"The August 2020 US Politics Thread is highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That's all."

Er war Superstar

xxp I can understand this if those same politicians are acting earnestly and volubly to reform campaign finance laws. If they are not banging the drum about it while making this comopromise they seem to me fundamentally immoral.

war mar superstar?

Unless they think its ok. Like obama had made his peace with most aspects of our system and wanted to be an effective administrator as well as a kind of moral leader, preaching this optimistic, inclusive vision of america that is still honestly pretty moving to me. (Remember—when he was elected, it was a sign of hope that the country was starting to shake off its prejudices, and greater equality would not be far behind. That didn’t really happen.)

But anyway, seriously challenging something like the way we do elections—not just incremental improvements—wasn’t really his thing. He didn’t think we needed to redistribute power. In a true sense, not the more narrow american sense, he was a conservative.

And in that I don’t think he was immoral—just wrong.

I actually don’t agree that he took special care to not seem radical because he was black. I mean, maybe, but he also just wasn’t a radical.

On that note, it's interesting (I mean that genuinely!) that here you assign shittiness to the administration and not directly to Obama, but then it is Obama the individual you respect. How do you determine when individual politicians have done something egregious? Assuming you don't think Obama did, why not?

― rob, Thursday, August 20, 2020 9:31 AM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I refer to the administration because none of Obama's decisions as president were made in a vacuum. They involved teams of people and all sorts of practical considerations that inevitably led to negotiations and compromise. Obviously, as president, he bears more responsibility than anyone else. But because I respect him as a person, I trust that he always wanted to do the right thing, even if it led to bad consequences. To be honest, I trust most of the people in his administration, too. But sometimes people's options are constrained, and they make bad decisions.

The Trump administration, on the other hand, has clearly shown flagrant disregard for the law and for the good of the American people. It's not difficult to say that their behavior is egregious and often immoral.

Like obama had made his peace with most aspects of our system and wanted to be an effective administrator as well as a kind of moral leader, preaching this optimistic, inclusive vision of america that is still honestly pretty moving to me. (Remember—when he was elected, it was a sign of hope that the country was starting to shake off its prejudices, and greater equality would not be far behind. That didn’t really happen.)

But anyway, seriously challenging something like the way we do elections—not just incremental improvements—wasn’t really his thing. He didn’t think we needed to redistribute power. In a true sense, not the more narrow american sense, he was a conservative.

And in that I don’t think he was immoral—just wrong.

― treeship., Thursday, August 20, 2020 9:55 AM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

OTM

Jaymc, I also am tired of this debate, because it is glaringly apparent to me that people such as yourself will continue to dismiss people who want change as not understanding the complexities of a system of governance that was never meant to serve them, and in fact, actively seems to hurt them!

Being told that one is naive and that one's moral outrage at obvious injustice is not productive is a method of stifling attempts at change and upholds the status quo, afaic, and I think it's a shit outlook

Tbf to jay, wholesale revolution is a hard sell and often goes sideways. (Even micro experiments, like CHOP). It’s up to leftists to make the case that changing the unequal distribution of wealth and power in our country won’t disrupt its stability—and in fact would strengthen it.

I thought bernie was really good at this and his program would have been a great start at building a more democratic culture. It still bums me out he didn’t get through.

THE POSTAL SERVICE CAPTURED BANNON AT SEA https://t.co/QSrTlNJfhi

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 20, 2020

Why the postal service? I didn’t know they could arrest you

Mail fraud, maybe?

In a bizarre twist, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, played a key role in helping New York prosecutors investigate Trump’s former top adviser.

Strauss even gave the division, also known as the Postal Inspectors or USPIS, a special shoutout in her statement. “We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case,” she said.

The involvement of the postal service in bringing charges against a former close Trump adviser comes with jaw-dropping irony: Critics have recently accused the Trump administration of attempting to undermine the mail carrier in an attempt to fracture the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

Inspector-in-Charge of the Postal Inspectors, Philip Bartlett, said in a statement that the indictments should warn “other fraudsters” that no one is above the law — including a “millionaire political strategist” like Bannon.

Steve Bannon was taken into custody by the U.S. Postal Service. The writers this season have done an exceptional job.

— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) August 20, 2020

beg to differ

Super weird. This is the first i’ve heard of someone being arrested by the post office.

lol

I guess Trump should have had the Postmaster General dismantle the USPIS instead of mail processing machines

Jaymc, I also am tired of this debate, because it is glaringly apparent to me that people such as yourself will continue to dismiss people who want change as not understanding the complexities of a system of governance that was never meant to serve them, and in fact, actively seems to hurt them!

― healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Thursday, August 20, 2020 10:02 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

And you'll continue to dismiss people who are inspired by others trying to make the country a better place as being willfully blind to the country's fundamental immorality! At the end of the day, we both want change. I want to reform the system by electing people to enact structural changes (and to serve the public as best they can within the system's limitations). What do you want, and how do you propose attaining it?

For better or worse, you foment legit change by persuading a sufficient number of people that your notion of change is worth shrugging off the status quo. The less able you are to persuade people who already mostly agree with you that yours is the best path to travel, the less likely you are to succeed.

Super weird. This is the first i’ve heard of someone being arrested by the post office.

many federal agencies have their own law enforcement divisions, some big, some small. EPA, for example, has civil enforcement officers (think fines and penalties for not following environmental laws, administratively) and criminal enforcement offers (think of an evil guy in all-leather dumping toxic chemicals onto a playground while cracking up like the joker) - the latter carry guns and are sometimes involved with arrests.

looking forward to trump complaining about extralegal police forces and their legitimacy

heh, yeah. speaking of - i know this is dumb, but has he recently even tried to give an innocent-sounding reason for his refusal to hand over his tax returns? during the campaign, his excuse was something like that he was being audited and wouldn't release the records until after then, because they were too confusing, or something. is that still what he's going with? maybe no one even bothers asking him why he's trying to conceal them these days

think of an evil guy in all-leather dumping toxic chemicals onto a playground while cracking up like the joker

Andrew Wheeler?

if you read doj press releases you will find a ton of postal inspector cases as many things can be wrapped into "mail fraud"

xp naw, unfortunately andrew wheeler understands that to be truly evil you need to stay invisible. scott pruitt, on the other hand - that dude needs to be fucking arrested for real

Trump doesn't even bother pretending to answer questions he doesn't have answers to and our press corp refuses to push back, presumably because they're too chickenshit.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/08/politics/trump-veterans-choice-paula-reid/index.html

"Why do you keep saying that you passed Veterans Choice?" CBS News White House correspondent Paula Reid asked Trump at the Saturday news conference, during which Trump announced executive actions on coronavirus relief.
As Trump tried to call on another reporter instead, Reid continued, "You said that you passed Veterans Choice. It was passed in 2014...it was a false statement, sir."
Trump paused, then responded: "OK. Thank you very much, everybody." He then walked away as the song "YMCA" played.
Trump had either never or almost never been challenged on the Veterans Choice claim before Reid did so.

POTUS just now, via pooler @shearm: “I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time. 

Haven't been dealing with him at all. 

Don't know anything about the project at all.

It's a very sad thing by mr. Bannon.”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 20, 2020

he didn't wish him the best? hmmm.

Trump: Don't know anything about the project at all.

Narrator: He knew about the project.

calling "the project" seems in itself kind of odd and damning

in today's "the children will lead us" segment:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/politics/aaron-coleman-kansas.html

Kansas Democrat, 19, Who Admitted to Revenge Porn, Ekes Out Primary Win
Aaron Coleman defeated a seven-term incumbent for a state House seat by 14 votes, alarming Democrats who worry he will hurt other candidates in the general election.

Democrats had been making inroads in Kansas, a state long dominated by Republicans, and hoped to capture enough seats in the Legislature to break the Republicans’ super majority. Mr. Coleman is not facing a Republican opponent but Democratic leaders, including Gov. Laura Kelly, have said they are supporting Mr. Frownfelter, who announced on Tuesday that he would run as a write-in candidate in the general election against Mr. Coleman.

“Aaron Coleman is not fit to serve in the Legislature,” said Lauren Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Ms. Kelly.

Tom Sawyer, the Democratic House minority leader, said he did not believe most voters in the 37th district, in Wyandotte County, knew about Mr. Coleman’s past. The party plans to campaign hard on behalf of Mr. Frownfelter, he said.

“I hope he can pull it out so I don’t have to deal with this kid,” Mr. Sawyer said.

Mr. Coleman, who has apologized for the way he treated the women, said the party should accept the will of primary voters, who supported his platform of a single-payer health care system, fighting climate change and legalizing cannabis.

“We need and we deserve someone who will stand up for those policies and I’m the only one in the race who will do it, and that’s why I’m the only one on the ballot,” he said in an interview. “When you pay so little attention to your district that you lose to a 19-year-old with no political connections, it probably means you should retire.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-united-the-democratsits-not-likely-to-last-11597847147

Former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, a Biden confidant who succeeded him in the Senate, predicted during a Wall Street Journal Newsmakers Live interview Tuesday that a large increase in federal spending would be difficult to achieve in 2021.

“When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare,” said Mr. Kaufman, who is leading Mr. Biden’s transition team. “When you see what Trump’s done to the deficit…forget about Covid-19, all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts. So we’re going to be limited.”

ah, the VISION

Ugh, Pelosi just endorsed Joe Kennedy:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/20/metro/house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-endorses-joe-kennedy-race-against-ed-markey/

strong women are making their voices heard

a truly remarkable asshole

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ef4M07dXgAEETXN?format=jpg&name=900x900

all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts. So we’re going to be limited.

If only there was such a thing as an opposite of a tax cut.

The 2022 red tsunami’s gonna be brutal

But five years later, has the presumptive lawmaker fully left that abusive boy behind? It certainly appears not. Coleman told one Republican during the campaign that he’d “laugh and giggle when you get COVID and die.” And when his primary opponent, state Rep. Stan Frownfelter, took note on social media of Coleman’s past abuse of girls — supporting the women while disavowing any involvement in telling their stories — Frownfelter says Coleman threatened to retaliate with unspecified allegations against him. None ever came.

sounds like he'd fit right in on ILE!

“Primarying a Sitting Democrat is Bad”

-N Pelosi

The 2022 red tsunami’s gonna be brutal

more like a Q-nami I expect

I’ll never forgive Pelosi for the way she threw Katie Hill under the bus. Now her district went back to a Republican, you fucking idiot

wtf Pelosi

idg how anyone is surprised by this turn.

I’m not surprised, I’m annoyed

Same.