US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7223

USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for the Olympic sport, was a no-show Tuesday at a Congressional hearing into its handling of sexual abuse allegations — drawing a sharp rebuke from one lawmaker.

"I'm deeply disappointed they've sent a statement but no witness to question," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.

"If they really cared, they would be here," he added. "They have to answer for what happened here."

USA Gymnastics told NBC News that officials did not appear at the hearing because of pending lawsuits spawned by the sex-abuse scandal surrounding former Olympics doctor Larry Nassar.

"The health and well-being of our athletes of all skill levels and ages is of the highest priority," the organization said in response to Blumenthal's comments.

"We believe one instance of child abuse — whether at a school, church or gym — is one too many, and we are angered when any child has been harmed during his or her athletic career."

USA Gymnastics said it endorses the legislation that was the subject of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing — a bill sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would require all Olympic sports bodies to immediately report accusations of abuse to police.

While USA Gymnastics bowed out, the committee did hear from a trio of elite gymnasts who say they were abused and that a mandatory-reporting law would prevent other young athletes from being preyed upon.

On March 30 2017 01:23 Mohdoo wrote:


I think the societal transformation/progress facilitated by the internet made people outgrow their parties. The internet makes it really easy to determine what kinds of thoughts resonate with you, then gives you the ability to be completely surrounded by those ideologies. People who, in 2008, were pretty enthusiastic about the environment and income inequality, may have ended up Bernie supporters in 2016. Before the internet, maybe a bit more moderate and totally fine with Clinton. Same deal with people who were totally cool with GWB but would not stomach the idea of anyone but a transformative tea party candidate in 2016.

In many ways, I think the internet accelerates societal change through a much faster method of what I will call "idea refinement" where broad ideas are sanded down into specific, impassioned positions.


edit: If I may respond to Danglars again: The thing that sticks out to me as stockholm syndrome isn't so much the support of Trump over Clinton as much as it is Putin/Russia favorables after Trump. The polls speak for themselves. Republicans like Mccain didn't used to be so uncommon. The republican party was very tough on Russia for a very long time and that showed no signs of letting up. It wasn't until Putin was so strongly elevated as a strong man by Trump that people started to chest best for Putin too. Trump, purely by being the GOP candidate, totally reversed a bunch of people's deeply held beliefs regarding Russia. I don't think all these people are free thinkers. I think the momentum behind "my party's candidate" changed their minds against their will, in a way.

President Donald Trump’s approval rating continued to drop Wednesday in Gallup’s daily presidential poll.

According to the polling company, 35 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s performance in office, down from the 36 percent approval published on Monday and Tuesday. Fifty-nine percent of respondents disapproved of his performance, beating the previous high of 57 percent on March 18.

Trump’s net approval is now at negative 24 percent, down from record of negative 21 percent set on March 18.

Gallup arrives at its numbers by averaging its previous three days of polling. Wednesday’s numbers reflect polling conducted since Sunday, two days after House Republican leadership pulled a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, citing lack of support within their own caucus.

As Gallup’s editor-in-chief noted Monday, Trump has surpassed the record low approval ratings in both the Obama and Clinton presidencies: 38 and 37 percent, respectively. Former President George W. Bush hit his low, of 25 percent, in late 2008.

Gallup tracks the percentage of Americans who approve and disapprove of the President’s performance in office daily via telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults, according to the company. The poll’s margin of error is 3 percentage points.

On March 30 2017 10:34 RealityIsKing wrote:
As long as the ties with Russia doesn't negatively affect the lives of American citizens, there is not much wrong with having Russian ties.

We need to see our neighbors as collaborators instead of competitors.

On March 30 2017 10:34 RealityIsKing wrote:
As long as the ties with Russia doesn't negatively affect the lives of American citizens, there is not much wrong with having Russian ties.

We need to see our neighbors as collaborators instead of competitors.

On March 30 2017 10:55 KwarK wrote:

The allegation is that there is a serious conflict of interest within the American government. People don't object to peace with Russia, they object to senior politicians being accountable to foreign interests rather than the American people. The basic idea of democracy is that the politicians are held to account by the electorate at the ballot box and therefore the politicians must serve the people or be replaced by others who will. The issue with Trump is that a foreign power intervened in the American election to help propel him into the job and so we must ask what, if anything, he offered them in return.

Not that you'll understand any of this, but that's the issue.

On March 30 2017 11:03 RealityIsKing wrote:


It is generally not a good idea to insult people if you want people to follow your logic. It doesn't move the conversation in anywhere positive.

I understand your worries. But until Trump prioritize Russian gains over American gains, there is no reason to have fear monger.

Meanwhile everybody needs stay vigilant and investigate on their own instead of reading articles that have "a poll says, or a study shows".

On March 30 2017 12:36 TheTenthDoc wrote:
Giuliani overplayed his hand when he gleefully discussed FBI agents leaking him information about the Weiner emails, especially since Trump is now the anti-leak.

North Carolina state legislators announced late Wednesday they had reached a deal with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to repeal the controversial HB2 law, which restricted transgender bathroom access in the state.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, according to local reports, said at a late-night press conference that House Bill 142, which would repeal House Bill 2, would be re-introduced to the Senate floor Thursday morning.

“We have reached an agreement with the governor," said Berger. “We have agreed with the governor that we will take no questions tonight.”

The pair of legislators gave no further details of the repeal measure, but asserted that the bill "will pass" when it hits the floor of the legislature Thursday.

If the repeal is successful, it would shutter a hotly contested law enacted under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory that prevented individuals from entering government facilities that matched their gender identity.

The law also limits discrimination protections on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.

On March 30 2017 11:44 KwarK wrote:

None of the links have been studies or polls. They've been things like a Russian oligarch bailing Trump out from bankruptcy by overpaying for a house Trump had been unable to sell to give him a cash injection (similar to when Trump's casino got bailed out by a large purchase of casino chips which were then taken out of the casino and not gambled with).

The Trump-Russia links aren't based on idle speculation or rumour, the only thing lacking is a smoking gun.

On March 30 2017 17:14 RealityIsKing wrote:


No I'm saying in general.

Yeah those things you've listed are very suspicious but let's hope for the best that Trump is putting Americans first.