USA Politics

Jer said:
Soldiers don't get to decide where they're sent. They're given orders and they follow them. When those orders wind up getting them captured and tortured as a prisoner of war, and left with permanent physical limitations as a result, people generally view that suffering and service as heroic.
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So he is a hero like any other soldier.
 
As a POW, McCain turned down an early release, demanding that his men be sent home first. He endured a few more years of excruciating torture and hardship for his soldiers. He's earned his rest.
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I did not know this. Makes my point moot.
 
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Apparently this is John McCain being welcomes home by Nixon.

I remember when he was running against Obama for president and seemed a bit useless. Fast forward ten years and he was openly hostile to Donald Trump and voted against Trump's legislation. Top lad.
 
“I hope those who mourn my passing, and those who don’t, will celebrate as I celebrate a happy life lived in imperfect service to a country made of ideals, whose continued success is the hope of the world. And I wish all of you great adventures, good company, and lives as lucky as mine.”

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), writing in his last book, The Restless Wave.

I didn't always agree with this guy, but I really did respect him.
 
Do video games make people violent?
Trump holds meeting on violent games
Video games and mental health
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America makes people violent. Sorry. Well there was a case when a French guy got throatslit in CS:GO in 1:1 while dozens of people were watching and got mocked for it. He found out where his adversary lives, rang the bell and just left a kitchen knife in a guys chest. Sat back on train and went home.
 
Decided to try my hand at predicting the Senate today. It's pretty early and things will probably change between now and November but this is what I've got so far:
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  • Arizona and Nevada flip to Dems. These have consistently been the biggest pickup opportunities and Jeff Flake retiring in AZ is a huge plus. Simply put, Dems don't take the Senate if they lose these states.
  • Texas stays red. It's great that there is a legit challenger to Cruz, but I think this race is being blown out of proportion. Focusing so much of the enthusiasm on this state is a mistake on the part of Dems when there are vulnerable senators elsewhere. Ted Cruz also hasn't begun an aggressive campaign yet. Once they start actually spending money on this race, Beto will be in trouble. Lots of people point to Cruz's unpopularity, but he's still a Republican incumbent in a red state and was a serious contender for president just a couple years ago. Beto may have a very outside chance, but their best "upset" pickup is not in Texas.
  • Tennessee is the Democrats' upset pickup. This is one of those races where everything is lining up for the Dems. Their nominee is a popular former Governor, the polling is tight, and there's national enthusiasm necessary to give him the final boost. The Republican candidate is also a woman.
  • MO and ND are both vulnerable to flipping from blue to red and are really the biggest barriers to Dems taking the Senate. They would essentially cancel out victories in AZ and NV. Based on historical precedence, polling, and a being generally favorable year for dems, I don't expect both states to flip. I don't expect them to keep both either though. I went with MO flipping based on a quick look at the polls, but it could just as easily be the other way around. Or both flip. Or neither flip. These two states are the biggest question marks of the election IMO.
  • Florida continues to be the most frustrating state electorally. What should've been one of the less competitive states became one of the year's biggest battlegrounds when governor Rick Scott entered the race. The Dem incumbent doesn't seem to be taking the challenge seriously and unless there is a serious change in approach between now and November, I expect Florida to flip. That being said, Florida's demographics are so all over the place that turnout is a bit more important than in most other states. In the current political climate, that helps the left.
  • There's a bit of chatter about New Jersey flipping due to Menendez being bogged down in a recent corruption scandal. He really should have resigned, but I think his seat is pretty safe for now. New Jersey is kind of the Republican version of Texas this year. It's probably not going to flip, but it's more of a possibility than in other years.
Because Mike Pence is the tie-breaker, a 50/50 split pretty much allows Republicans to maintain Senate control. It would severely weaken their caucus though, which has already struggled even with a 52 seat majority. This result would be huge for Democrats and should be seen as a way to set up for a great year in 2020.
 
I think Tester will win by about 6-7 points, but I would be shocked if both McCaskill and Heitkamp survive.

When it comes to Beto...I dunno man. If he wins Texas, he could legitimately be in line for a shot at the White House in 2028. This guy's got Obama-level charisma.
 
I like Beto and I hope he wins. He is the type of fresh face that the party needs (same with Cortez). It's just too bad that the level of appeal and personality isn't to be found among the group of likely 2020 contenders.
 
Mosh said:
It's just too bad that the level of appeal and personality isn't to be found among the group of likely 2020 contenders.
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I think we'll see some more personalities coming out once we get past the mid-terms. It will be interesting.
Will Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden run?
I'd say we can almost guarantee a kick at the can from Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, and Kirsten Gillibrand. Cory Booker seems likely to put his hat in the ring.
Andrew Cuomo was likely until he came up with the stupid "America was never great" line. Now he can never run for office outside of New York. Deval Patrick is a possible candidate as well.
A big name that sits on the outside right now but that could shake up the race if he enters is Michael Bloomberg. Lots of personality there.
 
Biden is definitely gearing up for a run. Right now he seems like a great choice, maybe the best. Age is a concern although he seems to be in decent health. VP matters here. Would be interesting if he advertised a one term presidency, dunno if that would go over well.

Bernie seems like he is running but imo it would make more sense for him to rally behind a younger progressive candidate. Same problem as Biden plus I’m skeptical about his electability (weird to say in the age of Trump, I know). Sure, he’s popular now but he’s never faced any real opposition. Hillary went easy on him and he was never seen as a threat by the GOP. This guy probably has decades of political baggage that Republican strategists are eager to uncover when he actually wins a nomination. His base also happens to be the flakiest demographic of them all. Or maybe he’d inspire more young people to actually vote. The socialist tag isn’t going to make a difference at least, everyone left of center is going to be labeled a socialist.

As for everyone else? Meeeeeeeeeh. I like Gilibrand the most but I’m not seeing anyone worth getting excited about yet. That could change of course. I do hope the party rallies around one of those candidates early to avoid a crowded field like the GOP in 2016. They’re essentially the same candidate in terms of policy. I know it won’t happen though.

I really liked Al Franken for awhile. Oops.

Would also be nice for a governor to throw his hat in the ring. How about soon to be former CO governor Hickenlooper?
 
Just speechless over all the revelations over the past couple of days. Had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure it was real.

Where the hell are all the patriotic Republicans in the congress, and why aren't they finally speaking up? Where is the line for these people where duty to country will finally outweigh duty to party?
 
The confirmation of Americans' worst fears about Trump in Bob Woodward's new book, including that people have had to steal papers off of Trump's desk so he wouldn't sign them (examples being documents that would have withdrawn the U.S. from NAFTA, or from a trade agreement with South Korea), or ignore his direct orders (e.g. the direct order to assassinate Assad in Syria): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/us/politics/trump-woodward-book-fear.html

Also, the unprecedented step of someone in Trump's cabinet posting an anonymous op-ed to warn the country about how dire the situation in the White House actually is: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html

Trump is predictably saying ludicrous things, trying to paint Bob Woodward as a hack who's making things up, when a recording of a phone call between Woodward and Trump has already been released where Trump admits that Woodward has always been fair: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/09/04/bob-woodward-trump-phone-call-audio-vpx.cnn

Multiple people in the administration are pulling the fire alarm and the Republicans in congress amazingly don't seem to care.
 
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Here's an interesting question: we don't yet know if Donald Trump is the worst US president of all time. He's certainly in the conversation in many ways, but can he really probe the depths of Franklin Pierce, Warren G. Harding, and James Buchanan? Only time will tell. But one question we can ask and evaluate now: is Donald Trump the weakest president of all time?
 
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