US Politics Mega-thread - Page 3768

On May 08 2016 10:48 Mohdoo wrote:
The GOP is like a better version of the civil war super hero movie. Bob Dole vs Bush is pretty hype.

On May 08 2016 12:32 oneofthem wrote:
obama is this hyper-rationalist guy who really believes in the power of reason and first order engagement with the content of ideas. bernie and trump are optics and identity driven and intentionally or unintentionally, appeals to the irrational and emotional.

it's not even about party balance etc but the future of democracy. with increasing complexity and alienation of the governing experts vs people equipped by internets etc to have a lot of informationally closed groups.

On May 08 2016 13:09 Nyxisto wrote:


yes the whole "we just need to throw the information out" idea kind of didn't work. The internet seems to be pretty abysmal at making people smarter, which raises the question how democracy is supposed to work at all if no form of discourse actually works

On May 08 2016 13:09 Nyxisto wrote:


yes the whole "we just need to throw the information out" idea kind of didn't work. The internet seems to be pretty abysmal at making people smarter, which raises the question how democracy is supposed to work at all if no form of discourse actually works

Part of the negativity voters feel toward Clinton and Trump probably has something to do with growing political polarization in our country. But polarization doesn’t explain everything. If Trump and Clinton’s strongly unfavorable ratings were simply a byproduct of polarized politics, you’d expect them to have high “strongly favorable” ratings too. They don’t. You can see this in their net strong favorability ratings (the “strongly favorable” rating minus the “strongly unfavorable” rating):



No major party nominee before Clinton or Trump had a double-digit net negative “strong favorability” rating. Clinton’s would be the lowest ever, except for Trump.

In previous cycles, the nominees of each party almost always had a strongly favorable and unfavorable rating within 10 percentage points of each other. The only exception was Michael Dukakis in 1988; only 19 percent of Americans felt strongly about Dukakis, either favorably or unfavorably. Over 50 percent of Americans give Clinton and Trump either a “strongly favorable” or “strongly unfavorable” rating, and most of that feeling is negative.

On May 08 2016 19:42 WhiteDog wrote:

This kind of situation is actually really bad, because whoever will be elected, he or she will have unsufficient legitimacy and will be have trouble doing anything due to oppsition in the congress / by the civil society.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will endorse a tougher tone with Israel in an upcoming international report that takes the Jewish state to task over settlements, demolitions and property seizures on land the Palestinians claim for a future state, diplomats told The Associated Press.

The U.S. and its fellow Mideast mediators also will chastise Palestinian leaders for failing to rein in anti-Israeli violence. But the diplomats involved in drafting the document said its primary focus will be a surge of construction in Jewish housing in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The U.S. approval of the harsh language marks a subtle shift. Washington has traditionally tempered statements by the so-called "Quartet" of mediators with careful diplomatic language, but the diplomats said the U.S. in this case will align itself closer to the positions of the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, who emphasize Israel's role in the Mideast impasse.

The report's release is sure to infuriate Israel, where officials are already bracing for expected criticism. And on the other side, although the mediators will endorse some long-standing Palestinian complaints, the Palestinians are likely to complain the report does not go far enough.

Diplomats acknowledge the report, which could come out in late May or June, will be largely symbolic, requiring no action. It could be unveiled at the U.N. and possibly sent to the Security Council for an endorsement, according to the diplomats, who included three U.S. officials. They all demanded anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the unfinished work publicly.

The diplomats said the report is intended to highlight obstacles to a two-state peace agreement — the stated goal of both Israeli and Palestinian leaders — and offer recommendations for restarting negotiations in a process that is stalled.

The Palestinians don't want talks as long as settlement construction continues; the Israelis say they're open to negotiations, but have shown little interest in making any meaningful concessions.

On May 08 2016 19:42 WhiteDog wrote:

This kind of situation is actually really bad, because whoever will be elected, he or she will have unsufficient legitimacy and will be have trouble doing anything due to oppsition in the congress / by the civil society.

Sarah Palin says Paul Ryan will soon be ‘Cantored’

Sarah Palin said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that she will support Speaker Paul Ryan's primary challenger, and she compared Ryan to former House majority leader Eric Cantor (Va.), who was stunningly defeated in a 2014 primary.

"I think Paul Ryan is soon to be 'Cantored,'" Palin said on CNN's "State of the Union." Cantor lost his primary to now-Rep. Dave Brat.

Palin, a former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, backs Donald Trump for president. Ryan said this week that he is not ready to support Trump — even though he is the presumptive GOP nominee. Trump and Ryan are slated to meet this week.

"His political career is over but for a miracle, because he has so disrespected the will of the people ... and for him to already come out and say who he will not support was not a wise decision of his," Palin added of Ryan.

On May 09 2016 00:43 kwizach wrote:


Also: this is too good. Yes Palin, please fan the flames while Trump tries to achieve some form of unity

Source

On May 09 2016 01:01 OuchyDathurts wrote:


Wasn't that a bit of a foregone conclusion anyway? It was a job they couldn't give away, no one wanted to touch it. Someone had to take it even though it was a poison pill so Paul Ryan ended up taking one for the team.

On May 09 2016 00:50 LegalLord wrote:
Honestly, if Bernie weren't doing the R's job for them then they would be doing the job themselves. I'm not sure how much of a difference there would really be between the two.

Donald Trump Won’t Rule Out Effort to Remove Paul Ryan as Convention Chairman

Donald J. Trump said he would not rule out an effort to remove Representative Paul D. Ryan as chairman of the Republican National Convention if he did not endorse Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

Mr. Trump stopped short of calling for Mr. Ryan, the speaker of the House, to step down from his convention role. But in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump said there could be consequences in the event that Mr. Ryan continued withholding his support.

“I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens, O.K.?” Mr. Trump said. “There’s no reason to give it right now, but I’ll be very quick with the answer.”

Mr. Trump has shown little interest over the last few days in placating his critics inside the party, including Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan, a representative from Wisconsin, said on Thursday that he was not ready to endorse Mr. Trump, citing reservations about his political style and policy agenda. The two men are scheduled to meet privately in Washington next week.

But on “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump struck a dismissive tone toward Mr. Ryan and responded with outright hostility to other Republican critics who have refused to back his campaign.

On May 09 2016 00:08 Mohdoo wrote:


I think the democratic party is smart enough to see this massive opportunity right in front of them. Bernie support in the democratic party would be insane. I think they will realize they have so much to lose and so much to gain and will find a good way to bring a lot of Sanders' supporters into the party. Not all, perhaps not even most, but a huge chunk.

On May 08 2016 12:32 oneofthem wrote:
obama is this hyper-rationalist guy who really believes in the power of reason and first order engagement with the content of ideas. bernie and trump are optics and identity driven and intentionally or unintentionally, appeal to the irrational and emotional.

it's not even about party balance etc but the future of democracy. with increasing complexity and alienation of the governing experts vs people equipped by internets etc to have a lot of informationally closed groups.