The Politics Thread 2020

[GboroRam]

1 minute ago, Bob The Badger said:

I await your laughing emoji eager anticipation so that I can add it to my collection. 

But wait - I'm told that means they "have no response to what you said". Shurely shome mishtake?

[Bob The Badger]

5 minutes ago, Highgate said:

The impeachment was entirely justified.  Yes, it was doomed to fail as soon at it became clear that the Senate didn't want to hear from witnesses, but the fact remains, he fully deserved his impeachment. 

Even half the Republicans admitted the Reps made a good case.

Lamar Alexander who was leading the Senate today said the he agreed Trump was guilty, but no way would he vote for him to be thrown out of office.

In essence 'Yes he's guilty. But no, we won't evict a Republican President'

He's our kind of guilty.

[Uptherams]

I gather something cracked off the other day here. Why not just create a far left thread ?? Might solve alot of issues. 

[G STAR RAM]

21 minutes ago, Bob The Badger said:

It seems @G STAR RAM that your default reaction to somebody saying something you clearly don't understand, or haven't taken the time to think through or research, is ?

On behalf of the great British minds of our time I'd like to thank you for your contribution to open minded and critical thinking. 

You truly are, a breath of fresh air.

I await your laughing emoji with eager anticipation so that I can add it to my collection. 

Sorry I dont understand what you are saying, I need more clarity

[G STAR RAM]

20 minutes ago, GboroRam said:

But wait - I'm told that means they "have no response to what you said". Shurely shome mishtake?

I genuinely didnt have a response to what he posted.

Trying to defend someone saying they dont understand what stay alert means is ridiculous. 

I'm sure if it was reported that someone had a gun and was trying to kill her so she should stay alert she would know what it means.

So I'm confused that there is a virus spreading that is killing people so we should stay alert is so hard to understand.

[G STAR RAM]

37 minutes ago, reverendo de duivel said:

What do people make of Rishi Sunak?

In my eyes he's making a pretty good fist of it so far, certainly better than I think his predecessor would have done.

Not bad for someone the media told us would be Cummings patsy, he looks the most competent of all ministers, despite his political inexperience.

Impressively for a politician, he seems able to resist the outside forces clamouring one way or the other, and actually listen to and address the issues that the people he serves have.

 

Not really put a foot wrong so far.

Perhaps should have put a bit more pressure on the banks to bear more of the risk of the business loans.

Possibly could have helped the self employed a bit quicker. 

Seems a very smooth operator.

A Prime Minister in the making possibly.

[Van der MoodHoover]

16 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Not really put a foot wrong so far.

Perhaps should have put a bit more pressure on the banks to bear more of the risk of the business loans.

Possibly could have helped the self employed a bit quicker. 

Seems a very smooth operator.

A Prime Minister in the making possibly.

Easy to be popular when you're giving stuff away. 

We'll see what he's got in the brain box when he has to work out how to get it all back. Or when people start realizing it wasn't a gift in the first place.

[Rev]

2 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Easy to be popular when you're giving stuff away. 

We'll see what he's got in the brain box when he has to work out how to get it all back. Or when people start realizing it wasn't a gift in the first place.

But what do you make of him so far, which was the question?

Has he done more/less than you'd expect in the situation for a Conservative Chancellor?

 

[Van der MoodHoover]

3 minutes ago, reverendo de duivel said:

But what do you make of him so far, which was the question?

Has he done more/less than you'd expect in the situation for a Conservative Chancellor?

 

Impossible to say given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic. 

He will be on more familiar ground when he has to deal with a massive deficit and ballooned. National Debt. Then there will be precedent against which he can be fairly assessed. 

The nearest conservative comparative to date would be Kingsley Wood, who in the early years of WW2 raised the top rate of income tax to 97.5%.

So Conservatives can do things that they claim never to when circumstances demand.

[Stive Pesley]

2 hours ago, Van Gritters said:

No but during Schtives time line he doesn’t mention he was screaming that we needed to do something about this.

Kind of unbelievable really that the brain-washing went so deep that people are still saying "yeah but what about Corbyn" long after he ceased to be of any relevance to any national debate.

I hope you get the closure you seek gritty x

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

3 hours ago, reverendo de duivel said:

What do people make of Rishi Sunak?

In my eyes he's making a pretty good fist of it so far, certainly better than I think his predecessor would have done.

Not bad for someone the media told us would be Cummings patsy, he looks the most competent of all ministers, despite his political inexperience.

Impressively for a politician, he seems able to resist the outside forces clamouring one way or the other, and actually listen to and address the issues that the people he serves have.

 

Agreed, the shining light of this government I'd say, looks sharp, decisive, comes across very well, very much on the ball.

[ariotofmyown]

3 hours ago, reverendo de duivel said:

What do people make of Rishi Sunak?

In my eyes he's making a pretty good fist of it so far, certainly better than I think his predecessor would have done.

Not bad for someone the media told us would be Cummings patsy, he looks the most competent of all ministers, despite his political inexperience.

Impressively for a politician, he seems able to resist the outside forces clamouring one way or the other, and actually listen to and address the issues that the people he serves have.

 

Agree, has looked by far the most competent person around.

I've mentioned it a few times but can't help thinking that a career in finance is good experience for being Chancellor. 

Wheras been a journalist who got sacked for lying isn't great experience for been PM.

[RamNut]

12 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

What’s to be annoyed about? It seemed like a valid question to me.

I’m not a Trump fan in the slightest, but there isn’t really a question there, is there? 
“You say the United States is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing, Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives and we are still seeing more cases every day?”

It’s ridicule disguised as a question, loaded with value judgements.
Sometimes it’s just not worth the effort of trying to respond. 
And when he answered with reference to China, she then tried to turn that into a racist reference. “Why are you saying that to me”.

[ariotofmyown]

I thought this was interesting comment in the Guardian today. Obviously not fans of Johnson, but does anyone disagree and think he is in it for any form of public service? Or to really change anything? Perhaps that doesn't matter though and it could work having someone in charge who just wants to be charge?

Not really surely what he believes in...he didn't really seem convinced on Brexit with his famous other column, but worked out for him in the end.  Trump seems a more extreme example....

"You wouldn’t find a single friend of Johnson’s who would begin to pretend he got into politics out of some commitment to public service, or even the vaguest set of ideas about how things should be run. A certain amount of egotism comes as standard, of course, for holders of his office. But whatever people on all sides thought about a huge range of previous prime ministers, there was at least an element of public duty to them, however disagreeably to some they might have chosen to express it. To even suggest it of Johnson would be screamingly absurd and everyone knows it. There is literally nothing there except personal ambition – and we’re all condemned to live within his limitations in a situation where they’re at their very deadliest."

[Bob The Badger]

3 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

Trying to defend someone saying they dont understand what stay alert means is ridiculous. 

So what does it mean?

Report people breaking social distancing guidelines?

Keep an eye on shops not cleaning down counter tops?

Wear a mask?

Don't eat take away?

Don't fall asleep on the tube?

Whine on message boards about journalists not being fair?

It means next to nothing.

There literally isn't a definition without an exact and specific context.

This isn't an opinion I'm offering here, it's a real life fact.

It is  literally impossible to quantify.

But, and this is a big but, if it all goes south the purveyors of such fine wisdom can say, 'But we said to stay alert, so it's not our fault'

I have a bunch of lemmings wanting to know when you're up for a trip to the seaside. 

 

[Bob The Badger]

1 minute ago, ariotofmyown said:

I thought this was interesting comment in the Guardian today. Obviously not fans of Johnson, but does anyone disagree and think he is in it for any form of public service? Or to really change anything? Perhaps that doesn't matter though and it could work having someone in charge who just wants to be charge?

Not really surely what he believes in...he didn't really seem convinced on Brexit with his famous other column, but worked out for him in the end.  Trump seems a more extreme example....

"You wouldn’t find a single friend of Johnson’s who would begin to pretend he got into politics out of some commitment to public service, or even the vaguest set of ideas about how things should be run. A certain amount of egotism comes as standard, of course, for holders of his office. But whatever people on all sides thought about a huge range of previous prime ministers, there was at least an element of public duty to them, however disagreeably to some they might have chosen to express it. To even suggest it of Johnson would be screamingly absurd and everyone knows it. There is literally nothing there except personal ambition – and we’re all condemned to live within his limitations in a situation where they’re at their very deadliest."

I keep harping back to Thatcher and it pains me. But I genuinely think she thought she was doing the best for the country and he same goes for Major and even Bliar.

I don't think BJ gives a poo.

[i-Ram]

4 minutes ago, RamNut said:

I’m not a Trump fan in the slightest, but there isn’t really a question there, is there? 
“You say the United States is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing, Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives and we are still seeing more cases every day?”

It’s ridicule disguised as a question, loaded with value judgements.
Sometimes it’s just not worth the effort of trying to respond. 
And when he answered with reference to China, she then tried to turn that into a racist reference. “Why are you saying that to me”.

Perhaps she did goad him with her question, and perhaps she did play the racist card. However, in my view Trump is his own enemy.

He appears to have only two positions with this crisis - 1) blame others for failings and 2) accentuate the positives of what he has done. Last nights 30 second spat perfectly encapsulated his stance since early March.

Why stand up at a press conference behind a big banner saying “America leads the world in testing” which is quite an ambiguous statement, and is of limited import at a time when the infection rate is rising across many of the states, and 80k (probably more) have succumbed to the disease.  It’s the equivalent of him pooping his bed every night for two months, but having a banner which says “America leads the world in washing powder production”.

[i-Ram]

20 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

I thought this was interesting comment in the Guardian today. Obviously not fans of Johnson, but does anyone disagree and think he is in it for any form of public service? Or to really change anything? Perhaps that doesn't matter though and it could work having someone in charge who just wants to be charge?

Not really surely what he believes in...he didn't really seem convinced on Brexit with his famous other column, but worked out for him in the end.  Trump seems a more extreme example....

"You wouldn’t find a single friend of Johnson’s who would begin to pretend he got into politics out of some commitment to public service, or even the vaguest set of ideas about how things should be run. A certain amount of egotism comes as standard, of course, for holders of his office. But whatever people on all sides thought about a huge range of previous prime ministers, there was at least an element of public duty to them, however disagreeably to some they might have chosen to express it. To even suggest it of Johnson would be screamingly absurd and everyone knows it. There is literally nothing there except personal ambition – and we’re all condemned to live within his limitations in a situation where they’re at their very deadliest."

No great surprise he is out of his depth. He is a Charlatan. A “Martin Blunt” if you like.

[ramit]

5 hours ago, Eddie said:

Of course it was doomed to failure, because the Republican party are almost as corrupt as Trump.

For goodness sake Eddie, the two parties are controlled opposition to each other, two sides of the same coin, a front to a front, a collective sham, owned and controlled by the same powers, a means of presenting to the voter the illusion of a choice.  Surely, you must know that.

[i-Ram]

2 minutes ago, ramit said:

For goodness sake Eddie, the two parties are controlled opposition to each other, two sides of the same coin, a front to a front, a collective sham, owned and controlled by the same powers, a means of presenting to the voter the illusion of a choice.  Surely, you must know that.