2020 Elections

[Sun_Worshiper]

I'm pretty dispirited, which should be a good sign for most of you. The problem is not the losses but that conservatives can't agree on the cause. Half the party blames Trump; the other half blames the GOP for "betraying" Trump. (How, exactly?) I suppose every party does this after every lost election, and of course the Democrats had their own too-progressive-not-progressive-enough argument after losing a few House seats. But the current Republican chaos is of a more lasting kind.

My only consolation is that the filibuster will not be nuked, new states will not be added, the Court will not be packed, and Biden will govern mostly by executive order, Senate "control" notwithstanding. Am I wrong?

Finally, now that he's won, can't we just concede that Raphael Warnock is a terrible, racist, anti-American bozo?

You know what is anti-American? Trying to overturn a free and fair election that you lost, which both Loeffler and Perdue endorse.

[mahagonny]

Finally, now that he's won, can't we just concede that Raphael Warnock is a terrible, racist, anti-American bozo?

Well, someone's got to do something about the epidemic of whiteness. How about more funding for abortion, so there will be fewer black people?
How did the Irish get from 'no Irish may apply for this job' to becoming the stereotypical policeman, blue collar citizen, working stiff, city bureaucrat who hires all his cousins and nephews etc.? By reproducing in great numbers. One would hope Warnock, the eleventh child, could bring that message out. Like, be fruitful and multiply. Unless it's going to be 'white privilege, white privilege' chant (zero sum game economic theory).

[ciao_yall]

I'm pretty dispirited, which should be a good sign for most of you. The problem is not the losses but that conservatives can't agree on the cause. Half the party blames Trump; the other half blames the GOP for "betraying" Trump. (How, exactly?) I suppose every party does this after every lost election, and of course the Democrats had their own too-progressive-not-progressive-enough argument after losing a few House seats. But the current Republican chaos is of a more lasting kind.

My only consolation is that the filibuster will not be nuked, new states will not be added, the Court will not be packed, and Biden will govern mostly by executive order, Senate "control" notwithstanding. Am I wrong?

Finally, now that he's won, can't we just concede that Raphael Warnock is a terrible, racist, anti-American bozo?

A third reason - the GOP doesn't speak to the majority of the American people?

[mahagonny]

I'm pretty dispirited, which should be a good sign for most of you. The problem is not the losses but that conservatives can't agree on the cause. Half the party blames Trump; the other half blames the GOP for "betraying" Trump. (How, exactly?) I suppose every party does this after every lost election, and of course the Democrats had their own too-progressive-not-progressive-enough argument after losing a few House seats. But the current Republican chaos is of a more lasting kind.

My only consolation is that the filibuster will not be nuked, new states will not be added, the Court will not be packed, and Biden will govern mostly by executive order, Senate "control" notwithstanding. Am I wrong?

Finally, now that he's won, can't we just concede that Raphael Warnock is a terrible, racist, anti-American bozo?

A third reason - the GOP doesn't speak to the majority of the American people?

It speaks to all Americans approximately as successfully as the democratic party does. Take away the pandemic and Trump gets a second term.

[Parasaurolophus]

I'm glad, but fully expect them to squander this brief opportunity.

[mahagonny]

I'm glad, but fully expect them to squander this brief opportunity.

What would they accomplish, in your view, if they were to not squander it? I'm interested.

[Parasaurolophus]

I'm glad, but fully expect them to squander this brief opportunity.

What would they accomplish, in your view, if they were to not squander it? I'm interested.

It's hardly an exhaustive list, but:

• Deliver $2000 survival cheques. (Non-means-tested is better, recurring is best.)
• Repeal the Labor Department rules reducing worker pay.
• Repeal the new limits imposed on the EPA.
• Repeal the new rules at the Energy Department limiting environmental review for natural gas exports.
• Repeal the proposed rule requiring financial institutions to invest in guns and fossil fuels even if they don't want to.
• Enact significant student loan debt forgiveness.
• End the trade war with Canada.
• End the trade war with China.
• Re-enter the Iran nuclear pact (which will presumably require damages to be paid, or some other tokens of goodwill).
• End the filibuster.
• Make significant progress on healthcare (at a minimum, introducing a public option into the ACA).
• Make significant progress on climate change. (I'm certain they won't, but...)

[marshwiggle]

I'm glad, but fully expect them to squander this brief opportunity.

What would they accomplish, in your view, if they were to not squander it? I'm interested.

It's hardly an exhaustive list, but:

• Enact significant student loan debt forgiveness.
• End the trade war with Canada.
• End the trade war with China.

Just to address these:

Forgiving student debt without first making whatever changes would prevent it being generated in the first places sets a terrible precedent. Training people to make short-sighted decisions because the rules may change before they have to face the consequences makes society more unstable.

Trade "wars" are, to some extent, ongoing. Even under NAFTA, there were constant challenges (such as for softwood lumber). Just like court cases between businesses, it's often just a tactic to try and bog down an opponent, or bleed them dry by legal fees, etc. The conflict is more serious at some times than others, but it will never "end".

[Parasaurolophus]

Forget the precedent. Allowing the state to torture people is a bad precedent; giving money to investment banks who collapsed the economy is a bad precedent; reneging on international agreements is a bad precedent. Nobody gives a shit about precedent.

Forgiving debt is good policy right now because it would be a huge economic stimulus, and at the income levels that matter. Besides which, there's widespread agreement among economists that it would be a good thing to do.

As for trade: the current trade wars involve the raising of illegal tariffs, followed by retaliatory tariffs in kind. It's different in kind and scale from the usual disputes, and that's what needs to end.

Incidentally, all three of those measures can be enacted by Biden alone, with nobody else's help. They're easy peasy.

[spork]

Both the Senate and House have suspended proceedings because protestors incited by Trump have entered the Capitol building.

[spork]

Capitol Police, DHS goons nowhere to be seen. Looks like zero security. Stupid stupid stupid.

From a Twitter feed:

"Police tear gassed peaceful Democratic protestors so that Trump could hold a Bible for the cameras. But pro-Trump protestors have successfully breached the US Capitol building without so much as a single pepper ball. Funny how that works out."

[apl68]

Capitol Police, DHS goons nowhere to be seen. Looks like zero security. Stupid stupid stupid.

From a Twitter feed:

"Police tear gassed peaceful Democratic protestors so that Trump could hold a Bible for the cameras. But pro-Trump protestors have successfully breached the US Capitol building without so much as a single pepper ball. Funny how that works out."

The Trump protestors are being met by riot police firing pepper spray. 

Or maybe a failure to meet Trump protestors with tanks and machine gun fire is another example of misguided moderates "squandering an opportunity?"



Up to now I've generally been of the opinion that it would be best not to be too zealous about prosecuting the President and his officials for various crimes and alleged crimes.  But inciting a riot and a march on Congress, even as they're preparing to certify the election of his opponent?  This can't be read as anything other than a (half-witted) coup attempt.  He needs to go to jail for this.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Terrorism, insurrection, sedition... quite a day for team MAGA

[writingprof]

It's a disgrace, and today's rioters should be imprisoned or shot.

(Also, this is happening in large part because of the way the George Floyd protests were treated by the Left, your media allies, and your elected representatives. If Fox News broke out a "fiery but mostly peaceful protests" chyron this afternoon, it would only be poetic justice.)

[Sun_Worshiper]

It's a disgrace, and today's rioters should be imprisoned or shot.

(Also, this is happening in large part because of the way the George Floyd protests were treated by the Left, your media allies, and your elected representatives. If Fox News broke out a "fiery but mostly peaceful protests" chyron this afternoon, it would only be poetic justice.)

Does the whataboutism never stop?

Don't try to blame the left or BLM for this anti-democratic insurrection based on made up fraud, egged on by the President, his family, and his authoritarian allies in the Congress. Right wingers own this.