Post inauguration Trump:

[David]

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

I reckon he’ll become the mayor of nyc too there’s also the mayor of Miami up for grabs too I reckon don will take sometime off to re coup then get back into it like running for mayor roles creating his own political party even re entering the entrepreneurial industry and even running the United Nations

[pietillidie]

[think positive]

When we wake up, it will alllll be over! Cheers

[David]

[pietillidie]

And yet for all the weeping and gnashing of teeth, nothing was done about him and nothing could have been done about him.

Huh? Nothing? Only if you have a time horizon of five minutes and a very eccentric value system. Trump lost control of the House in the mid-terms. He is one of the very few incumbents to not get a second term. He's leaving in complete disgrace, in repudiation of fasco-populism. A serious government is going to deal with a pandemic that has killed 400,000 people and collapsed the superpower economy one term earlier than usually scheduled. Bernie has been placed in a perfect position where he can really impact society rather than being powerless on the sidelines. People representing a broad spectrum of minorities are being granted serious, actual, proper positions of influence. Climate change is finally central to the agenda. The highly dangerous archaisms of the Executive have been exposed. And much more besides.

All that despite counterproductive leftist false equivalence and pet distractions. Imagine if they'd listened to you: malignant narcissist Trump gets another term to chase down Chairman Mao's death toll, but at least grandiose narcissist Assange is free

The lesson is that while good judgement involves a mix of concerns, in an imperfect world it's always and ever about prioritising. Critically, in other-facing spheres that also means prioritising beyond one's own ideals and pet interests. If I imposed my unfiltered concerns on everyone else, they'd be overwhelmed with worry and destitute in about five minutes

[Pies4shaw]

Some private footage of the Official Donald Trump "Leaving the White House" function:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy9_lfjQopU

[Tannin]

The whole problem with much of the posting in the last few pages of this thread is that it proceeds on a misconception that just because Biden might have all sorts of shortcomings, Trump was not and is not lower than dirt, anti-democratic filth.

The two issues are not connected. We all know that the Democrats are mostly arseholes - they are, generally-speaking, a collection of centre-right big business supporters with little to offer the universe, save in the very limited, negative sense that at least they are not Republicans. That does not make Trump any more acceptable or diminish the appalling damage he has done to the US and to the world at large.

^ This.

Some people could lose both legs in a car accident and spend the whole ambulance journey moaning about the nick they got shaving.

There are some who think of themselves as the "modern left" and wear an inability to think clearly or keep a sense of proportion as if it was something to be proud of.

Trump was the worst disaster to strike the American Presidency in living memory.

[David]

[pietillidie]

^As if on cue, here's Bernie Sanders 'doomed by a lack of scope' with the most expansive, influential and powerful political platform he's ever had:

The worst pandemic in 100 years, more than 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and can’t afford to go to a doctor when they get sick. The isolation and anxiety caused by the pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in mental illness.

Over half of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, including millions of essential workers who put their lives on the line every day. More than 24 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work, while hunger in this country is at the highest level in decades.

Because of lack of income, up to 40 million Americans face the threat of eviction, and many owe thousands in back rent. This is on top of the 500,000 who are already homeless.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest people in this country are becoming much richer, and income and wealth inequality are soaring. Incredibly, during the pandemic, 650 billionaires in America have increased their wealth by more than $1tn.

As a result of the pandemic education in this country, from childcare to graduate school, is in chaos. The majority of young people in this country have seen their education disrupted and it is likely that hundreds of colleges will soon cease to exist.

Climate change is ravaging the planet with an unprecedented number of forest fires and extreme weather disturbances. Scientists tell us that we have only a very few years before irreparable damage takes place to our country and the world.

And, in the midst of all this, the foundations of American democracy are under an unprecedented attack. We have a president who is working feverishly to undermine American democracy and incite violence against the very government and constitution he swore to defend. Against all of the evidence, tens of millions of Americans actually believe Trump’s Big Lie that he won this election by a landslide and that victory was stolen from him and his supporters. Armed rightwing militias in support of Trump are being mobilized throughout the country.

In this moment of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action. No more business as usual. No more same old, same old.

Democrats, who will now control the White House, the Senate and the House, must summon the courage to demonstrate to the American people that government can effectively and rapidly respond to their pain and anxiety. As the incoming chairman of the Senate budget committee that is exactly what I intend to do.

What does all of this mean for the average American?

It means that we aggressively crush the pandemic and enable the American people to return to their jobs and schools. This will require a federally led emergency program to produce the quantity of vaccines that we need and get them into people’s arms as quickly as possible.

It means that during the severe economic downturn we’re experiencing, we must make sure that all Americans have the financial resources they need to live with dignity. We must increase the $600 in direct payments for every working-class adult and child that was recently passed to $2,000, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expand unemployment benefits and prevent eviction, homelessness and hunger.

It means that, during this raging pandemic, we must guarantee healthcare to all. We must also end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on Earth not to provide paid family and medical leave to workers.

It means making pre-kindergarten and childcare universal and available to every family in America.

Despite what you may have heard, there is no reason why we cannot do all of these things. Through budget reconciliation, a process that only requires a majority vote in the Senate, we can act quickly and pass this emergency legislation.

But that is not enough. This year we must also pass a second reconciliation bill that deals with the major structural changes that our country desperately needs. Ultimately, we must confront the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality and create a country that works for all and not just the few. Americans should no longer be denied basic economic rights that are guaranteed to people in virtually every other major country.

This means using a second reconciliation bill to create millions of good-paying jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and constructing affordable housing, modernizing our schools, combatting climate change and making massive investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

It means making public colleges, universities, trade schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities tuition-free and forcefully addressing the outrageous level of student debt for working families.

And it means making the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes. We cannot continue to allow profitable corporations like Amazon to make billions of dollars in taxes and pay nothing in net federal income taxes. And billionaires cannot be allowed to pay a lower tax rate than working-class Americans. We need real tax reform.

There is no reason Joe Biden could not sign into law two major bills that will accomplish most of the goals I listed above within the first 100 days of the new Congress. We cannot allow Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership to sabotage legislation that would improve the lives of millions of working Americans and is wildly popular.

Let us never forget. When Republicans controlled the Senate, they used the reconciliation process to pass trillions of dollars in tax breaks primarily to the top 1% and multinational corporations. Further, they were able to confirm three rightwing US supreme court judges over a very short period of time by a simple majority vote.

If the Republicans could use the reconciliation process to protect the wealthy and the powerful, we can use it to protect working families, the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the poor.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ie-sanders

[David]

[Tannin]

They can't cut defence spending. Two reasons:

(1) It would be a political suicide note.

(2) China would go ballistic.

[David]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... y-budgets/

No other country’s military outlays come close. In FY 2019, the Pentagon’s budget was nearly three times bigger than China’s defense spending and more than 10 times larger than Russia’s. All told, the U.S. military budget in 2019 exceeded the next 10 countries’ defense budgets combined and singlehandedly accounted for a hefty 38 percent of military spending worldwide.

I think they can afford to cut it a little.

[Pies4shaw]

They can't cut defence spending. Two reasons:

(1) It would be a political suicide note.

(2) China would go ballistic.

Just ballistic - or “intercontinental ballistic missile” ballistic?

[stui magpie]

The spend a lot more on health and social security and neither of those systems work.

Article from 2015 about the myth of defence spending.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2 ... ternet-mi/