The Turks have a long history of coups and they're next door to a war. If you have a ton of coups, one's eventually going to fail and give immense power to the person you almost brought down. I'm not saying we shouldn't take this seriously, we certainly should. But this isn't 1930's Germany. Shit is pretty good here. We're content with the "you get four years then we'll see" system. Strong men need to be either ruthless or cunning in order to take over in even the worst situations. Trump sure as hell isn't ruthless or cunning, he's just a fucking narcissist. And yeah people face hardships here, but it's not 1000% inflation type hardships. Dude's the most unpopular president ever at this point in his presidency. And his reaction is to isolate himself even more from the republicans that allowed him to acquire this power. It's not gonna get better.
Not sure falling back into the 4 year election cycle template will solve what going on now. They are breaking most everything related to structure and norms.
In light of President Donald Trump’s Wednesday announcement that transgender Americans will be banned from serving in the military, Austin, Texas’ mayor had a message: Kicked out? Come to Austin. In the first of a series of three tweets, Mayor Steve Adler said, “If you’re qualified to keep our country safe you’re qualified to keep Austin safe. Transgender Americans are welcome on our police force.” Adler continued, tweeting that Austin is the “safest big city in Texas” due to its respect for people’s differences. He also tweeted out a link to the application website for Austin Police Department: “If you get kicked out of the service because you’re transgender, please apply to join our police force.” The Austin Police Department has a transgender officer, and a couple of years ago the city expanded its employee health care plan to cover transgender health services. In addition, Austin interim Police Chief Brian Manley was among the law enforcement leaders from across Texas who gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to oppose so-called “bathroom bills” involving transgender people. Manley said such bills would make communities less safe by diverting officers from addressing violent crime to enforcing a bathroom bill. Austin Police have also taken steps to address their own treatment of transgender people. A task force has worked on redefining how Austin police will identify transgender and gender-nonconforming people after the police department’s handling of the 2016 killing of Monica Loera, a transgender woman who police initially identified by her male birth name. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, formerly Austin’s chief, expressed a sentiment similar to Adler’s on Twitter. In March, the City Council approved creation of a LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission, which will advise the council on issues that affect the LGBTQ community and coordinate educational programs on those issues.
No doubt. I'm just talking about Trump himself. Hopefully he does straight rip up the Republican party, which is the actual problem here. Trump's just a symptom.
it is 11:50am on a thursday lol what does ark's statement about the economy have to do with a jeezy album todd i am sorry you're too cool to like one of the more iconic debut albums of all time buddy. unfortunately i am not too cool to like it :(
Yes. It will most likely wreak havoc on the individual insurance market, but the majority of the taxes (the bases biggest issue) will apparently remain. And if there is no mandate or tax penalty, then the government is actually picking up a bigger chunk of the bill from current tax payers for the subsidies that also look to remain in place. They are desperate and playing loose with the process. For all the foot stomping about "ramming a bill down our throats" with the ACA, which they admit brought them political power, they are taking secrecy to the Nth degree and potentially walking in a giant trap if this leads to more people with higher premiums and shittier insurance. Not to mention it's going to pull the rug out from under millions and likely increase premiums for the rest of us.
I was equating the black Kenyan president to you proudly proclaiming you were the DJ at a frat event and that you were signaling with my president is black. What a faggot. Hey guys I'm cool, I like rap music.
I'll grant you that our democracy is historically stronger than Turkey's, but given the GOP's complete and utter smashing of historical norms for the sake of pissing off the other side, I don't think that relying on our history to save us in any way is a good idea. This can also work against us as this can lead to complacency and a widespread "it can't happen here" attitude until it does happen here. I really encourage you to read the book "They Thought They Were Free" about pre-Nazi Germany in the 30s. People thought that everything happening was fairly normal and were only dimly aware of the horrors that were starting to occur. Given how utterly dumb our populace is now, can't you see the same dynamic occurring? I'll grant you that our media is far more potent and up to the minute now than it was back then, but if Trump and the GOP get their way and shut down independent media, this could happen again. Again, I know we're not in as bad of a situation pre-WW2 Germany, but the general sentiment that the economy's in the toilet and that our political system is now traumatically dysfunctional and cannot be trusted in any sense. Those are conditions that are almost always ripe for authoritarianism. I agree with you in that his administration's incompetence is staggering. But he doesn't have to be ruthless or cunning to consolidate power. The GOP are hostage to his whims because his brainwashed base loves him, and the Democrats are basically cardboard cutouts of western politicians, not a coherent ideological counterweight. Not to mention we all counted on his incompetence keeping him out of office, and how well did that work out? Yet. Don't forget that the federal bureaucracy which quietly keeps this country from falling apart, especially in disaster scenarios, is rapidly being gutted by Trump's anti-intellectuals. Things could easily go to shit overnight if someone fucks up the power grid, sets off a dirty bomb, or even if the economy just crashes again (because hey guess what, we can forget about Dodd-Frank having any teeth anymore).
thinking someone should be embarrassed to like rap music is your best burn yet buddy todd woulda been one of those low beta cucks who got triggered over hearing my president is black jk we just enjoy ragging on each other as best friends lol
Basically. Likely shit will just go bad with the economy or health care or a war and Dems will take power again and then they will fuck it up and Republicans take power and it will be a slow 1.25 steps forward and 1 step back process and in 30 back and be like OMG can you believe in 2017 transgenders were not allowed in the military and weed was illegal sort of like black people were segregated in our parents lifetime.
Wait, this asshole hadn't officially started his job when he called on the FBI to investigate the Chief of Staff? And the response was to move up his start date?
I agree with all of that. I just think the more likely scenario is that the infighting between his group and establishment republicans is going to break their party than thinking his dumbass is capable of establishing an authoritarian state. If we want to talk about history, the overwhelming odds are a sweeping victory by the democrats in the next election. I do think the worst part about Trump is his playing into Russia's attempt to undermine democracy by hitting at the core value of truth. That's something we have to figure out how to combat without stifling free speech. I'm honestly not sure how that's possible but I mean, we've faced many assaults that looked impossible to overcome in the past.
on npr about an hour ago, heard somebody citing a study that strong libs and strong cons hold worse opinions of each other than the Isralies and Arabs
maybe trump's strategy with this scaramucci guy was to find an even bigger asshole than himself to look good by comparison
They're one state legislature away from being able to rewrite the Constitution. They have 8 times as much cash on hand as the DNC does according to the FEC filings for last quarter. They have over a third of the country (conservative estimate) safely sequestered away from literally any policy discussions or objective reality. I'm sure this one shithead in office will bring the party to its knees.
I mean... He's forcing republicans to either bend the knee, split off, or switch parties. That destabilizing effect is not good for business at all and you're gonna see the democratic coffers grow by donations from corporations that just want stability over anything.
Here's what will happen when "Trumpcare" goes into effect. At first Trump will sign it and sing its praises, then when people start to hate it he'll deny responsibility, then eventually he'll blame the republicans for it sucking. Word doc that shit.
"Man who just got tax payer paid healthcare, more concerned with defense over stripping taxpayer assisted HC to millions" Makes sense when you think about it
And he will be correct. We should have never let the gubment get involved because we get tards like Obama, Trump and Bush running our healthcare. Guess we should blame the people that voted for Obama and Congress.
He'll blame everyone but himself is the point. I promise he'll lash out at republicans and obama and try to separate his name from this bill the moment the backlash begins.
The people voted Congress into place to repeal Obamacare, twice. They pussed out, so the people elected Trump to help get rid of that pile of shit Obamacare. Not sure why you believe the will of the people shouldnt be served.
Badasses like Todd who bitch about Obamacare raising premiums are going to have some real fun when they get to experience health insurance pre-ACA.