The US Politics/Elections Thread 2.0

[jimisbatman]

4 minutes ago, downzy said:

There’s no way that fat, out of shape fuck makes it to 2028. 

Long covid will get him.

That or a Filet-O-Fish.

Reading between the lines, I take it your not a fan 😂 

[Orsys]

21 hours ago, downzy said:

If Biden can shift the blame for 4th wave of covid onto Republican governors (which is a gimme at this point) and get the Democratic caucus to pass the infrastructure bill, he sets himself up well for re-election three years from now.  I feel that most federal Republicans would rather see a Biden second term than a return of Trump. If you’re Ted Cruz or DeSantis, you want Trump to lose in 2024 and then have a wide open shot in 2028. 

2022 will raise the biggest challenge for Biden. If the Rs take the House and the Senate, and it looks like they will, the clown show we see today with the trump party will be the clown show on steroids, and they will take any excuse for impeachment of Biden and/or Harris.  I say they will likely take control of both houses of Congress because of the voting changes, not because they have better platforms. they are really even trying that approach anymore.

[downzy]

Just now, Orsys said:

2022 will raise the biggest challenge for Biden. If the Rs take the House and the Senate, and it looks like they will, the clown show we see today with the trump party will be the clown show on steroids, and they will take any excuse for impeachment of Biden and/or Harris.  I say they will likely take control of both houses of Congress because of the voting changes, not because they have better platforms. they are really even trying that approach anymore.

House is almost certainly going to Republicans in 2022, largely due to redistricting.

The Senate is less likely. Plus you can’t redistrict a state. I think it likely Democrats retain the Senate, even possibly pick up a seat or two. 

[Orsys]

8 minutes ago, downzy said:

House is almost certainly going to Republicans in 2022, largely due to redistricting.

The Senate is less likely. Plus you can’t redistrict a state. I think it likely Democrats retain the Senate, even possibly pick up a seat or two. 

Really? You give me some hope. I barely recognize the country I grew up in.   I fear one more trumpian president and it will slide past a dangerous point. But maybe I'm wrong and the pendulum is just swinging to the extreme before it starts swinging back again.

[downzy]

24 minutes ago, Orsys said:

Really? You give me some hope. I barely recognize the country I grew up in.   I fear one more trumpian president and it will slide past a dangerous point. But maybe I'm wrong and the pendulum is just swinging to the extreme before it starts swinging back again.

The three true toss up seats are currently held by Republicans. North Carolina and Pennsylvania are open in 2022, so Republicans won’t have the advantage of incumbency. Ohio is another open seat but likely to go to the Republican nominee.

There are no currently held Democratic seats that are considered toss up. The only seats Democrats have to worry about protecting is Hassan from New Hampshire. There is also an outside chance Rubio could be tossed if Democrats run a strong candidate.  I’d also love to see Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson lose.  His polling in Wisconsin has taken a serious hit of late.

 

[Dazey]

43 minutes ago, downzy said:

The three true toss up seats are currently held by Republicans. North Carolina and Pennsylvania are open in 2022, so Republicans won’t have the advantage of incumbency. Ohio is another open seat but likely to go to the Republican nominee.

There are no currently held Democratic seats that are considered toss up. The only seats Democrats have to worry about protecting is Hassan from New Hampshire. There is also an outside chance Rubio could be tossed if Democrats run a strong candidate.  I’d also love to see Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson lose.  His polling in Wisconsin has taken a serious hit of late.

 

Isn’t Raphael Warnock’s seat up for grabs in Georgia? 

[downzy]

Just now, Dazey said:

Isn’t Raphael Warnock’s seat up for grabs in Georgia? 

Yeah, but I think his chances of retaining the seat are better than a coin flip. 

[downzy]

This is what Democrats should be playing up. 

[Padme]

11 hours ago, downzy said:

This is what Democrats should be playing up. 

Show those numbers to CNN, Washington Post, New York Times, Fox News, etc. All they have been talking about is niche of seldom women rights and a baby hanging over a wire 

[Padme]

Good article and audio from a veteran who was in Afghanistan. The guy believes the U.S. should've left 2002/3. He is very anti D.C. ellite. And yet he is running for the Senate as a Democrat. He also says we've been lie for 20 years. He claims he is not surprised at all with the current situation in Afghanistan. He also believes that the Irak war was wrong

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article253641358.html

I think more veterans who went there from all sides should speak up.

 

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

Watched some ex general on CNN this morning talking about getting the people out of Afghanistan by august 31. This was also set by the Taliban since it seems they are calling the shots.

one reporter asked, which Bill Mahr, brought up on his show Friday night, why not open the other airport and get help from people there and Pakistan. This way the people who aren't in Kabul can have a chance to evacuate safely. After some bee boppin around the subject, they said they can't do it.

If the deadline of August 31 comes and the Taliban say that's it or they start killing people, will the US get out? I think if the Taliban changes their mind, it'll be because the US has given into any demands they asked for.

I have never been so ashamed of my country in all my years. What a mess!

Russian said their embassy will stay in Afghanistan. LOL Like that was a shocker!

We are all being lied to and people will suffer and possible die for it.

I can't imagine how our soldiers who are there right now are feeling about all this?

[Padme]

Three hours meeting!  Nevermind the amount  of  hours  No, Fernando has nothing to do with that  

CNN) CIA Director William Burns on Monday met with the top Taliban leader in Kabul as the US continues airlifting American citizens and its Afghan allies out of Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The covert meeting between Burns and Taliban co-founder and deputy leader Abdul Ghani Baradar is the highest level in-person discussions between the Biden administration and the Taliban since the militant group took control of the capital, the newspaper noted.

Citing US officials familiar with the matter, the Post reported that the discussions between the two "likely involved" the August 31 deadline for the US military to conclude its evacuation mission and remove its forces from Afghanistan.

The CIA declined to comment to CNN about the meeting.

 

 

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

After the Taliban retook control of Kabul, Baradar had returned to Afghanistan last week after having been out of the country for 20 years.

Baradar and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the witnesses for the US and Taliban's signing of an historic agreement last year, which had set in motion the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

Former President Donald Trump and Baradar spoke over the phone shortly after the deal was signed.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN's Betsy Klein and Michael Callahan contributed to this report.

[dontdamnmeuyi2015]

Not sure who, I don't really listen to names, but a government official is meeting with a big shot Taliban regarding the Americans leaving Afghanistan. I wonder how much we will pay them to extend the 8/31 date.

Whatever happens, those people left behind are in for a fucking nightmare of a life.

I say once the US leaves, I don't want to hear anymore from this damn country nor the Taliban. We can't change anything so why bother to talk about it. 

[downzy]

The first, of many more to come, hammer to drop on the Kraken lawyers:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-sanctions-kraken-lawyer-sidney-powell-recommends-disbarment-this-case-was-never-about-fraud?ref=scroll

It still amazes me that anyone took these clowns seriously.  How anyone who believed these two can still utter anything about politics and be taken seriously is beyond me. 

 

[Graeme]

I'm just surprised that Sidney Powell had the intellectual capacity to become a qualified lawyer...

[Padme]

On 8/22/2021 at 9:45 PM, downzy said:

This is what Democrats should be playing up. 

I'm afraid not

 

[-Jaro-]

If it wasn't sad it would be funny how overnight Talibans became good guys who protect peoole from ISIS-K...

And they cooperate with U.S. after 20 years of "war"... What a surprise...

Just feel sad for people who live there, and who belived their "american friends"  were there for help... 

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

2 hours ago, -Jaro- said:

If it wasn't sad it would be funny how overnight Talibans became good guys who protect peoole from ISIS-K...

And they cooperate with U.S. after 20 years of "war"... What a surprise...

Just feel sad for people who live there, and who belived their "american friends"  were there for help... 

I predicted the Taliban and America could someday in the future work together as allies....I just didn't think it would be this soon!

The Taliban at least purports to want to run a stable government, a state run by ISIS would probably just be anarchy. Easy choice for me.

[Padme]

5 hours ago, Basic_GnR_Fan said:

I predicted the Taliban and America could someday in the future work together as allies....I just didn't think it would be this soon!

The Taliban at least purports to want to run a stable government, a state run by ISIS would probably just be anarchy. Easy choice for me.

I never believed that places like Afghanistan, Irak, Syria, Iran, etc could be the new Germany and Japan. It will never happen. It is naive to believe that somewhere there is a lesser evil or good guys.  And those lesser evil people are willing to be U.S. friends or partners. The Taliban didn't give a shit about anything. They decided to take over. And they were allowed to do so by the former Afghanistan government and army. The Taliban want a stable government? Where is the Constitution, the Prime Minister, the Parliament and the Supreme Court? Iran and Irak have some degree of  stable government. And yet they can't be trasted

 

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

9 hours ago, Padme said:

I never believed that places like Afghanistan, Irak, Syria, Iran, etc could be the new Germany and Japan. It will never happen. It is naive to believe that somewhere there is a lesser evil or good guys.  And those lesser evil people are willing to be U.S. friends or partners. The Taliban didn't give a shit about anything. They decided to take over. And they were allowed to do so by the former Afghanistan government and army. The Taliban want a stable government? Where is the Constitution, the Prime Minister, the Parliament and the Supreme Court? Iran and Irak have some degree of  stable government. And yet they can't be trasted

 

You just contradicted yourself in the matter of a paragraph. You first stated you weren't expecting Afghanistan to be like Germany or Japan. Then you ask where is their constitution, PM, Parliament, and Supreme Court. People in the west need to check their expectations of what an Islamic country is going to look like, the people over there want Sharia law, not western liberal democracy. Pew polling in Afghanistan showed that 99%(!!) of Afghan's wanted Sharia Law. It is what is, westerners need to learn to accept it.

[Scream of the Butterfly]

It's insane to me that Afghanistan is being given back to the hands of the Taliban. Makes the sacrifices of the war seem in vain.

Imagine if the Nazis had been allowed back in power 20 years after WW2.

[Padme]

50 minutes ago, Basic_GnR_Fan said:

You just contradicted yourself in the matter of a paragraph. You first stated you weren't expecting Afghanistan to be like Germany or Japan. Then you ask where is their constitution, PM, Parliament, and Supreme Court. People in the west need to check their expectations of what an Islamic country is going to look like, the people over there want Sharia law, not western liberal democracy. Pew polling in Afghanistan showed that 99%(!!) of Afghan's wanted Sharia Law. It is what is, westerners need to learn to accept it.

 I agree that westerns need to learn and have to accept it. Oh! And they better stop selling weapons to places like Saudi Arabia

I meant to say the west can't expect Afghanistan to be a new Germany or Japan. It will never happend because western values are not their cup of tea. Iran for example has elections and a parliament. And yet under Sharia law or something somewhat similar. They however condemned these attacks. Do they really mean it?

 

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

2 hours ago, Scream of the Butterfly said:

It's insane to me that Afghanistan is being given back to the hands of the Taliban. Makes the sacrifices of the war seem in vain.

Imagine if the Nazis had been allowed back in power 20 years after WW2.

TBH, if WW2 lasted 20 years and the Germans just kept retaking city after city after the allies took them and it just kept going back and forth, the US would have pulled out of that too. The US population isn't a fan of long drawn out wars.

Unless you are advocating for a permanent occupation of Afghanistan to prop up a government that wasn't very popular with the average Afghan on the street?

[Basic_GnR_Fan]

59 minutes ago, Padme said:

 I agree that westerns need to learn and have to accept it. Oh! And they better stop selling weapons to places like Saudi Arabia

I meant to say the west can't expect Afghanistan to be a new Germany or Japan. It will never happend because western values are not their cup of tea. Iran for example has elections and a parliament. And yet under Sharia law or something somewhat similar. They however condemned these attacks. Do they really mean it?

 

The Taliban gains nothing by bombing the US on it's way out. They had already won and the US was on the way out, the only thing that can draw the US back in is the Taliban breaking the agreement and killing US military or civilians at this time. Taliban people were casualties of this bombing too, so I doubt they bombed themselves for no reason whatsover. ISIS should be destroyed, and if that involves working with the Taliban, so be it.

[Padme]

30 minutes ago, Basic_GnR_Fan said:

The Taliban gains nothing by bombing the US on it's way out. They had already won and the US was on the way out, the only thing that can draw the US back in is the Taliban breaking the agreement and killing US military or civilians at this time. Taliban people were casualties of this bombing too, so I doubt they bombed themselves for no reason whatsover. ISIS should be destroyed, and if that involves working with the Taliban, so be it.

 Taliban were casualties too? Well, they brought that to themselves. Nobody asked them to take over the country and become the new government. They win nothing if they have to deal with attacks by ISIS.