? Brain damage.

 

Flint, Michigan, is finding this out after it accidentally gave its entire population at least a little bit of lead poisoning when it switched up their water supply. In an attempt to save money for a cash-strapped city, Flint started drinking water from the Flint River — but ended up contaminating children with a poisonous heavy metal. Governor Rick Snyder has declared a state of emergency, and the federal government is investigating.

 

Why on Earth did they do this? Austerity. Aside from the obvious humanitarian disaster, this is a stark demonstration of austerity's false economy. Trying to be cheap on Flint's water supply will end up costing the state of Michigan (and probably the country as a whole) a ton more money than it would have to fix it properly in the first place.

 

It was immediately obvious that the water was filthy, and residents loudly protested that it was cloudy, smelled bad, and tasted worse. General Motors stopped using the water because it was literally corroding their machinery. But Snyder and his handpicked head environmental official Dan Wyant studiously ignored the problem — despite internal warnings of lead poisoning as early as July of last year — until an outside scientific study demonstrated extreme levels of lead in Flint children. In late December — over a year after the water switch — Snyder finally apologized and Wyant quietly resigned.

 

Now Snyder has already been forced to pony up over $10 million to switch the Flint water system back to the way it was before (hooked up to Detroit, basically), and the city is asking for some $50 million more to replace lead pipes. But that's very likely only the beginning. Flint's population is roughly 100,000, and several families have already sued state and local officials over the lead issue. It's unclear so far how badly the city's children have been poisoned, but it's a pretty safe bet the state will end up spending tens or perhaps even hundreds of millions on settlements.

 

And that's where a moral atrocity becomes an economic self-kneecapping. Aside from the cost of settlements, children are the major portion of the future's economic capacity, which depends critically on their ability to function normally. Destroying their brains with heavy metals will rather impede their ability to get the jobs and pay the taxes that will get Flint on a sound fiscal footing.

[greg775]

How Michigan literally poisoned an entire city to save a few bucks

Kinda speechless over that item. It's pretty sad we've come to this in America. Saving money?? For whom? Just do the morally right thing in your lives, people!

[caulfield12]

Morally right thing is very subjective to politicians.

 

Most Republicans would argue it's morally right to get rid of Federal oversight of nearly every aspect of our lives (including environmental protections/EPA, or banking regulations that both Dem and Republican parties are guilty of removing that made the 2008 financial/mortgage crisis an almost inevitable moral hazard)...

 

The philosophy that everything should be privatized or subject to competition, whether it's prisons or public education.

 

If the mayor or the governor of your city made an announcement they were raising taxes by 5% to pay for improved water services/supply, then everyone would flip out and scream government tyranny. Of course, when governments try to save money or cut services, catastrophic events like the ones outlined above will occur. Nobody wants to pay higher taxes because a lot of people will just shout out that government simply exists to waste money/resources, and then everyone reacts in shock or anger when bridges collapse (Minneapolis) due to neglect or disrepair or water is tainted or polluted because there wasn't the public will to invest and fix the problem to prevent more expensive long-term problems.

 

 

[bmags]

I know I've probably said this 3-4 times, but I actually stopped following talkingpointsmemo today. I'm pretty bummed how tpm went from must-read analysis and investigative outfit to...whatever huffpo garbage it has become.

 

But also the behavior of that twitter constantly retweeting the same articles and things (especially when it's just WATCH: ANN COULTER SAYS)...

 

Still like a lot of what josh marshall writes.

[bmags]

haven't read this but want to:

nyti.ms/1ZOQzkQ

Dupont article, relevant with flint.

[Balta1701]

Here are his positions on issues. How can you not want him to give it a shot? Again ... can it be any worse?

http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm

Muslim woman comes to a Trump rally wearing shirt saying "I come in peace". Does not make a disruption, does not start yelling, just had the audacity to stand up while wearing a Hijab. Crowd realizes she's a muslim, turns on her, purportedly starts shouting epithets at her. Gets escorted out by security. Trump's comments without irony.

"There is hatred against us that is unbelievable," Trump said. "It's their hatred, it's not our hatred."

Yes, the kind of hatred you're supporting can be worse. It is worse.

[pettie4sox]

Lol @ Trump. He's in for a real shocker come primary day.

[Balta1701]

Lol @ Trump. He's in for a real shocker come primary day.

God I hope so. Because he has absolutely been the ugliest, most disgusting thing we've seen in American Politics in my lifetime. At this point I'm just hoping this country still has a soul, because the last few months has been an argument that we don't.

[StrangeSox]

You don't have to be an idiot to support trump, but you do need to be a terrible person.

[greg775]

You don't have to be an idiot to support trump, but you do need to be a terrible person.

This is a nonsequitir. Millions of people support Trump and millions are "terrible" people? I would venture to say thousands of people who like/support Trump are good people. I bet they donate to great causes, etc. I don't think you need to be a terrible person to support Trump. Some people flat out are sick of politics and definitely want a change and right now Trump is the only candidate certain to shake it all up. You can't tell me some Trump supporters are not, in fact, great individuals.

[Y2Jimmy0]

This is a nonsequitir. Millions of people support Trump and millions are "terrible" people? I would venture to say thousands of people who like/support Trump are good people. I bet they donate to great causes, etc. I don't think you need to be a terrible person to support Trump. Some people flat out are sick of politics and definitely want a change and right now Trump is the only candidate certain to shake it all up. You can't tell me some Trump supporters are not, in fact, great individuals.

 

 

Yeah I think I can. They breathe with their mouths, root for the Packers, and chant USA in large groups. Just the worst kind of people.

[caulfield12]

It reminds me of the feeling of reading Ayn Rand books growing up and detesting the capitalists for their dogmatism, but at least admiring the self-sufficiency side of it...this spirit today is more about racism, xenophobia and pandering to the base, and it's 100% destructive in terms of the moral fabric of our country. It's not even pretending to be a philosophical argument.

 

99.2% of Americans have descendants from other countries. It's shameful that the best of America is now essentially exemplified by Germany, a country with much less diversity but more open-mindedness.

 

I feel like I'm rewatching the Borat scene where he's singing the satirical Kazahkstani national anthem to the "patriotic" and homophobic rodeo crowd in Alabama or South Carolina.

Edited January 9, 2016 by caulfield12