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Mad_Machine76

Mad_Machine76's Journal
Mad_Machine76's Journal
December 28, 2018

What good would "censuring" him do?



That would be the equivalent of a slap on a wrist- or nothing more painful to Trump than a mosquito bite- and it wouldn't change his behavior.
December 19, 2018

Of course he was never interested in any long-term solutions

Their only "solution" is- and has always been- to cripple and legislate those programs (and other government programs) out of existence, not actually make them balanced and sustainable. We have plenty of money and/or ways to legitimately improve programs but the people in charge lack the necessary priorities and desire to use the necessary resources to do it.

December 19, 2018

Ok Facebook is problematic. Way problematic

But, that being said, it keeps me connected to friends and family members whom I would not be able to have any contact with otherwise and I've met tons of people I would never have met otherwise. It is probably my only pipeline to having a social life at present. I'm personally in no rush to get rid of it. A lot of marginalized groups don't have any other means of communication with the outside world beyond social media. Don't throw away the proverbial "baby" with the bathwater and keep on pushing for social media companies to be more responsive/responsible to our concerns.

December 18, 2018

How soon

could this potentially end up before SCOTUS? And how many times can this be litigated? Are Republican activists just going to keep filing lawsuits over and over again espousing new and crazier theories to try to get the law overturned and then "shopping" for Judges whom will support them?

December 18, 2018

The focus

should be on the fact that Russia was actively meddling in our elections and the Trump Campaign- or elements thereof- actively colluded with them in their meddling (which is looking more and more likely). Short of evidence of actual vote-flipping, it's difficult to determine with any kind of accuracy what kind of effect, if any, the Russian meddling had *on* the election but it's bad enough if it turns out that not only were they meddling (and that's been pretty firmly established at this point), but also if one of the campaigns was participating in it as well. I personally blame the Media more than anything for influencing people's views and opinions about the election, largely failing to vet Trump while exaggerating- to a ridiculous degree- the "scandal" over Hillary's e-mail server and decades of smears. And I blame James Comey for his unprofessional conduct regarding the Hillary e-mail server investigation.

December 17, 2018

I'd like to think that Trump has tainted the party enough

that they'd have a difficulty winning in 2020 regardless of who runs. People will know- or be made aware- that Haley worked for Trump too. At any rate, I don't know that anybody running as a GOPer in 2020 would be able to escape the "Trump Taint", not to mention the fact that most GOPers have enabled and covered for Trump pretty consistently. A fractious 2020 primary challenge would be hard on the GOP in and of itself too. Trump may survive it, albeit wind up even more wounded than he is now. A successful primary bid by a challenger would likely be mortally wounded by the loss of Trump supporters angry over Trump being dumped. I have a hard time seeing how Trump/GOP wins re-election next year but not dismissing it as an impossibility just because.......

December 13, 2018

To some degree, yes

The real acid test will be 2020, however. GWB was a disastrous (P)resident but he got (re-)elected in 2004. I can't imagine a scenario where Trump wins a second term but after 2016, I ain't taking *anything* for granted and I hope that we Democrats pull it together and stand firmly behind our nominee.

December 13, 2018

It's still infuriating

that Trump was basically allowed to skate into office (mostly) unvetted by the MSM, but they were relentless about going after every slight *whiff* of impropriety by Clinton (that- as per usual- never amounted to anything)

December 7, 2018

+1

As we have increasingly learned over the past few years under Republican control, there are a LOT of things that Presidents and Congress have done as a matter of existing norms/traditions and not codified law that Republicans have decided to take advantage of to thwart Democratic Presidents and lawmakers from enacting progressive policies supported by the public/maintain control even while in the minority. Because of this, a large body of laws enacted/supported by the Democrats never made it to former President Obama's desk for his signature, numerous judicial and executive nominees languished unapproved in the Senate, and, most notably, President Obama never got to pick a third Supreme Court Justice to fill the seat of the deceased Antonin Scalia even though the vacancy occurred during a period of time during which he was still the President and the Senate had adequate time to hold hearings, evaluate his nomination, and, ultimately, hold a vote on it. Unless the Republicans are completely shut out of the legislative process to where they can't obstruct it and/or return to respecting the previous norms and traditions (which is rather unlikely), it seems like some major reforms are going to be needed in order to return to a more democratic tradition of governance in Congress. The Trump Presidency has also called into question some of the power and privileges of the office of the Presidency as well, which needs to be re-evaluated.

December 4, 2018

I can't see it happening

but the Senate has become a deeply anti-democratic institution in recent years (mostly because of the GOP) in need of some serious reforms in how it operates.

Profile Information

Name: Mara Alis Butler
Gender: Female
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Home country: USA
Current location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Member since: Sat Feb 28, 2004, 01:13 AM
Number of posts: 24,411

About Mad_Machine76

Transgender Woman /Social Worker/Case Manager working for State of Indiana. Huge Sci-Fi/Anime Geek and music lover. Hopeless \"political junkie\" and aspiring writer.
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