Political Randomness

[LordMortis]

See above my friend. The nation needs bravery, the Democrats by and large offer only cowardace.

How did Biden need to be brave?

[Zarathud]

That was Bush, not Obama.

[Enough]

Gavin Newsom can fuck the right off, what a phony asshole. I knew he was total bad juju when I saw the photos of him acting all Trumpian with then girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle on Ann Getty's rug that cost more than most houses. Not to mention his feckless corporatist leadership of the state. Now he starts a podcast and has on the rat Charlie Kirk for his first guest to invoke Mr Fed's Rule of Goats and throws trans people under the bus for good measure. Stay the hell away from the POTUS nom you nimwit!

[Drazzil]

See above my friend. The nation needs bravery, the Democrats by and large offer only cowardace.

How did Biden need to be brave?

Please read my last post.

[Drazzil]

That was Bush, not Obama.

Yeah the bailouts started under Bush but Obama could have tied it to reforms, overseen how it was spent or used it to negotiate even a little bit.

[LordMortis]

That was not the post at the time so...

Money in the pocket gives people extra breathing room to worry about other people! To vote! To think! To not be so hateful.

Biden did huge giveaways and injected huge amount of money into projects that utilize the need for "the working class". So much so, I was legti surprised at how little pain and inflation is caused. I thought the bullet we all were going to have to bite was going to be much worse. He expanded medicaid and SNAP and educational opportunities and fought for unions and wage growth and cutting corporate profits

I argued after Biden got elected that he needed to behave like the Republicans. Govern by executive order and disregard congress and the SC and just do what needs doing. Congress and the SC were and are EXTREMELY unpopular.

Now I'm finally seeing something. We'll have to disagree there but at least I hear your point. Biden was trying to work in the norms of a system and to keep everyone from wanting to burn it to the ground. The better path was to work with him to make things move forward better and to get rid of the worst democrats and take more power from the GOP.

Then all Biden and the Dems would have had to say was I gave you abortion rights, a 15 dollar min wage and whatever else America needs by EXECUTIVE order! The GOP wants to take that away from you. Vote more Dems in so we can codify these great things you have now instead if losing it under Trump.

Again, at least that's a solution put forward. I don't go for it. We aren't a nation with an autocracy and the violence that ensues. Or at least we weren't.

[Alefroth]

Man your knowledge of history is poor.

I have a bachelors that says otherwise.

Trump has a bachelor's degree in economics.

[Blackhawk]

What is it "the working class" expected Biden to do and how did they expect him to accomplish it?

Fifteen dollar minimum wage? Voting rights act? Codifying Roe? Any number of things.

You answered the first half. What about the second half of his question?

[Unagi]

Man your knowledge of history is poor.

I have a bachelors that says otherwise.

Did you learn that the President codifies our laws?

[Blackhawk]

Man your knowledge of history is poor.

I have a bachelors that says otherwise.

You picked the wrong parade to wave that particular flag in.

[Blackhawk]

Also, I'd note that it's "bachelor's degree" with an apostrophe, but since having a degree makes you unquestionably right, I'd probably be wrong.

[Isgrimnur]

Apostrophes are woke.

[Blackhawk]

Apostrophes are woke.

Biden's fault.

[Isgrimnur]

Apostrophes are woke.

Biden's fault.

[Blackhawk]

That wasn't an apostrophe. It goes by comma now.

[Smoove_B]

I'm going to jump in while you're all dog-piling my man Drazzil here.

The last time the Democrats had a trifecta was 2007-2010. Unsurprisingly, that was also when the ACA was passed (2010) - something that arguably elevated health for a generation of Americans.

This pissed off the GOP so much that they are *still* trying to repeal it, and as an idea (affordable health care) it is overwhelming popular with just about everyone - when you strip out any political elements.

Amazingly, the last time federal minimum wage was raised was in 2009, approved in 2007. There were attempts in 2017-2023; all have failed - because the GOP, in part, will not allow it.

Biden wasn't going to fix this, but even when he tried to do something - the student loan relief program for example - it was decidedly unpopular with not only the GOP (no surprise) but many Democrats as well.

I guess my point with all this is that I can totally understand why entire segments of society are done with the Democrats, with a "what have you done for me lately?" mentality. I am not sure how they could have outmaneuvered the GOP over the last decade to get more money into people's pockets, but I'm also not left with the feeling they campaigned on it - targeting GOP opponents that were against it. At least, not in my area - maybe elsewhere it went on and wasn't received well.

I think Roe v Wade being overturned was demoralizing for another large bloc of voters, even more so that the GOP somehow managed to pin that on Biden, and I'm still astounded that didn't result in much stronger push back. I guess 2+ years and the price of eggs was more relatable than having bodily autonomy removed for half the population.

Anyway, my point will all this is that I get it. From a perception point of view, I can totally see where people voting for Democrats have given up. From a reality perspective, I understand that anything they could have proposed outside that 2007-2010 window was problematic based on a lack of control in Congress. The GOP has maintained a slim majority since 2019 and part of me wonders if that's really where this whole idea of appealing to the mythical centrist Republican idea came from - which turned off even more people voting Democrats. The "energy" in Harris' campaign completely changed when they started leaning on Liz Cheney and seemingly trying to appeal to Republican voters, at least, that's my feeling.

Anyway, we're all fuct now so enjoy whatever is keeping y'all sane. There are no guarantees anymore and shit is about to get much, much worse.

[Unagi]

That wasn't an apostrophe. It goes by comma now.

transgrammer

[Blackhawk]

I see that your 'a' has an 'e' on its birth certificate.

[Unagi]

twas a nod to gendER - but sure - that works too.

[Blackhawk]

Sorry, folks. Solutions have fallen through, and I seem to have fallen back on absurd humor as a survival mechanism. It's worked as well as anything else we've tried.

Ok, back to doom and gloom. How about this: Trump always said that his priority was immigration. Maybe everything else has been in service to that. The tariffs, the EOs, dismantling the government, turning on our allies, breaking promises to refugees... I think he's stumbled on a guaranteed solution: If he turns America into a dust-covered shit hole, nobody will want to migrate here.

[Blackhawk]

Dammit, someone else is going to have to take over the doom and gloom.

[Drazzil]

What is it "the working class" expected Biden to do and how did they expect him to accomplish it?

Fifteen dollar minimum wage? Voting rights act? Codifying Roe? Any number of things.

You answered the first half. What about the second half of his question?

The good ones where he's threatening are beyond my kin to post apparently.

[Blackhawk]

So... Biden should have put threatened to kneecap... who? McConnell? A Supreme Court Justice?

[Drazzil]

So... Biden should have put threatened to kneecap... who? McConnell? A Supreme Court Justice?

Why not both?

[hepcat]

I forgot. You hate Obama. Personally, I thought he and Biden both were good, with Obama being one of the best presidents of my lifetime (I was born way before 82 and have seen quite a few more presidents than you. ).

Yeah because your generation was taken care of by the system. Upward mobility worked for you. You got that first job after college, you get to have a professional career, a stock portfolio and retirement.

My generation just got f-cked. Obama presided in the biggest wealth transfered upwards. Endless wars, record setting forclosure and the normalization of bailouts.

If you’re just going to make assumptions about me and my generation based on personal prejudice, I’ll do the same: your generation wanted everything handed to them without actually doing anything. Laziness and entitlement didn’t work for you and now you’re looking for someone/something other than yourself to blame.

Wow, that felt good! I see now why you write stuff like that!

[Drazzil]

I forgot. You hate Obama. Personally, I thought he and Biden both were good, with Obama being one of the best presidents of my lifetime (I was born way before 82 and have seen quite a few more presidents than you. ).

Yeah because your generation was taken care of by the system. Upward mobility worked for you. You got that first job after college, you get to have a professional career, a stock portfolio and retirement.

My generation just got f-cked. Obama presided in the biggest wealth transfered upwards. Endless wars, record setting forclosure and the normalization of bailouts.

If you’re just going to make assumptions about me and my generation based on personal prejudice, I’ll do the same: your generation wanted everything handed to them without actually doing anything. Laziness and entitlement didn’t work for you and now you’re looking for someone/something other than yourself to blame.

Wow, that felt good! I see now why you write stuff like that!

LoL fair nuff.

[hepcat]

[Drazzil]

I'm going to jump in while you're all dog-piling my man Drazzil here.

The last time the Democrats had a trifecta was 2007-2010. Unsurprisingly, that was also when the ACA was passed (2010) - something that arguably elevated health for a generation of Americans.

This pissed off the GOP so much that they are *still* trying to repeal it, and as an idea (affordable health care) it is overwhelming popular with just about everyone - when you strip out any political elements.

Amazingly, the last time federal minimum wage was raised was in 2009, approved in 2007. There were attempts in 2017-2023; all have failed - because the GOP, in part, will not allow it.

Biden wasn't going to fix this, but even when he tried to do something - the student loan relief program for example - it was decidedly unpopular with not only the GOP (no surprise) but many Democrats as well.

I guess my point with all this is that I can totally understand why entire segments of society are done with the Democrats, with a "what have you done for me lately?" mentality. I am not sure how they could have outmaneuvered the GOP over the last decade to get more money into people's pockets, but I'm also not left with the feeling they campaigned on it - targeting GOP opponents that were against it. At least, not in my area - maybe elsewhere it went on and wasn't received well.

I think Roe v Wade being overturned was demoralizing for another large bloc of voters, even more so that the GOP somehow managed to pin that on Biden, and I'm still astounded that didn't result in much stronger push back. I guess 2+ years and the price of eggs was more relatable than having bodily autonomy removed for half the population.

Anyway, my point will all this is that I get it. From a perception point of view, I can totally see where people voting for Democrats have given up. From a reality perspective, I understand that anything they could have proposed outside that 2007-2010 window was problematic based on a lack of control in Congress. The GOP has maintained a slim majority since 2019 and part of me wonders if that's really where this whole idea of appealing to the mythical centrist Republican idea came from - which turned off even more people voting Democrats. The "energy" in Harris' campaign completely changed when they started leaning on Liz Cheney and seemingly trying to appeal to Republican voters, at least, that's my feeling.

Anyway, we're all fuct now so enjoy whatever is keeping y'all sane. There are no guarantees anymore and shit is about to get much, much worse.

It doesen't help that Republicans seem to get what they want, even when out of power. It really is too late though. We're doomed until the Politicans are more afraid of us then losing their careers or their big money donors.

As it is when the nation collapses under the sheer Trump of it all, Democrats will have earned their lamp posts, just like the Republicans.

[Victoria Raverna]

Ok, then. Now how was he supposed to get all of this stuff done? By reaching across the aisle? By wheeling and dealing? By saying screw the GOP that "the working class" are already voting for specifically to keep federal government hostage.

I'm so fucking sick of when the democrats are in control or when neither party has control then it's a democrat problem and the moment the GOP are in control it's a government problem. (And no, that does not do things like absolve Obama of not pursuing the predatory banking malfeasance that began with policies created during the Clinton era. The democrats are not blameless. But in their huge tent, their worst at least work the ones trying to hold together a civil society for everyone who wants to be part of a civil society)

By signing hundred of executive orders? Courts are going to block a lot of them but some will go through.

Trump showed how it is done. Turned out you can do a lot as a president. You can even appoint someone like Musk to take over everything.

[Victoria Raverna]

I forgot. You hate Obama. Personally, I thought he and Biden both were good, with Obama being one of the best presidents of my lifetime (I was born way before 82 and have seen quite a few more presidents than you. ).

Yeah because your generation was taken care of by the system. Upward mobility worked for you. You got that first job after college, you get to have a professional career, a stock portfolio and retirement.

My generation just got f-cked. Obama presided in the biggest wealth transfered upwards. Endless wars, record setting forclosure and the normalization of bailouts.

If you’re just going to make assumptions about me and my generation based on personal prejudice, I’ll do the same: your generation wanted everything handed to them without actually doing anything. Laziness and entitlement didn’t work for you and now you’re looking for someone/something other than yourself to blame.

Wow, that felt good! I see now why you write stuff like that!

Now you see the reason why MAGA is popular? They're probably people like you that are honest and able to say that out loud instead of being polite. They hate those lazy people.

[Blackhawk]

Trump showed how it is done. Turned out you can do a lot as a president. You can even appoint someone like Musk to take over everything.

The President cannot, in fact, do those things. Trump is only able to do those things because anyone who has the power to stop him is already on his side, and is happy (or at least willing) to play along for their own benefit.

Even if Biden wanted to throw the Constitution and our laws in the trash to do what you suggest, he never had the quadfecta (Prez + House + Senate + courts) that Trump has.

[hepcat]

I forgot. You hate Obama. Personally, I thought he and Biden both were good, with Obama being one of the best presidents of my lifetime (I was born way before 82 and have seen quite a few more presidents than you. ).

Yeah because your generation was taken care of by the system. Upward mobility worked for you. You got that first job after college, you get to have a professional career, a stock portfolio and retirement.

My generation just got f-cked. Obama presided in the biggest wealth transfered upwards. Endless wars, record setting forclosure and the normalization of bailouts.

If you’re just going to make assumptions about me and my generation based on personal prejudice, I’ll do the same: your generation wanted everything handed to them without actually doing anything. Laziness and entitlement didn’t work for you and now you’re looking for someone/something other than yourself to blame.

Wow, that felt good! I see now why you write stuff like that!

Now you see the reason why MAGA is popular? They're probably people like you that are honest and able to say that out loud instead of being polite. They hate those lazy people.

You do realize that was me being being sarcastic and trying to make Drazzil understand why sweeping generalizations about an entire generation is wrong, right?

Or are you full blown MAGA these days and wanted to cheer me on because you hate all these lazy kids these days?

P.S. that’s FAR from the biggest reason for MAGA’s popularity with so many. I doubt that’s even a blip on their radar.

[Unagi]

So, a Portuguese-flagged container ship just collided with an anchored US Oil Tanker in the North Sea.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... 6355&ei=13

The ship tracking data shows this Portuguese ship just coming down the North Sea with a straight shot right at this anchored ship.

Both ships on fire, crews evacuated.

WTF?

[Punisher]

It's possible they had an engine failure and we're just coasting depending on when it failed.

[Blackhawk]

Word is that it was foggy, but still. Also, the cargo ship is the Solong. Oddly appropriate.

[Unagi]

The US Oil Tanker was the USS Fairwell. That can't be right !

Spoiler:

I kid

[LordMortis]

Turned on CNBC for the first time since October. My version of Doomscrolling this morning, I guess. The first thing I heard was Joe saying "Dow is up xxx. Maybe, maybe, maybe things aren't as bad as the seem" and off it went. Nope. Not ready to hear from him and their version of the business news, even in this market.

[pr0ner]

I forgot. You hate Obama. Personally, I thought he and Biden both were good, with Obama being one of the best presidents of my lifetime (I was born way before 82 and have seen quite a few more presidents than you. ).

Yeah because your generation was taken care of by the system. Upward mobility worked for you. You got that first job after college, you get to have a professional career, a stock portfolio and retirement.

I was born in 1980 and I have all these things. That you were born in 1982 has nothing to do with your situation being different. Take some damn agency of yourself and your choices.