Remember what I said about the DNC forcing Biden as their choice, and then he magically resigns a few months in for "health reasons?"
He does a good job of surrounding himself with smart people. I'd be ok with that. The way I look at it, you have to view the VP as a potential replacement candidate anyway, especially in this insane world right now. It's not just about the top guy. Are they BOTH qualified to be president? If not, don't pass go.
In the spirit of being civil to you, and people who call you a jar of mayonaise, politely explain what you're saying is horseshit, and call you a dumbshit racist motherfucker I'll point out that Biden's mental decline is being noticed by plenty of people who think he'll be a better president than Trump. Yes, while their mental problems are quite different, you can certainly say Trump's are a bigger problem. I don't understand why you don't think this would be a consideration though. To describe it as just being old simply isn't accurate. The interviews he is doing now are all pretaped. It's a condition his campaign has set with every news outlet. It's not very noticeable if you watch one of those, but if you watch him live it's pretty hard to ignore. He only speaks for 10-15 minutes, and always reads off a teleprompter, but it's still clear as day if you're watching any of these, which obviously you aren't. I think why some of you guys are uncomfortable with this race being tight is that you can't accept that some of Trump's policies have benefited Americans. To consider it bothers you, unless there was something like a bunch of minorities suffered as an offset. So you can sit there and say everyone voting Trump this election is stupid. Good for you. Pardon me for not thinking you're very insightful.
This is your (as in all of you) warning to be civil in this current conversation. There will not be another. Carry on.
No such thing as too liberal for the internet. I definitely support Trump's handling of China, I think few other presidents would have taken that posture. Ditto on North Korea, unfortunately. I also cringe at every time someone accuses the GOP of racism. Actual racism, ie Klan membership, is pretty rare. The Democrats definition of racism seems to be stupidly broad. Trump has a very outdated view of the world, and it clashes. For example, in Trump's world, the highest compliment he can give a woman is that she's beautiful. That's what he understands women do: try to be as pretty as possible. So, to him it's not weird to compliment his daughter, but to the rest of us it's fucking gross and there are nicer things you can say about women. At a certain point, I get his shit-talking the media: who are YOU, lowly scribe to fuck with the most powerful man on Earth? That's about it. There's no major policy achievement, other than his tax cut. No wall. No major change in any of the things he ran on: immigration is still a nightmare, and will likely be a stain on our history. Healthcare is worse. The economy was a selling point, but not anymore: record crashes, record unemployment, record stimulus, record, deficit, record inequality. Things I had hoped for during his administration simply haven't happened. Nothing has gotten more affordable, accessible or equitable. Faith in institutions declined during his administration. Our influence across the world declined measurably. Objectively, this guy is a failure. What can he point to as a success? What is the legacy of the Trump administration? The only thing I can think of that will leave a lasting mark is the thousands of judges confirmed, and that had more to do with Mitch McConnell than Trump.
I would say the trade deals negotiated by his administration are arguably the most successful thing he's done. I've stated before that one of the few people in his administration that has been there since the beginning is Robert Lighthizer. Hes the real man-behind-the-curtain. Based on what Trump has said about him (or hasn't) along with what can be inferred, it seems Trump trusts him fully to do the job. On trade it self, its probably the only area where the rest of the world realized Trump wasn't just bullshitting when he said he the old deals were anachronistic and needed to be re-written. The US controls global finance, commercial shipping lanes, and currency. So based that, he sent his squad around the world to start collecting on those intrinsic debts. South Korea caved on just about everything the Administration demanded, hoping the US would be there for security if China or NK got frisky. Same exact thing with Japan. The UK had no choice to cave after leaving the EU as the US is now their conduit to world trade. China is in the process of caving as they need the US dollar to stabilize their currency. The only trade deal that was actually, meaningfully negotiated was the USMCA revisions to NAFTA, specifically with Mexico. The relationship with Canada hasn't changed much as they are still getting a free trade arrangement either way and the US very much needs trade with Canada. There were some changes in terms of dairy, gas, oil and some other items, but nothing major. When people question why the US dumps so much money in the military and not social programs, they should consider that there is no part of US continental security that does not involve providing security for Canada as well (not that Canada doesn't have an excellent military of their own). The EU will never settle on a consequential deal. So from an American perspective, its very good policy at the right time. From a global perspective (as in outside North America), those policies will seem like greedy protectionism, which is exactly what they are.
Him obliterating the cult of Milton Friedman unrestricted free trade on the right in the long run will be a huge impact on the political discourse and helps the democrats with pushing their agenda with a larger accepting group of people. It will be interesting to see if the gop pivots long term with this or try to revert back to the party of the chamber of commerce.
That couldn’t hurt. Definitively, Conservatives were the party of business. And that’s important and necessary, business needs representation in government and policy. Along the way, yokels somehow attached themselves to Conservatives and Hypocritical cancel culture somehow attached itself to the group named after the word “liberation”. These are the sea lampreys that have bored into your flesh and perpetually devalue each side. In a perfect world, you guys need four political parties. We do, with one ninth of the population of you guys and a whoooooooole lot of more space. Keep the GOP and DNC. But then have more centrist Conservative and Liberal parties and see if the other snakes eat their own tails.
Its because the parties at the citizen level have largely been defined by cultural and social positions instead of whats actually in peoples' best interests. It why they still hammer away at abortion being made illegal on the conservative side and the liberals fighting every other bleeding heart cause on their side.
Is it really working out that well, though? What else has Trudeau's party done besides the environmental mandate and modestly consolidate power in Ottawa? Because it seems like the lack of cohesion between groups is having a dramatic economic and sociopolitical effect on Alberta and Saskatchewan's relationship with the Canadian federal government.
I was genuinely afraid for my own safety when I went shopping this past week. I can't exactly report feeling afraid, now can I? I can't exactly go to a different grocery store because no matter what grocery store I go into, it isn't going to change the shape of my eyes. I'm not going to ask my wife to go out and shop because someone has to watch our kids and I don't want them getting sick. This is the reality of a subset of a largely law-abiding, productive group of American citizens. You can't rely on self-reported data from a group of people who are afraid of leaving their homes. Not just from coronavirus, but because they may be injured or killed for who they are. This lack of data also doesn't mean that these attacks aren't happening. An attack does not necessarily mean a physical one either. Shitty comments always have the opportunity to turn lethal, and people who look a certain way shouldn't have to be afraid of living in their own country. Trump exacerbated this fear by calling it a Chinese virus. I honestly don't give a shit if he meant it a different way or he didn't. Some people are going to hear it, turn that around in their racist brains, then assume the president approves of them going out and killing Asian Americans. If you can't understand that or ignore it, then stop talking about it.
My wife hasn't eaten chinese food her entire life. Hates it for some reason. Something about the taste. In the last few weeks she has decided she wanted to change that and started having me order out and make what I can at home. Turns out she loves soy sauce and fried rice. She said that's her way of showing she isn't afraid. I think it's hilarious and not really how this works, but whatever. It supports local businesses. I can't even imagine being in your shoes. I can't begin to fathom what that must feel like. Is there anything you suggest everyone else do to combat this?
Obviously, your safety should be your primary concern, so do these things if it's safe. Call out racism when you see it. People who are being attacked for their race see all people of the same race of the person who is attacking them as racist, especially when they do nothing while the racist is saying and doing shitty things. This virus doesn't give a shit about what your ethnicity is. Assuming all Asian people are sick is like assuming all black people will rob you. Patronize small businesses in general, but small businesses owned by Asian Americans in particular. Asian supermarkets generally aren't completely picked over because white people are too afraid to go in. Being racist isn't going to protect you from getting sick. Blaming Asians for starting this pandemic ignores all the other pandemics started by all other ethnicities throughout human history. The goal here is to get through this with a minimal loss of life. Let's not add racially motivated attacks to the list of things that could kill us.
Loosely translated: "We don't understand models, how they're built, how they work, and what they say, therefore we think they're witchcraft."
Trudeau immediately after elected shined a light on residential schooling, something you guys don’t hear about down there about us and one of our country’s biggest racial black eyes. Basically it was a church-sponsored genocide where they abducted native children and tried to beat the heritage out of them, Catholic-style. Kids who didn’t speak English would have a red-hot coals dropped into their hands... it was a house of horrors that killed thousands. He also legalized cannabis across the nation in one stroke, as promised. And didn’t supercharge any economy but has kept who knows how many non-violent people out of jail or even prison. When you think of the butterfly effect that has on breaking up families... I have a LOT of critiques on Trudeau. I also think he’s a pandering super-inclusive pussy who runs through fields of daisies and he causes an inordinate amount of cringe in me. While smart, he is nowhere near the super-charismatic, intellectual powerhouse pussyhound his father was.