Should that happen, he will nominate Amy Barrett, and liberals heads will explode. They will have a harder time pinning a sexual harassment or assault charge on her I suspect.
Anyway, I’m going to take @glenshane’s advice and go drink some bulleit. I would hate for the sensitive posters on TFK to think we are hogging this thread as well.
Genuine left-wing voices in the Democrats are few and far between.
Genuine left-wing politicians like Sanders are beginning to get a hearing among the general public because they offer sensible policies, particularly in areas like healthcare, labour, wealth distribution and regulation of the finacial industry.
Left-wing poliicians will generally embrace progressive social issues that any politician regardless of their economic background should be embracing - choice on abortion, gay marriage and trans rights, anti-racism etc. Action on climate change too.
The Republicans as a party have decided to build their brand around opposition to progressive politics, ie. to oppose all the issues mentioned in the previous paragraph.
It’s an insane culture war which harks back to a dark age of minority vilification and veers so close to fascism as to be virtually indistinguishable.
I do think it’s honorable that we (humans) are taking sexual assault more seriously. I worry a bit though that in our zeal to do so, it may result in extinction. Apparently nobody in Japan is having sex anymore.
The Japs are all scared of being called rapists by John Oliver
There not much happening here either
Speak for yourself pal.
Fox have several commentators who are strongly anti Trump. I don’t watch the News channel but do watch a bit of Fox business and Neil Cavuto for example has been very critical of Trump.
I am
Yes, I expect they would.
They might not have such a hard time pinning a charge of her wanting to overturn Roe v Wade, however.
The term wealth distribution really worries most Americans, as ultimately all it means are higher taxes. It obviously appeals to some of the younger generation who are in college or live with their parents, but most of them don’t have enough commitment to vote.
Yes, but if there’s a Republican majority as today, she would get appointed. Remember they don’t answer anything about their personal views since Bork.
Wealth redistribution is essential for modern, mature economies. Severe inequality works against growth and sustainability, not for it.
Every year the share of wealth in the hands of the richest is increasing. This is a looming catastrophe for the world.
And we end up with societies where the many work for the few, the economic rent-seekers. That’s what Brexit is designed to achieve. Those who advocate it most strongly do not stand to lose from it.
Tax cuts will only increase this and store up bubbles. The societies in northern Europe which have taxed high are those which have done the best job in providing stable, functioning, prosperous, sustainable states for their people.
Coney Barrett most likely would get confirmed, yes. As I said, only spectacular Republican incompetence and losing the senate could deny them getting a nominee confirmed.
Losing the senate is a long shot anyway given the map this year.
The idea that you can simply transport the economic model of northern European countries to other countries and regions is laughable. Take southern Europe, or Ireland for that matter, as examples. Leaving aside all other arguments about how people should be compensated for their labor and how much of that compensation they should keep or donate to the state, the primary reason for wealth inequality is corruption and corruption starts at government.
The evidence is that bigger government leads to more corruption and wastage, and that left wing controlled governments are at least if not more corrupt than right wing. All southern European governments are or were for decades left wing, how well has that worked out for their populations? Centrism is really the only way to go and strictly enforced term limits where politics is actually public service and not a career.
Corruption doesn’t just benefit the wealthy. I would say the primary beneficiaries of corruption are politicians at all levels, and then you have hordes of government employees who contribute nothing to the economy, lifetime welfare recipients who could work but couldn’t be arsed, and obviously criminals. For some odd reason leftists don’t want to tackle any of these but want to increase taxes on working people and small businesses. Removing incentive to strive for a better job, better career, start a business etc. is a really bad idea.
So, I would start by tackling corruption in government, it’s the source of most of the inequality you are concerned with.
I did some independent research on this matter last night and wanted to update the forum. I made my traditional Friday night visit to my local and met a group of female acquaintances / neighbors. I live in possibly the most liberal state of the Union, and all these five (5) women were Democrats and absolutely detest Trump. All of them are professionals and college educated. There wasn’t one who found Blasey Ford’s allegation very credible. A snapshot of their opinion that led them to seriously question her.
The political nature of this is so obvious. The left wing of the Democratic party, and particularly feminists, are absolutely seething at Kavanaugh’s nomination and literally would do anything to stop him being appointed, including assassination. This is exclusively due to his perceived opposition to abortion (he’s a Catholic), this group want abortion rights expanded (no time limits) and not restricted.
Kavanaugh doesn’t fit the profile of an abuser. All the women I have spoken to, including my own missus, have encountered sexual harassment and in a few cases assault either at school, in college, or in the workplace. There was general consensus that a lad who would do what Kavanaugh is accused of at 17 and get away with it would be almost certain to do it again, and would most likely have a long history of harassing women and abuse. Kavanaugh attended college in the 1980s in a much more promiscuous time than now, and has had scores of women working for him during his career and hasn’t one allegation against him in adulthood.
While it’s true that most allegations of sexual assault turn out to be true, and many never report the assault, it also true that some women (and men) lie about sexual assault (the Duke Lacrosse case, University of Virginia where a women claimed a lad raped her who turned out not to exist, false rape allegations to punish former lovers, etc). While no one I spoke to would say outright that Blasey Ford was lying, all felt there is a lot more to the story than she either remembers or has disclosed.
There is tremendous focus in the media on how terrible this ordeal is for her, coming forward after 36 years. What about the ordeal Kavanaugh is being put through, along with his wife and children? After an impeccable career with not even a hint of improper behavior (and the Democrats would find it were it there), a woman comes out with an allegation with absolutely no proof or even possibility of finding proof. It smells of hogwash.
There was universal agreement that female psychologists were by and large batshit crazy, and female liberal academics who teach Psychology were even more batshit crazy (their words not mine).
There was general agreement that this case could hurt real victims, if Blasey Ford doesn’t appear credible. Sexual assault and rape are heinous crimes and should be punished more severely than they are. Strangely enough while leftists say sexual assault isn’t taken seriously enough, they are also against long prison sentences and in some cases against any prison sentences.
The conclusion I am coming to is those who strongly believe Blasey Ford are either (i) rabid feminists, (ii) rabid leftists, or (iii) rabid media members who rabidly hate Trump and anyone associated with him.
This a bit of a blow for Blasey Ford’s credibility. She has named four people who were at the alleged party with her where the alleged assault took place. All four have now denied being at such a party or at least have no recollection of it. This latest one is pretty significant, a female who has been a lifetime friend and says she doesn’t know Kavanaugh and has no recollection of ever being at a party where he was present. The claim is there were only five of them at the party and the other girl supposedly there doesn’t even know Kavanaugh?
Wrong
Wrong, corruption starts with individuals
Highly debatable. You’d agree that Chicago has smaller government than Ireland but has always had a far more corrupt government. You’d agree that the Us has smaller government than Ireland but Capital Hill is more corrupt than The Dail.
Wrong. Franco in Spain.
They’re better placed to take advantage because theyve more money to bribe people with. It depends on the individual though.
Wrong.
You might be right about Kavanaugh though.
Franco died in 1975.
I was referring to the past few decades where a shift to left leaning governments did nothing to help working people or create more equitable societies, quite the opposite. The European left in most countries has abandoned it’s traditional working class base and embraced globalism which has harmed working people more than anyone else. Essentially the left became as corrupt and greedy as the parties they replaced.
Anyway, it’s not the topic of this thread.