Politics XXXV (Life in the Vault is about to change)

[Guard Dog]

never mind

Edited April 11, 2020 by Guard Dog

[ktchong]

 

The dumbfounded  "this does not compute" expression of the corporate-shilling host is priceless:

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by ktchong

[Bartimaeus]

2 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

So, ktchong shares a campaign ad on here and now I am seeing them on Facebook and Crackle. Definitely off to an early start.

Need to lock down your browser, my good man. There are Google trackers even on the Obsidian forums...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I locked down ktchong because if I wanted to read blog posts I'd be at a blog instead of a videogame forum.

In political news, that senator who totally didn't use her privlidged position as privy to briefings on covid-19 and being married to the chairman of the intercontinental exchange to do some insider trading will now liquidate her individual stocks. Probably won't mean **** in reality, and is just more of an argument for liquidating the government.

[Bartimaeus]

[Elerond]

 

[ComradeYellow]

Just dropping in to say **** you Bernie Sanders for endorsing Biden and am not looking forward to four more years of greasy slimy faux patriot Zionist Trump.

Perhaps I can score a job at EGS to keep me sane because nothing will ever change as long as these two parties remain in power.

Walk away from the voting booth.  A historically low turnout rating is sometimes the best voting outcome you can hope for.

[Guard Dog]

1 hour ago, ComradeMaster said:

Just dropping in to say **** you Bernie Sanders for endorsing Biden and am not looking forward to four more years of greasy slimy faux patriot Zionist Trump.

Perhaps I can score a job at EGS to keep me sane because nothing will ever change as long as these two parties remain in power.

Walk away from the voting booth.  A historically low turnout rating is sometimes the best voting outcome you can hope for.

Don't stop voting. Keep voting 3rd party. A quixotic action may not change anything but it's still better than doing nothing. Silence implies consent.

[Guard Dog]

You know... I've always known in my lifetime a President would say this: 

Quote

“When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total,”

However I always figured it would be a Democrat. After all they hate the 10th Amendment almost as much as they hate the 2nd. If there was a party that was primed to go power mad and announce the 10th Amendment moot I figured it would be them. Imagine my surprise: https://apnews.com/ba9578acf23bdb03fd51a2b81f640560

So now neither party even pays lip service to the pretense of limited constitutional government. Of course it was that way before. Now they are just more open about it. Only one thing left to do:

[ktchong]

This may come to most of you as a surprise who do not pay much attention to what has been going on inside China, but I have been following a development for a few years.

A decade ago, the Chinese people were laughing at Europeans (especially Swedes) for allowing African and Middle Eastern migrants to rape and ravage their countries. Ten years later, after Xi Jinping — the General Secretary or “President” (a misnomer) of China — had opened up China to the mass influx African migrants, now Chinese people are suffering the same fate as Swedes and Europeans did a decade ago. (And you are welcome to google to verify what I am saying here.) Guangzhou has become “Little Africa”. Over the past few years, I have seen Chinese people — especially Chinese men — becoming angrier and angrier online and when they were overseas, complaining about the rising crimes committed by African migrants, and Chinese women are aggressively being harassed by African men. (Again, you can google all this to verify.) Also, African migrants are competing with China’s own migrant workers for the same jobs, effectively suppressing the already low wages in China.

Yet, the Chinese government has been suppressing the negative news — to protect and push Xi’s vision of a “globalized” China and the “Chinese-African friendship”. Many Chinese citizens and ethnics (including myself) believe Xi and the CCP have decided to sacrificed the Chinese culture, people and women to protect for Xi’s ego and vanity project. If Chinese people had a democracy and voice, I really believe they would have voted in a right-wing anti-migrant populist leader like Donald Trump. Yet Chinese people do NOT have a voice on this matter. Only Xi and the CCP gets to decide.

Which is why common Chinese people are now lashing out against African migrants, and why an anti-African backlash is now breaking out in China. Unfortunately, the CCP will most likely try to suppress the Chinese people to protect Xi’s pro-migrant agenda. The irony is: the neoliberal and leftist media and governments in Europe and America would LOVE Xi for his pro-migrant (but IMO anti-Chinese) policies, and even envy Xi as the dictator who has the absolutely unchecked power to carry out the pro-migrant agenda AGAINST the wish of the Chinese people.

So, is democracy the answer for China? I can guarantee you, if Chinese have democracy now, they will elect right-wing, anti-African migrant leaders to rid China of African migrants. The only reason why China has open the floodgate to let in African migrants is because the Chinese leaders do not have to listen or be accountable to the Chinese people. If China has democracy and elections, Chinese will immediately elect their own Donald Trump, a right-wing anti-migrant populist leader, due to the current anti-African anger and anti-migrant backlash that have been boiling for the past few years.

Also, seeing what happened to Chinese and in China in the past few years has certainly made me become more receptive to Trump’s anti-immigration messages. Which is why Trump is somewhat popular among Chinese, which has puzzled a lot of outsiders, seeing that Trump is also “anti-China” -- because a lot of Chinese are actually wishing, "if only we have our own Donald Trump who cares more about the Chinese people rather than those migrants."

So, there, you've just learned something new today.

Edited April 14, 2020 by ktchong

[HoonDing]

My authority is total but I take no responsibility at all.

[Calax]

3 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

You know... I've always known in my lifetime a President would say this: 

However I always figured it would be a Democrat. After all they hate the 10th Amendment almost as much as they hate the 2nd. If there was a party that was primed to go power mad and announce the 10th Amendment moot I figured it would be them. Imagine my surprise: https://apnews.com/ba9578acf23bdb03fd51a2b81f640560

So now neither party even pays lip service to the pretense of limited constitutional government. Of course it was that way before. Now they are just more open about it. Only one thing left to do:

To be fair, I'd think you'd kinda enjoy the current situation in a way given that the Federal Government has basically abandoned a lot of it's powers under trump and are leaving much more up to the States in regards to Covid. I mean Trump managed to effectively kill the EPA in regards to enforcement at a national level, and has dutifully prevented the federal response from going beyond "MONEY! GET YOUR MONEY HERE!", meaning that the various governors have had to pick things up and figure out their own supply chains and responses to the situation.

 

Although I suppose this is the sort of situation where die hard "States Rights" people have to actually take a look at their beliefs and figure out if they really want a disjointed dis-empowered federal government, or would prefer a more empowered federal government that can actively respond in times of crisis and prevent bidding wars between the states.

[Bartimaeus]

50 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

My authority is total but I take no responsibility at all.

Wow, that really is the perfect contradiction.

[Guard Dog]

1 hour ago, HoonDing said:

My authority is total but I take no responsibility at all.

Now that is what you call trying to have your cake and eat it too

[Guard Dog]

46 minutes ago, Calax said:

To be fair, I'd think you'd kinda enjoy the current situation in a way given that the Federal Government has basically abandoned a lot of it's powers under trump and are leaving much more up to the States in regards to Covid. I mean Trump managed to effectively kill the EPA in regards to enforcement at a national level, and has dutifully prevented the federal response from going beyond "MONEY! GET YOUR MONEY HERE!", meaning that the various governors have had to pick things up and figure out their own supply chains and responses to the situation.

 

Although I suppose this is the sort of situation where die hard "States Rights" people have to actually take a look at their beliefs and figure out if they really want a disjointed dis-empowered federal government, or would prefer a more empowered federal government that can actively respond in times of crisis and prevent bidding wars between the states.

In all honestly there is very little to enjoy about this situation. Although finding out the government is as incompetent and dysfunctional as I already knew it was comes as no surprise. Under Trump the Federal government has, in the same day, tried to take powers it does not have and abdicate some it did, on multiple occasions. You are  talking about a choice between a "disjointed dis-empowered federal government" and a "more empowered federal government that can actively respond in times of crisis" as though you could have one or the other. You cannot. It will always be the former no matter how much power you give it. The US is too large and too complex to govern with an entity that, by necessity, can only apply one size fits all, and "needs of the many" solutions. No matter how powerful that government is it will be a dumpster fire. 

If anything IMO this whole shtstorm has demonstrated the wisdom of decentralized power and the importance of everyone "staying in their lane". Especially since it hasn't happened for the most part. 

[Calax]

So I ask you this, would you prefer the USA be relegated to something more akin to the EU, primarily an economic block? With the Armies etc all being drawn and controlled by the individual states rather than at a (currently) federal level?

 

The biggest problem with decentralization is that you lose your ability to react. Right now the Feds should (emphasis should) be coordinating the response and using the authority they have to prevent situations where New Mexico can't get Ventilators because California is paying 6% more per unit (purely as an example, I don't think that specific situation has happened). Only having one buyer in the market would mean prices would stay low, and then the resources could be allocated on the basis of need from the federal stockpiles, or even having the states buy the units of the feds at cost.

 

Currently it's all a giant cluster because Trump wants to let the "free market" play out (and earn a bundle of money for businesses), while he does the bare minimum to ensure that he can wave his hands and declare "I'm doing something" for the political points.

[Orogun01]

19 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Don't stop voting. Keep voting 3rd party. A quixotic action may not change anything but it's still better than doing nothing. Silence implies consent.

Don't vote 3d party, make your own crazy party!!!

[Gromnir]

14 minutes ago, Orogun01 said:

Don't vote 3d party, make your own crazy party!!!

folks voting 3p in battleground states last cycle is exact why we got trump as President today.

democrat? republican? party is irrelevant when cataloging trump fails as he is mendacious narcissist the likes o' which we ain't never seen in the oval office sitting behind the resolute desk. as usual gd sees some validation in trump which is unwarranted. fact we never had a President do as trump (at least with this level o' profound disturbing excess and consistency) should be an argument in favor o' notion trump is an exception rather than some kinda inevitable culmination. nevertheless, for gd, trump is the political kwisatz haderach. 

and we would say the current snaffu regarding covid-19 shows how is clearly a few jobs which is too much for individual states to handle, and is unnecessarily inefficient even if were possible for states to do lonesome. each state have their own space program? each state have their own vaccine development mechanism? ridiculous.

gd sees opposite o' what would appear to be the more obvious conclusions, but such is part o' his charm as the board's resident crazy hermit.

HA! Good Fun! 

[ShadySands]

5 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

folks voting 3p in battleground states last cycle is exact why we got trump as President today.

Still don't agree with this simply because there's no way to know that these people would have voted D or if they'd have voted at all. But we've discussed this quite a bit already over the years.

[Hurlshort]

As a state that is pretty much always blue, I typically don't worry too much about which way I vote for president. If my vote can help a 3rd party candidate that I think deserves recognition, then I will throw it their way. But Trump has been hard to watch for 4 years, and it has really been glaring during the pandemic. I don't know if Biden can win, and I'm not in love with him as a candidate, but I'd like to see him get a strong popular vote showing over the current dumpster fire administration we have in office. So yeah, one of the few years I know way in advance who I am voting for.

[Gromnir]

Trump Clearly Has No Idea What Happens in Mutiny on the Bounty

"Film lovers all slapped their foreheads on Tuesday as President Donald Trump belched out an odd tweet, even by his own standards. In it he warned that Democratic governors going over his head to take emergency coronavirus measures couldn’t fool him, because he watches TCM."

HA! Good Fun!

[Guard Dog]

Just now, Gromnir said:

Trump Clearly Has No Idea What Happens in Mutiny on the Bounty

"Film lovers all slapped their foreheads on Tuesday as President Donald Trump belched out an odd tweet, even by his own standards. In it he warned that Democratic governors going over his head to take emergency coronavirus measures couldn’t fool him, because he watches TCM."

HA! Good Fun!

Does this mean we can set him adrift?

[Guard Dog]

25 minutes ago, Hurlshot said:

As a state that is pretty much always blue, I typically don't worry too much about which way I vote for president. If my vote can help a 3rd party candidate that I think deserves recognition, then I will throw it their way. But Trump has been hard to watch for 4 years, and it has really been glaring during the pandemic. I don't know if Biden can win, and I'm not in love with him as a candidate, but I'd like to see him get a strong popular vote showing over the current dumpster fire administration we have in office. So yeah, one of the few years I know way in advance who I am voting for.

You can still vote any way you like with a clear conscience. There is no chance in hell Biden loses California just like there is no chance in hell he'll win TN. 

[Malcador]

4 hours ago, HoonDing said:

My authority is total but I take no responsibility at all.

You've got upper management written all over you, buddy.

[Skarpen]

24 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

You can still vote any way you like with a clear conscience. There is no chance in hell Biden loses California just like there is no chance in hell he'll win TN. 

Fixed that for ya