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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Oops - your Trump presidency discussion thread
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
It takes no especial foresight to predict that Crooked Don would want to sue. It is his first and favorite weapon, after namecalling.
Handy counter.
Meanwhile I see Theresa May is sure that Trump is quote:
taking decisions on what he believes is in the best interest of the United States
(repeat this talking-point ad nauseam - she keeps coming back to it in that clip). She is so weak. And Trump is such a fool for not seeing how fast he is eroding US credibility around the world.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
this bloke is clearly, as Miss Amanda said, just as deluded as his boss.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Of course, the CIA has raised the art of lying to unimaginable new heights.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Could I ask a question for Transatlantic shipmates please? It's difficult to get any feel for this from over here.
USian shipmates, understandably, detest the Orange Monster. It's difficult not to. To us over here, being cynical, world weary denizens of the Old World, anyone who describe themselves as “a very stable genius” and says of themselves "my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart”, is giving strong evidence of the opposite. Michael Wolff seems to us to be confirming no more than that the inside of the Trump court is much as we've already assumed it to be.
And it's clear that there are a lot of people on both the east and the west coast, who feel much the same, who are horrified at their country and everything they have always though it stood for, being wrecked.
But?
Is there still a huge swathe of Middle-America, simple home-spun folk in the flyover states, who go to church on Sunday, say grace before every meal and dutifully read their Patriot's Bible complete with commentary, who think this criticism is all unpatriotic sour grapes, fake news, or how they want their president to be anyway? Do they think his tweets just show he's a regular guy who is like them?
Can anyone who is over there and has the pulse of America, tell me?
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Tangent alert - this won't mean much to USian shipmates
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Meanwhile I see Theresa May is sure that Trump is quote:
taking decisions on what he believes is in the best interest of the United States
(repeat this talking-point ad nauseam - she keeps coming back to it in that clip). She is so weak. And Trump is such a fool for not seeing how fast he is eroding US credibility around the world.
By saying that, she lowers the respect anyone can give for her political competence still further, as in inter alia
- not sacking Johnson, on several occasions,
- giving ministerial responsibility to Grayling, for anything - a man who seems to wreck everything he touches.
- giving Toby Young a job. What favour can anyone possibly owe him? And if they do, they shouldn't have got into that position.
- lodging the Article 50 notice and so losing any sort of control over her negotiations with the EU.
And, I'm neither a socialist nor a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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chris stiles
Shipmate
# 12641
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Posted
Continuing on the tangent briefly.
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
- giving Toby Young a job. What favour can anyone possibly owe him? And if they do, they shouldn't have got into that position.
My theory on this is that this sort of thing is red meat for the more extreme Brexit faction who are involved in the phony-war for leadership. At the same time as they lose support from business, they are - somewhat half-hardheartedly - trying to shore up their vote by playing in a culture-war direction (see also language of saboteurs, traitors etc).
Posts: 4035 | From: Berkshire | Registered: May 2007
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
Could I ask a question for Transatlantic shipmates please? It's difficult to get any feel for this from over here.
USian shipmates, understandably, detest the Orange Monster. It's difficult not to. To us over here, being cynical, world weary denizens of the Old World, anyone who describe themselves as “a very stable genius” and says of themselves "my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart”, is giving strong evidence of the opposite. Michael Wolff seems to us to be confirming no more than that the inside of the Trump court is much as we've already assumed it to be.
And it's clear that there are a lot of people on both the east and the west coast, who feel much the same, who are horrified at their country and everything they have always though it stood for, being wrecked.
But?
Is there still a huge swathe of Middle-America, simple home-spun folk in the flyover states, who go to church on Sunday, say grace before every meal and dutifully read their Patriot's Bible complete with commentary, who think this criticism is all unpatriotic sour grapes, fake news, or how they want their president to be anyway? Do they think his tweets just show he's a regular guy who is like them?
Can anyone who is over there and has the pulse of America, tell me?
If you will click on a POST link, try this: thinking like a Trump supporter.
One of the Post columnists, a Gary Abernathy, is a diehard Trump supporter. Here's the list of all his columns. It is only fair to say that he lives in Ohio.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
Thanks for that article in the Post Brenda. I'd like to look at Chavez one day, but I have too much on my plate to put him on the list right now. Chavez used to be praised by the left here, but either they changed their mind or I stopped subscribing to New Internationalist. Anyway, I was surprised by the comparison between Trump and Chavez.
quote:
This is not a call for appeasement, only for efficiency. If dwelling on scandal too much can be counterproductive, then the focus must be elsewhere. I believe it should rest on understanding and empathizing with the grievances that brought Trump to power (wage stagnation, cultural isolation, a depleted countryside, the opioid crisis). Trump’s solutions may be imaginary, but the problems are very real. Populism is and has always been the daughter of political despair. Showing concern is the only way to break the rhetorical polarization.
I think Democrats have a very good understanding of these issues, and have tried to address them as much as they could at a Federal level, and in states like California. Certainly Americans in this thread seem to have a good handle on this.
As has been said often on this thread, poor white people voted against their interest if they voted Republican last time. I think they did that because over the last decade or so the right wing media did a great job selling them the big Republican lie: that small Govt and a big business sector means a strong America.
I suspect however that poor white resistance to progressive political programmes is not a new phenomena in America. The Phil Ochs song Links on the Chain (1965) criticises white unionists for actively opposing the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 60's.
It is nice to be nice. American society looks as polarised as it has ever been, save perhaps at the time of the Civil War. It is a very good thing to reduce ill-feeling and division, and it might even win some votes. But as the author of the article mentions in relation to Alabama, its getting out its own vote that will get the Democrats back on the good foot.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
They're closing a Pennsylvania coal mine. On the radio they interviewed some of the people who voted for Lyin' Don because he was going to "Bring Back Coal." From the piece:
GARCIA-NAVARRO: What are people thinking about the president these days?
ZIMMERMAN: You know, people aren't boasting as much as they did during the election. You know, he's going to bring coal back, and he's going to do this. Well, he hasn't. And at least in some of the meetings I've been in, it was - he was just saying what people wanted to hear to get elected. And I sincerely believe that.
So they're becoming aware that they were played for suckers by a slick New York con man. It remains to see what they'll do about it.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Barnabas62
Host
# 9110
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
They're closing a Pennsylvania coal mine.
So they're becoming aware that they were played for suckers by a slick New York con man. It remains to see what they'll do about it.
Played for suckers. That's the key phrase for 2018. It's hard for folks to admit who the real crook was in 2016, but you don't have to say so openly. Just vote differently this year.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Michael Wolff, author of the book we've been talking about, is going to be on Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" Monday night. Don't know whether it will be an actual interview, or a "hey, so you wrote this book everyone's talking about". Even for the latter, Stephen usually gets in a couple of pithy questions or remarks.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Eirenist
Shipmate
# 13343
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Posted
Trying to be fair to Mrs May, aren't the key words in the quote 'he believes'? What's good for Trump must be good for the USA, mustn't it?
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'I think I think, therefore I think I am'
Posts: 486 | From: Darkest Metroland | Registered: Jan 2008
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
They're closing a Pennsylvania coal mine. On the radio they interviewed some of the people who voted for Lyin' Don because he was going to "Bring Back Coal." From the piece:
GARCIA-NAVARRO: What are people thinking about the president these days?
ZIMMERMAN: You know, people aren't boasting as much as they did during the election. You know, he's going to bring coal back, and he's going to do this. Well, he hasn't. And at least in some of the meetings I've been in, it was - he was just saying what people wanted to hear to get elected. And I sincerely believe that.
So they're becoming aware that they were played for suckers by a slick New York con man. It remains to see what they'll do about it.
Yeah but he's THEIR slick New York con man, he speaks their language, he feels their pain, it was congress, the ecoterrorists shut the mine down.
2568.
Unless he does an FDR of course.
4029.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
So they're becoming aware that they were played for suckers by a slick New York con man. It remains to see what they'll do about it.
I'm not sure that's the case. A conventional politician wins office by promising to improve the lives of his or her constituents. It always seemed to me that the main appeal of Donald Trump was his promise to smite his supporters' enemies. "Lock her up!" "Build the wall!". Etc.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
He just asked for $18 billion in funding for that wall. I wonder what happened to the notion of making Mexico pay for it.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
He just asked for $18 billion in funding for that wall. I wonder what happened to the notion of making Mexico pay for it.
I believe the official line is that Mexico will pay for The Wall™ . . . eventually. Congress just needs to fork over enough money to get the process started.
And yes, this sounds exactly like some of the more notorious scams out there.
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
But how exactly is The Great Ga-Ga Goblin going to make Mexico pay for The Wall?
Invade?
Nuke Mexico City?
![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Rocinante
Shipmate
# 18541
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
But how exactly is The Great Ga-Ga Goblin going to make Mexico pay for The Wall?
Invade?
Nuke Mexico City?
IJ
The Stable Genius will find some way of getting Enrique Nieto's Amex number. Put on a fake accent, tell him he's won a luxury weekend at Mar-a-Lago, and he just has to pay an admin fee.
No more fraudulent than Trump University.
Posts: 384 | From: UK | Registered: Jan 2016
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
But how exactly is The Great Ga-Ga Goblin going to make Mexico pay for The Wall?
Invade?
Nuke Mexico City?
IJ
If he were to follow his prior pattern, he'd contract with a Mexican construction firm, purchase materials from Mexican suppliers, and hire Mexican workers to build the wall, and then claim bankruptcy to avoid paying them for their labor. It's a proven method, apparently.
[ 08. January 2018, 15:57: Message edited by: cliffdweller ]
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
I'm sure the canny Mexicans, Bad Hombres though they be, will think of a way to scupper Mr. Stablegenius' plan....
![[Two face]](graemlins/scot_twoface.gif)
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
And BBC News reports that the Evil Emperor is now directing his insane hatred towards Salvadoreans.
More Bad Hombres, presumably?
Soon, only Orange People will be allowed to live and work in his dystopian Empire....
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
They are brown people. With no money. Nothing more needed. (See Puerto Rico.)
This has also been done in the past few days, using the 'very stable genius' line. But the Post-Modern Major General image is a natural. G&S, the gift that keeps on giving.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
The primarily Salvadorian street gang MS-13 has been one of this administration's go-tos when it needs an example of the dangers of immigrants, so it really comes as no surprise that they took the first chance they had to kick as many Salvadorians out of the country as possible, gang members or not.
Never mind that they are going home to a country that, in many ways, is still reeling from the civil war that we helped to fund.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
But, if (somewhat inconceivably from my perspective, but still if) Mueller and his mob interview Trump and he emerges squeaky clean, the Very Stable Genius Personification of Goodness™ that he believes he is, where to then?
(Apologies to those of you who can't penetrate Wapo's paywall, buts basically it's just outlining Thwumple's legal eagles and their probable response to Mueller) ... is it all just lay down misère and we accept that #45 is indeed the Second Coming of Jesus?
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Dobson just put out a call for prayer and fasting, to defeat the dark forces that are working towards Crooked Don't impeachment. I am thrilled to hear that Dobson has such a line to the Almighty -- a real threat of impeachment, wow! Talk about an answer to prayer!
The solution is 300 days away. November, 2018. If we can flip one or both houses of Congress, Lyin' Don can be essentially emasculated even if he isn't impeached outright.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
What happens to the young Salvadoreans, who are (I assume), US citizens?
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
They can't be proper Usanians, they're Bad Brown Hombres!
The Orange Lord Of Mercy, Goodness, and Light has given them until 2019 to either find a way of staying, or of leaving, so (O Happy Thought!) by then His Lordiness will be in jail.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
What happens to the young Salvadoreans, who are (I assume), US citizens?
Anyone born in the U.S. is an American citizen and cannot be involuntarily deported. So if they're a minor whose parents are deported the family is forced to decide whether to take the kids with them or make arrangements to break up the family. From CNN:
quote:
There's also another group experts say will be affected: nearly 200,000 US citizen children of Salvadoran parents with TPS.
"Our family will break apart. ... What am I going to do now?" said Chavez, who is raising two stepchildren and a cousin in Houston. "How can I tell them that I have to go?"
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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Barnabas62
Host
# 9110
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
It always seemed to me that the main appeal of Donald Trump was his promise to smite his supporters' enemies. "Lock her up!" "Build the wall!". Etc.
Still a con, of course.
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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
This has also been done in the past few days, using the 'very stable genius' line. But the Post-Modern Major General image is a natural. G&S, the gift that keeps on giving.
I've seen two different productions of HMS Pinafore in the past 18 months where Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was obviously Trump (complete with yellow wig). But I absolutely love this Modern Major General patter song!
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crœsos:
So if they're a minor whose parents are deported the family is forced to decide whether to take the kids with them or make arrangements to break up the family.
I mean no offence USAians, I come from a place where we lock our refugees up on Pacific Islands in the hope they give up and return home, but I weep.
I understand it is complex. I understand these permissions are "temporary", which means it will come to an end. But while people are temporarily settled the world moves on, babies are born, kids grow up... There has to be a better answer.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
How does the Evil Orange Goblin manage to sleep at nights?
Next thing, he'll be trying to deport mixed-race ex-presidents...
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
But while people are temporarily settled the world moves on, babies are born, kids grow up... There has to be a better answer.
You get that, and a lot of us get that. But when you can make political hay by putting scary black and white pictures of young Salvadorian men with lots of facial tatoos on the TV screen and telling people in the suburbs that these thugs are out to get them if they aren't deported tomorrow, it's too much for some candidates to resist.
(This advertisement was actually a major part of the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia's campaign. The DC area has a fairly large population from Central America- when the US Association Football team plays El Salvador or Honduras in DC, it's not necessarily a friendly home crowd. Luckily, the advertisement was a failure, and the candidate has since expressed regret for green-lighting it.)
[ 08. January 2018, 21:01: Message edited by: Og, King of Bashan ]
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
How does the Evil Orange Goblin manage to sleep at nights?
Next thing, he'll be trying to deport mixed-race ex-presidents...
IJ
He wishes.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
Of course, the Obamas would be more than welcome in many countries.
Or would he want to deport all former Presidents? (And Vice Presidents--I can't imagine he's fond of Al Gore.)
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
How does the Evil Orange Goblin manage to sleep at nights?
All the evidence suggests he doesn't. And when he can't sleep, he tweets.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
We always knew that the pro-life interest in life ended at the moment of birth. So it's no surprise that the fate of brown children is completely uninteresting. It's dreadfully short-sighted, however. Because these brown kids are indeed born in the USA, American citizens. Sometime, in ten, twelve years, they'll be old enough to vote. Guess how that's going to go.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
So is Oprah2020 a summer (or winter) fill-in? I'm not comparing, but after 1 celebrity I would've thought people were swinging back to wanting politicians in the job...
I suppose she could have benefits..."Everyone wins a car!" ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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Dave W.
Shipmate
# 8765
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
I mean no offence USAians [snip]
What the fuck are "USAians" then, that you're so solicitous of their feelings?
Posts: 2059 | From: the hub of the solar system | Registered: Nov 2004
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
I'd like to see her challenge a safe Republican for a spot in Congress. Paul Ryan?
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Ohher
Shipmate
# 18607
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Posted
I'm more a fan of Oprah than a not-fan, and she did start out as a journalist, so has whatever gravitas-lite that may afford, but I seriously hope she stays out of politics (aside from donating hefty sums to some sane, capable, squeaky-clean, non-Republican statesperson, if one can be found).
For two -- maybe three? -- Presidential cycles now, the Republicans have trotted out hordes of wannabes that make it look like one major tenet of Republicanism is that any damn fool can be President as long as they can talk donors into funding their campaigns.
And guess what? A damn fool is what we've now got.
I'm not saying Oprah is a fool; she's not. But I doubt she's statesperson material either. Please: no more business moguls in the Oval Office, at least for a generation.
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From the Land of the Native American Brave and the Home of the Buy-One-Get-One-Free
Posts: 374 | From: New Hampshire, USA | Registered: Jun 2016
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
It makes me queasy to contemplate any more celeb candidates with media empires but zero political experience. She can run if she wants but I won't vote for someone who doesn't have some miles on the odometer. She would be far more effective shilling for a candidate (as she did for Obama, remember) and I'd even tolerate her as vice president. But not the head of the ticket. We've been there, done that and the tee shirt is horrible.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
I believe you have to live in the state, a district of which you wish to represent. Paul Ryan represents Wisconsin's First Congressional District. Oprah Winfrey (according to Wikipedia) maintains residences in California, New Jersey, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois and Florida.
Great idea, though. But Congress has a way of swallowing celebrities and spitting them out. Look at Al Franken.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Anglican_Brat
Shipmate
# 12349
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Posted
Oprah is popular because she is relatively apolitical.
If she runs for the Democrats, I suspect she would not be universally welcomed by some on the left of the party. There is an unspoken belief among some on the left that Oprah plays to a conservative ideology of self-reliance and would not speak for minorities and lower-income Americans who rely on the Welfare State. After all, according to some, isn't Oprah proof that you don't need government assistance to go from rags to riches?
[ 09. January 2018, 01:19: Message edited by: Anglican_Brat ]
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It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.
Posts: 4332 | From: Vancouver | Registered: Feb 2007
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
For that matter Crooked Don asserted today that he is a genius and a self-made billionaire. (The inheritance from his father, ignore it.) I don't ever want to see a self-made magnate in office ever again.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
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Posted
To the question of how people in the Midwest, the flyover states, are feeling about Trump.
People in Michigan are not happy. There is a lot of cross-border trade with Canada that may be threatened if he cancels NAFTA. He is not living up to his promises to them. The automobile industry is not coming back to Detroit.
People in Iowa and surrounding states are seeing their grain prices going down because Mexico will not by buying American grain anymore. Mexico will be getting it from Argentina.
Even though I live in a state that went for Clinton, farmers on the east side were hoping he would not cancel the Trans-Pacific Partnership since most of our agricultural products go to Asain markets. If the Eastside were its own state we would be largely red.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
I believe you have to live in the state, a district of which you wish to represent. Paul Ryan represents Wisconsin's First Congressional District. Oprah Winfrey (according to Wikipedia) maintains residences in California, New Jersey, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois and Florida.
Great idea, though. But Congress has a way of swallowing celebrities and spitting them out. Look at Al Franken.
That's more or less how celebs are treated here if they want to go into politics. We don't have a Presidential system YET, so the major parties often use high-profile recruits to try and win a seat off the other side. That's not always true of course.
This guy was my favorite celebrity MP.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
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Posted
I believe Oprah's primary residence is in California. Therefore she is likely to be registered to vote in California.
Curiously, our constitution does not specifically require one to be registered to vote anywhere (though I think it is assumed) only that they are natural born citizens.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Will be interesting to see what T does for the State of the Union address. (Is that this month?) Or if he even does it. But IIRC it's required by the Constitution.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Rocinante
Shipmate
# 18541
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
Will be interesting to see what T does for the State of the Union address. (Is that this month?) Or if he even does it. But IIRC it's required by the Constitution.
AIR (from watching The West Wing years ago), he's not obliged to give a speech, he just has to inform Congress of the state of the union "from time to time". He could send them a written report (though that would require literacy) or just buy them a subscription to the Post.
[ 09. January 2018, 08:04: Message edited by: Rocinante ]
Posts: 384 | From: UK | Registered: Jan 2016
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
It's traditional to do it in a full gathering of Congress, as a speech, in the evening. And televised.
Watching the attendees can be entertaining and educational: fury, delight, applause, none, standing ovation, glued to their chair. Occasionally, someone will actually make a negative remark. I think someone called Obama "Liar!". And I think there was something with the Supreme Court communicating disfavor. Possibly the late Chief Justice Anthony Scalia.
I suppose he could broadcast it to the audience from the family quarters. People would be non-plussed. If he broadcast from Mar-a-Lago, hell would likely break loose.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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