I have nothing valuable to say right now but Mike does. Please read this. I’m nodding furiously in agreement.
Nodding
Opinions, art, debate
Opinions, art, debate
I have nothing valuable to say right now but Mike does. Please read this. I’m nodding furiously in agreement.
Clarissa's Blog 
I mostly agree, but I will give this much: The Democrats are also playing by a different rule book, thinking that they’re there to preserve some norms of governance from the past (which is part of their status quo orientation), while Republicans understand that the only purpose of power is to push as far as you can on your agenda.
When Republicans invoke the more arcane Senate rules, the Democrats say “Well, those are the rules.” If Democrats were to try, Republicans would change the rules. And Democrats don’t want that. Because they have a status quo orientation.
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The most significant Senate rule change in years occurred in 2013 when the Democrats killed the filibuster for most judicial nominees — thus making it easy for the Republicans to extend that rule to include Supreme Court nominees after the 2016 elections.
The Democrats aren’t evil manipulators dedicated to preserving the status quo. As a party, they’re just Keystone Cops-level stupid.
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Different take: The Dems are not a unified party. The GOP (what’s left of it) has consolidated on Trump and invited non-conformers to retire. The Dems have never done anything like that, at least not since FDR. There are Dems who are closet Republicans and whose votes can’t be counted upon to block anything Trump wants to do. That’s why the notion of a one-vote minority is simply false. Conservative Dems even have a name — the Blue Dog Coalition. There are roughly 18 members of this Coalition in the current House.
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Then they are damn losers who don’t know how to unite around a common cause. I’m so tired of their endless excuses for why they can’t get anything done. They couldn’t even win against Trump. What more can be said?
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If I Did It by Deep Throat But Dumber
…Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.
But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.
…It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.
The result is a two-track presidency.
Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.
Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals.
On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.
This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.
Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over….
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God, there are so many crazy people out there.
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There’s something for everyone to hate in that op-ed! Pusillanimous mewling self serving wankers!
Call your Senators again tomorrow about Kavanaugh, especially Schumer!
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Kavanaugh doesn’t seem that bad considering the alternative. Meaning, the crazy lady with 50 kids. He ruled in favor of Emily’s list, he expressed limited respect for Roe. He doesn’t seem to be an unhinged fanatic.
Hypothetically, if Kavanaugh were tanked, Trump would totally come back with the crazy lady as punishment. I’m not seeing how this can end much better than Kavanaugh.
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If the Democrats think Kavanaugh is scary, wait until they see who Trump is going to nominate in his second term after Ginsburg and Breyer croak. 🙂
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Exactly. The crazy lady is very young. She’ll definitely be around.
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