American Politics from 2019 on

[Tero]

Senate canceling George Bush. Well, his Iraq war.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3920 ... tid=ykz3hl

[Tero]

Cecil, from Chicago, talks neoliberalism.
https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strai ... bad/981595

We skip ahead to 1992. Bill Clinton has just been elected. Nobody’s fool, he recognizes the popularity of Reaganism and doubles down, pushing through NAFTA and embracing globalism. Which, for a while, seems like a brilliant plan. U.S. companies shift their manufacturing operations to Asian countries, whose economies boom. Millions are lifted out of poverty! Democracy replaces communism! Humanity seems poised for unprecedent bliss!

We all know how that worked out. Globalization was great for us college-educated swells who could buy cheap computers and jeans, but, for blue-collar folks whose jobs had been shipped out of the country, it sucked. And nobody in the political leadership of either party fully grasped that. They’d all signed up for neoliberalism with only the haziest notion of its implications. Meanwhile, in the wings was a guy with no distracting principles, a gift for telling people what they wanted to hear, and a bad combover. The rest you know.

in there

Broken down by income bracket, 52% of voters earning less than $50,000 a year – who make up 36% of the electorate – voted for Clinton, and 41% for Trump.

But among the 64% of American voters who earn more than $50,000 a year, 49% chose Trump, and 47% Clinton.

So Trump middle class was not working class. Just regular white folks probably without college degree.

[Tero]

Let's weigh the 2024 contenders:
Trump
Accused of financial crimes, 30 counts
Stole presidential papers
Fucked Stormy. Good: fucked Stormy. Bad: small dick.

Biden
He caused inflation!
He touches children! Pedophile!
Whatever he achieved, he is a Democrat!
He will take our...AR-15s.

[Tero]

It's abortion...and not abortion.

Democratic donors were hopeful enough about all these races that they poured money into them — and yet the party lost all of them. In some cases, the outcomes were landslides. “Abortion was supposed to be a defining issue for Florida Democrats,” read a headline in The Tampa Bay Times. “What happened?”

The answer seems to be that abortion is a winning issue for Democrats, but only in some circumstances. When a campaign revolves around the subject — as the Wisconsin Supreme Court race did this week and voter referendums in Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan did last year — abortion can win big even in purple or red states. And when abortion serves as a symbol of a candidate’s broader conservatism — as in Chicago, and as some Democrats have used it in other mayoral races — the tactic can also work.

But there is not yet evidence that abortion can determine the outcome of most political campaigns. In hotly contested races — for governor, Congress and other offices — most voters make their decisions based on an array of issues. And many Republican voters who support some abortion access are nonetheless willing to support a candidate who does not.

NYT editorial
By David Leonhardt

[macdoc]

Don't fuck with the Mouse.

Disney's counter move

While it may have seemed like a mission accomplished moment for DeSantis, Disney got ahead of him.

Earlier in February, the outgoing Reedy Creek board agreed to hand much of its power back to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc., meaning the incoming board has limited decision-making ability beyond managing basic infrastructure.

In this deal with Disney, the outgoing board members also added another clause — one fit for a king.

As NPR reported, the clause states that the new agreement with Disney is allowed to continue "until twenty one (21) years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III."

Although neither Florida nor the U.S. is ruled by the monarchy, it's common legal practice to tie an agreement to the lifespan of a particular person. Because they tend to live longer than most, members of the Royal Family are popular choices. In this case, King Charles's youngest descendant is Princess Lilibet, the nearly two-year-old daughter of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.

None of this was done in secret. The deal was made at a scheduled meeting and it's all on the record. But it seems no one was paying close attention.

After the new board learned about the deal nearly a month later, it hired lawyers. A furious DeSantis has ordered an investigation into what happened.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-d ... -1.6800259

[Svartalf]

I just wonder if the mouse brought unpleasant pressures to bear, of if they just drowned the board in Scrooges swimming pool

[Tero]

It's boiling down to guns and abortion. Anti gun rally resulted in expulsion of two black democrats due to...decorum



The new elections would be run by the districs, with the two likely running for their own jobs

[Tero]

Biden too old but Trump not too old. Therefore, not De Santis.
https://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000009543212.html

"Harris is still a good match for Biden in the sense that she is a black, Indian woman and thus represents several minorities. A significant number of Democrats' supporters belong to minorities. For some of them, it might be challenging that the party's presidential candidate is once again an elderly white man."

However, Harris's contribution as vice president has been considered to have fallen short of expectations.

But who could be Donald Trump's running mate?

"There have been rumors that it might be Marjorie Taylor Greene . Inspired by Trump, he has entered politics only recently. He is placed on the extreme right wing of the Republicans, and his statements are very snarky. They would probably have a bad time as a working couple with Trump," Lindén tastes.

Nobody has asked if Trump has an interest in fucking Marjorie.

[Svartalf]

I mean, biden is really too old, even if he's not dead or totally incapacitated by the end of his term, the strain of campaigning is going to do him in

[Tero]

I mean, biden is really too old, even if he's not dead or totally incapacitated by the end of his term, the strain of campaigning is going to do him in

Everybody knows this, but hey, Reagan, senile.
1 neither party likes to dump winning candidate
2 all Democrats know that picking a new candidate will create chaos. We are now the party of order. Trump et al are chaos.

[Svartalf]

Reagan was gaga, but physically still strong... biden may be clear headed, but he's weak... and it's obvious.
Of course, I doubt he's even clear headed if he's not able to see that he's not up to the task and should sponsor a worthy successor.

[Tero]

He will be an improvement over Nancy Reagan's psychic, who ran theUS for a year.

[Svartalf]

you mean the ventriloquist undertaker who'll have the mummy speak?

[Tero]

McCarthy to put an end to the nanny state!
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/politics ... index.html

[macdoc]

Don't fuck with the mouse.

Disney sues Florida Gov. Ron Desantis over state's 'relentless campaign' to control theme parks

The tussle could boost DeSantis's support among U.S. Republican voters, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found, but also hurt him among the wider electorate.

Seventy-three percent of respondents — including 82 per cent of Democrats and 63 per cent of Republicans — said they were less likely to support a political candidate who backs laws designed to punish a company for its political or cultural stances.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/disney-su ... -1.6823005