The Next American President Thread (2016)

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  • Posts: 11,119
    FLeiter wrote: »
    11223602_860317827378560_7923848683641722728_n.jpg

    I just meant to say in style, Obama and Reagan are very much 'great communicators' and perfect speechers.
  • Posts: 4,619
    His America was great, is great and will stay great
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/direction_of_country-902.html

  • Posts: 315
    Notorious HRC....Go Hill!

  • edited July 2016 Posts: 3,566
    I don't always agree with Bill Maher...but he sure is funny! =))
    PS: And that's more than Pancho's links can say for themselves... 8-|
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    dalton wrote: »
    I definitely don't disagree that we shouldn't have gone in there. Doing so would have given one of the factions (ISIS) exactly what they wanted, which is to fight us on their own soil. It would have also been a catastrophe that most likely would have made Iraq look like a minor screw-up by comparison.

    Issuing the red-line was the mistake. My feeling is simply, though, if you're going to issue the red-line, follow through with it. A red-line shouldn't have been issued, however, if there was any doubt as to whether or not you'd want to intervene should the line be crossed. Obviously, there was some doubt there.

    There was no doubt. They knew it was their own terrorists who had done it. Too few people believed their hoax, so they couldn t follow it through.
  • Okay, so let’s talk about Clinton Derangement Syndrome.

    It’s a very real condition, I‘ve seen it demonstrated countless times in the last 24 years, aimed at both Bill and at Hillary. The first time I noticed it being directed at Hillary was in the run-up to the 1992 election, pitting Bill Clinton against George H.W. Bush. Parade Magazine, a weekly assortment of largely inconsequential material given out for free with many Sunday newspapers here in the US, asked the wives of the presidential candidates to share their favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies with the American public.

    Hillary doesn’t bake cookies. A mortal sin, to be sure. But still: Hillary has other interests. Cookie baking isn’t one of them. So she asked an assistant to come up with a recipe, and sent it off to Parade Magazine. When the word came out, a week or so after the recipes were published, THE RIGHT WING HIT THE ROOF. Hillary doesn’t bake cookies! She can’t really be a mother. MY mother bakes cookies! YOUR mother bakes cookies!! ALL good mothers bake cookies!!! Hillary must be a commie, she’s a lizard-being, she’s somehow inauthentic!!!! (Worse yet, maybe she’s a lesbian…) It all seemed way out of proportion to me, but then I wasn’t really aware of the consequences of Clinton Derangement Syndrome.

    But it went on from there. Hillary refuses to divorce Bill when confronted with evidence that he’s had affairs with other women? It’s just more proof that she’s …somehow abnormal, in some way inauthentic. (Tammy Wynette’s country music classic, “Stand By Your Man” had yet to be performed in Goldeneye so I suppose the right wing had already forgotten it at that point in time.) Hillary’s trying to put together a health care system with Bob Dole and other bi-partisan leaders (just prior to bi-partisanship becoming a dirty word)? Just more proof that she’s nothing more than a power-hungry bitch! And so on. CDS strikes deep, and the Republican Party has been riding this particular Big Lie hard for the last quarter century. Not surprising to me at all that so many people have taken to believing it.

    Now let’s look at the main reason the right wing has been so invested in promoting CDS among the American public: it’s all on the Big Dawg of course -- Bill Clinton. Let’s step back a few years. Several years, actually…. Anybody remember The Solid South? After the Civil War, the party of Lincoln was anathema in the southern states. Democratic candidates could be counted upon to carry the south in election after election after election up until the late ‘60s. These were the days of Yellow Dog Democrats: countless voters in the south would proudly say, "I'll vote for a Yellow Dog if he's the Democratic candidate." When Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, he is said to have remarked to an aide, “I’m afraid I’ve just handed the south to the Republicans for the next 50 years.” He was right -- but he went ahead and signed that landmark legislation anyway, because it was right and it was necessary. Thus was born Richard Nixon’s famous “Southern strategy,” dog-whistling support of racist ideology to bring the southern states fully into the Republican fold. It worked…for 25 years, until Arkansas governor Bill Clinton stepped forward, actively and successfully breaking that hold some 20 years early. Of course the Republicans were furious with him, and of course they HAD to find SOMEthing to impeach him on…and the fact that all they could find to use against him was an intern with a stained dress, who would have had little real impact on the American landscape without them whipping it into a Big News Story, meant nothing to them. It was IMPEACHABLE, damn it! --and the fact that the President’s main detractors, like Newt Gingrich, were guilty of the same sin, was conveniently ignored in their politically mandated posturing.

    Hillary, of course, Stood By Her Man. The conniving, manipulative bitch.

    Now really, I’m not here to argue that Hillary, or Bill, or anyone on the American political landscape, is a saint. Yes, Hillary voted for the war the George W. Bush lied us into. So did nearly everybody in Congress at that time. But Mike Pence gets a pass on that while Hillary does not. CDS will brook no excuses. Yes, ex-Presidents make money after leaving office by making speeches and appearances, and they open foundations to allow their families to keep it all going. If you want to pass laws to change that, fine, do so -- but you can’t fault the Clintons without faulting the Reagans and the Bushes, and you can't make it a sin retroactively. Yes, Hillary had her own email server, but so did Colin Powell and so did Condoleeza Rice and they both said so publicly at the very beginning of the email server controversy. It doesn’t matter. CDS now, CDS then, CDS forever! If you don’t like Hillary, fine, you’re entitled to that. But please be honest with yourself, and the rest of us, when you consider WHY, exactly, you feel that way.
  • edited July 2016 Posts: 572
    Having watched both conventions, I would agree with you that the dem's convention was managed far better. Clinton is on the right track to being voted as president.

    That said (and scandals aside), Hillary's hawkish tendencies combined with her completely open border policy (and trade agreements) scares the bejesus out of me. It seems so obvious to me how potentially dangerous that mindset is, but apparently roughly half the nation isn't as concerned. Yes, I have bias and am generally right-leaning, but I consider myself very open-minded and have been finding myself more and more in the middle (especially on social issues). Globalism, however, is taking it's toll on the US and I do agree it's time we tighten the reigns...not double down and wait for things to crash. My region is dominated by manufacturing, so perhaps we feel it more than most...

    @BeatlesSansEarmuffs - I agree with many of your comments. Only thing is that with regards to the Clinton email scandals, just because others did it, does it really make it ok that she did it? What I think is more irritating than anything is how do people like Clinton or Powell get away with this stuff with their wrists slapped (or nothing at all) and people lower on the totem poll have to live with a completely different justice system. IMO, it's not so much about Clinton as it is about the justice system. Rules are rules, either enforce them or throw them out!

    Oh and by the way, Bernie was better. I honestly believe I would've voted for him. He has something that our two candidates for president don't...honesty and lack of scandals. Oh well, the machine rolls on...
  • Posts: 11,119
    FLeiter wrote: »
    Notorious HRC....Go Hill!


    :)) This is funny.

  • JamesStock wrote: »

    Oh and by the way, Bernie was better. I honestly believe I would've voted for him. He has something that our two candidates for president don't...honesty and lack of scandals. Oh well, the machine rolls on...

    I voted for Bernie in the CA primary. Bernie thinks Hillary is the far better candidate of the two. Bernie has endorsed Hillary. I only hope (and I do believe) that's enough for most of Bernie's supporters.
  • edited July 2016 Posts: 11,119
    JamesStock wrote: »

    Oh and by the way, Bernie was better. I honestly believe I would've voted for him. He has something that our two candidates for president don't...honesty and lack of scandals. Oh well, the machine rolls on...

    I voted for Bernie in the CA primary. Bernie thinks Hillary is the far better candidate of the two. Bernie has endorsed Hillary. I only hope (and I do believe) that's enough for most of Bernie's supporters.

    I'm not too much afraid of that. Roughly 90% of the original Sanders voters will jump the Hillary wagon. Yes, there are still some Sanders supporters who will never vote for Hillary, but those are really radical.

    Having said that, I'm still quite touched by this video. I mean, what do those 'Bernie or Bust' protesters actually think of this:


    And yet, when you, in a weird kind of way, hope that Trump actually shows some empathy, which would actually help him in the polls, he does....this :-(:
    http://www.vox.com/2016/7/30/12332922/donald-trump-khan-muslim

    And this....this doesn't make me uttering a verbal counter-attack. No, it makes me silent....in a very very sad way.
  • edited July 2016 Posts: 572
    JamesStock wrote: »

    Oh and by the way, Bernie was better. I honestly believe I would've voted for him. He has something that our two candidates for president don't...honesty and lack of scandals. Oh well, the machine rolls on...

    I voted for Bernie in the CA primary. Bernie thinks Hillary is the far better candidate of the two. Bernie has endorsed Hillary. I only hope (and I do believe) that's enough for most of Bernie's supporters.
    Having watched the convention, I wasn't convinced. I think he's pissed (and rightfully so) but was being a good sport.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    edited July 2016 Posts: 8,400
    Time for some truth:



    (Just FYI, the guy who made this video is a liberal.)
  • JamesStock wrote: »
    JamesStock wrote: »

    Oh and by the way, Bernie was better. I honestly believe I would've voted for him. He has something that our two candidates for president don't...honesty and lack of scandals. Oh well, the machine rolls on...

    I voted for Bernie in the CA primary. Bernie thinks Hillary is the far better candidate of the two. Bernie has endorsed Hillary. I only hope (and I do believe) that's enough for most of Bernie's supporters.
    Having watched the convention, I wasn't convinced. I think he's pissed (and rightfully so) but was being a good sport.

    I don't think Bernie's pissed -- I just think he's bummed that it wasn't HIM up there getting all the applause. Not surprising really, and not all that notable.

    @Gustav: I understand Trump's already getting some flak for talking his usual line of trash re: the Khans. Again, not all that surprising, but extremely notable.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    If Bernie were to run with Jill Stein on the Independent ticket, I'd vote for them in a hairsplit. But that won't happen. So I will take Bernie's advice & vote for the lesser of two evil hairstyles.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited July 2016 Posts: 4,585
    I have not read the article yet, Thundy, but yes there are tons of videos and memes and articles painting her as the war mongering murdering evil bitch. Like weird psycho evil. Plenty of those going around. Are they saying she is secretly an alien lizard too? They control the world apparently, according to several folks on the internet.

    That's precisely what she is. She will probably be elected, as many refuse to see the obvious. The military–industrial complex and the same neocons that supported Bush are now backing her.

    https://theintercept.com/2016/07/25/robert-kagan-and-other-neocons-back-hillary-clinton/

    As I said, she will most likely be the next president, but don't act surprised when she continues the interventionist policy and increases the tensions in foreign relations. Perhaps something even worse.


    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.

    The President's only real job, that can be done by him- or herself, is to nominate judges to the SCOTUS and all federal courts. The next four years are extremely important in terms of enacting and preserving a progressive agenda stateside. HRC WILL nominate liberal justices and WILL do everything in her power to preserve women's rights, workers' rights, and LGBTQ rights. And this is extremely important because SCOTUS justices are LIFETIME appointments!!!

    The next President will shape the SCOTUS for decades to come. Do we really want that person to be Trump? Absolutely not. I do not care if Hillary only serves one term and we see a Republican in 2020, as long as those liberal SCOTUS appointments are made by then.

    If you don't think this is important, just look at what has happened in North Carolina, where voter laws were struck down as (and rightfully so) written to suppress minority voting. Thank God for the courts! More conservatives in office = more conservative, activist judges (like Scalia, who was scum...sorry, RIP, but true) who will roll over and interpret the Constitution in terrifying ways, as seen in the Hobby Lobby case, which allowed corporations to deny rights to workers based on a so-called religious exception. It was the Catholics on the court who supported Hobby Lobby the most. Terrifying to think that the Vatican (and its beliefs) get to dictate labor law in the United States. Jefferson is turning in his grave.

    HRC in 2016! I'm with Her!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Good points, Trip.
  • Posts: 572
    TripAces wrote: »
    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this. Look at how Obama's administration has handled crises so far. Even if you're right, the concept of "it's going to happen anyway, so who cares" is a pretty poor argument. If you have someone in a position of influence who will fight for something, they may not win the battle, but they'll start the conversation. Sure, change does not happen overnight, but reluctance to strive for something just because the mountain is too tall is a very troubling to me. You might as well as hand over all your freedoms/rights...
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    JamesStock wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this. Look at how Obama's administration has handled crises so far. Even if you're right, the concept of "it's going to happen anyway, so who cares" is a pretty poor argument. If you have someone in a position of influence who will fight for something, they may not win the battle, but they'll start the conversation. Sure, change does not happen overnight, but reluctance to strive for something just because the mountain is too tall is a very troubling to me. You might as well as hand over all your freedoms/rights...
    The MIC is a monster we were warned about long ago. I agree that we should not just lay down to their power, but it IS power. Bernie would not sell out as Trip suggests, but most have and will because *grassy knoll*.
    :(
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
  • Posts: 5,994
    Apparently, Donald Trump is already president and has already done something, and we didn't know about it :

    https://notalwayslearning.com/its-starting/43907

    Remind me of the beginning of "Give Me Liberty", by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons, where all the answers to a history test was "President Rexall".
  • Posts: 315
    While the MIC concept has been around for decades, it was Pres. Eisenhower who gave voice to it in 1961. I would add that Congress is under more influence than any President. For their states it's simply a jobs program.

    Trip-Presidential powers are alot more than appointing SCOTUS justices. One such power is to call up National Guard units and ship them anywhere in the world without Congressional approval.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited July 2016 Posts: 23,883
    JamesStock wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this. Look at how Obama's administration has handled crises so far. Even if you're right, the concept of "it's going to happen anyway, so who cares" is a pretty poor argument. If you have someone in a position of influence who will fight for something, they may not win the battle, but they'll start the conversation. Sure, change does not happen overnight, but reluctance to strive for something just because the mountain is too tall is a very troubling to me. You might as well as hand over all your freedoms/rights...
    Agreed, and many of the voter's view of the special interest's influence is at a societal 'tipping point' imho, with income inequality & lack of opportunity (primarily driven by technological advances and global competition) being the main drivers of discontent. Many feel that the social contract with Govt. is gone, and that underpins the loss of trust in leaders and the political process.

    Given where we are now, it's not a case of 'business as usual'. We are in the early stages of a revolution that is bubbling under (The Tea Party, Occupy, Sanders, Trump etc. etc.). If some of the steam is not let out of the system this time around, four years from now could be even more unpredictable, with a messy intervening governing period.

    Transformative change was promised 8 yrs ago. To many, it was not delivered in a meaningful way that impacted their lives positively. People are still demanding it now, more than ever. Last time around they bet on Mr. 'Nice' to deliver it. The velvet glove. This time around, many are betting instead on Mr. 'Not So Nice'. The battering ram.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,400
    bondjames wrote: »
    JamesStock wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this. Look at how Obama's administration has handled crises so far. Even if you're right, the concept of "it's going to happen anyway, so who cares" is a pretty poor argument. If you have someone in a position of influence who will fight for something, they may not win the battle, but they'll start the conversation. Sure, change does not happen overnight, but reluctance to strive for something just because the mountain is too tall is a very troubling to me. You might as well as hand over all your freedoms/rights...
    Agreed, and many of the voter's view of the special interest's influence is at a societal 'tipping point' imho, with income inequality & lack of opportunity (primarily driven by technological advances and global competition) being the main drivers of discontent. Many feel that the social contract with Govt. is gone, and that underpins the loss of trust in leaders and the political process.

    Given where we are now, it's not a case of 'business as usual'. We are in the early stages of a revolution that is bubbling under (The Tea Party, Occupy, Sanders, Trump etc. etc.). If some of the steam is not let out of the system this time around, four years from now could be even more unpredictable, with a messy intervening governing period.

    Transformative change was promised 8 yrs ago. To many, it was not delivered in a meaningful way that impacted their lives positively. People are still demanding it now, more than ever. Last time around they bet on Mr. 'Nice' to deliver it. The velvet glove. This time around, many are betting instead on Mr. 'Not So Nice'. The battering ram.

    Very accurate post, well observed. =D>
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    edited July 2016 Posts: 8,266
    Time for some truth:



    (Just FYI, the guy who made this video is a liberal.)

    Listened to only 4 minutes of utter biased ramblings with no facts mentioned or proved whatsoever. This guy just doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'humour'. Bill Maher wasn't supporting HRC, he was making fun of the Republican arguments.

    So claiming it's time for some 'truth' is as empty as his commentary, or as politically well informed as Bill Maher's story. But at least that was meant as fun.

    But go ahead and support Trump, a man who attacks the mother of a fallen soldier and hence pisses on his grave. Be proud of that.
  • It's Sunday, and time for me to put on the "Silly@Beatles" hat. A new candidate has appeared out of...well, out of the pages of classic literature...to throw his hat into the ring. Yes, The Cat in the Hat has just slung his sizeable chapeau into the figurative foray...and the hero of haberdashery is already revealing some of his cabinet choices. Both Red Fish AND Blue Fish will be tasked with the job of cleaning up the oceans, in a bit of basic bi-partisanship...and Sam I Am will be in charge of solving the problem of world hunger. Green eggs & ham for everybody! Yay! When one considers the contributions these immortal characters have made to the issue of literacy, I don't see how ANYbody can even consider voting for anyone other than your friend & mine...the next President of the United States of America... THE CAT IN THE HAT!!!! =D>
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    So cats are eligible as long as they are anthropomorphic?
  • edited July 2016 Posts: 3,566
    So cats are eligible as long as they are anthropomorphic?

    They don't even need to be anthropomorphic. The Yippies ran Pigasus -- a pig -- for President back in 1968. And of course, Hippie icon Wavy Gravy has been promoting Nobody for President for decades now, because "Nobody will keep all his campaign promises."

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Nobody is the real winner this year. My prediction.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,585
    JamesStock wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    The MIC is not going to be taken down overnight by any President, not even Bernie. It is what it is. That will not change any time soon. So making a case against HRC because of the MIC is not a good case. The other options are as betrothed to the MIC as she is--or will be very quickly. I guarantee that even Bernie, once faced with the daily briefings, would sell out to military action as needed. Sorry. Just the truth.
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong on this. Look at how Obama's administration has handled crises so far. Even if you're right, the concept of "it's going to happen anyway, so who cares" is a pretty poor argument. If you have someone in a position of influence who will fight for something, they may not win the battle, but they'll start the conversation. Sure, change does not happen overnight, but reluctance to strive for something just because the mountain is too tall is a very troubling to me. You might as well as hand over all your freedoms/rights...


    Correct. But in one area, change DOES occur overnight: the makeup of the SCOTUS. I will trade a liberal court system for more of the same, in terms of the MIC and Wall Street. We are at a serious tipping point with the court. The other two can wait.
  • edited July 2016 Posts: 11,119
    By jolly. I thought Trump was a loose canon, not 50 loose canons :| :

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/donald-trump-tough-weekend-226488
    http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/gop-reacts-donald-trump-s-controversial-remarks-khan-family-n620481

    Are there actually.......people in here who think he could be a good president? At first Trump seemed a lot like our own Geert Wilders. A smart attacker, who knows when to aim his attacks. Even on Twitter.

    But by jolly, this man is acting like a little child. Listening to the ordinary working-class people? I think it's an insult to white working-class people. They seem to be smarter than Trump.

    The weirdest conclusion of this all is this: Trump seems to do as well in the polls as Romney in 2012 and McCain in 2008. It's mindboggling.
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