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American Politics Thread

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Trump's campaign is going for ANOTHER recount in Georgia...Seriously? This has gotten absurd.

Indeed. I understand why there was a recount in such a close state, but at this point doing another recount is wasting money for no reason, putting workers through unnecessary busy work and also putting them in danger of catching the virus, as they do it in a public space.

Of course, Trump wouldn't care about the latter two, and he also has had his whole life of riches handed to him on a silver platter, so being careful with money just isn't an issue to him.
 
The current rot in political discourse in the US has been long in the making. Trump was peddling birtherism back then, and calling the last three elections "fraudulent" (less we forget, he accused Hillary of getting 3 million "illegitimate" votes).

It really goes all the way back to the 70's. The beginning of all this really lies in Watergate and Nixon's resignation (although you could even argue that it began with Nixon's election where he ran the southern strategy to perfection and courted the 'silent majority'). The lesson that the GOP took from Nixon was that they needed a media wing to run interference to prevent the people from turning on a president engulfed in scandal...

Plus, Make America Great Again wasn't even a Trump original (it was a Reagan slogan first!)

And the Mitch McConnell 'obstruct everything' strategy was put in place first by Dennis Hastert (it's known as the Hastert rule for this reason) and later Newt Gingrich in the 90s.

It's an unfortunate truth, but one I think America needs to grapple with, that this wasn't just a Trump thing or just a post Obama thing or even that it started with Bush v Gore... that it is something that's been lurking since the 60s and 70s.
 
And the Mitch McConnell 'obstruct everything' strategy was put in place first by Dennis Hastert (it's known as the Hastert rule for this reason) and later Newt Gingrich in the 90s.

Someone remind me: Does the GOP still call this rule after a convicted child molester?

Is projection the reason why Trump fanatics are obsessively accusing anyone they hate of being a pedophile?
 
Joe Biden recently announced a number of picks for his cabinet. Mostly for national security for foreign affairs.

For Secretary of State, he will nominate Antony Blinken. For Secretary of Homeland Security, he nominated Alejandro Mayorkas. For Director of National Intelligence, he nominated Avril Haines. For our ambassador to the U.N. he nominated Linda Thomas Greenfield. For National Security Advisor, Biden is nominating Jake Sullivan. Lastly, Joe Biden will nominate John Kerry as the Presidential Envoy for Climate.
 
While I'm still not going to support them whatsoever, I am pleased that more Republicans are finally speaking out against Trump. I'm wondering (and hope it wasn't just wilful ignorance) if they've always had a disdain for him but kept quiet all this time out of fear of him, and are now only speaking out because he lost the election. If that is the case, then I hope more speak out. Or maybe they really were just blindly supporting him before and only now changed their mind with all the so-called "fraudulent votes" claim. The former is a nicer thought.

What isn't a nice thought though is seeing all the outraged, blind support coming from his loyal base. It is funny and yes cathartic to see Trump supporters decry Fox News and the GOP, but it is also a very worrisome trend. They have now become so radicalized that the people and media they used to consume is no longer radical enough for them. I've seen people make comparisons of this to Frankenstein, and honestly I'm inclined to believe. The GOP and far-right news outlets have created a monster they can no longer control and I am very concerned where this might lead.
 
Joe Biden recently announced a number of picks for his cabinet. Mostly for national security for foreign affairs.

For Secretary of State, he will nominate Antony Blinken. For Secretary of Homeland Security, he nominated Alejandro Mayorkas. For Director of National Intelligence, he nominated Avril Haines. For our ambassador to the U.N. he nominated Linda Thomas Greenfield. For National Security Advisor, Biden is nominating Jake Sullivan. Lastly, Joe Biden will nominate John Kerry as the Presidential Envoy for Climate.

All people who have spent their entire lives in civil service and are mainly known for being competent. Boy this will a nice change.
 
Joe Biden recently announced a number of picks for his cabinet. Mostly for national security for foreign affairs.

For Secretary of State, he will nominate Antony Blinken. For Secretary of Homeland Security, he nominated Alejandro Mayorkas. For Director of National Intelligence, he nominated Avril Haines. For our ambassador to the U.N. he nominated Linda Thomas Greenfield. For National Security Advisor, Biden is nominating Jake Sullivan. Lastly, Joe Biden will nominate John Kerry as the Presidential Envoy for Climate.
All people who have spent their entire lives in civil service and are mainly known for being competent. Boy this will a nice change.
I can already see the Stephen Colbert monologue now like his monologue with Biden's win and speech.
 
The GSA has officially signed off on the transition process. Trump says he’ll continue to contest the election results, but there’s really nothing he can do about that.
 
The GSA has officially signed off on the transition process. Trump says he’ll continue to contest the election results, but there’s really nothing he can do about that.
Thank gosh. Should have happened half a month ago, but delayed is better than continuing to delay. Government needs to be able to do it's work when so many are relying on certain services, and start moving on so many next steps.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/transition-biden-gsa-begin/index.html
"The General Services Administration has informed President-elect Joe Biden that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process, according to a letter from Administrator Emily Murphy sent Monday afternoon and obtained by CNN."
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Joe Biden recently announced a number of picks for his cabinet. Mostly for national security for foreign affairs.
All people who have spent their entire lives in civil service and are mainly known for being competent. Boy this will a nice change.
Great to hear.

Saw Secretary of State and Climate Envoy this morning. Note: this special envoy is part of the National Security Council, it seems.

Does anyone have insight of John Kerry's understanding and work in climate? (yes, yes, I didn't do the research, I fully acknowledge.)

This article seems to be good news on the experience angle. Extensive international climate policy experience.

" Kerry has spent much of his career working to avert catastrophic global warming. He has represented the United States at every pivotal international climate conference in the last three decades, including the 1992 Rio Summit that launched the framework for every subsequent global agreement; the one in Kyoto that forged the first international climate treaty in 1997; and the 2009 meeting in Copenhagen. Even in years that were less critical, Kerry traveled to spots ranging from Poland to Bali to convince his international counterparts that the U.S. was committed to curbing greenhouse gas emissions even if the current White House occupant was not."
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All people who have spent their entire lives in civil service and are mainly known for being competent. Boy this will a nice change.
That brings wrinkles, though. Blinken in particular took point on the Obama Administration's response to the Ukrainian crisis, which included support for the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion...
 
If this were Democrats boycotting though, I'd have a different opinion. I guess it sounds hypocritical of me that I would be okay with Republicans not voting but very displeased about Democrats not voting. But eh, so what that I'm a hypocrite.

I mean, there's no shame in admitting you have a stake in a particular result. In this case, I can readily admit that I want the Republicans to sabotage themselves so that they'll lose the runoffs and allow us to have a functioning Senate. I wouldn't want the Democrats to do the same (although they're obviously not, and I can't really imagine why they even would be) because doing so would increase the GOP's chances of being able to stonewall any legislation for two years at a time when we desperately need some legislative relief to address numerous urgent crises. There's a substantial difference. Honestly I think the word "hypocrite" gets too frequently misused these days. I'd be a hypocrite if I, a queer person who can work at my job without worry of discrimination, went around saying that queer people shouldn't have those protections. Whereas I'm not a hypocrite for wanting the sequence of events that lead to a working and potentially beneficial Congress rather than a hobbled one that can't pass anything.
 
I just mean that I believe that every citizen deserves the right to vote and that it is important that people exercise their given right (especially if it was something that had to be fought for). Like how even though my vote doesn't count for anything where I live, I still vote regardless because I am exercising the right to. So it kinda feels hypocritical of me to say that and then say "Lmao I hope the Republicans boycott the run-offs and don't vote". But you are right. It's not so much that I am criticizing myself, as I frankly still don't want Republicans to win the Senate either, more that I'm making an open observation of myself.

But I've seen the Trumpies go from "We're gonna boycott" to "We're gonna write-in Trump for Senate", which is completely invalid and would get their vote thrown out but...they'd still be technically voting in that case, so lol. Write him in then.
 
Apparently for NY-22, Anthony Brindisi is supposedly leading Claudia Tenney by 12 or 13 votes. I question how the counting is still going on in that race, but hoping that bitch Claudia Tenney doesn't win.

Edit: Wtf is this "State judge temporarily halts Pennsylvania election certification" https://twitter.com/i/events/1331689251763732482?s=09
 
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