The Political Thread

[Funt Solo]

A short message from Glasgow.

[Jim_Campbell]

I'm not sure what a 'war president' is exactly - as far as I know Obama didn't declare any wars, just continued those that others had begun.

Trump is basically an isolationist. If you want to look for anything positive in the white-hot dumpster fire that's been his presidency, it's that he disengaged the US military from overseas actions and managed to start zero new wars in his term.

[The Legendary Shark]

Here's a short and partial definition: "Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy". That's from Wikipedia.

Well, if that's what you think government is for then that's fine. (Personally, I have problems with the word "enforced" in this description - but everything else seems adequate.)

It's more a description of what government does than what it's for. Is it, though, a good enough description of what it's for? There are no mentions of people or society in that description, it could be applied to almost any body from a corporate board to a mother's meeting.

How about something like "that part of society tasked with the organization and maintenance of public infrastructure and services." That's closer to what I think government is for - whether and to what extent it succeeds is another question. I'm not sure my description is entirely adequate either so let's see if we can come to a definition we can agree on and then go from there.

[The Legendary Shark]

...as far as I know Obama didn't declare any wars, just continued those that others had begun.

Exactly - he didn't withdraw from any wars or end any. Murderous anti-terrorist attacks continued throughout his presidency, along with assassinations and other monstrous acts. Ditto under Trump. I imagine this new guy won't be winding operations down any time soon either.

[TordelBack]

Being Commander-in-Chief in a country which spends around a trillion annually on the military, whose foreign policy for 100 years had been incessant, violent neo-colonial meddling for financial gain, and whose national identify could best be summarised as a mastubatory fantasy of freedom through firepower, drenching oneself in the blood of the infidel is a key part of the job description.

In this, Obama was no different, nor would Clinton 2 have been, and nor will Biden. In this regard the issue is the USA, not necesarily the President-du-jour.

The harm that Trump did lay elsewhere, and additional to, the role of America as global bully boy.

[IndigoPrime]

Trump is basically an isolationist. If you want to look for anything positive in the white-hot dumpster fire that's been his presidency, it's that he disengaged the US military from overseas actions and managed to start zero new wars in his term.

Although the isolationism offset that by eradicating the relationships between a number of countries in the world. The one arguable positive from that is we saw China and Germany emerge as countries people considered replacements for the USA's leading role in certain areas.

[Tjm86]

Apparently Trump's campaign team have set up a 'voter fraud hotline' for people to pass on concerns.  Unfortunately it would appear that it has not had the response they hoped for ...

Probably just as well the X-Factor and Strictly finals weren't on this week!

[JayzusB.Christ]

Being Commander-in-Chief in a country which spends around a trillion annually on the military, whose foreign policy for 100 years had been incessant, violent neo-colonial meddling for financial gain, and whose national identify could best be summarised as a mastubatory fantasy of freedom through firepower, drenching oneself in the blood of the infidel is a key part of the job description.

In this, Obama was no different, nor would Clinton 2 have been, and nor will Biden. In this regard the issue is the USA, not necesarily the President-du-jour.

The harm that Trump did lay elsewhere, and additional to, the role of America as global bully boy.

Wars aside, there is the matter of global warming. Trump must be aware of the certainty of it, but as is the case with the pandemic, he doesn't care and ignores it. We've got about twenty years of damage control left, and Trump pulls out of the Paris Agreement, and casts doubt over renewable energy sources, because who cares about future generations?  Even Trump has a young son who'll be living through the worst of it, but who cares?  The Paris Agreement not perfect and it may not be enough, but you know, it's something.

The sheer number of Americans who voted for four more years of this shit both baffles and depresses me.

[IndigoPrime]

Republicans are fuming that without Trump, the US might minimise the use of oil, coal and gas and might expand healthcare provision. GOP voters are fuming too. Because, clearly, a better future is more pollution, extreme weather, failing crops, and no healthcare coverage by default.

[TordelBack]

If they can dismiss Covid-19, which is immediate and right in front of their eyes with another 100,000 US deaths on the cards before Trump even leaves office, they'll never accept the reality of human-driven environmental collapse. The reality is that it's going to require building sufficient support in the remainder of the population, financially incentivising the deluded and just pushing on.

[Rately]

Talk of Biden treating Saudi Arabia as the Pariah state it deserves to be.

I'll believe it when i see it, but if it were to happen, it would be an incredibly positive development.

[IndigoPrime]

If I was one of those states in the desert, I'd be building solar farms at insane speed right now. There will come a tipping point, but they are well placed to reap the advantages of location for a second time—but only if they act.

[Tiplodocus]

Still get that uneasy feeling that the monster has been slain but the you realise there's still twenty minutes of the movie to go.

Let's hope it's just RETURN OF THE KING happy endings galore.

[Rately]

I'd think that our best hope is to get to February 2021, and watch the Criminal Prosecutions rain down on him and his associates. They all deserve to rot, and i think his current grandstanding will hopefully make law enforcement more determined and diligent in their actions.

He deserves to live in a courtroom, then a cell for the rest of his life.

[JayzusB.Christ]

If I was one of those states in the desert, I'd be building solar farms at insane speed right now. There will come a tipping point, but they are well placed to reap the advantages of location for a second time—but only if they act.

It does seem like the way forward. Obviously you'll have to keep Dante types from commandeering the solar farms and holding cities to ransom.  Seriously though, if we press on with the Trump attitude, we are, to quote my favourite anarchist Noam Chomsky, toast.  He actually used that word.

If they can dismiss Covid-19, which is immediate and right in front of their eyes with another 100,000 US deaths on the cards before Trump even leaves office, they'll never accept the reality of human-driven environmental collapse. The reality is that it's going to require building sufficient support in the remainder of the population, financially incentivising the deluded and just pushing on.

Yep, it's not even as if it's something we can't see happening already.  One of the biggest tragedies of the last four years was that the Mr 'I Know Windmills Very Much' is too vain to accept that he doesn't have to be the expert on everything. 

It genuinely makes me fearful to see those simpletons shouting at Trump, the man who doesn't give a flying fuck about anything but his ego, to fire Fauci, the man who is trying to save them.  But then, Michael Gove doesn't like experts much either.  Knowing things doesn't seem to be de rigueur at the moment.