What has Trump done to this country?

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I like this no nonsense articulate patriot and former republican, clear headed is what I call people like this. It doesn't mean they don't fuck up, but he quit the republican party and figures it's a write off, me too.
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Lincoln Project’s Steve Schmidt: American Democracy Was Deliberately Poisoned | Amanpour and Company

President Trump's impact on the Republican Party will be studied for decades to come. History will look not only at who joined the GOP in the Trump era, but also who left it. Steve Schmidt is among the latter. For decades a communications strategist working for President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, Schmidt now denounces the party he once loved. He's a co-founder of The Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed in 2019 by a group of Republicans determined to defeat Trump in the 2020 election. He joins Michel Martin to explain what's next for the project and for the Party -- and to discuss the struggle to preserve American democracy.

Originally aired on December 8, 2020.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
More Steve on the day's news.
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Steve Schmidt: We Are ‘One Election Away… From Losing Our Democracy’ | Deadline | MSNBC

Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt says congressional Republicans are to blame for the ‘poisoning of democracy’ by not acknowledging President Trump’s election loss.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I see traitors and criminals walk the halls of power with impunity, white collar crime that is destroying the nation isn't even considered. Equality under the law does not exist in America and the same fucking assholes who brought you Trump, brought you this. It too started out as a way to "get" blacks and Mexicans based on a lie. Sound familiar?

No pardon for this guy, they are only for traitors, criminals and those who can pay Trump. 43% of Americans are ok with this though, they want more of the same, no matter how absurd the lie they will eagerly latch onto it like a drowning man would a straw.
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Man serving 90-year sentence for marijuana released from prison (fox8.com)

Man serving 90-year sentence for marijuana released from prison
NEWS
by: Associated Press
Posted: Dec 10, 2020 / 05:02 AM EST / Updated: Dec 10, 2020 / 05:46 AM EST

In this image provided by Last Prisoner Project, Richard DeLisi, second from left, is surrounded by his granddaughter Sade, left, son Rick, his daughter-in-law Vida, two granddaughters Aya and Vida, after he was released from prison, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Palm Beach County, Fla. DeLisi served more than 30 years in prison for a nonviolent cannabis conviction. He was sentenced to 90 years for marijuana trafficking in 1989 at the age of 40. The Last Prisoner Project has been championing his case. (Last Prisoner Project via AP)
 
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Jimdamick

Well-Known Member
More Steve on the day's news.
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Steve Schmidt: We Are ‘One Election Away… From Losing Our Democracy’ | Deadline | MSNBC

Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt says congressional Republicans are to blame for the ‘poisoning of democracy’ by not acknowledging President Trump’s election loss.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Here is a move by Joe that shows he takes Trumpism and domestic terrorism seriously, this is a national security heavy hitter in charge of domestic policy. The republicans fear her and they should, they are up against some serious mental horsepower, someone who deals with national security threats. All enemies foreign and domestic, they might be citizens, but they are enemies of the constitution and therefore the enemies of patriots, she will have a lot of eager help. You are looking at someone who is keenly aware of the issues of disinformation, terrorism and the other issues that fuel Trumpism, it will be interesting to see how she destroys them.
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Biden to tap Susan Rice to run White House Domestic Policy Council - CNNPolitics

Biden taps Susan Rice to lead White House Domestic Policy Council

(CNN)President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Susan Rice to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council, a surprising move that gives the longtime national security veteran major influence over Biden's "build back better" agenda that is expected to focus on racial injustice, immigration, health care and combating the coronavirus pandemic.

Rice, 56, is a veteran foreign policy official who was former President Barack Obama's ambassador to the United Nations and later his national security adviser. Her move will elevate the profile of the Domestic Policy Council within Biden's White House, installing a high-profile and influential Biden ally at the helm of what in previous administrations has been a lower-profile council. Politico was the first to report the decision.

Rice is set to join a list of prominent presidential advisers, including Democrat Leon Panetta and Republican James Baker, to work in both prominent foreign policy and domestic roles.

She was considered as Biden's vice presidential running mate and for secretary of state. Her role in Biden's White House means Rice will avoid what would have been a bruising Senate confirmation hearing.

The domestic role is an unexpected position for Rice, but many expected her to find a position in Biden's Cabinet not just because of her experience, but also because of her close ties to the President-elect. Rice has a long friendship with Biden, who values personal relationships, and his wife Jill, and has written that the former vice president was her "favorite unannounced visitor."

That closeness is seen as a factor in the President-elect's decision to give Rice the job of handling some of the country's most daunting political challenges.

But her tenure in the Obama administration was rocky at times and she carries political baggage that would have made a Senate-confirmed role -- and the televised hearings that confirmation entails -- a challenge. Republicans would likely use the opportunity to seize on the aftermath of the 2012 deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, a tragedy that Republicans weaponized against her.

Rice also became the target of an unfounded conspiracy, advanced at times by President Donald Trump and his top allies, that she had acted improperly during the 2016 election by "unmasking" -- or revealing the identities of Americans who were communicating with foreign officials under surveillance by the US intelligence community -- senior Trump campaign officials.

Rice told a House committee in 2017 that she "unmasked" the identities of senior Trump officials to understand why the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates was in New York in late 2016. Top Republicans on the House intelligence panel have said Rice did not act improperly in unmasking the identities of senior Trump campaign officials.

The Stanford University-educated former Rhodes scholar has often been described as brilliant, but has also faced criticism for being abrasive and for running a National Security Council that didn't cooperate well with other agencies.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
most of the article talks about the shenanigans Trump and some red states are attempting to overturn the will of the voters. The last lines, however, address the very real threat that the radicalized Republican Party presents to our democracy if they should manage to take control of the House, Senate and Presidency again.

With time running out, Trump and GOP allies turn up pressure on Supreme Court in election assault


But he warned that the effort from Trump and his GOP allies has, in his view, made clear that Republicans in Congress, if they held big enough majorities in both chambers, would plausibly attempt to “undo the will of the voter when they count the electoral college votes on Jan. 6.”
With Democrats controlling the House, he added, such a scenario is impossible this year, “but we are only a few democracy-conscious representatives away from that potentially occurring. That itself is extremely concerning for the longer-term health of our democracy.”



Can we just do away with the electoral college, already? It's not even doing what people want it to do, which is protect the minority states from a radical majority.

But, really folks, this is a for real and out in the open attempt to take away our right to vote. I'll hand it to them for that. It's not a hidden conspiracy.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
most of the article talks about the shenanigans Trump and some red states are attempting to overturn the will of the voters. The last lines, however, address the very real threat that the radicalized Republican Party presents to our democracy if they should manage to take control of the House, Senate and Presidency again.

With time running out, Trump and GOP allies turn up pressure on Supreme Court in election assault


But he warned that the effort from Trump and his GOP allies has, in his view, made clear that Republicans in Congress, if they held big enough majorities in both chambers, would plausibly attempt to “undo the will of the voter when they count the electoral college votes on Jan. 6.”
With Democrats controlling the House, he added, such a scenario is impossible this year, “but we are only a few democracy-conscious representatives away from that potentially occurring. That itself is extremely concerning for the longer-term health of our democracy.”



Can we just do away with the electoral college, already? It's not even doing what people want it to do, which is protect the minority states from a radical majority.

But, really folks, this is a for real and out in the open attempt to take away our right to vote. I'll hand it to them for that. It's not a hidden conspiracy.
I have been doing some thinking about this, because Chris Hayes on MSNBC keeps bringing it up too. I am ok being wrong, but here is my argument for why it shouldn't be changed (mostly, still working on how I feel about it).

1. If we didn't have a political party (Republicans) racing to out stupid one another because they want to pretend we can be stuck in pre-1950's America, our elections being close wouldn't be the problem that they are now. We need to have the best people run for office and not the trolls that the Republicans and their mega donors pick to stop all progress.

2. Decades of voter suppression is what causes the imbalance in our popular vote/EC voting results. Again by design of the Republican party who have tried to keep our population repressed to keep power in the hands of the Wealthy White Heterosexual Male Only agenda.

3. Every state still matters, but just not necessarily just in the general election. Primaries in New York and California for example still do a lot of the heavy lifting in determining who wins the Republican nomination. The primaries should be where a responsible candidate is elected, the race to the bottom is how the Russian military was able to get Trump elected in the first place.


4. You would just open up different pathways to play games if a racist/fascist troll like Trump was running with a popular vote system. Half the population are in relatively small areas and that would just be were the elections would focus IMO. This would effectively end any reason not to focus on the largest population areas to try to secure the wins.

5. With the above maps I could see how a future Trump would just focus his court cases on key cities that he lost instead of states to try to disenfranchise those voters. I could imagine ways that it might even be easier for that future Trump to plant criminals to sabotage key voting centers where doing that over an entire state would be far harder.

6. I like having 50 different sets of voting systems that a foreign/domestic bad actor would have to figure out how to attack instead of just one.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I have been doing some thinking about this, because Chris Hayes on MSNBC keeps bringing it up too. I am ok being wrong, but here is my argument for why it shouldn't be changed (mostly, still working on how I feel about it).

1. If we didn't have a political party (Republicans) racing to out stupid one another because they want to pretend we can be stuck in pre-1950's America, our elections being close wouldn't be the problem that they are now. We need to have the best people run for office and not the trolls that the Republicans and their mega donors pick to stop all progress.

2. Decades of voter suppression is what causes the imbalance in our popular vote/EC voting results. Again by design of the Republican party who have tried to keep our population repressed to keep power in the hands of the Wealthy White Heterosexual Male Only agenda.

3. Every state still matters, but just not necessarily just in the general election. Primaries in New York and California for example still do a lot of the heavy lifting in determining who wins the Republican nomination. The primaries should be where a responsible candidate is elected, the race to the bottom is how the Russian military was able to get Trump elected in the first place.




4. You would just open up different pathways to play games if a racist/fascist troll like Trump was running with a popular vote system. Half the population are in relatively small areas and that would just be were the elections would focus IMO. This would effectively end any reason not to focus on the largest population areas to try to secure the wins.



5. With the above maps I could see how a future Trump would just focus his court cases on key cities that he lost instead of states to try to disenfranchise those voters. I could imagine ways that it might even be easier for that future Trump to plant criminals to sabotage key voting centers where doing that over an entire state would be far harder.

6. I like having 50 different sets of voting systems that a foreign/domestic bad actor would have to figure out how to attack instead of just one.
It gives geography votes not people and is therefore fundamentally wrong, democracies are about people not places. It does not make a workable system and recent events have proven this. It worked hundreds of years ago when the population was more evenly distributed between rural and urban environments but has not stood the test of time or technological change. You could say rural America was the first to suffer the social effects of automation and technology, now they have as much power as lords or nobility in Europe, but are economically screwed over and manipulated by conmen.

Jesus never wrote the constitution, men did and they put their pants on one leg at a time just like you. The only issue is how do you change it and allow the country to adapt to it's new environment because right now it's structural problems are helping to kill it. The world is not waiting either, we can already feel the US slipping behind the rest of the world socially and if this shit keeps up economically too.

Income distribution is part of the problem and the people getting screwed have more power than most in the country, a citizen from Wyoming wields a lot more power in the senate than someone in California, this is wrong in a democratic system and leads to the problems you have now. The country is failing to adapt to the changing world because of these demographic issues and endemic racism. What if it got to a point where just a hundred people lived in a couple of these states a few decades down the road? Most of the state would be a corporate owned farms, plantations of robots.

"While farmland may stretch far and wide, farmers and ranchers themselves make up just 1.3% of the employed US population, totaling around 2.6 million people. Today, there are about 2 million farms in operation in the US, a steep decline from 1935, when the number of farms peaked at nearly 7 million.May 30, 2019"
9 mind-blowing facts about the US farming industry | Markets ...
 

topcat

Well-Known Member
Watch just the first 20 seconds, or so. Check out the Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator behind this maniac speaking. Good for a giggle.
The candy man.
 
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hanimmal

Well-Known Member
It gives geography votes not people and is therefore fundamentally wrong, democracies are about people not places. It does not make a workable system and recent events have proven this. It worked hundreds of years ago when the population was more evenly distributed between rural and urban environments but has not stood the test of time or technological change. You could say rural America was the first to suffer the social effects of automation and technology, now they have as much power as lords or nobility in Europe, but are economically screwed over and manipulated by conmen.
It gives the population of an area (states) votes, each state gets the +2. Remove voter suppression and it becomes balanced.

Recent events of Trump would happen regardless of what soft target he was trying to manipulate with the courts.
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
It gives the population of an area (states) votes, each state gets the +2. Remove voter suppression and it becomes balanced.

Recent events of Trump would happen regardless of what soft target he was trying to manipulate with the courts.
Republicans have no problem with unequal representation, it’s the only reason they have control of anything. If sedition doesn’t bother these pricks, a little inequality is just a cherry on top.
 
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