Trump Thread

[Husar]

Now I wonder what would happen if someone did what Fragony suggested, acted unpredictably outside protocol like Trump, and literally kicked him in the balls...

I guess a twitter tirade, sanctions and potentially war, but even if it were, say, Macron, Merkel or Putin? I guess we'll never know, but the mind wonders...

[HopAlongBunny]

Phew!
Well we can all rest easy now.
Both Trump and Putin are absolutely sure there was no Russian interference in the 2016 election:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...eddling-722424

It's nice when two world powers can harmonize and agree with each other.

[spmetla]

It's such a strange world when the Head of State turns out to be a Benedict Arnold.

Several Congressmen and Senators have voiced their surprise and displeasure and will continue to do nothing to stop this nincompoop. I can only hope that the Republicans lose control of the House and Senate in November so that there can finally be some checks to his nonsense though they'll probably focus just on impeachment and social issues instead of reassuring our allies and trade partners.

[Montmorency]

https://www.270towin.com/2018-senate-election/

Senate

49-51 Republicans currently.

35 seats up. 26 held by Democrats (2 of whom Independent, Sanders and King). It is not mathematically possible for Democrats to win a supermajority, let alone a 2/3 majority, even if they win every race.

Let's take the site's presentation for granted and acknowledge 16 competitive races. Of these, Democrats are defending all but 5 seats. The 5 are: Heller in Nevada, Cruz in Texas, Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Flake in Arizona, and Corker in Tennessee. The latter two are not running for reelection, so seats are fully contested. (Eventually McCain may retire or die, but it probably doesn't make much difference for this cycle.)

Seems like the Democrats would need a historic black/Latino turnout for midterms just to swap numbers with the Republicans.

House

193-236 Republicans currently.

As for the House, someone can probably grub up articles on gerrymandering. According to the same site above, about 100 seats are competitive. However, of those, the vast majority are Republican.


Maybe this site's assumptions skew optimistic for Democrats, but the Cook Political Report is more or less similar in its margins. Ultimately, the highest utility of polling is knowing what you have to change, which demands at least the present amount of momentum behind Democrats to have any chance. 5 months...


At any rate Trump cannot be impeached this term. I'm sure his base will also guarantee his nomination in 2020. The only formal option left: Vote out, indict, very publicly clean house.

At least narrow majorities in both chambers, if Democrats obtain them, could be used to control committees, the cycle of bills and investigations, plus nominations and confirmation hearings.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Anything can happen in politics. But the hidden truth that liberals are afraid to admit is that Dem turnout is what will make or break this country. There have always been obstacles, the last 30 years of conservatism has made sure of that.

Whether our country survives Trump or not is up to the ability of the Left to inspire and motivate Americans.

[Montmorency]

Anything can happen in politics. But the hidden truth that liberals are afraid to admit is that Dem turnout is what will make or break this country. There have always been obstacles, the last 30 years of conservatism has made sure of that.

Whether our country survives Trump or not is up to the ability of the Left to inspire and motivate Americans.

A protean platform superior to the Republican one on utilitarian metrics is enough to motivate anyone!

Any voter who reads this in full is sure to find something they agree with.


EDIT: BTW, Ruskies infiltrated the NRA with money and spies. Legit. No kidding. Look it up.

The affidavit claims that on or around March 24, 2015, Butina emailed a proposal for a project called “Diplomacy.” In it, she stated that a major US political party (clearly the Republicans) would likely win the 2016 election. The problem, she wrote, was that the GOP is “traditionally associated with negative and aggressive foreign policy, particularly with regards to Russia.” Butina wanted to change that, and had an idea for doing so. She wrote that within the GOP, a gun rights organization (obviously the NRA) has a “central place and influence,” saying it funds campaigns and sponsors major conferences like the Conservative Political Action Conference. Butina wrote that she and Torshin had already been building ties to the NRA, and proposed that she wanted to go to “all upcoming major conferences” related to the Republican Party before the 2016 elections.

BUTINA: By your recommendation, I am setting up the groundwork here but I am really in need of mentoring. Or the energy might to towards the wrong direction. Yesterday's dinner showed that American society is broken in relation to Russia. This is now the dividing line of opinions, the crucial one in the election race. [POLITICAL PARTY 1] are for us, [another major U.S. political party] - against - 50/50. Our move here is very important.

BUTINA (to RUSSIAN OFFICIAL): I'm going to sleep. It's 3 am here. I am ready for further orders.

How deep does the rabbit hole go with the American Right?

Hilariously, just before this news dropped Trump tweeted this in reference to his vehement denial of Russian involvement in cyberattacks:

As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018

They were told they would cruise the swamp for American gold, fire no guns, shed no tears! God, RICO them all.

[Montmorency]

Guys, petition to moving forward replace all references to "GOP" or "Republican Party" with "[POLITICAL PARTY 1]".

[HopAlongBunny]

They were told they would cruise the swamp for American gold, fire no guns, shed no tears! God, RICO them all.