The Many Faces of US Politics...

[Gmac]

Mr Obama getting 400k for an hour speech at Wall Street nice little earner .

[omochain]

I missed ya. 

[easytiger95]

Joe, I was asking the question (hence the question mark) about whether it is a short step from technocracy to autocracy. Perhaps a better course is for you to describe what you understand a technocracy to be and how it would function, certainly I'd like to hear how a technocratic elite would function alongside the strong constitution you rightly describe as necessary for checks and balances.

By the way, with regard to Erdogan, Chavez, Putin etc democracy cannot exist without strong institutions and you don't usually see that turn from democracy to dictatorship in countries with long democratic histories. The Republic of Ireland is very much an outlier given the relative youth of our country and the stability of our institutions, though we did have the British democratic tradition to draw on.

[Owen Brannigan]

https://youtu.be/Qo3fT0xPeHs

[J70]

Mr Obama getting 400k for an hour speech at Wall Street nice little earner .

Pocket change. Sure himself and Michelle are getting 65 million for their memoirs. 

[omaghjoe]

Joe, I was asking the question (hence the question mark) about whether it is a short step from technocracy to autocracy. Perhaps a better course is for you to describe what you understand a technocracy to be and how it would function, certainly I'd like to hear how a technocratic elite would function alongside the strong constitution you rightly describe as necessary for checks and balances.

By the way, with regard to Erdogan, Chavez, Putin etc democracy cannot exist without strong institutions and you don't usually see that turn from democracy to dictatorship in countries with long democratic histories. The Republic of Ireland is very much an outlier given the relative youth of our country and the stability of our institutions, though we did have the British democratic tradition to draw on.

I dunno really Tiger, Im no political scientist but I'll give it a go.... I suppose you have the basic ideals of the state defined by the populace and then let it be fleshed out by constitutional writers.

The autocrats would be proposed by some sort of committee consisting mainly of their peers. And confirmed by a secondary committee which would include elected officials, various societal representatives, they would have to answer to both committees and could be deposed by them. Their terms would be limited, obviously. Tho after maxing their terms out they could run to head up the technocratic cabinet which would also be decided upon by the committee I mentioned earlier.

The autocrat cabinet decisions would be made based on the direct of constitution and the technical knowledge of the autocrat. The technocratic cabinet

As I say I am sort of thinking out loud and I dont know all the ins and outs of it but the overall aim is to get the best people into the right jobs, something which a democratic system is inherently flawed not to do.

[foxcommander]

Alarming trends in the US

Free speech is dead- Berkeley shut down Ann Coulter from speaking due to potential violence from Democrat/Left "anti-facists" -

Targeting any media commentator who isn't biased against trump. Hannity is next on the radar.

Sanctuary city mayors going to bat to protect criminals who are illegal citizens from deportation. Screw the legal citizens eh?

Then there are this gems
looking for equality by discriminating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhU5YZ2SD8Q

having voter IDs is discriminatory (i.e. democrats trying to cheat more votes)
https://twitter.com/tuckercarlson/status/851989597852774400

Liberal madness. That's what happens after 8 years of the WPOTUS

[seafoid]

Coulter isn't very happy with Trump.

[seafoid]

Trump has a very limited vocabulary 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/28/donald-trump-i-thought-being-president-would-be-easier-video

compared to say 30 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

the Yanks made a huge mistaker electing him

[seafoid]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/ivanka-trumps-white-house-role-is-a-symbol-of-democratic-decline/2017/04/27/a060980c-2b64-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html

[Eamonnca1]

Alarming trends in the US

Free speech is dead- Berkeley shut down Ann Coulter from speaking due to potential violence from Democrat/Left "anti-facists" -

Targeting any media commentator who isn't biased against trump. Hannity is next on the radar.

Sanctuary city mayors going to bat to protect criminals who are illegal citizens from deportation. Screw the legal citizens eh?

Then there are this gems
looking for equality by discriminating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhU5YZ2SD8Q

having voter IDs is discriminatory (i.e. democrats trying to cheat more votes)
https://twitter.com/tuckercarlson/status/851989597852774400

Liberal madness. That's what happens after 8 years of the WPOTUS

Play me the world's smallest violin. Coulter cancelled the event herself, you silly conservative.

[stew]

Trump has a very limited vocabulary 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/28/donald-trump-i-thought-being-president-would-be-easier-video

compared to say 30 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

the Yanks made a huge mistaker electing him

The wouldnt have elected him if the democrat fuckwits hadnt screwed Saunders!

In other words, blame the liberals for getting him elected!

[J70]

Trump has a very limited vocabulary 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/28/donald-trump-i-thought-being-president-would-be-easier-video

compared to say 30 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

the Yanks made a huge mistaker electing him

The wouldnt have elected him if the democrat fuckwits hadnt screwed Saunders!

In other words, blame the liberals for getting him elected!

The right could have had any of 15 other candidates.

[whitey]

Trump has a very limited vocabulary 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/28/donald-trump-i-thought-being-president-would-be-easier-video

compared to say 30 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

the Yanks made a huge mistaker electing him

The wouldnt have elected him if the democrat fuckwits hadnt screwed Saunders!

In other words, blame the liberals for getting him elected!

The right could have had any of 15 other candidates.

Don't think so....the liberal media conspired with the Clinton campaign to push Trump as a legitimate candidate because they thought he'd get walloped by Hillary in the General Election

https://www.google.com/amp/observer.com/2016/10/wikileaks-reveals-dnc-elevated-trump-to-help-clinton/amp/

"The memo named Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson as wanted candidates. "We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously," the memo noted."

[seafoid]

Trump has a very limited vocabulary 
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/28/donald-trump-i-thought-being-president-would-be-easier-video

compared to say 30 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

the Yanks made a huge mistaker electing him

The wouldnt have elected him if the democrat fuckwits hadnt screwed Saunders!

In other words, blame the liberals for getting him elected!

The right could have had any of 15 other candidates.

Not really. They all swore loyalty to the Koch agenda of tax cuts for the rich and the base rejected every single one of them.

Trump promised to drain the swamp . He promised to take on Wall St

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vST61W4bGm8

It's such a joke