The Many Faces of US Politics...

[Eamonnca1]

Trump reminds me of that saying below:

Absolute monarchies are those in which all power is given to or, as is more often the case, taken by, the monarch. Examples of absolute power having a corrupting influence are Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor).

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" arose as part of a quotation by the expansively named and impressively hirsute John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Anyone who talks about absolute power in the context of the US is raving. The US entire Constitution is built on checks and balances.

In theory it is. In practice it's riddled with undemocratic weaknesses that are very difficult to fix. Examples:

• The electoral collage that allows a man to become president with with 3.5 million fewer votes than his opponent
• The disproportionate representation in the Senate that gives a resident of Wyoming 67 times the influence of a resident of California
• The primitive winner-take-all voting system that is incapable of reflecting the actual wishes of the electorate
• Blatant partisan gerrymandering that looks like something out of a Central African dictatorship
• Voter suppression enabled by stacked conservative courts
• Constitutional amendments have become well nigh impossible to deliver

I could go on. The idea that the US system is some sort of example to the world of fairness is just fantasy.

[Eamonnca1]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

If that did happen (and so far it doesn't look like it) he'd just deny the reality and lie about his numbers.

[J70]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

He didn't withdraw in 2016 when polls gave him a one in three chance. Obviously those are far from insurmountable odds, but he was still a strong underdog and, by various accounts, fairly shocked on the night to have actually won.

It will come down to the battleground states again and whether the coming assault on Biden (word is it is going to centre around China) works in those places.

[whitey]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

He didn't withdraw in 2016 when polls gave him a one in three chance. Obviously those are far from insurmountable odds, but he was still a strong underdog and, by various accounts, fairly shocked on the night to have actually won.

It will come down to the battleground states again and whether the coming assault on Biden (word is it is going to centre around China) works in those places.

Oh I'm sure the Democrats will be also able to come up with some cockamamie policies that will completely alienate the very people they need to vote for them in November.

[J70]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

He didn't withdraw in 2016 when polls gave him a one in three chance. Obviously those are far from insurmountable odds, but he was still a strong underdog and, by various accounts, fairly shocked on the night to have actually won.

It will come down to the battleground states again and whether the coming assault on Biden (word is it is going to centre around China) works in those places.

Oh I'm sure the Democrats will be also able to come up with some cockamamie policies that will completely alienate the very people they need to vote for them in November.

I'm sure there'll be something there for the GOP to stoke. Fear and hate are, after all, so much easier to sell, and are Trump's specialty.

[whitey]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

He didn't withdraw in 2016 when polls gave him a one in three chance. Obviously those are far from insurmountable odds, but he was still a strong underdog and, by various accounts, fairly shocked on the night to have actually won.

It will come down to the battleground states again and whether the coming assault on Biden (word is it is going to centre around China) works in those places.

Oh I'm sure the Democrats will be also able to come up with some cockamamie policies that will completely alienate the very people they need to vote for them in November.

I'm sure there'll be something there for the GOP to stoke. Fear and hate are, after all, so much easier to sell, and are Trump's specialty.

You're giving them way too much credit

The Democrats are well able to hit the self destruct button without any help from Trump

[J70]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trumps numbers were to nosedive in the polls over the next few months he wouldn't withdraw from running again rather that face losing.

He didn't withdraw in 2016 when polls gave him a one in three chance. Obviously those are far from insurmountable odds, but he was still a strong underdog and, by various accounts, fairly shocked on the night to have actually won.

It will come down to the battleground states again and whether the coming assault on Biden (word is it is going to centre around China) works in those places.

Oh I'm sure the Democrats will be also able to come up with some cockamamie policies that will completely alienate the very people they need to vote for them in November.

I'm sure there'll be something there for the GOP to stoke. Fear and hate are, after all, so much easier to sell, and are Trump's specialty.

You're giving them way too much credit

The Democrats are well able to hit the self destruct button without any help from Trump

No doubt, the Dems are experts in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

But Trump is in a class of his own with building publicity and a campaign on fear and division.

[whitey]

Dems have really painted themselves into a corner with this allegation of sexual assault against Joe Biden.  I thought the Kavanaugh allegation was a fabrication and I think this allegation is a fabrication, but this one is actually somewhat credible

[Milltown Row2]

Does sexual assault allegations even go against you in the states?

[RadioGAAGAA]

Does sexual assault allegations even go against you in the states?

Probably depends on who you are and who you assaulted.

[whitey]

Does sexual assault allegations even go against you in the states?

Probably depends on who you are and who you assaulted.

And how the media treats the allegations

[J70]

Dems have really painted themselves into a corner with this allegation of sexual assault against Joe Biden.  I thought the Kavanaugh allegation was a fabrication and I think this allegation is a fabrication, but this one is actually somewhat credible

I think they may both be true, but I obviously have no way of knowing either way. Why do you think it's a fabrication?

Luckily for Biden, he's coming up against a man with two dozen allegations against him, albeit a person who appears incapable of embarrassment and shame.

He still needs to address it though. By his own words she deserves to be heard.

[whitey]

Dems have really painted themselves into a corner with this allegation of sexual assault against Joe Biden.  I thought the Kavanaugh allegation was a fabrication and I think this allegation is a fabrication, but this one is actually somewhat credible

I think they may both be true, but I obviously have no way of knowing either way. Why do you think it's a fabrication?

Luckily for Biden, he's coming up against a man with two dozen allegations against him, albeit a person who appears incapable of embarrassment and shame.

He still needs to address it though. By his own words she deserves to be heard.

Like with Kavanaugh,, but even more so.....Joe Biden has been vetted inside out and up and down several times. Even rumours of things like this are fully investigated during a vetting process.

If there was anything there, it would have come out long ago

[five points]

]

Like with Kavanaugh,, but even more so.....Joe Biden has been vetted inside out and up and down several times. Even rumours of things like this are fully investigated during a vetting process.

If there was anything there, it would have come out long ago

Excellent point.

[whitey]

Some serious chatter on the right wing news/blogs about Flynn.

Whether it's true or not it looks like there may be significant developments later this week

And I also see that Flynn just reactivated his twitter account after an absence is 3/4 years

If 1/3 of what's being said is true, it should chill every American to the bone