17

12/25/2020 12:06:27 AM

Thank you!

12/25/2020 8:18:37 AM

Harris (and most Dem Sens that ran for pres) voted to override the filibuster for $2k

12/31/2020 7:41:14 PM

Just give me my 2k already.

12/31/2020 7:58:44 PM

^per month...

12/31/2020 9:55:04 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/merrick-garland-biden-attorney-general/2021/01/06/071053ce-2dd4-11eb-bae0-50bb17126614_story.html

1/6/2021 12:52:42 PM

A resounding "meh"

Garland was an intentional compromise centrist pick and somehow he's now a Dem hero. He'll be fine though, just hope this isnt a prereq to renom him if Biden's gets a SCOTUS.

1/6/2021 1:02:31 PM

that emoji sure does make it look like ujustwait is celebrating merrick garland being the AG.

1/6/2021 1:34:23 PM

The troll factor is nice.

It will also be nice to re-read laudatory quotes from Republicans when they start complaining about DoJ's 'political prosecution' of Trump-era corruption.

1/6/2021 2:17:14 PM

Quote :

"We're old. You can't be doing that stuff. "

You are getting old, you are unable to "do it" anymore.

1/6/2021 3:40:31 PM

I forgot that TWW has a lot of dumb/uninformed/politically ignorant posters, but the good news is that these people leave always leave paper trail and NOBODY even needs a good memory to go back and read posts to confirm reality. They're all here for all to read on demand. I mean this all assumes basic 8th grade reading comprehension, but let's stay positive in 2021!

Time for some of you people to learn (re-learn?) the art of re-reading/critical thinking





[Edited on January 6, 2021 at 5:48 PM. Reason : Rockets SUCK]

1/6/2021 5:45:26 PM

Who and what are you babbling about?

1/6/2021 7:35:16 PM

I think UJW is just constantly drunk posting

Anyway, re Gina Raimondo

Quote :

"Immediately following Democratic effort to beat back Republican efforts to implement a corporate liability shield for coronavirus deaths, Joe Biden taps someone who did just that as commerce secretary. https://t.co/s7UUOgZUGV"

1/7/2021 2:22:09 PM

I was mostly addressing earl, who's thankfully banned, but you've been a pretty big sour puss about Biden's 306 EV/7M+ win since November, which does NOT help enthuse anyone about trying to initiate a complete 180 in terms of WH decorum/policy. I find your pessimism/crabbing/whining to be irritating and short-sighted, but if it makes you feel better, keep it up, I guess?

And superficially I guess it's fine to think Garland is a "meh" pick (it's not like he was ever even supposed to be the next RBG), but he's had a very respectable career, and he also has plenty of experience in dealing with domestic terrorism, but I think you're missing the key point/significance of his appointment-- or at least the significance of why it's even feasible: 2 GA senate seats went blue, and there was ZERO chance Mitch would allow the appointment to sail through if he was still Majority Leader, so it's a pretty big FUCK YOU to not only McConnell, but the corrupt GOP that denied his confirmation, while ramming through ACB. Also, this means appointing new judges, which can mean a faster track for a POC to get a SCOTUS seat...

Fwiw, the smoking emoji btw, was a reference to the fact that federal decriminalization actual has a semi-decent chance with Mitch gone, as opposed to ZERO chance.And finally, all of that was posted BEFORE yesterday's disgusting coup attempt, so forgive me if I was feeling a bit happy/amused/optimistic with the appointment, which AGAIN, is only due to both GA seats flipping.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 3:18 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 3:12:11 PM

I think my post election comments about Biden have been a decent mix of positive, negative and "meh" but regardless I'm an individual voter i have no reason or responsibility to enthused people about his presidency. As an individual voted by role is to attempt to advocate for policies that I want and hold the administration to account. I never expected Biden to turn into a leftist but the amount of centrist/corporate nominees and lack of leadership on key issues so far is still disappointing. But regardless I find your weird bragging about who knows what irritating too so I guess we're even.

Anyway, as to Garland, I think your entire premise is wrong. Garland was a compromise pick already so he would almost def be about as easy as it gets for AG even with Mitch. Mitch already accomplished his goal which was preventing Obama from naming a justice. If Garland had never been nominated as SCOTUS I would bet he would get near unanimous assent, as it stands I bet he gets more votes than most of Biden's nominees. They would have to (I guess) let Biden have SOMEBODY be AG, why not someone that repubs like?

1/7/2021 3:49:20 PM

You really don't seem to have a very deep appreciation/understanding of just how much of an obstructionist piece of shit Mitch is, which is why it's a good thing Biden is making cabinet picks, and not you imho. It was a total power/"fuck you" move, and if you want to see Trump and his treasonous cronies face justice, you should like this type of political calculus. Who else would you have preferred?

And aside from the Dept of Ag and the joke of a Transportation pick for Mayor Pete, IDK what's been so "bad" about the rest of his picks?

1/7/2021 4:09:57 PM

Seems like Biden would have waited to name Haaland if that was his sold concern. I bet you Garland gets more votes than Haaland. It wouldn't shock me if Mitch voted yea for Garland

As for my other problems it sounded like you've been reading all my posts so yo and can just reread.

Although I hadn't previously mentioned Yellen (too tight with banks) and Austin (too recently military, contractor revolving door)

1/7/2021 4:21:50 PM

I actually hadn't read your posts about the specific picks (at least not in the prediction thread where I should have probably posted the Garland link); I was merely offering my own criticisms, but after going back and reading, I guess we just disagree when it comes to the "value" of experience.

I know that being a career politician that's old AF is a HUGE problem when it comes to both houses of congress, but I'd much rather have a cabinet filled people who have deep/working knowledge of government/the economy, so I'm totally cool with Yellen-type appointments.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 4:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 4:54:30 PM

Yea i guess I'm just a lefty for not wanting people to have a long history of being paid by those they are supposed to regulate.

1/7/2021 4:57:57 PM

I guess I'm just a realist. Given how stocks are currently soaring, despite an attempted coup and ~4k COVID deaths a day, I honestly don't think that someone like Yellen is a terrible pick.

1/7/2021 5:09:17 PM

Look. Here's my position. People love Obama, but his leadership led directly to Trump's election. Correlation/causation etc, but I would think a new president would think "maybe I should do things a little different, work so hard to make PEOPLEs lives better that they can't help but grudgingly respect me!" (see: enthusiasm for $2k). Running back the same old list of cronies with the same old corporate ties doesn't inspire that confidence. Cabinet members shouldn't see large companies as their first stakeholders, they should see workers as the stakeholders, the Ag pick and Yellen share this issue, as well as Cedric Richmond and Gina Raimondo.

Also the stock market is a terrible measure of economic health for most Americans. Amazon's stock price is great for Bezos but not much help to his workers

1/7/2021 5:25:31 PM

Ok, I see your point, and here's the point I didn't directly state clearly enough: the economy is in TERRIBLE shape, despite a soaring DOW. I'd rather have someone who, warts and all, oversaw one of the biggest economic expansions in history in the Treasury, than not. Kinda like I vastly preferred a candidate like Hillary Clinton over Trump.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 5:31 PM. Reason : held my nose for Hillary, gladly voted for Biden even though he was nowhere close to my 1st choice.]

1/7/2021 5:30:31 PM

I indeed did not get that point, and sure Yellen better than fucking Mnuchin, as Clinton and Biden are preferable to Trump, but those are low bars and I'd like to aim higher.

Of the criticisms I've made, Yellen is probably one of the lightest (why I didn't mention her before) speaking fees aren't by definition corruption, but they look bad and it's kinda the rule rather than the exception so far. I'd like to be able to respond to "both sides are corrupt" statements without tying myself in a knot.

I think we need to holding are elected officials to a much higher standard and primarying the fuck out of them if they necessary. Republican voters don't give a shit about any of this so if Dems don't try to push this who will?

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 5:42 PM. Reason : I eagerly, if not gladly, voted for both hc and jb. ]

1/7/2021 5:40:58 PM

Hey and by the way I am also glad Earl is suspended! I'd rather have 1000 years of arguments with you ( ) than one minute with him.

(in this scenario you're Biden and earl is Trump? And that make me, I don't know, Warren or Sanders??)

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 5:48 PM. Reason : E]

1/7/2021 5:44:45 PM

Warren. Definitely Warren

1/7/2021 6:08:36 PM

Quote :

" People love Obama, but his leadership led directly to Trump's election. Correlation/causation etc, but I would think a new president would think "maybe I should do things a little different, work so hard to make PEOPLEs lives better that they can't help but grudgingly respect me!" "

we agree on the vast majority of things, but this isn’t one of those things

the color of Obama’s skin led to Trump being elected

and I say this as someone who is very in the weeds/online more than I should be, but it really is as simple as that. “economic anxiety” died as a cause years ago, and was confirmed yet again after what happened yesterday. there were very wealthy people who stormed the Capitol, for fucks sake.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 6:24 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 6:10:31 PM

Oh ya I didn't mean to imply it was the sole or #1 reason and be economic anxiety guy, but a national election is wildly complex and I think Obama failures made it easier for Trump to win. I think racism is prob like 80% of why Trump won the primary but maybe 40-50% for the general.

Obama could have done some things that would have it made it near structurally impossible for Trump to win, some as lawmaker, some as politician, some as leader of the party.

1/7/2021 6:34:11 PM

God damn. Its like how progressive does one need to be to pass the litmus test for some dems now a days. Obama failures? Jesus

1/7/2021 6:40:46 PM

^^ I think you’re lowballing the general election by a bunch

we know the Comey letter had a significant impact during the last weeks before the election

hindsight being 20/20, of course he could’ve/should’ve done more to call out Trumpism, but as we saw last night, elected officials crave normalness above all else, which is abhorrent in 2021, but not nearly as bad in 2016

at the end of the day, they’re all politicians

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 6:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 6:43:24 PM

He also failed to properly emphasize and support state races which allowed more voter suppression.

He failed to control the bill and messaging for ACA which led to a bloated bill that was open to attack, while the positives were hidden behind the veil of "Obamacare"; "I would never let them take away my ACA insurance for Obamacare!!"

He failed to end the war in Afghanistan letting Trump claim the mantle of the anti war candidate somehow.

Most importantly, he failed to materially improve people's lives enough to make their racist fears of immigrant job stealers moot. If your life is secure you're much less likely to spend time worrying about losing your livelihood to the dangerous other. When people are doing great, republican fear mongering falls apart.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 6:52 PM. Reason : Maybe I'm lowballing, the numbers are made up the point is more general

1/7/2021 6:51:46 PM

those are policy decisions that are of course ok to disagree with, but wouldn’t be in the top 5 of reasons why people voted for Trump

Quote :

" Most importantly, he failed to materially improve people's lives enough to make their racist fears of immigrant job stealers moot. If your life is secure you're much less likely to spend time worrying about losing your livelihood to the dangerous other. When people are doing great, republican fear mongering falls apart."

skin color, man. skin color.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:21 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 7:15:20 PM

Illegal immigration would 100% be in the top 5, prob 1 for many. I mean when people say that Trump was elected bc of racism, they mean the illegal immigration issue not Obama himself.

And Obamacare was a huge reason that Obama lost big chunks of voters. It wasnt enough to lose but his pop got margin was 5 million lower for romney.

Then voter suppression wasn't a Trump issue but absolutely diluted Clinton's base.

The war is probably the biggest policy failure, but the least contributing cause.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:24 PM. Reason : ^Obama won two elections, what changed? ]

1/7/2021 7:24:16 PM

a racist who became a politician based on his racism was on the ticket

1/7/2021 7:38:38 PM

What changed from Clinton to Biden? How do we stop the next Trump?

1/7/2021 7:43:40 PM

Quote :

"I mean when people say that Trump was elected bc of racism, they mean the illegal immigration issue not Obama himself."

Incorrect. They mean illegal immigration and they mean a racial backlash to a black president. All you need to know that is to just look at how the republican party treated him the entire time he was in office.

Trump won because of disillusion, people hating Hillary Clinton and people hating a black president. They hate progress.

1/7/2021 7:44:25 PM

^^ black activism in response to an outright racist winning the presidency

same as what what just happened in Georgia. activism fighting voter suppression.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:48 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 7:47:37 PM

What were they disillusioned about

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:48 PM. Reason : ^there wasn't black activism about an outright racist running for president? And pretty sure Biden got a LOWER % of black vote ]

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:49 PM. Reason : E]

1/7/2021 7:47:41 PM

Biden won the nomination because of the black vote

and then Georgia happened two days ago

of course there was black activism about an outright racist running for president, but there was that whole voter suppression deal

the margins were thin enough to let the outright racists come out and feel enabled enough to vote for the racist candidate

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 7:58 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 7:53:28 PM

Quote :

"And pretty sure Biden got a LOWER % of black vote"

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/exit-polls-president.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/05/us-election-demographics-race-gender-age-biden-trump
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-virus-outbreak-georgia-7a843bbce00713cfde6c3fdbc2e31eb7
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/02/black-americans-power-2020-453345

1/7/2021 8:01:41 PM

Why was activism for Biden necessary if just being a racist president was enough to motivate

Are you saying black activists didn't do enough for clinton?

1/7/2021 8:02:56 PM

^^exit polls have repeatedly been discounted, they are non scientific

But regardless

Quote :

"Both figures are about on par with 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton also overwhelmingly won Black voters’ support but fell short of winning the White House, according to Pew Research Center estimates."

This implies I was wrong (although my lower was marginal) but also implies tgl is wrong

1/7/2021 8:08:51 PM

I’m saying that there was enough voter suppression/other factors that effected the result in 2016 and that activism in the last 4+ years have erased those very thin margins that gave us the result in 2016

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:12 PM. Reason : .]

1/7/2021 8:09:18 PM

^^also for Georgia from nate cohn analysis of voter files

Quote :

"According to the state's vote history data, the composition of the electorate by race/ethnicity in 2016-->2020 is as follows: White 53.5 --> 50.1 Black 31.5 --> 31.2 Asian 2.4 --> 3.7 Hispanic 2.9 --> 3.9 Other 1.5 --> 2 Unknown 8.2 --> 8.7 "

^ok let me try a different tact. If Trump runs again, can Biden get away with just scooting by since black activism will carry him to reelection? And again why did they have to push Biden in the primary? Why was that important?

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:14 PM. Reason : E]

I can't believe I'm saying racism was 50% and that's crazy low. How do we explain Obama to Trump voters.

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:15 PM. Reason : E]

1/7/2021 8:13:42 PM

Quote :

" If Trump runs again"

Facepalm

1/7/2021 8:14:56 PM

He has said he will do you think he won't?

If not Trump what about Tom cotton or Matt gaetz?


Trump's victory was paper thin but he increased his coalition this year. Biden's victory was paper thin despite expanding Clinton's coalition, how do we build on that?

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:19 PM. Reason : E]

1/7/2021 8:16:19 PM

Biden mostly hitting the right notes today. I wish they would have pushed more aggressively for impeachment now than pence has said he won’t 25th Trump

1/7/2021 8:19:12 PM

Quote :

" And again why did they have to push Biden in the primary? Why was that important?"

because he won their vote

Quote :

" If not Trump what about Tom cotton or Matt gaetz?"

again, Georgia proved yesterday that without Trump on the ticket, they are at a perpetual disadvantage

Tom Cotton is one of the least charismatic humans currently holding public office. there is no denying that Trump has charisma, good or (almost entirely) bad. Gaetz is a young, sniveling/privileged prick who makes sense in Florida, but won’t win many votes outside of the state.

anybody trying their best Trump impression on a national scale is gonna fail.

1/7/2021 8:26:51 PM

So what percentage is Trump's charisma in his win? What percentage is voter suppression?

I thought it was just the racism. Tom cotton is plenty racist.

Quote :

"because he won their vote"

So if someone else had won the primary would Trump have won?

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:30 PM. Reason : E]

Also you avoided the question what if Trump runs again

You better believe Georgia and others are already boosting their suppression efforts

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:33 PM. Reason : E]

1/7/2021 8:28:54 PM

he’s a charismatic racist who appeals to both blatant racists and quiet racists

it’s why blatant racists have been emboldened to out themselves

charisma is pretty damn important in presidential elections

1/7/2021 8:35:49 PM

In regards to trump running again, no i do not think so

In regards to trump not being on ticket being disadvantage to repubs in GA, lol

[Edited on January 7, 2021 at 8:36 PM. Reason : Perpetually, sure. In like 2032]

1/7/2021 8:36:07 PM