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The American Political Thread

947K views 22K replies 68 participants last post by  Vader101 
#1 ·
Something I've noted several times is that, while most of us agree it's important to be informed about Canadian politics and to be an engaged citizen, the fact is that Canadian politics are generally pretty boring (this can be a good thing, IMO). The Americans, on the other hand, have turned the dysfunction of their political system into an entertainment industry (although it appears Harper, et al., are determined to reduce the Canadian system to the same level).

So I thought I'd start a thread for discussion of the Reality TV show they call American Politics.

I'll start with this posting I saw on another forum, with respect to the Republican's policies on women's health care, especially with regard to contraception and abortion:
After years and years and years of specifically targeting homophobes, racists, bigots, religious zealots, anti-intellectuals and sociopaths why should we be at all shocked that the GOP picked up a ****load of misogynists along the way?
 
#3,125 ·
Nice short video on income distribution in the U.S. I'd love to see this done WRT Canada; I doubt it's much different.
+ YouTube Video
ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.
Well, it comes right down to the "dreaded socialism" and "Social Darwinism". Survival of the fittest is the way to go ............. too bad that there are no work houses anymore. Such is Life. Paix, mon ami.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYHmQT_7a2c]Ebenezer Scrooge "...Are there no prisons?..." - YouTube[/ame]
 
#3,126 ·
#3,127 ·
That's a fib Dr. G, they are all in jurisdictions with "right to work" legislation.
Well, no work, no food. Stop the unions cold, and then get the governments out of the pockets of hard working people and let's get back to basics. "The business of America is business", and the business of business is profit.
 
#3,128 ·
New leader of the GOP: Rand Paul - CNN.com

An interesting article, from someone who is not a Republican. Personally, while I don't agree with many of Rand Paul's policies and beliefs, I respect his honesty to at least say what he means, and even to stand up and discuss it for 13 hours in a filibuster on the floor of the Senate.
 
#3,129 ·
How symbolic can you get?? I guess he was just trying to be honest.

Oh, dear. This is probably not the symbolism the White House wanted.
Hours after CIA Director John Brennan took the oath of office—behind closed doors, far away from the press, perhaps befitting his status as America's top spy—the White House took pains to emphasize the symbolism of the ceremony.

“There's one piece of this that I wanted to note for you,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at their daily briefing. “Director Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution that had George Washington's personal handwriting and annotations on it, dating from 1787.”

Earnest said Brennan had asked for a document from the National Archives that would demonstrate the U.S. is a nation of laws.

"Director Brennan told the president that he made the request to the archives because he wanted to reaffirm his commitment to the rule of law as he took the oath of office as director of the CIA,” Earnest said.

The Constitution itself went into effect in 1789. But troublemaking blogger Marcy Wheeler points out that what was missing from the Constitution in 1787 is also quite symbolic: The Bill of Rights, which did not officially go into effect until December 1791 after ratification by states. (Caution: Marcy's post has some strong language.)

That means: No freedom of speech and of the press, no right to bear arms, no Fourth Amendment ban on “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and no right to a jury trial.
How ... symbolic?
Brennan takes oath on draft Constitution

John Brennan Sworn in as CIA Director Using Constitution Lacking Bill of Rights | emptywheel
 
#3,130 ·
#3,131 ·
Wow. The BBC is reporting on newly declassified tapes that Nixon intentionally sabotaged peace talks that would've ended the VietNam conflict 5 years earlier, on the grounds that he felt the war was good for his political campaign. That cost 22,000 American lives, and an unknown but certainly much larger number of Vietnamese lives.

And I am forced to believe that the level of cynicism required to succeed in American Presidential Politics has only increased since 1968.
 
#3,132 ·
Wow. The BBC is reporting on newly declassified tapes that Nixon intentionally sabotaged peace talks that would've ended the VietNam conflict 5 years earlier, on the grounds that he felt the war was good for his political campaign. That cost 22,000 American lives, and an unknown but certainly much larger number of Vietnamese lives.

And I am forced to believe that the level of cynicism required to succeed in American Presidential Politics has only increased since 1968.
The only surprising thing about that is that it took this long to get official confirmation.

Hopefully similar official revelations about 9/11, The anti-patriot act and the Iraq massacres will not have to wait until 2043.
 
#3,134 ·
Wow. The BBC is reporting on newly declassified tapes that Nixon intentionally sabotaged peace talks that would've ended the VietNam conflict 5 years earlier, on the grounds that he felt the war was good for his political campaign. That cost 22,000 American lives, and an unknown but certainly much larger number of Vietnamese lives.

And I am forced to believe that the level of cynicism required to succeed in American Presidential Politics has only increased since 1968.
Amazing, and truly shocking. I vividly recall how America was coming apart at the seams, especially after the shooting of Bobby Kennedy. While I was a pledged support of Gene McCarthy, I felt that Bobby was the only person at the time who could have ended the war in Vietnam by the end of 1969.
 
#3,135 ·
North Korea exposes life in the USA on MSN Video

Luckily, we live in Canada ............. where there are lots of birds and lots of snow for coffee and soup.

Sadly, many North Koreans might find this a good situation compared to what they are experiencing.
 
#3,138 ·
I would like to know why we don't have Yummy Hot Snow Coffee - are the Conservatives holding out on the good stuff? :D
We get yummy hot snow coffee here in St.John's, and cold and yummy yellow lemonade as well. :confused::confused::eek::eek:XX)
 
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