US Politics, December 2019: Profound procedural deficiencies

this apology was unnecessary, but the demand was no more ridiculous than a few "you keep her name out of your filthy mouth" style threats i've heard made that have absolutely NOTHING to do with any actual or accidental insult, so uh, "america."

what are you people reading or watching where this shit is even a big deal? And I read NRO once a week.

seriously - nobody sincerely cares about barron

Nobody Sincerely Cares About Barron by Tiffany Trump (for readers ages 10 to 47)

I wish the entire GOP Congress had been in the car with Vince Neil that fateful night

― master of nuggets (Neanderthal), Wednesday, December 4, 2019 5:51 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I know. It’s still fucking infuriating.

― frogbs, Wednesday, December 4, 2019 5:51 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Same, guys. Same.

This is the lead story on foxnews.com right now and prominently featured on cnn’s site

IOW I would not be even slightly surprised if everything unperson laid out above came to pass

She shouldn’t have apologized.

This is the lead story on foxnews.com right now and prominently featured on cnn’s site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlKao_Pox5A

the Speaker of the House is directing the Judiciary to draw up articles of impeachment for the President

oh surprise

anyway, obviously it has to be done, he won't be removed, and now I fear he's going to be re-elected and our next five years are going to be a fucking authoritarian hellscape previously unimagined.

oh fuck off

Everything the asshole does is so beyond the pale I wish people like her stopped being so fucking solemn about it and just repeatedly kicked him in the nuts, literally and rhetorically. As if anxious hand wringing is going to get impeachment any more support.

Impeached or not, the most likely outcome of all of this is that asshole will ... ask another foreign power to interfere in the election for personal gain.

Crikey, our impending authoritarian hellscape is gonna have to swing for some pretty weird extremes to achieve 'previously unimagined' status. Like forcing all registered dems to become furries, shit like that.

“Previously unimagined hellscape” pretty rich for a country built on the enslavement of millions

allegedly

Can I just say what garbage it is for anyone to say "we take no joy in this, this will tear the country apart." The "country" really doesn't give a shit, and those that do get to vote in a year. Is the 2020 election any less likely to "tear the nation apart?" Would Trump winning/losing be any less "divisive" than any candidate winning/losing, or any less divisive than it was in 2016?

I feel like a sizable chunk of people voted Trump in 2016 simply because he was not Hillary, and thought we should "give him a chance." Since then he has vacillated between moronic and evil, and his entire administration is corrupt and venal, so a vote for him in 2020 *is* more divisive, because the voter wants to perpetuate even more of this shit.

butt > her emails

ask another foreign power to interfere in the election for personal gain

lol he'll do it DURING the impeachment trial

When you're president, they let you do it.

spotlight needs to impeachment BRIGHT because this shit will only get worse

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/politics/russian-hacking-elections.html

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/03/russian-owned-company-caught-trying-to-hack-ohio-voting-systems-on-election-day/

During the hearings I was annoyed that the democrats would verbatim read their wooden, prewritten corny speeches where it sounded like they were all competing in a high school inspirational essay contest. I just kind of feel like in context the speeches being so rigidly tailored contrasting the republican delivery helped the GOP sound more conversational and this arguably would help their dumb premise about how the whole thing being a fabricated means to an end to get Trump out any way possible. Ultimately means nothing just irritated at the optics and how GOP get to use it to strengthen their dumb narrative.

Personally i’m not disappointed that the Democrats aren’t emulating the yahoos in the GOP. Best to stick to the truth and not try to game the optics too much.

I appreciate the dems' adherence to norms and procedure but it would be nice if a greater number of them were better capable of demonstrating to the public-at-large why one would aspire to those aims. Because to the casual observer it increasingly appears that behaving like an unhinged two-year-old is the most effective way to get things done (or bring them to a screeching halt) in government.

I mean, optics aren't everything but they certainly aren't nothing. Particularly in the age of President Reality Show.

Not saying they need to emulate GOP, but it would be nice if they sounded more down to earth. Their righteous speeches one after another just came off like they were all desperately vying to be quoted in future history books.

Fantasizing about one of their quotes making it on a history class chalkboard someday

They didn't sound like they were actually interested in interviewing the scholars; everything was canned. It helps make the whole process look like theater.

There is no power on earth that can stop a Congressional Representative in front of a television camera from acting out their favorite role-playing character.

positive norms have value, but only if the just result is achieved. if he ends up "re-elected," any good behavior along the way seems for naught to me.

Fantasizing about one of their quotes making it on a history class chalkboard someday

nah. I'm just here to chat with people who are able to respond in kind.

I'm here for the blow

plus bennies

Imagine thinking the message "the president of France is laughing at us" won't make Americans more likely to want to continue down this path

— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) December 5, 2019

It's easy if you try.

it would be nice if they sounded more down to earth

Bernie's good at this

(of course NOT A DEMOCRAT)

doesn't the Grifter's "do it now, fast" sound like Big Pussy on the boat before the crew whacked him?

Imagine thinking the message "the president of France is laughing at us" won't make Americans more likely to want to continue down this path

Trump literally campaigned on "the rest of the world is laughing at us and I'm gonna make them stop"

buuuut that won't mean anything to his malleable fans

Trump completely understands that the subtext of what he says is what's important to his supporters, not the literal meaning. His communication to them is almost entirely made up of postures, attitudes, and signifiers, not articulate sentences reflecting his thoughts and ideas. He gets it. They get it. That's what matters, not the criticism of outsiders.

Xxxpost "not in the face"

Trump literally campaigned on "the rest of the world is laughing at us and I'm gonna make them stop"

they were laughing at Obama because he was so weak and ineffective. they're laughing at Trump because they're jealous of his commanding presence and physique

And his shrinky dink

"malleable" means "dying to be hit with mallets," right?

Yes