Politics - wait for it... wait for it... 2020 isn't over yet

[Guard Dog]

Whatever they gave Biden before his speech last night agreed with him. He was in full command of his faculties for the time it took to deliver it. I thought he did a decent job even if it was served up with an overdose of platitudes and promises that cannot be kept. 

Still, probably better than the s--t show we're getting next week. 

[ComradeYellow]

Boom!  Headshot.

[Volourn]

WOW. If you seen how McGowan posts and where her bread is buttered, that is kind of a surprising post by her. And, she's right. The Dems are the Party Of Slavery for a reason.

[HoonDing]

The last hope is to vote third party

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Vermin Supreme is easily the best person to have run for office for the entirety of the existence of the US.

[Guard Dog]

Tick tock tick tock.... https://dnyuz.com/2020/08/21/we-just-crossed-the-line-debt-hawks-warned-us-about-for-decades/

[Gromnir]

10 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Whatever they gave Biden before his speech last night agreed with him. He was in full command of his faculties for the time it took to deliver it. I thought he did a decent job even if it was served up with an overdose of platitudes and promises that cannot be kept. 

Still, probably better than the s--t show we're getting next week. 

success o' biden and the dnc should be measured in part based on their goals... although am having to admit we believe the goals were misguided.

over the course o' four nights there were a whole lotta obama nostalgia on display. given how biden were vice president during the obama administration, am understanding why capitalizing on obama popularity with democrats makes sense.

however, like it or not, trump is correct that the reason he is in the wh is in part 'cause o' obama. too many o' those lower middle-class rust belt/battleground state voters who bought obama's message o' change in 2008 felt complete betrayed by 2016. yeah, rose and vol is talking nonsense. 

Trump Tries To Appeal To 'Housewives' And White Suburbs, But His Views Seem Outdated

Trump appeals to 'Suburban Housewives of America'

"The Trump administration on Thursday repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was implemented in 2015 and required localities to draw up plans to address housing discrimination to receive certain federal funding."

is one o' many examples o' the obama admin addressing needs o' poor, minorities, children and women, an effort trump is seeking to destroy for pure political reasons. in a choice 'tween obama nostalgia and trump, is doubtful most minorities will need agonize.

nevertheless, obama were soundly and legit criticized by minorities for not being a more vocal advocate. no doubt vol will contort himself like a pretzel when he fights Gromnir's observation that obama were justifiable raked over the coals for his tepid and tardy response to the michael brown situation. 

the thing is, the 2020 dnc were complete tone deaf to their 2016 mistakes, which were not limited sole to clinton being the candidate for President. may be hard to believe given the relative impotence o' trump in 2017 and 2018, but both houses o' Congress were republican those years. weren't just clinton who lost. 

if the democrats and biden wanna heal division and appeal to independents (and wavering republicans) in battleground states, they gotta sell more than obama nostalgia. yeah, am getting how the protests is a divisive and charged topic and the democrats don't wanna alienate the more extreme elements o' their party by saying anything other than a blanket and generalized condemnation o' all violence everywhere. such cowardice is only a little better than trump's claims o' there being good people on both sides at charlottesville. the lower middle class rust belt factory workers and midwest farmers who has financial suffered the most under trump is nevertheless complete loyal to trump and that is at least in part due to the fact that they feel ignored by the democratic party. good reason to feel ignored if you don't merit a mention by almost every speaker over the course o' four days.

point out fail o' covid-19 is likely enough to get biden the win in november. flu season will have already returned by mid/late october and we will be in the midst o' the predicted second wave which hasn't yet arrived in the US. old people, regardless o' party, will have much reason to fear more years o' trump and unless william' barr's contrived investigation results in a true jaw-dropping scandal, we don't see a way for trump to extricate himself from the mess he created, regardless o' how much fear and division he peddles. fear o' covid-19 will be far more immediate and real as 'posed to ideological hobgoblins conjured up by conservative radio and trump loyalists.

am nevertheless disappointed the democrats made so little effort to heal wounds. claims o' being the inclusive party ignores reality the democrats is willing to look past those portions o' the map which is current bleeding red. fail, in spite o' fact the democrats likely achieved goals o' the dnc.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited August 21, 2020 by Gromnir

[ComradeYellow]

6 hours ago, Volourn said:

WOW. If you seen how McGowan posts and where her bread is buttered, that is kind of a surprising post by her. And, she's right. The Dems are the Party Of Slavery for a reason.

The Democratic Party used to be not half bad until

Spoiler

This guy showed up.  Corporate Imperialist rule has captured both parties thoroughly since.  Also, they declared the End of History sometime in the 90's, as if neoliberalism was gonna rule forever.

Ha!  These "experts" aka clowns don't understand how history works.

[Malcador]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/08/21/trump-threatens-to-send-sheriffs-to-election-day-polls-setting-off-alarm-bells/#3b52dd5335ec

I guess it's just some cry for attention.

[Gromnir]

the good thing is everybody who read a Gromnir post related to obama or trump insofar as their authority over state and local police should already be aware the President has no such authority over, in particular, local sheriffs... though am suspecting that bit may have been lost in the not infrequent wall o' text.

Kris Kobach claimed he spoke with 'enthusiastic' Trump three times about border wall project at center of fraud investigation

oh, and am not sure why it is ok to ignore the recent findings o' the bipartisan senate investigation regarding russian interference. o'bannon were already referred to doj for criminal charges related to russian interference and william barr decided to do nothing. barr's curious bungling o' the firing o' the us attorney for sdny is a bit less puzzling.

what trump has been doing for four years is not possible save for fact he has done so again and again and again and again. if the senate, in particular, won't stop him, he can get away with just 'bout anything. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps the reason why the firing o' the us attorney sdny didn't work for barr/trump is 'cause, of all people lindsey senator graham made it known he would enforce senate committee traditions and give the ny senators veto power over any trump replacement candidate... and there were no acting loophole for barr to exploit as exists for cabinet positions. deputy were next in line. period. what happened with barr's attempt to fire geoffrey berman is how things is s'posed to work as 'posed to the exception. would we be talking 'bout the o'bannon arrest today if lindsey graham hadn't done his job? 

[Guard Dog]

4 hours ago, Gromnir said:

success o' biden and the dnc should be measured in part based on their goals... although am having to admit we believe the goals were misguided.

over the course o' four nights there were a whole lotta obama nostalgia on display. given how biden were vice president during the obama administration, am understanding why capitalizing on obama popularity with democrats makes sense.

however, like it or not, trump is correct that the reason he is in the wh is in part 'cause o' obama. too many o' those lower middle-class rust belt/battleground state voters who bought obama's message o' change in 2008 felt complete betrayed by 2016. yeah, rose and vol is talking nonsense. 

Trump Tries To Appeal To 'Housewives' And White Suburbs, But His Views Seem Outdated

Trump appeals to 'Suburban Housewives of America'

"The Trump administration on Thursday repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was implemented in 2015 and required localities to draw up plans to address housing discrimination to receive certain federal funding."

is one o' many examples o' the obama admin addressing needs o' poor, minorities, children and women, an effort trump is seeking to destroy for pure political reasons. in a choice 'tween obama nostalgia and trump, is doubtful most minorities will need agonize.

nevertheless, obama were soundly and legit criticized by minorities for not being a more vocal advocate. no doubt vol will contort himself like a pretzel when he fights Gromnir's observation that obama were justifiable raked over the coals for his tepid and tardy response to the michael brown situation. 

the thing is, the 2020 dnc were complete tone deaf to their 2016 mistakes, which were not limited sole to clinton being the candidate for President. may be hard to believe given the relative impotence o' trump in 2017 and 2018, but both houses o' Congress were republican those years. weren't just clinton who lost. 

if the democrats and biden wanna heal division and appeal to independents (and wavering republicans) in battleground states, they gotta sell more than obama nostalgia. yeah, am getting how the protests is a divisive and charged topic and the democrats don't wanna alienate the more extreme elements o' their party by saying anything other than a blanket and generalized condemnation o' all violence everywhere. such cowardice is only a little better than trump's claims o' there being good people on both sides at charlottesville. the lower middle class rust belt factory workers and midwest farmers who has financial suffered the most under trump is nevertheless complete loyal to trump and that is at least in part due to the fact that they feel ignored by the democratic party. good reason to feel ignored if you don't merit a mention by almost every speaker over the course o' four days.

point out fail o' covid-19 is likely enough to get biden the win in november. flu season will have already returned by mid/late october and we will be in the midst o' the predicted second wave which hasn't yet arrived in the US. old people, regardless o' party, will have much reason to fear more years o' trump and unless william' barr's contrived investigation results in a true jaw-dropping scandal, we don't see a way for trump to extricate himself from the mess he created, regardless o' how much fear and division he peddles. fear o' covid-19 will be far more immediate and real as 'posed to ideological hobgoblins conjured up by conservative radio and trump loyalists.

am nevertheless disappointed the democrats made so little effort to heal wounds. claims o' being the inclusive party ignores reality the democrats is willing to look past those portions o' the map which is current bleeding red. fail, in spite o' fact the democrats likely achieved goals o' the dnc.

HA! Good Fun!

This might be my cynicism creeping in again but I'm not sure "leading" or "fixing problems" or "helping the middle class" or even healing wounds or division is a goal for either party. I do think it once was. Now, not so much.  It's far easier to exploit societal problems than it is to solve them. The ACA did not make health insurance universal. The "wall" such as it is did not stop illegal immigration. Neither of them solved any big problems. But each gave their respective proponents something to thump their chest over and proclaim a societal ill as solved. Until the next election when it's time to exploit it again. 

Trump became President by not being Hillary. Biden will likely do so by not being Trump. Very little will be different in terms of outcomes. The conduct of the administration and it's members might be different (let's hope) and that is something. But it's more likely we'll get a different bad flavor . But no matter who wins the US will outspend it's revenue, drive more business out of business or offshore and the debtpocalypse still approaches with all the hardships that will bring. Probable currency collapse not the least of it.  

Oh, FWIW I have withdrawn my support for Jorgensen/Cohen. To hell with them. To hell with all of them.

 

[Guard Dog]

Insomnia is a frequent problem for me. Especially since I gave up booze. Sometimes the only way to shut my brain down was to drown it in bourbon. 

I wish Crusader Kings 3 was out. At least then I'd be playing that rather than googling Chernobyl critters.

[Orogun01]

11 hours ago, ComradeMaster said:

The Democratic Party used to be not half bad until

  Reveal hidden contents

This guy showed up.  Corporate Imperialist rule has captured both parties thoroughly since.  Also, they declared the End of History sometime in the 90's, as if neoliberalism was gonna rule forever.

Ha!  These "experts" aka clowns don't understand how history works.

Nah, George Bush senior and his war for oil proves that corporate interests had already infiltrated the US. If you're looking at where the ties between private and political interest began you probably have to go back to before the foundation of the country. But for modern times I would say that it became inevitable when the "Petrodollar" was made.

[ComradeYellow]

^Bill Clinton turned the Democratic Party into the Ronald Reagan Party though, to try to outflank Bush on the right....and it worked.  I know it's probably small potatoes but Clinton's role in cementing corporate rule in both parties is significant.  Joe Biden is literally Ronald Reagan.

Also relevant:

Daily reminder that the Republican Party seems to have shed it's "small government, fiscal responsibility" projection since Reagan and is now the full blown "Use federal power to crush dissent" Party.  We have an opportunity here to create a Libertarian Left Party or movement if we play our cards right.

[Volourn]

Does 'dissent crushing' include Antifa and BLm  who represent the Demcorats stabbing black men wearing red hats during 'peaceful protests' against racism?

 

P.S. Donald Trump is not Republican. At least not leadership... but for whatever reason they actually allow people to vote for their leader not like the Dems. L0L

P.S. No party in history has EVER been for 'small government'. That is a myth. Governments love power.

[Orogun01]

13 minutes ago, ComradeMaster said:

^Bill Clinton turned the Democratic Party into the Ronald Reagan Party though, to try to outflank Bush on the right....and it worked.  I know it's probably small potatoes but Clinton's role in cementing corporate rule in both parties is significant.  Joe Biden is literally Ronald Reagan.

Also relevant:

Daily reminder that the Republican Party seems to have shed it's "small government, fiscal responsibility" projection since Reagan and is now the full blown "Use federal power to crush dissent" Party.  We have an opportunity here to create a Libertarian Left Party or movement if we play our cards right.

Well, I give Reagan some leeway because of the Cold war. Arms race and Space race needs financing, in the end the USSR failed because of economics so it was the right call to focus on Macroeconomics at the time.

Taking over areas of  the city, burning, looting, murder, extortion rackets, none of those are "dissent". If you think that of the rioters then you must think the Sicilian mafia was just a group of enterprising dissenters that were kept back by "The Man".

I think you're more or less right with your assessment of a new party, The Democrat Party seems to be out of favor with their base. Any party that can gather former leftists can get attention...I just know that corporate money speaks more than grassroots.

[Azdeus]

 

[Orogun01]

12 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

 

As someone that has used USPS before the Trump administration and that for some ****ing reason mail is a political issue. I can  say that Honest Government Ad should change their name to Leftist Shill Propaganda. USPS is at best late, at medium your item gets stolen at worst it gets delivered broken....and it is the wrong address. But yeah, lets keep funding them even though everyone has Prime.

[Gromnir]

1 hour ago, Orogun01 said:

As someone that has used USPS before the Trump administration and that for some ****ing reason mail is a political issue. I can  say that Honest Government Ad should change their name to Leftist Shill Propaganda. USPS is at best late, at medium your item gets stolen at worst it gets delivered broken....and it is the wrong address. But yeah, lets keep funding them even though everyone has Prime.

bs.

...

not sure it takes more response other than to observe how at the other end o' the spectrum from "leftist shill" is florida man.

Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and HHS

"Among the agencies viewed in positive light, the majorities viewing each favorably range from 91% for the Postal Service to 60% for the Justice Department."

if oro description were at all accurate, would approval be 91%?

so, am calling bs. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps in all fairness, trump didn't appoint the postmaster. instead, he stacked the board of governors which then selects the postmaster. in february there were a meeting 'tween mnuchin and the board o' governors, but just the republican appointed board members, a meeting where no notes were taken. shortly thereafter, sh!te as we know it now hit the fan. regardless, dejoy is a freaking human piñata 'cause all he is doing is implementing all the crap ideas mnuchin came up with in his 2018 postal task force report.

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Gromnir

[Elerond]

Late deliveries, lost/stolen items, deliveries to wrong address (some times even wrong country) plague all mail carriers delivery services and courier services all over the world. But cases where such problems occur are less than one of ten thousand at least if service is actually able to continue business for decades.

As USPS handles almost 500 million deliveries per day, there are late deliveries, lost/stolen deliveries, and deliveries to wrong addresses each day, as it is absolute impossibility not have human errors, broken systems, computer/database errors or just bad luck in that amount deliveries.

I have done software for Finnish postal service and even though they aren't even near the traffic that USPS has, they still handle unfathomable amount deliveries each day and you don't need big glitch in the system in order to cause major problems, like just failure of certificate update may cause hour or two delay in shipment deliveries, as suddenly everything needs to be done manually. And when shipments are delayed by hour or two it is almost certainty that some shipments needs to be moved to next day, which may cause delays to that days deliveries. And it may take couple days over time from tens of thousands people in order to fix problem caused by some one failing to test that certificate update succeeded and systems are still able to communicate with each other and everybody can still access them.

Minor issues like that don't cause massive problems to delivery services that handle much less traffic, but in this age of digitization no one is safe from service outage in their computer systems or worst in someone else's computer system.  

[Azdeus]

8 hours ago, Elerond said:

Late deliveries, lost/stolen items, deliveries to wrong address (some times even wrong country) plague all mail carriers delivery services and courier services all over the world. But cases where such problems occur are less than one of ten thousand at least if service is actually able to continue business for decades.

As USPS handles almost 500 million deliveries per day, there are late deliveries, lost/stolen deliveries, and deliveries to wrong addresses each day, as it is absolute impossibility not have human errors, broken systems, computer/database errors or just bad luck in that amount deliveries.

I have done software for Finnish postal service and even though they aren't even near the traffic that USPS has, they still handle unfathomable amount deliveries each day and you don't need big glitch in the system in order to cause major problems, like just failure of certificate update may cause hour or two delay in shipment deliveries, as suddenly everything needs to be done manually. And when shipments are delayed by hour or two it is almost certainty that some shipments needs to be moved to next day, which may cause delays to that days deliveries. And it may take couple days over time from tens of thousands people in order to fix problem caused by some one failing to test that certificate update succeeded and systems are still able to communicate with each other and everybody can still access them.

Minor issues like that don't cause massive problems to delivery services that handle much less traffic, but in this age of digitization no one is safe from service outage in their computer systems or worst in someone else's computer system.  

@Orogun01

I work for PostNord on the parcel side, I can say that this is very true, something as simple as a printer having some dirt in it can lead to corrupted barcodes. Power outages, equipment breaking down, corrupted files, traffic issues and more can lead to a daisy chain of delays.

Also, speaking of Prime; USPS handles prime deliveries aswell https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-usps-rural-packages-deliveries-2020-5?r=US&IR=T

Edited August 23, 2020 by Azdeus

[Gromnir]

compared to volume o' mail handled by the usps, the problems oro mentions is negligible. again, for a national service provider to achieve 91% favorable/satisfaction is almost unheard o'. heck, in-n-out burger don't even achieve 80% much less +90%.

'course many o' the same folks parroting the conservative radio/florida man shtick 'bout post office fails look at ~1000 instances o' voter fraud and see a threat to democracy... just under 1000 instances o' voter fraud in state and federal elections in forty years. a federal judge in pennsylvania gave the trump campaign a deadline o' this past friday to show evidence o' current or the legit threat o' widespread voter fraud being prophesied. trump campaign predictable failed to produce such evidence.

the thing is, the post office does have a money problem, and mnuchin is fixing the wrong way. as already mentioned earlier in the thread, for reasons which make no sense whatsoever in 2020, the post office pensions funding requirements need cover medical instead o' having medicare participation as does virtual all private and public sector jobs. is not a mystery why the post office is hemorrhaging money. the thing is, it will require an act o' Congress to fix the problem they created back in 2006. 

the post office, like most o' America, and europe and asia, got hit hard by the recession. however, is actual kinda impressive how in spite o' Congressional bungling the usps has managed to adjust to the serious loss o' first class mail revenue with a new focus on package delivery. but for the medicare/pension issues mentioned, the usps would, in spite o' the 2006 legislation, be cash positive... while maintaining the +90% favorable status no other fed government department or organization may similarly boast. 

republicans targeting the post office, particular during a pandemic, doesn't make sense unless one recognizes the more petty motivations o' the President and his ongoing feud with bezos. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Orogun01]

54 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

the thing is, the post office does have a money problem, and mnuchin is fixing the wrong way. as already mentioned earlier in the thread, for reasons which make no sense whatsoever in 2020, the post office pensions funding requirements need cover medical instead o' having medicare participation as does virtual all private and public sector jobs. is not a mystery why the post office is hemorrhaging money. the thing is, it will require an act o' Congress to fix the problem they created back in 2006. 

Don't forget the special retirement package that federal workers have.
Honestly though, the post office isn't the biggest cost on the federal budget. This just got politicized because Trump is the president and if he says "The sky is blue" the media will start arguing that "in actuality, the sky has no specific color"

BTW, what do yo have against Florida man?

[BruceVC]

https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trumps-sister-describes-us-041959271.html

Another vituperative series of comments from another one of Trumps family, this time its his sister ....it was secretly recorded but that just adds more legitimacy to its general veracity 

I said this after the niece's comments but I would never say these types of things in public about anyone in my family in the way Trumps family has commented....things must be really bad 

 

 

[Volourn]

None of this new. Trump is an ****. This should be common knowledge, by now. That said, people who record private conversations with family that don't have to do with actual heinous crimes are also ****. LMAO