USA Politics (redux)

Started by bhodges, November 10, 2020, 01:09:34 PM

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Todd

2021 will have some national political highlights.  Like this: Republicans ready to become deficit hawks again under a President Biden

The phrases "debt ceiling" and "debt crisis" appear in the article.  Oh yeah!

And then there's this: Biden's Cabinet a battleground for future GOP White House hopefuls

I'm mostly interested in seeing how Tommy capitalizes on appointment battles.  I admit that I like Little Marco's line that Biden's national security picks are "polite & orderly caretakers of America's decline", but I'm not convinced he will be able to follow that up with anything substantive in terms of building broader support.  He really needs to flesh out his vision of economic nationalism to gain traction.

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Fëanor

Quote from: Todd on November 28, 2020, 05:57:24 AM

Yes, and they mean nothing.  When I see foreign poll results, I remember how John Kerry was preferred by 90%+ of Norwegians in 2004.  Remember, when it comes to the presidency of the US, the US has 538 Electoral Votes.  The rest of the world combined has 0. 

I may do some web sleuthing to see if any psychologists or psychiatrists have conducted research on why people fixate on politics in countries other than their own given that their fixation is intrinsically meaningless.  There must be some explanations for such irrational behavior.

So probably foreign polls and foreign opinion mean nothing when it comes to who gets elected.  I've known arrogant Americans who considered adverse foreign opinion of their favorite candidate to be a good thing, and the more reason to vote for them.  Point conceded.  8)

As for why foreigners care about elections in foreign countries, it's clear:  they and their countries are affected by the results -- and in no case more so than when the country is the USA.

When "Make America Great Again" means greatness only in the eyes of Americans while everywhere else the USA is increasingly despised, then the "greatness" is a narcissistic self-delusion.  (Trump know a lot about narcissistic self-delusion as do his staunch supporters.)

Todd

Quote from: Fëanor on November 28, 2020, 06:54:29 AMAs for why foreigners care about elections in foreign countries, it's clear:  they and their countries are affected by the results -- and in no case more so than when the country is the USA.

Of course small, weak countries are affected by electoral outcomes in the US.  That doesn't make fixating on the internal politics of another country rational behavior.  Not at all.


Quote from: Fëanor on November 28, 2020, 06:54:29 AMWhen "Make America Great Again" means greatness only in the eyes of Americans while everywhere else the USA is increasingly despised, then the "greatness" is a narcissistic self-delusion.

Meh.  The US has been despised for decades.  Longer, even.  The mighty empires of Europe, for instance, were left aghast when the upstart US could summon tens of millions of dollars on a whim to wage war on Spain in 1898.  And despite being "despised", small, weak countries still clamor for protection from the US, and access to US capital markets.  Small, weak countries just can't get enough of US guns and money.  Some small, weak countries - Canada and Mexico come to mind - will never be able to break away from the US, as their entire economic structure is so reliant upon the North American colossus.

Again, most non-American leaders have every opportunity to break away from the existing international order, yet aside from bad guy countries, all they do is complain.  Maybe 2021 is the year things change.  Let's see. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

drogulus

     
Quote from: Fëanor on November 28, 2020, 06:54:29 AM
So probably foreign polls and foreign opinion mean nothing when it comes to who gets elected.

     Rest assured, it doesn't. It's more like who gets elected has an effect on foreign polls and opinion.

     Foreign governments are probably in a holding pattern on the Trumpeo Stupid America regime. Accelerated decline understandably makes them nervous. If decline must happen, it should be professionally done. Even Little Marco knows this when he's not doing infotainment blurbs.

     One can sample Finnish opinion in a Big Brainy way without fixating overmuch. Also, one can discuss! Is this not the Diner? Are we not Big of Brain?
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Todd

Another feel good story from the failing New York Times: How Democrats Suffered Crushing Down-Ballot Losses Across America

Quote from: Trip GabrielThis year, Democrats targeted a dozen state legislative chambers where Republicans held tenuous majorities, including in Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina and Minnesota. Their goal was to check the power of Republicans to redraw congressional and legislative districts in 2021, and to curb the rightward drift of policies from abortion to gun safety to voting rights.

But in all cases, Democrats came up short. None of their targeted legislative chambers flipped, even though Mr. Biden carried many of the districts that down-ballot Democrats did not. It could make it harder for Democrats to retain a House majority in 2022.

I almost feel bad for Dems given the outright ineptitude of their leadership, logistics, and retail politics. 

jk

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

drogulus


     At the investment site I frequent I criticize the "contrarian" view, though not because it's entirely wrong about how people think in groups. What I notice is that self-identified contrarians are among the most regimented thought producers. Their thoughts on gold, Fed supremacy, monetary inflation and other bugaboos is cookie-cutterish to the max. As it is Above, so it is in the Diner.
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MusicTurner

Quote from: drogulus on November 28, 2020, 07:17:10 AM
     
     Rest assured, it doesn't. It's more like who gets elected has an effect on foreign polls and opinion.

     Foreign governments are probably in a holding pattern on the Trumpeo Stupid America regime. Accelerated decline understandably makes them nervous. If decline must happen, it should be professionally done. (...)

One aspect being of course, that in a discussion with 4 former Danish Foreign secretaries and a former ambassor in New York, they all agreed that Biden is likely to become the last 'classical', actively Pro-Atlantic and Pro-European US president as they have been known in the post-WWII years.

T. D.


drogulus

     
Quote from: MusicTurner on November 28, 2020, 07:34:24 AM
One aspect being of course, that in a discussion with 4 former Danish Foreign secretaries and a former ambassor in New York, they all agreed that Biden is likely to become the last 'classical', actively Pro-Atlantic and Pro-European US president as they have been known in the post-WWII years.

     Alliances don't disband, they just go quasi-dormant, like The Drudge Report, or become shells like Polaroid.

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drogulus

Quote from: T. D. on November 28, 2020, 10:22:15 AM
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-28/pennsylvania-judge-backs-trump-claim-in-case-over-mail-voting

This story has come up a couple of times in recent days. How significant is it? I can't tell.

     There was supposed to be a hearing today but it was canceled because of the appeal. Repubs are arguing that they made procedural errors when they expanded mail in voting. Why this means voters should be disenfranchised for voting according to the law is beyond the minds of mere mortals.
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flyingdutchman

Of course, in the end, what matters when it comes to the election only US voters have any real say. BUT, certainly it is right and appropriate for non-US citizens to state their views and register their utter disgust for the idiot Trump and the equally idiotic fools who led this country down the yellow brick road for the past 4 years.

bhodges

Quote from: flyingdutchman on November 28, 2020, 01:11:29 PM
Of course, in the end, what matters when it comes to the election only US voters have any real say. BUT, certainly it is right and appropriate for non-US citizens to state their views and register their utter disgust for the idiot Trump and the equally idiotic fools who led this country down the yellow brick road for the past 4 years.

"Right and appropriate," and thank you.

--Bruce

T. D.

Quote from: drogulus on November 28, 2020, 10:39:47 AM
     There was supposed to be a hearing today but it was canceled because of the appeal. Repubs are arguing that they made procedural errors when they expanded mail in voting. Why this means voters should be disenfranchised for voting according to the law is beyond the minds of mere mortals.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-28/pennsylvania-judge-backs-trump-claim-in-case-over-mail-voting

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed the state to complete its certification of the presidential vote won by Democrat Joe Biden, reversing a temporary delay ordered by a lower court judge and throwing out a challenge filed by state Republicans.

The high court on Saturday rejected the attack on the state's mail-voting law, enacted last year, saying Republicans waited too long to sue. The Supreme Court issued a sharply worded order, turning aside the "extraordinary proposition that the court disenfranchise all 6.9 million Pennsylvanians who voted in the General Election" and throw the decision to the state legislature.

SimonNZ

Trump supporter who gave $2.5m to fight election fraud wants money back

"A Donald Trump supporter who donated $2.5m to help expose and prosecute claims of fraud in the presidential election wants his money back after what he says are "disappointing results".

Fredric Eshelman, a businessman from North Carolina, said he gave the money to True the Vote, a pro-Trump "election ethics" group in Texas that promised to file lawsuits in seven swing states as part of its push to "investigate, litigate, and expose suspected illegal balloting and fraud in the 2020 general election".

But according to a lawsuit Eshelman filed this week in Houston, first reported by Bloomberg, True the Vote dropped its legal actions and discontinued its Validate the Vote 2020 campaign, then refused to return his calls when he demanded an explanation.

The founder of Eshelman Ventures llc, a venture capital company, said he asked "regularly and repeatedly" for updates, the lawsuit asserts, but that his "requests were consistently met with vague responses, platitudes, and empty promises".[...]

drogulus

Quote from: SimonNZ on November 28, 2020, 03:56:06 PM

The founder of Eshelman Ventures llc, a venture capital company, said he asked "regularly and repeatedly" for updates, the lawsuit asserts, but that his "requests were consistently met with vague responses, platitudes, and empty promises".[...]

     It would be a crime against humanity to give money back to someone this dumb.
     
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Fëanor

Quote from: Todd on November 28, 2020, 07:03:55 AM
Of course small, weak countries are affected by electoral outcomes in the US.  That doesn't make fixating on the internal politics of another country rational behavior.  Not at all.
~~

Meh.  The US has been despised for decades.  Longer, even.  The mighty empires of Europe, for instance, were left aghast when the upstart US could summon tens of millions of dollars on a whim to wage war on Spain in 1898.  And despite being "despised", small, weak countries still clamor for protection from the US, and access to US capital markets.  Small, weak countries just can't get enough of US guns and money.  Some small, weak countries - Canada and Mexico come to mind - will never be able to break away from the US, as their entire economic structure is so reliant upon the North American colossus.

Again, most non-American leaders have every opportunity to break away from the existing international order, yet aside from bad guy countries, all they do is complain.  Maybe 2021 is the year things change.  Let's see.

American arrogance on parade:  see above.

"Small and weak" though they may be, these countries do not benefit from association with the USA on account of American beneficence or altruism:  it's on account of mutual advantage.

This is a fact not evident to Donald Trump or, apparently, his supporters.

Todd

Quote from: Fëanor on November 30, 2020, 04:46:34 AMAmerican arrogance on parade:  see above.

"Small and weak" though they may be, these countries do not benefit from association with the USA on account of American beneficence or altruism:  it's on account of mutual advantage.

This is a fact not evident to Donald Trump or, apparently, his supporters.


Of course small, weak countries benefit from working with the US.  At some point, though - and one would have thought that point had been reached after all the griping of the Trump and before that Bush II years - it would seem reasonable for small, weak countries to start considering alternative structures for international security and finance.  Instead, NATO expanded yet again in 2020 to include another small, weak country clamoring for US protection, and in the wake of both 9/11 and 2007/8, the US dollar is more central to the global economy than before, US Treasuries act as collateral for more financial transactions than before, other countries come hat in hand like beggars to the Fed more frequently, and small, weak countries continue their embarrassing dependence on Uncle Sam and US taxpayers.  No international system lasts forever, as history very clearly demonstrates, but the pathetic response by small, weak countries this century makes one wonder just what it will take for other countries to start pursuing alternatives.  I mean countries that can.  Canada and Mexico are locked in, like it or not. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Pohjolas Daughter

Ongoing (live at the moment):  The US Supreme Court hears arguments in a case involving President Trump's attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the Census. The Supreme Court will also hear a second case that examines the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

https://www.cnn.com/specials/live-video-1

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Florestan

#698
Quote from: Todd on November 30, 2020, 05:00:07 AM
Of course small, weak countries benefit from working with the US.  At some point, though - and one would have thought that point had been reached after all the griping of the Trump and before that Bush II years - it would seem reasonable for small, weak countries to start considering alternative structures for international security and finance.  Instead, NATO expanded yet again in 2020 to include another small, weak country clamoring for US protection, and in the wake of both 9/11 and 2007/8, the US dollar is more central to the global economy than before, US Treasuries act as collateral for more financial transactions than before, other countries come hat in hand like beggars to the Fed more frequently, and small, weak countries continue their embarrassing dependence on Uncle Sam and US taxpayers.  No international system lasts forever, as history very clearly demonstrates, but the pathetic response by small, weak countries this century makes one wonder just what it will take for other countries to start pursuing alternatives.  I mean countries that can.  Canada and Mexico are locked in, like it or not.

The small, weak country that is Romania was enormously helped into existence by three foreign persons: Napoleon III, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson. I am ashamed, and publicly state it, that neither of them is honored in Romania by a statue, or an avenue/square name.

As for our dependence on USA, I'll just quote a former Romanian president (the best so far): "I'd rather give a blowjob to the POTUS than to Putin" --- if you'll excuse my his French.  ;D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

drogulus


     I refuse to be embarrassed on behalf of small weak countries oppressed by the Yankee dollar. Let them be unembarrassed. Let the Fed be as responsible as it deems fit.

     The US buys more from the world than it sells in goods and services, so the world saves in Treasuries. The Chinese might be embarrassed by this arrangement even though they are not small and weak. China has high hopes that one day they can replace the dollar. I think it has dawned on them that they must be big consumers first if they want the world to save Chinese money.
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