The Biden Cabinet

[Js1 86,956]

Just now, MC Fresh Breath said:

Oh right, melanin content is  a signifier of morality.  Sorry, I forgot.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/cedric-richmond-to-leave-congress-join-biden-white-house

Sunrise Movement, who gave Joe Biden an F- in the primary, hates the pick.

Shocking.  Truly shocking. 

[kevwun 16,304]

And NY State can still go after Trump.  They don't need an ok from the Feds.

[Biff Tannen 46,063]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Biden said the right thing.

It is not up to him what the DOJ does or does not pursue.  Remember, the DOJ is supposed to be an independent agency; just because Trump treated it like his own personal law firm does not mean Biden should.

Whoever is AG will make those decisions.

Yes, that was my take away as well.

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

13 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

That's fine if Biden himself doesn't want to be seen as caring only about giving the dotard his come-uppance, but his DOJ DAMN SURE BETTER.

 

 

I predict Mr. Trump will spend the exact same amount of days in jail as W.

 

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Sunrise Movement, who gave Joe Biden an F- in the primary, hates the pick.

Shocking.  Truly shocking. 

 

How does that make them wrong in this instance?  Yeah, shocking lefties who saw this coming still complain....

 

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

non sunrise movement link for you

 

https://www.dailyposter.com/p/news-bidens-first-climate-appointment

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by MC Fresh Breath

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

2 hours ago, bad_teammate said:

 

Quote

 

In professional wrestling, kayfabe /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ (also called work or worked), as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. The term kayfabe has evolved to also become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public.

Kayfabe, in the USA, is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, angles, and gimmicks in a manner similar to other forms of fictional entertainment.

 

 

[WBT 20,886]

1 hour ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

 

 

I predict Mr. Trump will spend the exact same amount of days in jail as W.

 

 

and Hillary

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

12 minutes ago, WBT said:

and Hillary

 

😎

 

 

 

[Tuco 5,093]

Selecting the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus is a no brainer.
For fucks sake, earlier today BT was complaining that Biden had destabilized black support to court white people.
There are no cabinet picks that aren’t going to piss someone off.

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

Quote

 

During his 10 years in Congress, Richmond has received roughly $341,000 from donors in the oil and gas industry — the 5th highest total among House Democrats, according to previous reporting by Sludge. That includes corporate political action committee donations of $50,000 from Entergy, an electric and natural gas utility; $40,000 from ExxonMobil; and $10,000 apiece from oil companies Chevron, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy.

Richmond has raked in that money while representing a congressional district that is home to 7 of the 10 most air-polluted census tracts in the country. 

Richmond has repeatedly broken with his party on major climate and environmental votes. During the climate crisis that has battered his home state of Louisiana, Richmond has joined with Republicans to vote to increase fossil fuel exports and promote pipeline development. He also voted against Democratic legislation to place pollution limits on fracking — and he voted for GOP legislation to limit the Obama administration’s authority to more stringently regulate the practice. 

Overall, Richmond has received a lifetime rating of 76 percent from the League of Conservation Voters, and he scored 46 percent in 2018 — one of the lowest ratings of any Democrat in Congress. 

 

 

Sure.  No brainer. Not 'pissed' btw.  This was expected. 

 Just bemused to see the cheering for what in essence is going to be more of the same shit that got us here in the first place.   

 

 

 

 

[bad_teammate 13,482]

Wait we're already mad at the left for pushing when we told the left to just suck it up and vote for Biden and THEN push once he was elected?

WHAT A COMPLETELY UNFORSEEABLE TURN OF EVENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Texaspython 231]

You mean a Louisiana politician has taken fossil fuel money in an effort to ya know, win an election! 
 

There is no appeasing the far left other than complete submission to their agenda. Dems aren’t incompetent, they’re just constantly hobbled by the unreasonableness of the left.

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

9 minutes ago, Texaspython said:

You mean a Louisiana politician has taken fossil fuel money in an effort to ya know, win an election! 
 

There is no appeasing the far left other than complete submission to their agenda. Dems aren’t incompetent, they’re just constantly hobbled by the unreasonableness of the left.

Hahahaha.  Oh man, that’s one of the worst takes ever.  “Hobbled.”  Geezus.

 

 

[Texaspython 231]

8 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

Hahahaha.  Oh man, that’s one of the worst takes ever.  “Hobbled.”  Geezus.

 

 

We just lost every targeted swing congressional district in Texas with progressive candidates running on the green new deal. Repubs are good at elections because their radical elements let the more centrists run on issues that win elections without withdrawing their support.

The only reason we control the house is because of Trump. The way we’re heading, we won’t keep it in 2022.

[TwiceHorn 31,995]

32 minutes ago, Texaspython said:

You mean a Louisiana politician has taken fossil fuel money in an effort to ya know, win an election! 
 

There is no appeasing the far left other than complete submission to their agenda. Dems aren’t incompetent, they’re just constantly hobbled by the unreasonableness of the left.

Considering how poor Louisiana is, supporting constituents' livelihoods and state revenue over a high-minded environmental cause presents a bit of a dilemma.

James Lee Burke writes a lot about the challenges of southern Louisiana in his Robicheaux books.

Edited November 18, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

27 minutes ago, Texaspython said:

We just lost every targeted swing congressional district in Texas with progressive candidates running on the green new deal. Repubs are good at elections because their radical elements let the more centrists run on issues that win elections without withdrawing their support.

The only reason we control the house is because of Trump. The way we’re heading, we won’t keep it in 2022.

112 co-sponsors of Medicare for All were on the ballot in November.  All of them won.

98 co-sponsors of the Green New Deal were on the ballot.  Only one lost.

Did you see the Fox News (!) poll on government health care?  Maybe look that up.  Did you notice how Biden lost Florida, but in the meantime Florida passed $15 minimum wage?  How did Kasich and Ohio work out?

But the "hobbled" makes me laugh in other ways.  Exactly who do you think Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein,  e.t.c. are?  Do you think they're the opposition?  Does voting for everything Trump wanted somehow equal hobbled?  Do you know who Joe Biden is and has been for his entire career?  The corporate military machine is fully oiled and running, and the environment is going to get wiped, but somehow you think the left is hobbling things.  Its such a bad take not only in terms of not seemingly understanding who is controlling things, but also not understanding the roots of the problems that plague this country.

The corporate duopoly didn't lose.  And don't worry, the so-called progressives are for the most part just controlled opposition.  Your centrists are safe.  I'm sure ol Nancy is safe (funny how everyone mocks Texas for Cruz but not much on Cali and Pelosi). The Democrats are essentially the Republicans of the 80s (Obama even termed himself as such) while the R's are off in far crazy land.  There is no left party of note.  

Democrats hobbled. Geezus, I can't get over that one.   

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by MC Fresh Breath

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

 

[Texaspython 231]

5 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

112 co-sponsors of Medicare for All were on the ballot in November.  All of them won.

98 co-sponsors of the Green New Deal were on the ballot.  Only one lost.

Did you see the Fox News (!) poll on government health care?  Maybe look that up.  Did you notice how Biden lost Florida, but in the meantime Florida passed $15 minimum wage?  How did Kasich and Ohio work out?

But the "hobbled" makes me laugh in other ways.  Exactly who do you think Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein,  e.t.c. are?  Do you think they're the opposition?  Does voting for everything Trump wanted somehow equal hobbled?  Do you know who Joe Biden is and has been for his entire career?  The corporate military machine is fully oiled and running, and the environment is going to get wiped, but somehow you think the left is hobbling things.  Its such a bad take not only in terms of not seemingly understanding who is controlling things, but also not understanding the roots of the problems that plague this country.

The corporate duopoly didn't lose.  And don't worry, the so-called progressives are for the most part just controlled opposition.  Your centrists are safe.  I'm sure ol Nancy is safe (funny how everyone mocks Texas for Cruz but not much on Cali and Pelosi). The Democrats are essentially the Republicans of the 80s (Obama even termed himself as such) while the R's are off in far crazy land.  There is no left party of note.  

Democrats hobbled. Geezus, I can't get over that one.   

 

Yes, Dems in safe seats won running on the green new deal. You cite that and say I’m out of touch?

This is just what I’m talking about. The arrogance and naivety of the left will run us right off the cliff, yet again. Ask yourself, why is it that the American public can so universally support Medicare for all and a halfway decent minimum wage, yet routinely reject progressive candidates in swing districts? Maybe it’s tactics...

[SilasCoade 2,622]

5 minutes ago, Texaspython said:

Yes, Dems in safe seats won running on the green new deal. You cite that and say I’m out of touch?

This is just what I’m talking about. The arrogance and naivety of the left will run us right off the cliff, yet again. Ask yourself, why is it that the American public can so universally support Medicare for all and a halfway decent minimum wage, yet routinely reject progressive candidates in swing districts? Maybe it’s tactics...

People don't like being told what to do. "Lefty McRadical over here wants to force you into a government healthcare plan rather than letting you pay thousands of dollars a month to an insurance company incentivized to withhold necessary services and hasten you death in times of illness. Can you believe that guy?" "Hmmm, I like Medicare for All because my insurance sucks but how dare they take away my choice. Neo Von Conman gets my vote today, but this ballot measure for legalizing opium also looks nice."

Ultimately people are fucking idiots and your argument is that the left should cater to the fucking idiots.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

once the neoliberals hear from Goldman Sachs that the Green New Deal makes people a lot of dough, they will flock to it like sky rats. 

[Texaspython 231]

9 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

once the neoliberals hear from Goldman Sachs that the Green New Deal makes people a lot of dough, they will flock to it like sky rats. 

That’s not the point. The “green new deal” has been packaged and proposed in a way that’s slightly better than “defund the police”.

You guys don’t seem to grasp that centrists are in agreement with progressives on where to go, it’s just the “how to get there” that you guys get all wrong. But I know, us centrists are the real enemy. Get a grip.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

Not enemy . . . remember, we were supposed to all come together and form an Administration? This is that process. We welcome neoliberals looking outward and progressing. How's the brunch?

[washparkhorn 9,967]

[Texaspython 231]

Weird

[washparkhorn 9,967]

Appreciate it!

[UDontKnow 10,559]

7 hours ago, kevwun said:

And NY State can still go after Trump.  They don't need an ok from the Feds.

This should happen the second Biden is sworn in and then somewhere Preet Bharara (probably in his role as SEC Commissioner) will be laughing maniacally.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

Someone needs to look into events after election day - again. We have come close to some big bright lines here and guardrails need to be reinforced. He's gone rogue. He's hemmed in, but that bunker has to be miserable. His only lifeline left is Rudy Giuliani. 

Very Nixonian ending.

 

[henrygandorf 29,223]

18 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

Very Nixonian ending.

hoping more for hitler-esque. 

[safe sex 11,915]

2 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

I feel attacked.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

39 minutes ago, trauma babe said:

I feel attacked.

 

[bad_teammate 13,482]

9 hours ago, Texaspython said:

We just lost every targeted swing congressional district in Texas with progressive candidates running on the green new deal.

This is factually incorrect.

8 hours ago, Texaspython said:

Yes, Dems in safe seats won running on the green new deal. You cite that and say I’m out of touch?

And the Dems in swing districts didn't run on the GND, as you're admitting here?

Strange.

Quote

Ask yourself, why is it that the American public can so universally support Medicare for all and a halfway decent minimum wage, yet routinely reject progressive candidates in swing districts?

Those candidates didn't run on M4A. They ran on whatever vague corporate dogshit the establishment was selling.

Name names. Please.

[406W30th 1,111]

The left came out for Biden. I voted for him because I voted for the enemy I wanted. I'm tired of playing defense and am looking forward to playing offense, especially when it comes to racial justice and climate. 

Centrists can bitch all they want about unfair demands and being too critical of someone who's, admittedly, a lot better than Trump but we are going to hold his feet to the fire and expect him to be more than a corporate shill. Biden has said some good things re: climate but he's got a long way to go and this Richmond dude seems like he sucks:

Quote

Richmond didn’t just vote to open the door for expanded fossil fuel activity in his district. He’s also ignored residents’ cries about the resulting pollution. Rolfes, for instance, has spent years campaigning against Formosa Plastics’ proposal to open up a $9.4 billion chemical complex in Cancer Alley’s St. James Parish, which would be one of the largest plastic plants in the country. ProPublica found that the new plant’s emissions will more than triple exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in what is already one of America’s most polluted zip codes. It would also release an enormous amount of climate-warming emissions—13.6 million tons each year, per a Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality permit. That’s the equivalent of three and a half coal-fired power stations.

  

Quote

“Cedric [Richmond] wrote one letter last year on issue, but hasn’t been actively engaged,” said Malek-Wiley. Since then, he’s promised to become more engaged, but so far hasn’t delivered. “He may have had one meeting with organizers, but there’s been no ongoing discussion.”

With this experience in mind, Malek-Wiley said he had to laugh when he saw reports that the Biden administration would expect Richmond to be a liaison between industry and activists.

“Liaison? He doesn’t liaise,” he said. “He’s never liaised with any environmental justice groups working on issues with the petrochemical industry in Louisiana. He might have liaised with business, but he hasn’t talked with us.”

Link:

The Congressman Biden Tapped to Liaise With Climate Activists Has Received $340,000 in Fossil Fuel Money

 

 

[Anastasis 23,703]

Cringe...

 

[Biff Tannen 46,063]

8 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Cringe...

 

That's lifted from The Social Dilemma.

[SilasCoade 2,622]

The problem with centrism in the current environment is that some problems have been left to fester for so long that dramatic changes are necessary to have any effect. Yes, 30 years ago incremental reductions in carbon emissions would have been great, but now the polar ice sheets are rapidly disintegrating. Without dramatic changes we are going to render our planet uninhabitable. It is too late for incrementalism on this issue.

Some problems are also binary. Healthcare, for all the sycophants want to obfuscate, is one of these. You can have universal healthcare or you can tell a large portion of society to get fucked. That's it, those are the choices. So choosing the former when we have existed for decades in a society embracing the latter is unavoidably a dramatic change. The center arguing for incrementalism on this issue are simply further obfuscating and maintaining the status quo in which those at the top don't have to worry while a large section of the populace are told to get fucked.

[G650 14,425]

2 minutes ago, Llogg said:

The problem with centrism in the current environment is that some problems have been left to fester for so long that dramatic changes are necessary to have any effect. Yes, 30 years ago incremental reductions in carbon emissions would have been great, but now the polar ice sheets are rapidly disintegrating. Without dramatic changes we are going to render our planet uninhabitable. It is too late for incrementalism on this issue.

Some problems are also binary. Healthcare, for all the sycophants want to obfuscate, is one of these. You can have universal healthcare or you can tell a large portion of society to get fucked. That's it, those are the choices. So choosing the former when we have existed for decades in a society embracing the latter is unavoidably a dramatic change. The center arguing for incrementalism on this issue are simply further obfuscating and maintaining the status quo in which those at the top don't have to worry while a large section of the populace are told to get fucked.

I think you are demonstrating one of the biggest disconnects here. Universal healthcare is a *centrist* position at this point. Centrists and lefties are continually talking over each other because of fundamental misconceptions about who each of them are.

[SilasCoade 2,622]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

I think you are demonstrating one of the biggest disconnects here. Universal healthcare is a *centrist* position at this point. Centrists and lefties are continually talking over each other because of fundamental misconceptions about who each of them are.

No, centrists say they want universal healthcare but then refuse to make it happen b/c it will upset the right. That's the difference. Words != Actions

[G650 14,425]

No, centrists want universal healthcare but don't go in for idiotic identity politics and wokeness.

[SilasCoade 2,622]

Just now, G650 said:

No, centrists want universal healthcare but don't go in for idiotic identity politics and wokeness.

Which is why we have universal healthcare now I guess. Centrists want UHC without any fight or sacrifice, which is bullshit. And what exactly does wokeness have to do with anything?

[G650 14,425]

3 minutes ago, Llogg said:

Centrists want UHC without any fight or sacrifice, which is bullshit.

This is certainly true of the past. But that ship has clearly sailed. People are pissed and are itching for a fight.

[henrygandorf 29,223]

54 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Cringe...

 

is that like extra-medium?

[Texaspython 231]

25 minutes ago, G650 said:

No, centrists want universal healthcare but don't go in for idiotic identity politics and wokeness.

It’s like talking to a brick wall. The left doesn’t listen to what people are actually saying. It’s why they have a very hard time connecting with anyone other than other lefties. 

[wildcat09 29,562]

Can one of you centrists explain what "centrism" means, to you?

[G650 14,425]

1 minute ago, wildcat09 said:

Can one of you centrists explain what "centrism" means, to you?

That's easy. I want opportunity and security for all human beings. That's the entirety of it. There's infinitely complex policy choices to make that happen, but at it's core that is all it is.

[Huckleberry 34,407]

6 minutes ago, Texaspython said:

It’s like talking to a brick wall. The left doesn’t listen to what people are actually saying. It’s why they have a very hard time connecting with anyone other than other lefties. 

You are moving the country to the right but don't see it. You should be listening to them more, not vice versa. 

[wildcat09 29,562]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

That's easy. I want opportunity and security for all human beings. That's the entirety of it. There's infinitely complex policy choices to make that happen, but at it's core that is all it is.

That sounds vaguely liberal.

To us, "centrist" means someone who intentionally positions himself/herself somewhere in between the left and the right, meaning they have no fixed beliefs of their own. If you let your values be guided by what other people are saying, you don't really have any values to speak of and you'll allow yourself to get pulled one way or the other based on...well, literally anything.

[SilasCoade 2,622]

On a very basic level, the far right is about changing the status quo to be more in line with values from the past, and the far left is about changing the status quo to be further from the values of the past. Centrism therefore is about maintaining the status quo. Which is bullshit in the context of the specific policies being discussed.

I think it is fine to be centrist in the sense of not embracing ideas strictly b/c they are labeled as progressive or conservative, but I think it is ridiculous to think there is a "centrist" path on every issue. Some things are binary. Some things are subject to threshold effects. And some things are truly spectral. Universal healthcare is the former, climate change is the second. You can't sort of have universal healthcare anymore than you can be sort of pregnant. A lone exception negates the entire concept.

[G650 14,425]

Just now, wildcat09 said:

 

To us, "centrist"

So, here is the thing. You can't define others. I define myself, just as you define yourself.

 

If you actually knew me personally, there is no way you would begin to describe my beliefs as guided by others. It's taken a lifetime of work just to reign in the directness and vehemence with which I have imposed my beliefs and opinions on others. Like friendship straining vehemence. And almost always for centrist positions. I'd describe myself as militantly centrist (with a small dose of anarchist), which before anyone claims isn't possible, it certainly is. I'm militant about policy positions that fall in the middle. Things like universal healthcare and higher minimum wage are squarely in these positions now.

[UTDD 362]

12 minutes ago, G650 said:

That's easy. I want opportunity and security for all human beings. That's the entirety of it. There's infinitely complex policy choices to make that happen, but at it's core that is all it is.

That's pretty good to me too.  I don't really go for labels too much, but I would just say I am definitely open to a good universal healthcare policy as I think it benefits society overall in so many ways beyond just the obvious health care side of it, but I am completely turned off with Defund Police discussion, etc.  But I believe the healthcare option completely going public is a hard sell because I believe a lot of people are generally ok with their current insurance and fear huge change, and frankly some are of the "I got mine" mentality so out of sight out of mind, etc.