Banana Republicans

[JohnRoberts]

It might look that way, but it is about principles more than the people. Sessions won't ever be the darling of the left though, he has been and is being critized constantly for all the bad policies he advanced as well as for his underlying extremist views.

The only principle I see evidence of is resist President Trump at every turn.  Jeff Sessions recusing himself almost immediately made him less valuable to POTUS. This termination is being characterized as a constitutional crisis by some in the hyperbolic camp, who extrapolate this into Trump to shutting down the Mueller investigation. President Trump didn't even fire Rosenstein when he was baited to by media.

After two years in office he appears to be getting (only slightly) better at the swamp politics, but not being political was his previous charm.

JR

PS: Speaking of banana republics, Chevron oil company is thinking about finally pulling out of Venezuela, after something like a century there. They made billions of dollars and out lived Chavez, but under Maduro they are no longer making enough profit to justify continuing. If they pull out, Maduro will lose his primary source of dollars and the economy will likely collapse (even further if possible), unless bailed out by China and/or Russia. Both of those countries have their own economic weakness on top of a falling oil price at the moment, but might invest if only to destabilize the Americas. 

 

[Banzai]

Not very nice, kind, or accurate.

At least I hope it makes you feel better saying it.

JR

Everytime someone criticises the US political system, they're not just venting or ranting. We're not foaming at the mouth, eager to spill hatred in the brewery...

So how about trying to refute the actual point made: both parties are part of the same cabal, offering no meaningful opposition to each other. They pander to the same interest groups, same donors, and same future employers (lobbying firms). Both support an over-bloated military and adventurous foreign wars. Nothing ever changes as a result.

It's also literally in the name: conservative = averse to change or innovation. The prototypical conservative response = improvement/change is difficult. This ideology clearly dominates American politics.

 

[dmp]

Of course, Democrats are so wonderful because they're all about 'bipartisanship' and 'compromise'. As if they couldn't be anymore predictable, see Pelosi's first speech after midterms.

I see this too and find it very frustrating. A big part of it is the Republicans are always on attack and competing while Democrats are trying to make peace & cooperate.  If you look at game theory - when one side tries to cooperate in a competitive game, the competing team wins. For some reason the Democratic party leaders are refusing to see this and play right into it. 
The Democratic party does not move new people up into leadership posts. People really need to put pressure on the party leaders that have been losing the game (like Pelosi) to move aside. 
You look at how Republicans control the narrative (the caravan story right before the midterms was a perfect example) - Democrats and the media play right into it. Republicans have a propaganda network (Fox) that has hosts campaign on stage with Trump and yet they spread the 'fake news' meme about the  mainstream media. 
You look at the Democrats making some progress in 2008 with health care reform and other legislation, but then they lost the midterms in 2010 - basically by not controlling the messaging. In retrospect, to see that that loss was based on Obamacare (now popular) and fiscal responsibility (which Republicans have now blown out), it seems particularly bad.

A lot of new Democrats were elected  so hopefully they can make some impact.  Look at individuals and you can see which party has values worth respect. Republicans elected white supremacists like Steve King while elected Democrats were diverse and progressive.

Democrats have a shot at full control in 2020 and should be ready to capitalize on it. Go on the offense instead of trying to 'heal the division'.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Everytime someone criticises the US political system, they're not just venting or ranting. We're not foaming at the mouth, eager to spill hatred in the brewery...

I didn't say you were, I just called out some ugly pejorative characterizations... not against the rules (unfortunately), but not conducive to thoughtful discussion.

So how about trying to refute the actual point made: both parties are part of the same cabal, offering no meaningful opposition to each other. They pander to the same interest groups, same donors, and same future employers (lobbying firms). Both support an over-bloated military and adventurous foreign wars. Nothing ever changes as a result.

It's also literally in the name: conservative = averse to change or innovation. The prototypical conservative response = improvement/change is difficult. This ideology clearly dominates American politics.

Have you not heard me talk about "draining the swamp"?  The political elite from both parties are too comfortable with the status quo, especially now that they are raising more campaign money than they can spend ($5B+ spent on mid term), and media likes this because they directly benefit from the political spending.

I have been writing about this for years... The "Tea Party" is in fact an attempt to reform the republican party from inside and as I have been saying for years it will take multiple election cycles for the new blood to replace enough of the old blood to be in control. This splintered republican party makes cohesive legislation harder but the recent behaviors by the other team has helped bring the factions together. (Term limits would help this turnover and removal of dead wood).

I have also shared this before, the upside to President Trump is that he is not a typical elite politician, barely a republican. : I would not be surprised to see him pivot left to cut deals with the democratic house (he likes making deals). This does not make me optimistic about reducing spending in the near term.  :'(

Since today is Veteran's day the (free) world is reflecting on the cost of world wars. Nobody wants to repeat those mistakes. Ignoring the world's sundry problems will not make them go away, but allow them to fester and become increasingly dangerous. I hate spending money and I really hated serving in the army (I was drafted ), but these too are necessary evils of living in the modern world.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

I see this too and find it very frustrating. A big part of it is the Republicans are always on attack and competing while Democrats are trying to make peace & cooperate.  If you look at game theory - when one side tries to cooperate in a competitive game, the competing team wins. For some reason the Democratic party leaders are refusing to see this and play right into it. 
The Democratic party does not move new people up into leadership posts. People really need to put pressure on the party leaders that have been losing the game (like Pelosi) to move aside. 
You look at how Republicans control the narrative (the caravan story right before the midterms was a perfect example) - Democrats and the media play right into it. Republicans have a propaganda network (Fox) that has hosts campaign on stage with Trump and yet they spread the 'fake news' meme about the  mainstream media. 
You look at the Democrats making some progress in 2008 with health care reform and other legislation, but then they lost the midterms in 2010 - basically by not controlling the messaging. In retrospect, to see that that loss was based on Obamacare (now popular) and fiscal responsibility (which Republicans have now blown out), it seems particularly bad.

A lot of new Democrats were elected  so hopefully they can make some impact.  Look at individuals and you can see which party has values worth respect. Republicans elected white supremacists like Steve King while elected Democrats were diverse and progressive.

Democrats have a shot at full control in 2020 and should be ready to capitalize on it. Go on the offense instead of trying to 'heal the division'.

I hoped this kind of negativity would abate, but not yet.  Those damn republicans and fox news...

The opposition has every other news network rooting for their team.  :  Something like 90% negative stories about this administration, compared to the absolute love fest for President Obama last time around.

====
Not to talk about democrats, but it looks like several of their new legislators are ex-military (a good thing), not remotely cut from the same mold as Ocasio-Cortez (thankfully). This suggests a drift toward the center and away from the left ditch.

The primaries for 2020 will be an interesting show as primaries generally have to cater to the more extreme factions of the party before pivoting to the center for the general election.  When trying to select from an expected large group of candidates the winner has to stand out as clearly different. I won't attempt to predict who that might be, but democrats are probably looking for their own anti-Trump (some celebrity like Alec Baldwin? His low rated TV show just got bumped to a worse time slot after some bad publicity, so he will need to up his TV game) . 

or not.

JR

 

[dmp]

The attack on fair and free elections continues in force with Trump trying to have all provisional, mail in ballots, etc disregarded.

Trump said:
"large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!"

Republicans are inventing a lie as we speak about voter fraud in Florida, even though there is no evidence of fraud. More people this year have had to vote absentee, provisional, mail in BECAUSE of Republican efforts to suppress voters. In Republican led areas, they've started trying to throw out ballots for mis-matched signatures. Talk about a subjective way to get rid of votes you don't like.
Hopefully, a full investigation can follow and there can be some criminal prosecutions for this voter suppression and disenfranchisement by Republicans.

 

[volker]

I hoped this kind of negativity would abate, but not yet.  Those damn republicans and fox news...

The opposition has every other news network rooting for their team.  :  Something like 90% negative stories about this administration, compared to the absolute love fest for President Obama last time around.

They aren't rooting for the other team, they try to keep up sanity, civility and rationality, in a world that gets torn apart by the president. It just so happens that the democratic party aligns more with that intention than the GOP.

In the light of Veteran's day, and being a veteran yourself: what's your stance on bone spurs, rich kids avoiding draft, and skipping a memorial ceremony because of rain?

 

[JohnRoberts]

The attack on fair and free elections continues in force with Trump trying to have all provisional, mail in ballots, etc disregarded.

Trump said:
"large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!"

Republicans are inventing a lie as we speak about voter fraud in Florida, even though there is no evidence of fraud. More people this year have had to vote absentee, provisional, mail in BECAUSE of Republican efforts to suppress voters. In Republican led areas, they've started trying to throw out ballots for mis-matched signatures. Talk about a subjective way to get rid of votes you don't like.
Hopefully, a full investigation can follow and there can be some criminal prosecutions for this voter suppression and disenfranchisement by Republicans.

Florida known for hanging chads and close elections is living up to its reputation.

I have not been following this story closely but Broward county election supervisor is in violation of public-records law about timely reporting of total ballots cast. The number keeps changing leading the more cynical to suspect post election voting (cheating). This is not in fact evidence of fraud, but the laws were written as they were to minimize the possibility of vote fraud. 

Brenda Snipes the center of the Broward county vote controversy has been in the news over the years for various election law violations.

These too are classic dueling talking points (vote fraud vs vote suppression).. the beat goes on...

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

They aren't rooting for the other team, they try to keep up sanity, civility and rationality, in a world that gets torn apart by the president. It just so happens that the democratic party aligns more with that intention than the GOP.

The statistics reveal a clear bias of negative stories.

In the light of Veteran's day, and being a veteran yourself: what's your stance on bone spurs,

It seems an actual bone spur would make basic training all but impossible and even permanent party (regular) military duty challenging.

rich kids avoiding draft,

I regret that I was not rich. Viet Nam was not like the Civil War draft where you could hire somebody to take your place. One older brother (now RIP) was drafted a few years before me.  Boston was decidedly anti-war back then, and even though I dropped out of college they did not tell my draft board so as far they knew I was still attending school (student exemption). I screwed up when I tried to get hired to work as a scientist on a research ship touring the south pacific. I actually got hired for that job, but they declined to send me half way around the world to meet the ship without notifying my draft board first (oops), to make sure my tour on the ship would not be interrupted. My draft board decided I needed a physical that was hard to fail (no bone spurs). Almost immediately I got my "greetings letter" from President Nixon, to report for conscription.  I probably could have won an exemption for my day job at MIT Instrumentation Lab if I had more time. I was working on a Navy rescue vehicle project, but lacked the time to apply for and perfect that exemption. I only had time to stay drunk until I reported for duty. 

and skipping a memorial ceremony because of rain?

Maybe he's made of sugar and afraid of melting? You forgot to mention he arrived at the later ceremony in a separate vehicle in stead of walking with the others (supposedly for security but what could possibly happen in Paris?), yet another negative story.

There has recently been some reported tension with Macron about comments he wanted a "true European army" . There has been tension over EU countries not meeting NATO commitments. (I actually participated in US Army NATO maneuvers over in Germany in 1970... you're welcome. )  Also reportedly President Trump negotiated with Trudeau in a Paris side meeting about Canadian aluminum and steel trade.

If you are asking specifically for my ex-military perspective, there was a famous quote from WWI that war was too important to leave to the generals, and in that case with the WWI era general's low regard for loss of human life they had a point.  That said Sun Tzu (the art of war) demonstrates the importance of keeping politicians away from interfering with the waging of wars.  I appreciate that President Trump takes a less intrusive approach over managing the military, giving General (mad dog) Mattis free hand to do what must be done. The decimation of ISIS (not completely gone but close) is a clear example of the difference between before and after. The teaching from Sun Tzu is to give the military clear objectives and then leave them alone to accomplish that. IMO The last administration micromanagement and waffling in Afghanistan turned it into a quagmire we are still not completely out of. I am on record here of questioning the "surge-light". Afghanistan is a different country with different problems than Iraq.

JR

 

[john12ax7]

They aren't rooting for the other team, they try to keep up sanity, civility and rationality, in a world that gets torn apart by the president. It just so happens that the democratic party aligns more with that intention than the GOP.

Msnbc and fox news are two sides of the same coin.  Fox is the originator of non-objective partisan "news". But now others have joined the charade on the other side. Why? Because it gets ratings.

Objective logic and reason has mostly gone out the window.  It's team above all else,  actual principles and facts don't matter.

 

[Banzai]

Not to talk about democrats, but it looks like several of their new legislators are ex-military (a good thing), not remotely cut from the same mold as Ocasio-Cortez (thankfully). This suggests a drift toward the center and away from the left ditch.

You lament the status quo in one post, then support it another... No one benefits from Democrats being Republican-Lite. That's exactly the point of everyone who thinks you have a fake 2-party system.

Why are you guys so afraid of a genuine left-wing in American politics? There seems to be nothing more terrifying than someone who wants to fix America's social problems.

What's so terrible about putting 'Americans First' ?

 

[Banzai]

For some reason the Democratic party leaders are refusing to see this and play right into it.

Simplest conclusion: they're doing it on purpose.

They run the country as an oligarchy, sharing power between them.

 

[JohnRoberts]

You lament the status quo in one post, then support it another... No one benefits from Democrats being Republican-Lite. That's exactly the point of everyone who thinks you have a fake 2-party system.

I decline to debate about what I said. That is in the record so to speak. Neither party is a single monotonic vision, while they do have more similarities than differences (a first world problem).

Why are you guys so afraid of a genuine left-wing in American politics? There seems to be nothing more terrifying than someone who wants to fix America's social problems.

Afraid?  I am concerned about well intentioned but incompetent policies, that could upset this wonderful experiment in governance still only a few centuries old.  I worry that we are already a little pregnant with socialism and that baby is likely to survive to term and grow larger (more states are expanding medicare beyond its original target coverage. ) The cynical among us could argue that the intent of the ACA was to break private sector healthcare leading to government run single payer for all, that they couldn't pass formally in broad daylight with legislation, but can be back-doored in with the state by state piecemeal expansion of medicare. 

What's so terrible about putting 'Americans First' ?

I don't even understand what that is supposed to mean? The USA has always been an above average world citizen lifting many around the world out of poverty, and helping many secure self determination.  The ceremony in Paris last weekend acknowledged our support of Western Europe in two world wars over the last century.  The world would be really different from a different WWII outcome. 

We had outside help in our early years. To some extent this is what good world citizens do, but there is always an aspect of self-interest involved (enemy of my enemy, etc). Not a zero sum game to promote freedom and world trade. We all benefit from expanding freedom and trade. 

World wide democracy and social liberty appear to be in decline for the last decade, not a positive trend. Nationalistic populism is not outwardly generous but more selfish (me first). 

JR