***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[RustyShackleford]

I don't know, I just don't think any democrat other than Kamala or Cory are going to be substantively different on any racial justice issue. They are democrats, they are all beholden to essentially the same coalition if they win the presidency. The framing is just window dressing.

Pete putting electoral reform as the his first priority in office to me shows he really understands what the problem is in America.

I was speaking personally, so for my vote at the caucus. I am not saying Pete doesn't understand racial politics in America, or he will be a bad nominee.

Like you said, they are beholden to the same coalition but that doesn't mean they will govern exactly the same. Their framing might give me a signal of what kind of DOJ they will run. There can be material differences there. Right now, Pete doesn't have to play the "it does both ways" game, yet he still does.

Beto and Pete are two guys that were not my first choices nor do I have any serious preferences in either direction. So my decision is being made at the margin, and Beto has a slight edge for me right now. That can change.

 

[whywesteppin]

It's hard to predict right now. Biden and Bernie are currently frontrunners because of name recognition, but they both have flaws and are already well known, which may end up working against them.

Plus they are only getting 20-30% of the early polls, leaving 70-80% up for grabs (once the field is down to just two people, hypothetically speaking). Someone will emerge from all of this, and I have a feeling that at least 1 of the final 2 is someone who hasn't been in the spotlight too much yet.

 

[IATT]

 

[sonoftony]

Bernie had that crowd in that townhall locked down and Bret and Martha HATED it, so glorious

 

[-Red-]

Those same folks that raised their hands will vote for Trump again. Bernie is wasting his time.

Most of them probably will. But as many as 9.2 million people that voted for Obama in 2012 voted for Trump in 2016. You may feel in your soul that every Trump voter is irredeemable and beyond reason but you should also understand that running a campaign on that premise is a short-sighted and self-defeating political strategy...

 

[-Red-]

I mean, aepps20 don't you want the opportunity to redeem yourself by casting your vote for your boy Primetime in 2020?

 

[rexanglorum]

When liberals argue with conservatives, they come off as virgins and conservatives are Chads. Libs are right on facts but it’s so lame to cite statistics about undocumented workers’ net positive contributions to social security in response to a conservative who just argued for blood and soil nationalism. The conservative basically is accusing you of inviting hordes from the global south to come and rape your wife and daughters and breed you out of existence and the liberal answer is a utilitarian answer that may be factually sound but totally misses the point that the conservative called you weak and you didn’t push back on that assert.

By contrast, a leftist can show up, say that we’ll tax Jeff Beto’s to expand Medicare and pay for an infrastructure program that’ll shorten your commute and pay for your kids to come out of college of trade school debt free and suddenly the conservative in the room becomes the Virgin and leftist becomes the Chad. Suddenly, the conservative becomes the nerdcuck who argues for the NAP and cited the Laffer Curve.

Obviously I’m being a bit jocular in tone, I am simplifying the case and I am doing a vulgar paraphrasing of Lakoff but yeah, things are generally bad and there are millions of voters who aren’t so engaged with politics that they pay close attention but they are engaged enough that they’ll vote and they just get the vague sense that whoever is sticking up for the status quo and doing so with the use of arcane academic theories or statistical and utilitarian arguments, that person must be the bad guy.

Bernie showed up on Fox News and made the hosts look like the bad guys and Bernie came off as the guy who’ll identify enemies, check those enemies and make your life and that of your loved ones better. Most Republicans will continue to be irredeemable ghouls but a coalition as big as the coalition that elected Trump has marginal members who really just want a candidate who will A.) acknowledge that the American Dream is indeed out of reach and B.) identify enemies and if Bernie can make a tiny sliver of Trump’s coalition reimagine those enemies as American Oligarchs instead of immigrants, then Bernie did something that everyone in the anti Trump coalition can and should appreciate.

 

[RustyShackleford]

The only thing me aepps20 , Uncle Zel, Aunt Shirley, Lester, and Big Mama all agree on, is that we would prefer for Bernie not be the nominee.

 

[IATT]

 

[stuntman mike]

what god and bible is that lady referring to when she’s saying trump is the most godly and biblical president ever?

is this @PLVN in the comments?

 

[aepps20]

The only thing me aepps20 , Uncle Zel, Aunt Shirley, Lester, and Big Mama all agree on, is that we would prefer for Bernie not be the nominee.

 

[whywesteppin]

The only thing me aepps20 , Uncle Zel, Aunt Shirley, Lester, and Big Mama all agree on, is that we would prefer for Bernie not be the nominee.

Prime Time was a beast on the field with unprecedented close-out speed and the ability to change directions on a dime. He was also a crowd-pleaser with his dance moves and post-game quotes.

But off the field, it's a different story. His hip pain limits his movements, he isn't able to adapt to new information or changing trends, his casserole is mediocre, and he wants to shut down the coal mines.

 

[boris]

I wanted to say a lot about this. But, I'm just gonna say what we all already know. This is such blatant bull****.

 

[Belgium]

For those who would like a refresher ahead of the Thursday release of the redacted Mueller report.







Interesting. The redactions in the timeframe referenced by the DC US Attorney includes the repeated lies Manafort told in violation of his plea agreement. The transcript of Manafort’s final hearing on violating his plea agreement was very heavily redacted.
https://www.axios.com/paul-manafort...ent-c75a84ae-1dc9-45ee-b199-ebaeefd1abad.html
DOJ won't unseal Manafort records due to several "ongoing investigations"
The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia argued in a court filing Monday that the Washington Post's request to release sealed and redacted records related to Paul Manafort's case should be rejected because of the existence of several "ongoing investigations."

"The redactions at issue were undertaken and approved recently — from December 2018, through March 2019. No material changes have occurred in these past months. Although the Special Counsel has concluded his work, he has also referred a number of matters to other offices. The ongoing investigations that required redactions — many of which were already being conducted by other offices — remain ongoing."

 

[nawghtyhare]

Why is this a mystery? People think rich daddy didn’t give this dude a dime? Seriously

No
It’s just white folks
Don’t consider that getting help

 

[blastercombo]

No
It’s just white folks
Don’t consider that getting help

Don’t know if it’s just a “white” thing but I get what you mean. “I worked hard too!” Meanwhile they had a car, food, dorm, tuition, clothes, etc ALL paid for. “I started my own business!!! I’m self made!!!” Yet daddy dropped the 2.5 mil to start it up. **** outta here

 

[boris]

Hah.

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

Hah.

 

[IATT]

 

[rexanglorum]

The only thing me aepps20 , Uncle Zel, Aunt Shirley, Lester, and Big Mama all agree on, is that we would prefer for Bernie not be the nominee.

I apologize profusely but when Bernie wins and M4A makes insulin free to all who need it, Uncle Zel won’t have to ration his insulin any more.

In future thanksgivings, you’ll have to deal with a powerful, insulin fueled Uncle Zel. This will be a profoundly regrettable aspect of a Sanders Administration.

 

[getback]

 

[rexanglorum]

If you don’t like taxation, you’ll really be very unhappy when you find out what’s been happening to the surplus value of your labor.

 

[RustyShackleford]

This is one of the dumbest hot take libertarian graphics I have ever seen.

 

[IATT]