Good point. I think the climate change attitude is rife in denier circles. 

jimmurphy said:
Explains his stance on Global Warming as well.


And pretty much everything...

 après moi, le déluge.

Soon the yearly interest on the national debt will exceed what we spend yearly on defense or on Medicare. The interest will be the largest Federal expense. In 10 years, interest is expected to top 1 trillion a year.

Krugman gave a good story how the Trump tax cut really works:

You're eating in a restaurant to eat with someone who invited you. The acquaintance orders Filet Mignon and fine wine. He orders burger and soda for you. He then borrows your credit card to pay knowing you will need to reimburse your credit account over time.

Never in his life has Trump bought a burger and soda for anyone.  

Red_Barchetta said:
Never in his life has Trump bought a burger and soda for anyone.  

 he would if he could use your credit card.

To me this proves that Conservatives are either racist, or they choose partisanship over facts, or both. And in either case they should not be allowed anywhere close to any branch of government:

When Barack Obama, our first African-American President was in office, all of their hair was on fire on the deficit, and how immoral and irresponsible this was, etc. (remember the Tea Party?).

When Donald Trump, our first Orange President came into office and started running up the deficit like a drunken sailor, we heard: ..... crickets .....

That was because the money was to be spent on “those people,” and they couldn’t get any campaign donations as a result.

Campaign money is the root of all the evil.

jimmurphy said:
That was because the money was to be spent on “those people,” and they couldn’t get any campaign donations as a result.


Campaign money is the root of all the evil.

I agree, but the second branch of the root is racism. To quote Lyndon Johnson:

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

There is just this ugly undercurrent in American society that is all about racism and white supremacy, Trump did not invent that, he stoked it sure, but it was already there, and recent Conservative politicians have always called upon it as a way to win votes (Welfare Queen - Reagan, Willie Horton - Bush Sr, McCains adopted daughter from Bangladesh - Bush Jr, War on Drugs, Stop and Frisk, etc.). Always the same thing. Always appealing to a racist part of our society that is bigger and more potent than we would like to admit.

.


Campaign money is the root of all the evil.

 There is nothing new about money in Politics.

http://www.civilpolitics.org/money-and-financing-campaigns/

As Senator Mark Hanna said in 1895: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can't remember what the second one is."

It is the love of money that is the root of all evil.

The old time Conservatives lost the war of ideas back in the New Deal so Nixon went with the "Southern Strategy" of bringing the racists on board.

Red_Barchetta said:
Never in his life has Trump bought a burger and soda for anyone.  

But he did. That's your tax cut. Unless you're a corporation or 1% whereupon you got the Filet Mignon and Wine.

ml1 said:

Red_Barchetta said:
Never in his life has Trump bought a burger and soda for anyone.  

 he would if he could use your credit card.

And he did.

You don't think the corporations and the 1 percenters will be burdened in paying back the new deficit and interest, did you? That burden will fall on the middle class.

gerritn said:

jimmurphy said:
That was because the money was to be spent on “those people,” and they couldn’t get any campaign donations as a result.


Campaign money is the root of all the evil.

I agree, but the second branch of the root is racism. To quote Lyndon Johnson:
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

There is just this ugly undercurrent in American society that is all about racism and white supremacy, Trump did not invent that, he stoked it sure, but it was already there, and recent Conservative politicians have always called upon it as a way to win votes (Welfare Queen - Reagan, Willie Horton - Bush Sr, McCains adopted daughter from Bangladesh - Bush Jr, War on Drugs, Stop and Frisk, etc.). Always the same thing. Always appealing to a racist part of our society that is bigger and more potent than we would like to admit.

Also agree.  The platform serves the rich. The racism and "patriotism" serve the votes. Pretty simple formula they've developed.

The platform serves the rich. The racism and "patriotism" serve the votes. Pretty simple formula they've developed. - that is perfect summation.

In his book America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation, David Goldfield talks about how the wealthy slave owners fell back on racism to build support for secession.  Nothing like building up fear of the black man as your equal to motivate citizens not otherwise inclined to leave the union.

And Howard Zinn points out that racism was used to keep poor whites in line from even before the nation was established.

gerritn said:
To me this proves that Conservatives are either racist, or they choose partisanship over facts, or both. And in either case they should not be allowed anywhere close to any branch of government:
When Barack Obama, our first African-American President was in office, all of their hair was on fire on the deficit, and how immoral and irresponsible this was, etc. (remember the Tea Party?).
When Donald Trump, our first Orange President came into office and started running up the deficit like a drunken sailor, we heard: ..... crickets .....

 It was the same in 1980 -- until Reagan was elected. And the same in 2000. Even though we were running a surplus, it was too much! We needed a tax cut.

So, Is the Junior Senator from South Carolina just confused.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/07/tim-scott-congress-trump-judges-1049233

That Lyndon Johnson quote is powerful, and I've seen it many times before.

Tom_Reingold said:
That Lyndon Johnson quote is powerful, and I've seen it many times before.

It's the clearest explanation of why a large portion of the electorate continuously votes against their own self-interest. It's the same thing with most Trump voters now again. He is cutting taxes for the rich, and increasing military spending, so he is basically screwing over the lower/middle class, yet these are exactly the people that vote for him and continue to cheer him on. Which seems an incredibly irrational thing to do, until you realize it's all about racism.

Or classism. But it's effectively the same thing. I think many of us are awakening to the extent of racism motivating a lot of human behavior. I certainly wasn't as aware as I now am.

As Jim Murphy put it so succinctly.

The platform serves the rich. The racism and "patriotism" serve the votes. Pretty simple formula they've developed. 

The guy's got one legislative achievement in 2 years - fattening the rich. 

I was so happy they didn’t give him a mic at the Army-Navy game today.

GL2 said:
The guy's got one legislative achievement in 2 years - fattening the rich. 

He also told a truth:

"You all just got a lot richer," Trump tells friends, referencing tax overhaul"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-mar-a-lago-christmas-trip/

Meanwhile, after Brexit and Trump, the Russians found another pot to stir in: France.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russian-accounts-fuel-protesters-outrage-online-xx2f2g8th

Great to see a Fawlty Towers fan among us!

How do you know I am not an 800 pound russian sitting on his couch while working for Putin?

basil said:
How do you know I am not an 800 pound russian sitting on his couch while working for Putin?

 You could still be a fan.

Of course since you, or more probably your screen character, just joined the day before yesterday, who knows?

First, Time honors journalists and now FT names Soros. I fear we're dealing with an international deep state (or is it states?)!

The Financial Times has named philanthropist George Soros person of the year for being “a standard bearer for liberal democracy.”

“For more than three decades, Mr Soros has used philanthropy to battle against authoritarianism, racism and intolerance,” the paper wrote. “Through his long commitment to openness, media freedom and human rights, he has attracted the wrath of authoritarian regimes and, increasingly, the national populists who continue to gain ground, particularly in Europe.”

Soros has been the subject of hatred and antisemitism from all corners this year, including from President Donald Trump, who has falsely accused the billionaire of everything from paying for sexual assault survivors to confront Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to funding the migrant caravan.

Wondering if he'll get an invite to the White House. 

"You say "authoritarianism, racism and intolerance" like those are bad things" --Stephen Miller

tom said:
"You say "authoritarianism, racism and intolerance" like those are bad things" --Stephen Miller

 I'm surprised they ever let that guy out of his cage to face the public.

And good for the FT - Soros deserves all of that praise.

Sophomoric but cute commentary from a major scientific journal, courtesy of my anthro prof daughter. Original and close up. "Must be a post-doc," she says: