US Politics Mega-thread - Page 3410

On March 20 2016 22:54 farvacola wrote:
Zerohedge, the bastion of journalistic integrity, said he was a liberal; similarly, Zeo has this amazing ability to identify the allegiances of protestors from afar so that their identities gel with his outlook. He put said ability on display in the Ukraine thread and here it is now. Pretty fantastic, isn't it

In the heady days of Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House in 2008, the soon-to-be president made a speech at the Cuban American National Foundation that was to become a benchmark for his relations with a hemisphere.

“It’s time for a new alliance of the Americas,” the candidate declared. “It’s time to turn the page on the arrogance of Washington and the anti-Americanism across the region that stands in the way of progress.”

He went on to promise that he would engage Cuba, help to end the conflict in Colombia, boost democracy and development in Haiti, crack down on drug cartels in Mexico and strengthen trade and aid to Latin America as a whole.

After the stagnation of the Bush era, this sounded like a bold step forward, particularly given the regional mood at the time. Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez was in his Washington-bashing pomp. Leftwing administrations dominated the continent. China’s influence was on the rise.

Even after Obama entered the White House, many doubted he would fare any better than his predecessors in winning the hearts and minds of his regional neighbours. The nerdy northern president looked like a soft touch compared with the caudillo hard-men of the south.

Fast forward eight years, however, and it is undoubtedly Obama’s vision that is in the ascendant. On Sunday, he will be in his pomp as the first sitting US president in 88 years to visit Havana, a move that looks likely to be remembered among the greatest legacies of his presidency. Meanwhile, the regional leaders who once isolated him are falling like flies. Declining commodity prices, election defeats and corruption investigations are reversing the “pink tide” of the Latin left that was once a source of hope for socialists around the world.

The past week has seen massive anti-government demonstrations in Brazil and a heightened legal challenge against former Workers party president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Last month, Bolivia’s formerly unbeatable president Evo Morales lost his first election – a referendum that would have changed the constitution so he could remain in power until the middle of the next decade.

Almost every day, there is grim economic news from Venezuela, where Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro, recently lost control of Congress. In Argentina, meanwhile, the new centre-right president, Mauricio Macri, is busy unravelling the policies of his populist predecessor, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Obama will give this change of direction his stamp of approval by visiting Buenos Aires after he leaves Havana.

His regional swagger was not always so confident. In the early days of his presidency, it looked as though his pledge of better neighborhood relations was just froth and talk, designed only to win over the sizeable Hispanic vote. Like many a president before him, Obama devoted his foreign policy attention to the Middle East and Russia. Latin America appeared an afterthought. Disappointed regional leaders turned against him. At the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, in April 2012, the US looked more isolated than ever.

The main cause of friction was US policy towards Cuba. Washington’s cold war embargo and its work to block Havana from neighbors was seen as a part of the arrogance and interference that had characterized US policy for decades. It left every other plan snarled in resentment.

But by reaching out with a surprise pope-brokered agreement with Raúl Castro on 17 December 2014, Obama appears to have cut this Gordian knot. At last year’s Summit of the Americas in Panama, he shook hands and talked to Castro, held a 10-minute dialogue with Chávez’ successor, and won plaudits (as well as the usual brickbats) from other leaders.

On March 20 2016 17:41 iPlaY.NettleS wrote:
The irony of a democrat supporter wearing a KKK outfit to a republican rally makes me chuckle.I'm guessing he's more a Sanders man but someone at least needs to remind him even in modern times Hillary went to Sen. Robert Byrds funeral and paid respects.

On March 21 2016 00:34 ticklishmusic wrote:


Now thats not something you expect to see in Cuba...

Obams goin' to Cuba

+ Show Spoiler [Dat flag tho] +

On March 20 2016 23:27 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:


It's too bad that Kasich can't win the Republican nomination... he's so much more level-headed and truthful than Trump and Cruz

On March 20 2016 14:20 oneofthem wrote:
literally all of sanders' permanent support is suspicion of current political leadership of the dem party. all of this hope and stuff is on the basis of perceived desperation and lack of hope in the present.

his youth supporters are actually the more transient of the bunch. the low information, emotionally engaged bunch that are for sanders because he excites them. but this 'positive' position on sanders is far from enough to justify a split of the dem party. the ones who will split are the hardened haters of the 'establishment.'

fact of the matter is obstruction from the right rather than ineptitude or lack of courage from the dem leadership is really what's holding everything back. the relative gain from going to sanders platform vs hillary is NEGATIVE. it is simply more important to win than to go further left.

On March 21 2016 00:34 ticklishmusic wrote:


Now thats not something you expect to see in Cuba...

Obams goin' to Cuba

+ Show Spoiler [Dat flag tho] +

For rent: brand new one-bedroom apartments in the shadow of downtown Dallas, a short walk from one of the city’s trendiest areas. On-site concierge. Successful applicants will be homeless, mentally ill and possess criminal records.

These are strange-sounding tenant requirements, but The Cottages at Hickory Crossing is an unusual kind of project. It is a “housing first” strategy: find the homeless a permanent place of their own before trying to solve their problems, rather than the other way around.

The fifty 400sq ft units are set to open in April in north Texas. Despite its bucolic name, Hickory Crossing is wedged between freeways a mile from the city’s high-rises, with railroad tracks, warehouses and the nightlife of the Deep Ellum district close by. One of the nonprofits that has raised the funds for the multimillion dollar project, CitySquare, has an Opportunity Center across the road offering a variety of services for low-income Dallas residents.

“In order to live across the street you have to be chronically homeless, disabled, with some presenting mental health issue, typically drugs or alcohol, and you have to have a criminal background. If you haven’t been in jail you can’t stay in our houses,” says Larry James, CitySquare’s CEO.

The process of selecting tenants is under way. It began by identifying the 300 most expensive homeless people in the county, based on their cost to city services such as the health and prison systems.