Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Soror Magna:
Anyway, this is yet another example of something that would never have happened under Obama. (Or Clinton.) I thought LeBron James' tweet was the best: "Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!"

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You skipped the part where he addressed the President as "u bum."

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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy

Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by cliffdweller:

quote:

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Originally posted by Boogie:
Please explain Trump's row with the NFL.

And why does kneeling for the national anthem cause him such anger? Is this war of words and actions all about racism or something else?

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It's a combo of racism and flag fetishism-- both of which play well with his base.

The reality is, I'm hard pressed to think of a more respectful, more peaceful, more appropriate and yes, patriotic, form of protest than to "take a knee".

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by Ohher:
There is also the fact that some 70% of NFL players are African-American, and (yes, I know many get paid vast sums of money, but):
...

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by Eirenist:
Bishop's Finger, I believe that New Zealand rather than Oz is where good UKlanders want to go, on account of it being (according to my Kiwi son-in-law) stuck in the '70s. If he is misleading me, I apologise to any offended Kiwis.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
Ian--

I don't remember specifics from back then--except that some (conservative) people thought he tainted Hillary, because his wife is very close to her, and IIRC an integral part of the campaign.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
How is Weiner generally viewed, if there is a consensus, by Democrats/those on the left? He had slipped my mind until I read about his going to jail.

Is he seen as someone who contributed to the loss? He was a high-flyer at one point, wasn't he?

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More like a "medium-flyer". He was a U.S. Congressman from New York's 9th Congressional district. (That's Brooklyn, to save you the trouble of Googling it.) He was essentially a reliable back-bencher from a safe district, so he was one of the elite insofar as he was one of the 435 people in the lower house of the U.S. Congress, but he wasn't notable for anything else, at least in terms of legislation and committee assignments. He obviously achieved notoriety in other ways, though.

Weiner "contributed" to Hillary Clinton's loss in that it was his laptop that gave James Comey an excuse to push the "Hillary bad e-mails! Grr!" story back onto the media center stage ten days before the election, using his authority as FBI director to make it seem really serious. Comey eventually issued an "oops, never mind" letter, but by then the damage was done.

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Humani nil a me alienum puto

Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by RuthW:

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
Ian--

I don't remember specifics from back then--except that some (conservative) people thought he tainted Hillary, because his wife is very close to her, and IIRC an integral part of the campaign.

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Anyone who thought Weiner was a reason not to vote for Clinton wasn't going to vote for her anyway.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by simontoad:
My wife read me a list of ways in which you can disrespect the US flag, including draping it around an object or your body.

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Posted                         

quote:

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Originally posted by Ian Climacus:

So the health bill has been pulled. Do you think they'll give it another go at any point?

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quote:

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The Senate is relying on special budget rules that would allow passage of the healthcare bill with a simple majority, bypassing the threat of a filibuster by opponents.

So-called budget reconciliation provides a potentially powerful strategic advantage for Republicans. They hold a slim 52-seat majority and would almost certainly be unable to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster by Democrats or even Republican opponents of the bill. Using the budget process, Republicans need only 50 votes, assuming Vice President Mike Pence casts the tie-breaking vote.

But budget rules, which need to be approved each year, are set to expire on Sept. 30, at the end of fiscal 2017.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
A free article describing the Obamacare repeal effort as essentially immortal.

On the up side, even a few years of Obamacare has made it plain that most Americans really kind of like having health insurance. Every year that passes will increase that feeling.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
It does seem that even most Republicans blanch at taking access to essential medical care away from people, even when they opposed giving them it in the first place.

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Posted                          

quote:

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Originally posted by Crœsos:

quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
It does seem that even most Republicans blanch at taking access to essential medical care away from people, even when they opposed giving them it in the first place.

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Really? From the vote counts in both the House and Senate that I've seen it seems like only a very few Republicans "blanch at taking access to essential medical care away from people". I know a lot of Republican blanch at accurately describing what they're doing as "taking access to essential medical care away from people", but most of them seem fine with actually doing it.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
Grrrrr. T is at it again.

"Donald Trump Refuses to Send More Aid to Puerto Rico, Citing Business Interests" (Yahoo).

That headline is slightly misleading.

We've got something called the Jones act, which says that shipping from one US port to another has to be done by American vessels. This was temporarily waived for Texas and Florida. But he doesn't want to do that for Puerto Rico.

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Puerto Rico is not the US gulf coast. It has less coastline than Texas and nothing comparable in the way of the deep water ports available across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Business interests include safety and logistics, among others.

Of course that won't prevent the pending puerile observation that the people of Puerto Rico are brown...




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"You can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook" - Harry S. Truman

Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:

Puerto Rico is not the US gulf coast. It has less coastline than Texas and nothing comparable in the way of the deep water ports available across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Business interests include safety and logistics, among others.

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quote:

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Of course that won't prevent the pending puerile observation that the people of Puerto Rico are brown...

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:

Of course that won't prevent the pending puerile observation that the people of Puerto Rico are brown...

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might be just because he thinks they are some sort of stealth immigrant. [/QB]

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by cliffdweller:
Honestly sometimes he just seems to be cruel for the sake of being cruel. No more motivation needed. I guess it makes him feel powerful

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:

We've got something called the Jones act, which says that shipping from one US port to another has to be done by American vessels.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:

We've got something called the Jones act, which says that shipping from one US port to another has to be done by American vessels.

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Which specifically, AIUI, means that, for example, a non-US ship in the Pacific cannot stop at Hawaii on the way to the US mainland, which means that goods from Asia destined for Hawaii are first shipped to California, and then back to Hawaii.

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
Which specifically, AIUI, means that, for example, a non-US ship in the Pacific cannot stop at Hawaii on the way to the US mainland, which means that goods from Asia destined for Hawaii are first shipped to California, and then back to Hawaii.

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Posted                       

quote:

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Originally posted by chris stiles:
That's not strictly true, the act applies to shipping between US ports, so there would be no issue if all the cargo was being offloaded at Hawaii

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Posted                         

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
On to the next pea under the mattress now, it's being waived...

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
On to the next pea under the mattress now, it's being waived...

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Someone living in Puerto Rico with no access to clean water, food, medical supplies, gasoline -- and no electricity -- I don't think would consider this outdated law to be a "pea under a mattress."

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:

quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
On to the next pea under the mattress now, it's being waived...

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Someone living in Puerto Rico with no access to clean water, food, medical supplies, gasoline -- and no electricity -- I don't think would consider this outdated law to be a "pea under a mattress."

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The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

Similar to what we saw from the right for Barry, but no less tiresome...

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by Crœsos:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:

quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
On to the next pea under the mattress now, it's being waived...

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Someone living in Puerto Rico with no access to clean water, food, medical supplies, gasoline -- and no electricity -- I don't think would consider this outdated law to be a "pea under a mattress."

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The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

Similar to what we saw from the right for Barry, but no less tiresome...

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I'm not sure what's hypocritical or manufactured about outrage over people being left to starve.

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Posted                      

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

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quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:
"First of all, we are very grateful for the administration. They have responded quickly.

The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times. FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government.

We have been working together. We have been getting results. The magnitude of this catastrophe is enormous. This is going to take a lot of help, a lot of collaboration."

-Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello

Left to starve? You should call the Governor and let him know. Maybe he's missed it.

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Is that the same Ricardo Rossello who was "hypocritical[ly] manufactur[ing] outrage" by petitioning for the lifting of the Jones Act? Luckily you're here to tell him he's whining about a "pea under the mattress".

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Humani nil a me alienum puto

Posted                      

quote:

---

Originally posted by romanlion:

quote:

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Originally posted by Crœsos:

quote:

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Originally posted by romanlion:

quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by romanlion:
On to the next pea under the mattress now, it's being waived...

---

Someone living in Puerto Rico with no access to clean water, food, medical supplies, gasoline -- and no electricity -- I don't think would consider this outdated law to be a "pea under a mattress."

---

The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

Similar to what we saw from the right for Barry, but no less tiresome...

---

I'm not sure what's hypocritical or manufactured about outrage over people being left to starve.

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"First of all, we are very grateful for the administration. They have responded quickly.

The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times. FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government.

We have been working together. We have been getting results. The magnitude of this catastrophe is enormous. This is going to take a lot of help, a lot of collaboration."

-Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello

Left to starve? You should call the Governor and let him know. Maybe he's missed it.

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Posted                         

quote:

---

Originally posted by romanlion:
The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

Similar to what we saw from the right for Barry, but no less tiresome...

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Posted                      

quote:

---

Originally posted by Golden Key:
romanlion--

quote:

---

Originally posted by romanlion:
The pea I was referring to was the hypocritical, manufactured outrage at everything Trump does/doesn't do, says/doesn't say, is/isn't.

Similar to what we saw from the right for Barry, but no less tiresome...

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The first is more like all the stacked mattresses being infested by gila monsters, rattle snakes, spontaneous combustion, Chernobyl, and random thugs--plus all sorts of vermin.

The second is the kind of argument and venom you frequently stated about Pres. Obama. And yes, that certainly was tiresome. (Your wording.)

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Posted                      

quote:

---

Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Crœsos:

quote:

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Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
It does seem that even most Republicans blanch at taking access to essential medical care away from people, even when they opposed giving them it in the first place.

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Really? From the vote counts in both the House and Senate that I've seen it seems like only a very few Republicans "blanch at taking access to essential medical care away from people". I know a lot of Republican blanch at accurately describing what they're doing as "taking access to essential medical care away from people", but most of them seem fine with actually doing it.

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'kay; for "most" read "some, enough to prevent it"

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