***Official Political Discussion Thread***

:lol:

On a more serious note, Guinness clarified the "functioning" distinction in late 2018. Ireland went way past 541 days without a formal government but Guinness rejected their claim to the record. It was denied on the basis that Ireland could still pass laws during that time, whereas we couldn't.

I remember there were ironic celebrations in various parts of the country when we passed the previous record holder, which was Iraq.

https://www.france24.com/en/2011021...ngest-period-without-government-iraq-election
Day of celebration and shame as Belgium’s deadlock breaks record
Belgium broke a world record Thursday - and beat Iraq in the process – for having gone the longest period of time without a formal government, at 249 days. The government of the country has been in deadlock since the June 13th elections last year.

AP - Many would see it as a humiliation, but for Belgium it's an excuse for a party: the country's citizens are marking 249 days without a government Thursday, a figure that they are treating as a world record.

Day to day the crisis pits the leaders of 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings against those of 4.5 million French speakers, but people from across the country are putting aside their differences to celebrate the occasion.


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I get what you mean - Northern Ireland has had similar issues for the last few years - just resolved this month. While they are part of the UK they also have a devolved government with certain powers but due to disagreements between the 2 largest parties they were suspended for 3 years.

Interestingly they actually got some stuff done - the civil servants just kept doing what they were doing and I heard from a few people that it was easier because they could just do sensible things and not have to discuss it with the politicians.
 
Just finished listening to Booker's interview on the Erza Klein show. I was very insightful. Klein really called Booked out on how he sends mix messages, bad assumptions, and challenges him to be specific. Cory Booker is an outstanding person, he demands a lot from himself, but he lets people off the hook a lot. Dude is the best when he just presses the issue instead of trying to be lovable. Dude seems to acknowledge confrontation is essential for change of second, yet acts like it I not necessary the next.

It just leaves me think that he is just bad at the politicial triangulation need to win the Presidency. He refuses to pick a lane so it appear he is swerving all over the place. Just like Harris.

While it is completely impossible I am convinced that if every voter had a chance to interview candidates, Booker would win.

Also mans politics is way more radical that most of the field (except maybe Castro) because he doesn't run from the race issue, and others.

The fact that Castro and Booker gained no traction exposes something America, Democratic voters, and even progressives.

His point Baby Bonds not getting traction but UBI and $15 minimum wage doing so was very insightful. America focus too much on income inequality and not enough on wealth inequality. Booker had a line that was like "a paycheck is what helps you get by, wealth is what helps you get ahead". So from that frame, maybe $15 minimum wage and UBI are more appealing to people, including many on the left, because we are find with helping black people and other minorities getting by, but we are not that committed to helping them get ahead.
I agree that Booker was the most likable candidate in the Democratic field and that he's probably the "best person" of the bunch, so to speak. I was saying this to my people over the holidays and they were looking at me like they didn't recognize me :lol:

I don't think the policy comparisons are that straightforward, though. The $15 minimum wage has been an ascendant policy priority among Democrats nationwide in recent years—certainly before this election cycle—largely owing to major grassroots organizing campaigns around the issue (as well as soaring cost of living in many blue cities and states). This is one of the most recognizable and straightforward issues on the political left at large and is obviously rooted in a universally recognizable existing policy paradigm. To my knowledge, there has been no comparable public groundswell for Baby Bonds nor does it fit neatly into an existing box like minimum wage.

On the other hand, I don't know how much traction the UBI has really gotten. Yang has been the only candidate pushing it, and he has basically no public support. I could see UBI being more widely recognized and possibly even more widely supported than Baby Bonds, though, since UBI is basically the only thing Yang is selling and he seems insistent on staying in the race just to push it. Yang's version of UBI is ****ing trash, so to the extent that may be true, it's definitely disheartening.

I do like the Baby Bonds idea, though, and I agree that policies that address wealth inequality directly need much more attention. You made a strong case for that yourself. I hope Baby Bonds or a similar policy gets greater traction going forward.
 
What a hatchet job by the Warren camp on Bernie...very disappointing. She is still my second choice though but it reveals a lot about her campaign (not necessarily her).
It's easy to take the high ground and be civil when you are in the lead but now that Warren has fallen in the polls she allows her "surrogates" to feed this nonsense to the press.
No one believes it and it looks like a desperate attempt.
 
What a hatchet job by the Warren camp on Bernie...very disappointing. She is still my second choice though but it reveals a lot about her campaign (not necessarily her).
It's easy to take the high ground and be civil when you are in the lead but now that Warren has fallen in the polls she allows her "surrogates" to feed this nonsense to the press.
No one believes it and it looks like a desperate attempt.
Warren is saying she said something along those lines...
 
I have a hard time believing Bernie bluntly said a woman can't win the Presidency or win in 2020.

I can believe that he might of said some inarticulate **** that left that impression on Warren.

I mean Warren got some snakeish tendancies and Bernie got some sucka tendancies, so it really is a toss up at this point on who being more truthful. Plus we don't know the context of Bernie's words.

Either way, they should probably just dead it. Doesn't help either of them to go down this path.
 
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I have a hard time believing Bernie bluntly said a woman can't win the Presidency or win in 2020.

I can believe that he might of said some inarticulate **** that left that impression on Warren.

I mean Warren got some snakeish tendancies and Bernie got some sucka tendancies, so it really is a toss up at this point on who being more truthful. Plus we don't know the context of Bernie's words.

Either way, they should probably just dead it. Doesn't help either of them to go down this path.

I was going to say that you summed it up perfectly and it could not be said any better....


but then I read Comrade Noskey's words! He said it even better:


Bernard v Elizabeth. Only one winner here: DONALD JENIUS JESUS TRUMP. 4 MORE DECADES, COMRADES!
 
Man...watching the “great divide” bs on PBS Frontline....and it’s still ridiculous to me how the media continues to normalize and “both sides” bad faith actors in the Republican Party...who clearly and unapologetically are the drivers for “division”.

Normalizing Steve Brannon and characters like that....it’s wild.
 
The American media is too driven by profit, and too cowardly to tell the truth.

That America only has one reasonably functioning party in America that is remotely interest in helping people and not animated by some of the worst forces in America (sexism, racist, xenophobia, etc.)

The both sides nonsense will be the death of us.

Academics are screaming at us that it is the Republicans ****ing things up and the media ignores these warning and books these right wing ghouls on their shows to continuously gaslight people.
 
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I have a hard time believing Bernie bluntly said a woman can't win the Presidency or win in 2020.

I can believe that he might of said some inarticulate **** that left that impression on Warren.

I mean Warren got some snakeish tendancies and Bernie got some sucka tendancies, so it really is a toss up at this point on who being more truthful. Plus we don't know the context of Bernie's words.

Either way, they should probably just dead it. Doesn't help either of them to go down this path.

Warren’s campaign has to know this comes off looking desperate af given the timing and that the actual conversation happened in 2018.

Like they can’t be that dense, right?
 
Warren’s campaign has to know this comes off looking desperate af given the timing and that the actual conversation happened in 2018.

Like they can’t be that dense, right?
I don't know what the hell they were thinking with this.

Unless you go solid evidence Bernie went full buffoon, why even instigate this fiasco.

But I think they were salty over Bernie's people giving volunteers a script to attack Warren. Bernie said it was not his decision it was an employee. So one side engages in buffoonery, and the other side raises them.

Bernie and Warren need to dead this.
 
I don't know what the hell they were thinking with this.

Unless you go solid evidence Bernie went full buffoon, why even instigate this fiasco.

But I think they were salty over Bernie's people giving volunteers a script to attack Warren. Bernie said it was not his decision it was an employee. So one side engages in buffoonery, and the other side raises them.

Bernie and Warren need to dead this.

Interesting.

Well, given he's on record saying the opposite a few times, I don't see how this works in her favor at all. But who knows 🤷🏾‍♂️
 
I wanna be clear, too. I've got major love for you and the NT fam. If I didn't I wouldn't be in here. This is the only message board I'm a part of. I have a Facebook that I rarely ever use, and I don't have any other social media. This is it for me as far as online discussion, and I appreciate the discourse and insights I get from my brethren in here, even when we don't see exactly eye-to-eye.

If you or anyone else ever in STL, let me know and we can grab some drinks and kick it :smokin
This was earlier today but I’d like to take this moment to show my appreciation as well.

I’m very grateful that my active participation in this thread is not only accepted but welcomed.

I can understand why some Americans could feel some type of way about it, specifically when it comes criticism. As far as I can recall though, there were really only 2 formerly regular posters who insisted that I ‘mind my business’ and stay out of this thread. Those were Ninja and Rico x Hood. I never really saw those attacks as a big deal.
To his credit, Rico gradually reversed his view and eventually posted that he had grown to enjoy my “cordial” discussions with him.
There was a third individual who only rarely posted here but occasionally made remarks made it clear His username contained “Rhino” and possibly also “green” if I recall correctly. I vaguely recall posts along the lines of ‘this should come from an American’, as well as a negative response to my argument that anyone is welcome to roast my country.

I think by now it’s abundantly clear to everyone which topics are of the highest interest to me. Investigations, legal issues, national security and foreign policy.

While reading the latest news developments, I try to regularly include things that aren’t necessarily interesting or relevant to me personally but likely to be useful for y’all.

Some of my close friends share my interest in politics but it revolves entirely around just domestic politics. In all honesty I’d be lying if I said US affairs aren’t a lot more interesting and intriguing than domestic affairs.

I never anticipated becoming such a political junkie but my interest in such topics dates back to my choice in highschool to take behavioral and cultural sciences classes as my ‘subject’ (kind of like a major)
Additionally, I have built up many good personal and business relationships. I can also thank Americans and NT for helping me bounce back from a dire financial situation when I got a ~€4400 hospital bill for my partial lung removal.

In a such a relatively short time, I have learned a ton of new information on various topics and further increased my English vocabulary. My memory plays a big role in this. I can’t remember song lyrics whatsoever, only random bits and pieces, but on the other hand I know the Mueller report like the back of my hand.

In short, a big thank you to all of the NT fam.


Edit January 14: Sheesh you can tell it was late when I posted this. I fixed a multitude of spelling and grammatical errors.
 
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