USA Politics

[Todd]

I don't even know what's going to drive leftists mad more: Trump winning or Trump losing? 

Winning, for sure. 

After Super-Creepy 46 wins, much of the hysterical nonsense lefties have been writing and saying for years will disappear into the ether.  For instance, the absolute certainty of Trump stealing the election and installing himself for life, an idea advanced and defended right on this forum by self-styled intellectuals, will magically give way to praising the brave and persistent actions behind the scenes of various Dem functionaries, or perhaps the fact that the people woke up (even if they do not necessarily become woke), or whatever.  The occasional excitement about ideas such as packing the court and pushing for various Constitutional Amendments will wax and wane, but not a lot will change.  Maybe the Electoral College will be vanquished this time around, though.  jk

[Herman]

So you choose to blame journalists rather than the people who falsified CIA intelligence and actually engineered and ordered the war?

Frum was a speechwriter in Dubya's administration; not a journalist.

I like the current Frum.

[Florestan]

Winning, for sure. 

If he wins against all odds, I'll be sorry for some GMGers yet I'll rejoice over some others. 

[Todd]

If he wins against all odds, I'll be sorry for some GMGers yet I'll rejoice over some others. 

If Trump wins reelection, I will laugh heartily, and then enjoy years of Democrat and non-American whining and virtue signaling that will reach new levels of intensity and stupidity.  (Expect at least one more shot at impeachment, for instance.)  I will also watch with keen interest to see what type of permanent damage Trump can do to the existing international order. 

[Florestan]

what type of permanent damage Trump can do to the existing international order.

None whatsoever.

[Todd]

None whatsoever.

I disagree.  Trump has already eroded confidence in the order, though he has not materially altered commitments to existing treaties on the security side, though on the economic side he has abandoned certain trade agreements and effectively hobbled the WTO.  I'd prefer a shift of effective focus, but I will take what I can get.  The fears of various internationalist sorts, covered in more measured and informed tones in foreign policy journals and books, and more hysterically in the popular press and online, will inch forward under four more years of Trump.  Alas, Super-Creepy 46 will do all he can to reverse the damage and move to a status quo ante.

[JBS]

I didn't wish Trump's demise. I just observed that if I had to spend $10 to save his life, I wouldn't.

I too would like to see justice served and see Trump in jail where he belongs, I'm just in doubt that it would happen even if he loses.

So you choose to blame journalists rather than the people who falsified CIA intelligence and actually engineered and ordered the war?

If you are going to blame journalists, blame the ones who didn't challenge the narrative that was used to justify the Iraq war.

[Florestan]

I disagree. 

Please show me what type of permanent damage Trump has done to the existing international order.

[Todd]

Please show me what type of permanent damage Trump has done to the existing international order.

Go ahead and read up on the items I cited.

[Florestan]

Go ahead and read up on the items I cited.

NATO is business as usual, Russia is business as usual, China is business as usual. The existing international order is exactly like it was before Trump got elected POTUS. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share it.

[Todd]

NATO is business as usual, Russia is business as usual, China is business as usual. The existing international order is exactly like it was before Trump got elected POTUS. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share it.

Incorrect on all counts.  Go ahead and read up on the items I cited.  Also, read up on international payments.

[arpeggio]

Frum was a speechwriter in Dubya's administration; not a journalist.

I like the current Frum.

So do I.  Both of his books are great.

[arpeggio]

That guy is a moral authority? LMFAO

There are over a million dead Iraqis because of that turd and others like him who supported regime change.

Another false equivalency brought to you by Dowder.

So what?   Frum's background does not exonerate Trump from being responsible for the unnecessary deaths of Kurds, Americans and many others.

[Florestan]

Incorrect on all counts.

Please correct me on all counts.

[Karl Henning]

Nearly all of us wish, in spite of Trump's own pathological lack of empathy, the President to recover.  Worth pointing out that a recovery will be in spite of his own behavior in a number of ways, including his blatant disregard for the safety of himself and others, and the lousy care he takes of his "great genes" body.

[Todd]

Please correct me on all counts.

Nah, I won't waste my time.

[Todd]

White House Correspondents Association: 'Outrageous' for Trump to leave hospital without informing pool

The feel good story of the day: Trump outrages the press again, and they pretend as though he has an actual obligation to inform the press of every action he may take, even if it is a dumb one. 

[milk]

Winning, for sure. 

After Super-Creepy 46 wins, much of the hysterical nonsense lefties have been writing and saying for years will disappear into the ether.  For instance, the absolute certainty of Trump stealing the election and installing himself for life, an idea advanced and defended right on this forum by self-styled intellectuals, will magically give way to praising the brave and persistent actions behind the scenes of various Dem functionaries, or perhaps the fact that the people woke up (even if they do not necessarily become woke), or whatever.  The occasional excitement about ideas such as packing the court and pushing for various Constitutional Amendments will wax and wane, but not a lot will change.  Maybe the Electoral College will be vanquished this time around, though.  jk

Democrats are good at turning against each other. A century of progressively worse academic gibberish has found its way into the brains and feeds of millennials and zoomers armed with virtual firing squads. Insofar as "structural change" has any meaning whatsoever, Harris ain't it and she's on deck. She has the right identity credentials, minus points for sticking with the sex (and/or gender) she was born wit; will it make up for her popularity with billionaire donors? Never mind. There's an all-out ideological war coming as there's really no way to stop bad incidents from happening in a country full of guns, still hell-bent on drug wars, and rife with police armed with military paraphernalia. But even were those things improved, someone saying the wrong thing now equals violence and warrants the highest outrage. There's a circular firing squad coming, especially since supremacies and phobias can only be located in grand amorphous "structures." Everything is evidence for the structure. It's not just the American constitution that's founded on othering and domination, it's western liberal humanism. Structure can not be located in any one person or law so the fight to destroy this damned society continues. Onward and upward!

[drogulus]

It's not just the American constitution that's founded on othering and domination, it's western liberal humanism. Structure can not be located in any one person or law so the fight to destroy this damned society continues. Onward and upward!

     I thought you were opposed to cynical theory.

[milk]

     I thought you were opposed to cynical theory.

critical theory and applied post-modernism. I'm a bit fascinated by how much it's gotten through and how bad it seems to me now. Maybe it's not really fair to blame this generation since my Gen X was already being taught this stuff. Plus, I went along with it when I was young. I think it's the kind of thing that really appeals to youth. When I was at university doing my B.A. in the late 80s, we took over our administration building for three days. It was a pretty amazing experience. Now I see how callow it was. I think dreams of utopia are sexy and were, at that time, out of reach. Now we see it being funded by the richest corps in America. And there's social media to weaponize it.