'08 was my first presidential election and it felt great to vote the R's out of office after they had sent my generation to die in Iraq.
The emergence of Newt Gingrich in the mid 90s, but that can be wrapped into the whole Lewinsky/brain fever created by Bill Clinton breaking the Reagan revolution. But Newt is one of the worst American political figures ever, in terms of damage inflicted and turning Republicans into a mindless opposition force.
tear down this myth is a really good book on the reagan legacy. he was pretty unpopular and not thought well of by the time he left office but his errand boys went all in on pr to prove otherwise
Wyclef Jean to anti-Trump celebs: 'Be very careful' ‘I feel that we’re at a time now where your voice should be louder than it’s ever been,’ the music star tells POLITICO. Spoiler By Edward-Isaac Dovere 06/02/2017 05:24 AM EDT Wyclef Jean speaks to Edward-Isaac Dovere for POLITICO's Off Message podcast. | Bridget Mulcahy/POLITICO Wyclef Jean’s advice for celebrities who want to get political: Don’t be like Kathy Griffin. Read up, said the musician of Fugees fame, and one-time aspiring celebrity-turned-president himself. And if you’re a high-profile person, think about how what you’re doing and saying might be interpreted, or maybe misinterpreted. Otherwise, the cause you could just end up hurting the cause you think you’re trying to help. “If you’re the celebrity that’s speaking based on emotion, you don’t know what policy you’re talking about, they’re going to take that sound bite and make a whole movie out of it,” Jean said, speaking to me for POLITICO’s Off Message podcast. “So, I encourage every celebrity … let’s be as smart as [Jimmy] Kimmel.” Though he says he feels obligated to give the president a chance, he can’t stand what he’s seen so far—like with the travel ban: “as someone who considers my group being Fugees, short for refugees, I find it crazy.” i“The idea of you having a voice and constantly being able to express yourself, in saying, ‘I don’t agree with this,’ or ‘I agree with this,’—it’s important,” Jean said. “I feel that we’re at a time now where your voice should be louder than it’s ever been.” It’s not just avoiding being drawn into a fight that Trump and his supporters may want, says Jean. It’s about famous and not-as-famous critics of Trump remembering that fewer people around them may agree with their attacks on the president than they might think. He thinks about people like his sister, who voted for the president. As for the "resistance," Jean said, he’s proud to be part of it, but only if it’s about more than marches and screaming. “I just feel that, you know, he has a four-year term, and remember what Obama said, ‘Don’t boo. Vote.’ And if you don’t agree with something he’s doing, protest. No one is saying don’t,” Jean said, but “protest peacefully.” Jean's big issue is criminal justice reform, and for all his trouble with the current White House and leadership in Congress, he said there's a part of him that thinks this might actually be the moment to make some headway, picking up on the support conservatives like the Koch Brothers have voiced for tackling issues like mandatory minimums even when that made for odd alliances with the Obama administration. "It looks like a conservative movement, right? You always want smaller government, so the idea of big prisons is not the way to move forward," Jean said. But he fears that many think the time for peaceful protests is already over when it comes to police violence. “I’m worried about more riots. … it’s almost like we’re back to the ‘70s, closer to the ‘Nam era, where it’s almost like—the riots keep getting more and more violent,” Jean said. “Before it gets to that level, right, then we have to find a common ground with citizen and police. And in order to do that, both sides have to feel protected.” I asked Jean -- who was disqualified when he tried to in 2010, after the earthquake -- if he’d run for president of Haiti again. He said no, but left the door open for something. I asked him whether that meant he’d want to run in America. He didn’t say no. “I think, in the future, I would serve in some form of public office,” Jean said, “definitely.” damn adult, "Wyclef Jean’s advice for celebrities who want to get political: Don’t be like Kathy Griffin."
Newt was also one of the best politicians ever. His whole "Contract with America" was pure brilliance. The tide that was created from the 1994 elections still reverberate today. It got guys like Santorum and many others elected to offices they never would have otherwise.
If Hillary Clinton runs again, I will register Democrat and vote for one of her challengers in the primary. If she unfortunately wins the nomination, I will either vote 3rd party or regrettably abstain from voting, something I never thought possible.
Newt is a fat POS with a bizarre obsession with zoos and his wife is a wild eyed jewelry addict. They dropped hundreds of thousands at Tiffany's and other jewelers, and they are both complete hypocrites wrt religion and morality. He's a brilliant politician like Lee is a brilliant General: lots of permanent damage done and both key players in ushering in a seditious and destructive mindset upon the country.
Not sure if it's been brought up but another issue is that states like TX and NC are actively trying to limit the powers of local governments. So maybe Austin wants to make an ordinance about new commercial buildings having to meet certain guidelines based on the Paris Accords but TX says "fuck you, you can't do that". If we were still in, the chances of TX doing that lessen and if they did Austin would probably have a strong case in court based on the US agreeing to those guidelines or whatever.
or if you live in a super progressive state like north carolina (Bill the Butcher ) they tell the local government what they can and cannot do and then also take away powers from the governor so he can't do anything either
I was talking with a co-worker yesterday about what we thought was the biggest reason that it's always "that side bad, this side good" and this was his opinion. He thought Rush really changed everything for the worse.
Very good article that explained some of my questions. Thank you for that. One thing that is interesting is the very last 2 sentences: "No matter how it's calculated, though, the Paris Agreement is not a binding treaty and the United States is not legally obligated to provide any specific amount. That means Trump would have been free to remain in the agreement without spending another dollar as president." That almost seems like a get out of jail free card for him. What would be the reaction if he said we are staying in the agreement and will continue on our own path of lowering emissions but will not provide any more funds for foreign countries to lower their own?
Honestly it was the easiest campaign promise to keep. He'd look like he was being cucked by obama if he stayed and his base would think he's not a strong leader
That would be the politically savvy and tactful thing to do. Trump has neither of those traits. He got butthurt that Macron made him his bitch last week.
I still think he would get blow back but it wouldn't be as loud. He could also have prefaced countinued funding being contingent on more oversight or additional contributions from other countries. I think you've highlighted one of the main issues with the withdrawal. There doesn't appear to be any functional reason to do it other than to just do it. He could have redefined US goals of reduction too. Or just not have met them.
Hoodoo and Silver Gulch in Fairbanks I assume? See any wildlife in Denali? I've heard zip lining in Talkeetna is pretty awesome. And the Alaska Railroad is a great experience. Much better than the drive if you have the time. Which glacier tour are you doing?
It was done to throw red meat at the base that just wants to see liberals angry. Has little to do with anything else.
people bitching about the paris accord subsidizing developing nations are kickin rad the only reason global warming is A Thing is that developed nations burned a shitload of carbon fuels in order to industrialize. developing countries would also like to industrialize, and shit like coal is hella easy. Had we not already released so much CO2 into the atmosphere, it would't be that much of a problem if they used pollutants to pull themselves up. Now that the world has realized we should do something about this, the developed nations that caused it and reaped the benefits should probably help the less developed countries get on our level without using cheap easy energy, through subsidies.
Not living up to our international commitments either inside the agreement or outside of it is not going to be regarded well by our international partners.
Yes to both. Saw a grizzly in Denali. Amazing to see it up close. Ziplining was awewome. Not sure on the glacier to be honest. Had a blast so far and expect that to continue.
Easily the dumbest thing about this to me is that renewable energies is a growth industry. We need more solar panels and wind farms. We need people to build them, to deliver them and install them. Instead we're going backwards in the name of creating fewer jobs. Fuck this country.
Vatican says Trump's climate decisions are 'a slap in the face,' like believing in flat earth theory Spoiler This past September, Pope Francis held a World Day of Prayer that was almost entirely dedicated to the global problem of climate change. On Thursday, surrounded by plants that will surely die in the White House’s Rose Garden, unpopular President Trump announced that the United States would be pulling out of the Paris Climate agreement. A short while before Trump’s official statement, Reuters reported on Vatican Bishop Marcelo Sanchez’s feelings about the reports that the United States was going to do just this. "If he really does (pull out), it would be a huge slap in the face for us," said Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which has hosted numerous international conferences on climate change. "It will be a disaster for everyone," he told the Rome newspaper La Repubblica. In a telephone call with Reuters, Sanchez Sorondo confirmed the comments in the newspaper. Well, he has pulled out and it is a slap in the face. Sanchez Sorondo said he believed the U.S. oil lobby was behind the decision and that the industry had "maneuvered" Trump. A withdrawal "would not only be a disaster but completely unscientific," he said. "Saying that we need to rely on coal and oil is like saying that the earth is not round. It is an absurdity dictated by the need to make money."
A short while ago, unpopular President Trump stood in the White House’s Rose Garden and addressed a group of very old wealthy white men. He told them that they would be able to squeeze a little more money out of poisoning the earth and, fingers crossed, would all die before the earth burned up. Now, the White House press is getting a briefing about our country’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. This is what an official told them concerning Trump’s epic failure as a human being. It’s hard to think of a more pig-headed answer.
I think they all know it's real and it's consequences are going to be bad. They've got piles of money and aim to make piles more, and are unbelievably powerful, so they figure they'll be pretty insulated from the consequences. I mean, there's been reports out for decades funded by insurance companies and the US Military (not exactly bastions of liberalism) that spell out exactly what the costs and risks to our national security will be if we continue to do nothing to address it. When they say it's not real, they're lying.
John Kerry · 22 hrs · My thoughts on today's big mistake by President Trump to put America last - and the big fight he's started: The President who promised "America First" has taken a self-destructive step that puts our nation last. This is an unprecedented forfeiture of American leadership which will cost us influence, cost us jobs, and invite other countries to walk away from solving humanity’s most existential crisis. It isolates the United States after we had united the world. In 2015, because of American leadership, nearly 200 countries came together around a science-based agreement to grapple with a global threat. For a President to follow that historic step forward by unilaterally walking backwards from science and backwards from leadership on behalf of polluters and fringe ideologues may be the most self-defeating action in American history. Among the only two other countries who didn’t sign on to Paris, one thought it didn’t go far enough and one is embroiled in a bloody civil war. What’s our excuse? In public service, there are tough calls that can go either way. This wasn’t one of them. For our economy, security, leadership, competitiveness, and health, the clear-cut choice was to remain in the Paris Agreement. There is only one reason to instead make this choice: an ignorant, cynical appeal to an anti-science, special-interest faction far outside the mainstream. That is no basis for a decision that will affect billions of lives. Those of us who have spent a lifetime fighting on this issue know that America pulling out of Paris will not only result in lost leadership, it will also result in lost momentum. If the world doesn't press forward faster, we’ll see stronger storms, longer and more intense droughts, more wildfires, more strains on agriculture and fishing, a swell of climate refugees, and, as military brass has been warning for years, intensified conflict around the world. This choice will rightly be remembered as one of the most shameful any president has made. It is a global stain on our credibility that we will spend years, if not decades, working to remove. The president’s abdication of responsibility complicates the U.S. climate effort, but it doesn’t kill it. Today is the day for cities, states, and businesses of all sizes to publicly commit to "Live by Paris." I urge concerned citizens across America to join in this effort. Together, we can join the world by honoring the Paris Agreement, despite President Trump’s willful ignorance. Twenty-nine states have passed renewal portfolio standard laws. Another eight have adopted voluntary renewable standards. In total, those 37 states represent 80 percent of the U.S. population. America doesn't have to cede leadership even if its President has. America will not abandon the global community and put its children and grandchildren at risk. While Donald Trump may turn his back on facts and science, America will not.
The two most maga people I know both opposed leaving the Paris agreement. This is the first time I've seen either break with his retardation. I'm sure it will change their voting pattern.