Here is Joe Biden's eulogy at Strom Thurmond's funeral. Very powerful. Why am I bringing this up? Because I think one of Biden's main strenghts will be his ability to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans in the senate better than Obama did. Not Obama's fault. He just wasn't in the Senate for very long.
Given the relationships Biden built in the Senate, I think the Republicans are going to have a harder time stonewalling him. Thoughts?
I truly hope you are right. Over the past two or three decades, the word 'Compromise' has been denigrated by partizans on both the left and right in American politics. In many ways Joe Biden is a throwback, a politician who thrived in an environment where compromise was a good thing; when working together for the common good, when "giving a little to get a little" made government actually function, and we common citizens could realistically believe that our leaders were looking out for us and better days were ahead.
The challenges our new President faces are unprecedented. But I feel so much better about my grandchildren's future than I did just hours ago.
She’s a supporter of Sanders and this identifies as the same. But look at what they want and you’ll clearly see it’s like Canada and not the socialism you imagine. Focus on what they want and not on the name that for you conjures up Images of Venezuela. Which by the way is largely like that because they use the government coffers to supplement and cheapen gasoline rates. But never mind that. AOC and Bernie just want to move towards the things all other advanced countries have except for the United States.
Obama thought he could be a pragmatist. If not for the short time they had control of the house they’d have gotten almost nothing past. Republicans want to block almost everything progressive the Democrats want to do. Not unlike the Democrats blocking Trump’s wall. At least they’ve both agreed to spend the kids inheritance on income and business relief during covid. Too bad it favors the rich people more than the poor. Good luck with making compromises if they don’t get the senate. Yeah Joe’s past had him making deals but the current Republican Party is a new animal. I sure hope I’m wrong.
I understand that you can't accept what I'm saying and your reality is firmly rooted in your understanding of a few vague policy positions and what you hope to be true despite the contrary evidence.
You can't explain why AOC and Sanders insist on self identifying as socialists, so you simply dismiss it because tactically at least in the short term they aren't introducing bills nationalizing industry or fixing prices. Oh wait... AOC did exactly that for the banking industry, the healthcare industry, the energy industry, the transportation industry, the farming industry, the housing industry.
Of course, she couches it as "appropriate ownership stake" for the Government so you can rationalize that she doesn't really mean what she says.
And if that isn't enough:
"I favor the public ownership of utilities, banks and major industries," Sen. Sanders told the Burlington Free Press in 1976, according to CNN. "We need public control over capital; and the capital must be put to use for public need, not for the advancement of those who made the investments."
Yes, the current republican party is a new animal. Perhaps it is naive to hope for compromise. But against all odds, I hope. But still will work to defeat republican candidates in coming elections. And yes, Mitch McConnell is evil incarnate.
I dreamed McConnell lost his reelection bid last night and I was so disappointed to wake up.
I have been resentful of McConnell, too. Decided to check out if he and Biden have ever worked together. Apparently, they did a lot together while Biden was VP. McConnell even attended Beau Biden’s funeral as a family friend. Maybe we’ll see some softening of the partisanship if we can just keep the rabid partisans out of it and let these two old stalwarts work things out.
McConnell is the person who refused to give President Obama's Supreme Court nominee a hearing 237 days before the election, and then pushed Trump's pick through just days before this election. How much more rabidly partisan can you get?
Completely agree with you. Completely agree. I’m not going to argue for MM or for the slimey Repubs wrt that shameful, shameful act. Absolutely dispicable. And in doing that, the Repubs basically trashed the respectability of the Court as well as their own Party and ratcheted up the partisanship 100 fold.
We have to get past this hatred, though. The frenzy we are about to witness in GA is going to continue to fuel the hatred, unfortunately. But maybe, just maybe having such a close balance in both houses of Congress — *maybe* that will force (?) release (?) allow (?) some legislators to look at issues from a citizen’s perspective rather than always a party’s perspective. Like when John McCain marched into the chambers and voted for healthcare. Maybe we’ll get more of that kind of *humane* legislation when the balance of power is so precarious.
One can dream...
I don't understand the election fraud claims the President, Lindsey Graham and Rudy Giuliani are pursuing. They are not disputing the results of the House and Senate, but aren't those on the same ballots?
I guess that's why Republicans are basically saying about Trump, "I don't really know the guy. Had a picture taken with him. Heard he's a nice guy."
Another reason that the fraud charge seems ludicrous is how close the election came to going the other way. If there had been fraud, the perpetrators would have been unlikely to cut it so close.
You're not the only one. I read this article a few days ago by someone that has studied election fraud around the world and he said pretty much exactly what you're saying.
The Trumpian logic doesn’t even make sense. So the Democrats are stealing an election in Georgia, a place where Republicans control just about everything? So the Democrats somehow rigged the election but decided not to win the Senate, nor to win in several battleground states where they were favored in the polls? (And they apparently managed to throw in a couple of devastating losses of key House seats for good measure.) It’s absurd.
The best way to understand Trump’s increasingly deranged authoritarian rhetoric, then, is not to fixate on the evidence. The evidence doesn’t exist, but that isn’t even the point. This isn’t about winning in court. It’s a political strategy that seeks to cast doubt on an election that Trump has lost. That strategy relies on insinuation, conspiratorial thinking and spreading the false belief that something is up.
Pie on point again. "Penguin"!
Strong language warning:
This is a common tactic of Trump. He makes baseless claims, and leaves it to his acolytes to justify the claims. He wants litigation, and so makes baseless claims that don't need to make sense at all and doesn't require any evidence. His lawyers will litigate whatever they may be able to find (or nothing) and regardless will be used to claim Trump was right all along.
I assume he actually believes that, given judges he appointed, they will overturn the elections in multiple States and give them to him if only a case is put in front of them no matter how frivolous and senseless.
It's really a frightening thought! How long do you guys think it will take before Republican Senators stand up to him on this? So far only Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and Susan Collins have acknowledged the results of the election.
⬆️ In case you haven’t seen it, @Pathfinder set up a post-election thread here.
I think the Dems failed that one. How does that even happen??
I think that Sanders is not as left as AOC. There’s certainly a big risk that AOC could derrail Dems centrist agenda but...how much of it is due to fear mongering impression of the right? How much of it is real concern? I live in Alberta the most right wing province in Canada where we’re privatizing everything from health care to parks and yet we’ve had a government bank for years. There definitely needs to be more control over banks in the USA. Think the housing crash. Recently the restrictions that were put in after the housing crash were lifted and the same stuff is happening again. What to do about it? Clearly the wealthy will push to ha e restrictions removed once again if the Dems put them in place. How do you deal with it?? Do you have a good article on AOC that raises the concerns but isn’t too right biased? I’m all ears.
⬆️ Pompeo on election results: 'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration'
Crazy! Smh 🤦♂️
So what recourse do citizens have when one party, narrowly in the minority, refuses to accept the results of an election? Are we approaching a crisis like Germany experienced in the 1930's when Hitler flipped from being an elected leader to a fascist dictator as Representative Clyburn of SC suggested yesterday?
Crazy like a Fox. Pompeo knows that Trump’s refusal to concede is more about fundraising for his PAC than actually contesting the election. And Pompeo’s future may include running in an election, so that PAC is something that could come in very handy.
I notice that they’re seeking a lot of donations and noting in the fine print that up to 60% of their donations may go to pay off campaign debt.
The court transcripts are not looking so good:
It’s not about voter fraud. It’s about money. And it’s about Trump manipulating his followers yet again to support something that is framed in a way that obfuscates Trump’s personal gain. The PAC will feed his personal need for power and “loyalty.” The current Trump loyalists are just angling for a piece of the action. The Repubs are too afraid to come out against Trump now because he may have the la$t laugh.
With Trump it's always been about money. He is, at the most fundamental level, just a con man. A con man who got extraordinarly lucky, but a con man to the end.
