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The USA Politics Thread

#14941 User is offline   Azath Vitr (D'ivers 

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Posted 12 March 2025 - 07:14 PM

I think Trump would require substantially more time to purge the military and replace those purged (with enough humans and drones or other robots) before attempting to invade Canada. Hopefully a large number of those currently in the military would refuse. Invasion still seems unlikely, but of course it's best to be prepared. IDK if the Canadian government heeded warnings years ago to start preparing for the possibility no longer seeming so impossible....
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#14942 User is offline   amphibian 

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Posted 12 March 2025 - 08:20 PM

I don't think the military has to be a monolith to do some absolute horseshit like President Polk and about 100 American military members did to kick off the Invasion of Mexico in 1846.

By the way, Polk is a distant ancestor of mine and I'm absolutely repelled by functionally his entire body of works.
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#14943 User is offline   Maark Abbott 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...
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#14944 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 11:37 AM

View PostAzath Vitr (D, on 12 March 2025 - 07:14 PM, said:

DK if the Canadian government heeded warnings years ago to start preparing for the possibility no longer seeming so impossible....


AFAIK we are, and the EU has been involved in those preparations as well.


Source~Brother in law is active military in Canada and he's been told by some of the higher ups he knows that they have been actually putting "possibles" up since he first mentioned this to Trudeau last year. They've just been quiet about it.
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#14945 User is offline   Tiste Simeon 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM

 Maark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?
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#14946 User is offline   HoosierDaddy 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 02:39 PM

View PostTiste Simeon, on 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?


Not sure if that was simply a joke, which is funny. But if serious, the Tate brothers who had been in Romania for a while locked up for sex trafficking.
Trouble arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom, and the worst aspects of human nature come to the fore....
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#14947 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 02:40 PM

This is a solid half hour of content by a top economist about the US if you've got the time to watch it.

There's some hinky facts about war from him, but his economic outlook on America sounds pretty on the money.


This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 March 2025 - 03:17 PM

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#14948 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 04:32 PM

And here comes the first fall guy of Trump's Second term....Lutnick is going to be thrown under the bus for the Tarriff insanity...

Why these people who want to be around him don't realize that they WILL end up under his bus come hell or high water...perhaps the pull of money and power is just to tempting? I dunno. Lutnick is a fucking idiot anyways.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

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#14949 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 13 March 2025 - 11:37 PM

Democrats don’t have 3 vertebrae between them. Wtf?

If republicans can’t pass a budget without you, you don’t let them pass a budget until they negotiate with you. Do I want the government to shut down? Of course not, especially not as the economy teeters on the brink. . However if republicans control the presidency, the house and the senate it’s on them. If they want to do crazy things they must own it.

Chuck Schumer didn’t last a week, from saying democrats wouldn’t vote for the budget to now saying they will.
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#14950 User is offline   Maark Abbott 

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Posted Yesterday, 07:38 AM

View PostHoosierDaddy, on 13 March 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

View PostTiste Simeon, on 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?


Not sure if that was simply a joke, which is funny. But if serious, the Tate brothers who had been in Romania for a while locked up for sex trafficking.


It was a glib comment that focused on the Tates on my part, but yeah I can see your point there Tiste. It could have been any number of nonces.
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#14951 User is offline   Tiste Simeon 

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Posted Yesterday, 08:22 AM

 Maark Abbott, on 14 March 2025 - 07:38 AM, said:

 HoosierDaddy, on 13 March 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

 Tiste Simeon, on 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM, said:

 Maark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?


Not sure if that was simply a joke, which is funny. But if serious, the Tate brothers who had been in Romania for a while locked up for sex trafficking.


It was a glib comment that focused on the Tates on my part, but yeah I can see your point there Tiste. It could have been any number of nonces.

Yeah the Tates was a few days prior to your comment so I assumed there had been another thing since then.

And sure enough a mega church pastor and Trump advisor has been indicted in child sex offences so there we go 🙄
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#14952 User is offline   QuickTidal 

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Posted Yesterday, 11:29 AM

View PostCause, on 13 March 2025 - 11:37 PM, said:

Democrats don’t have 3 vertebrae between them. Wtf?

If republicans can’t pass a budget without you, you don’t let them pass a budget until they negotiate with you. Do I want the government to shut down? Of course not, especially not as the economy teeters on the brink. . However if republicans control the presidency, the house and the senate it’s on them. If they want to do crazy things they must own it.

Chuck Schumer didn’t last a week, from saying democrats wouldn’t vote for the budget to now saying they will.


As far as I understand it (and I could certainly be wrong) if the govt shuts down, the debt ceiling would not be raised again, as it needs congress to do that, and because Congress in the past has always lifted the debt ceiling before the Treasury has run out of money, no one knows for sure what will happen if Congress isn't running to act (technically it's not like they can raise it much more they are well beyond what normal debt for the US looks like anyways, but I digress)...—what the Treasury and the Federal Reserve will do, and how financial markets will react would all be up in the air (and the markets: Nasdaq, Dow, S&P are all deeply in the shitter already). Failure to make timely interest and principal payments on U.S. Treasury securities, regarded as the safest financial asset in the world, would be an unprecedented default (especially with Canada and a few other countries calling our hundreds of billions in Bonds back)....the US defaulting on their debt would be a crisis like you've never seen before. The US dollar ceasing to be the safe global reserve currency would be the least of your worries.

So I think the Republicans are betting on the Democrats either supporting their BS, or they get to blame the democrats for not only the shutdown, but for the likely debt default that would occur from one.

Anyone feel like that's not the right of it? I'm not American obviously, but that's how I think I understand the position the democrats are in. The Republicans and their voters would all decry the Dems for it and blame them. It must be fun being a Republican where nothing is EVER your fault, even when you're in charge.

EDIT to say: I don't agree with this mind you....they should do it anyways because the gloves should be off at this point, and Chuck Schumer is a fucking clownshoe....but I feel like they know they are there bad guys either way because the R's will always be louder and will always blame them os they want to save their skin?

EDIT 2: And wait till the US can't find countries to buy their debt like they normally do....hooo boy....

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: Yesterday, 12:01 PM

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#14953 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted Yesterday, 04:19 PM

The problem with the Dems going along with this, is that they are also voting in amendments that take away congress' ability to challenge the President's financial decisions, even in theory.

So they are basically abdicating all power to the executive and hoping that in 6 months the people are angry enough that reps start defecting (lol)

It's beyond delusional, it's appeasement of the basest sort, and it fucks over nearly half the country screaming at them to take a stand. All so that the stock market stops plunging for a while, and big Dem donors are mollified
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#14954 User is offline   Tiste Simeon 

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Posted Yesterday, 04:34 PM

Shumer came up with something to the tune of "If we shut down the Republicans have the power to only reopen the parts of government that benefit them" and it's like "isn't that basically what's happening now?"
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#14955 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted Yesterday, 04:53 PM

View PostTiste Simeon, on 14 March 2025 - 04:34 PM, said:

Shumer came up with something to the tune of "If we shut down the Republicans have the power to only reopen the parts of government that benefit them" and it's like "isn't that basically what's happening now?"



It's an absolutely shitty choice that's going to hurt large swathes of people regardless.

But it's a question of standing up to bad intent, or being complicit in letting Trump and Co do shitty things unrestrained.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#14956 User is offline   Maark Abbott 

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Posted Yesterday, 05:39 PM

View PostTiste Simeon, on 14 March 2025 - 08:22 AM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 14 March 2025 - 07:38 AM, said:

View PostHoosierDaddy, on 13 March 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

View PostTiste Simeon, on 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?


Not sure if that was simply a joke, which is funny. But if serious, the Tate brothers who had been in Romania for a while locked up for sex trafficking.


It was a glib comment that focused on the Tates on my part, but yeah I can see your point there Tiste. It could have been any number of nonces.

Yeah the Tates was a few days prior to your comment so I assumed there had been another thing since then.

And sure enough a mega church pastor and Trump advisor has been indicted in child sex offences so there we go 🙄


Good gravy we're both accidentally stumbling onto ways things can be worse
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#14957 User is offline   HoosierDaddy 

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Posted Yesterday, 06:35 PM

View PostMaark Abbott, on 14 March 2025 - 05:39 PM, said:

View PostTiste Simeon, on 14 March 2025 - 08:22 AM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 14 March 2025 - 07:38 AM, said:

View PostHoosierDaddy, on 13 March 2025 - 02:39 PM, said:

View PostTiste Simeon, on 13 March 2025 - 01:59 PM, said:

View PostMaark Abbott, on 13 March 2025 - 08:55 AM, said:

I see that the US is harbouring child sex traffickers knowingly now.

That said, the bloke is clearly part of the general MAGA worldview as to what a good man is meant to be, so...

This in no way narrows anything down, are you referring to anything specific?


Not sure if that was simply a joke, which is funny. But if serious, the Tate brothers who had been in Romania for a while locked up for sex trafficking.


It was a glib comment that focused on the Tates on my part, but yeah I can see your point there Tiste. It could have been any number of nonces.

Yeah the Tates was a few days prior to your comment so I assumed there had been another thing since then.

And sure enough a mega church pastor and Trump advisor has been indicted in child sex offences so there we go 🙄


Good gravy we're both accidentally stumbling onto ways things can be worse


Every accusation is a confession is the common train of thought in the circles who pay attention. If they accuse a political enemy of it, it's because they know someone who is doing it. And that someone is ALWAYS on their side.
Trouble arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom, and the worst aspects of human nature come to the fore....
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#14958 User is offline   amphibian 

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Posted Yesterday, 07:09 PM

I'm very much hoping the NY senators come around and spike cloture to force the government shutdown. I realize (probably more than most) the immense pain that will cause, yet this is better than what the GOP and Musk/Trump are doing.
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#14959 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted Yesterday, 07:51 PM

View Postamphibian, on 14 March 2025 - 07:09 PM, said:

I'm very much hoping the NY senators come around and spike cloture to force the government shutdown. I realize (probably more than most) the immense pain that will cause, yet this is better than what the GOP and Musk/Trump are doing.


Schumer won't, it's his pet project, apparently.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#14960 User is offline   HoosierDaddy 

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Posted Yesterday, 08:13 PM

What it is is capitulation. I'm damn tired of them rolling over. The people voted for this pain. LET THEM HAVE IT.
Trouble arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom, and the worst aspects of human nature come to the fore....
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