US Politics Thread 2021-24

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

For him to be released means he is deemed not to be an imminent threat to society

Like those fentanyl traffickers released without bail.

[Skybird]

Why US inner poltics matter so much for Europe: the NZZ writes:


The greatest danger is that the U.S. will withdraw from Europe, either because it is following a national populist pseudo-isolationism or because it is turning its attention to developments in the Pacific region.

The first danger for Europe results from the fact that Trumpian national populism continues to be the political guideline of the Republican Party. It has not succeeded in breaking free from Trump's grip because his base continues to stand by him unwaveringly. That's the 36 percent who think he actually won the election. At the same time, President Biden failed to unite American society after the political trench warfare of the last twenty years.

It is still deeply divided. Even coming to terms with the storming of the Capitol, when many thought all Americans condemned it, divides society. In Washington, an investigative committee, which includes Democrats and two dissident Republicans, is working through what happened. And although there is now umpteen evidence that Trump thought the storming of the Capitol was right, even wanted to go there himself, and stopped all measures to directly confront the violence, 36 percent of U.S. citizens continue to think he is innocent. That's a solid enough political base to campaign for president again.

Trump as president would be nightmare scenario for Europe

It is therefore not unlikely that Donald Trump will run again as a presidential candidate. Nor is it impossible that he would be elected again. And that is a real nightmare scenario for the EU states. Because they are not in a position to defend themselves for the foreseeable future, they are therefore incapable of deterring military threats from Russia and, if the U.S. withdrew from Europe, they would immediately be open to political blackmail. Therefore, developments in U.S. domestic policy are currently of significance for the European security order that cannot be overestimated.

Things do not look good for the current president. His poll numbers are at an all-time low. The New York Times currently measures 33 percent, Reuters 36 percent approval. But even the 41 percent approval Gallup measures does not bode well for the upcoming congressional elections in November. Even within the Democratic Party, Biden is unpopular, with 64 percent of Democratic voters not wanting him to run for re-election as president. They cite his age and overall political performance as the main reasons.

In the Washington Post, Steven L. Isenberg urged Biden to save the midterm elections by promising to be a one-term president. But part of the whole picture is this: no one in the party is more popular than Biden; Kamala Harris is not yet pushing herself as a candidate.

Trump and Biden tied

Three-quarters of all U.S. citizens think the country is moving in the wrong direction right now. The reason for this is that the economic situation is judged worse and worse, as PEW has determined. Only 20 percent of Democratic voters now see it as good, compared with just 5 percent of Republicans. At the top of the list of problems, are rising prices for daily necessities, gasoline and rents. Three-quarters of Americans are very concerned about rising prices.

Donald Trump's approval ratings are holding at about the same level as Biden's. With these poor scores, the two representatives of their parties are the frontrunners, as all other politicians come off even worse, trailing them by an average of ten to fifteen percent, as calculated by RCP. This is consistent with the approval ratings measured for political institutions by Gallup. While these went down for all institutions, including the church, military and media, they are shockingly low for political institutions.

No trust in government

Just 2 percent of Americans have very high trust in Congress, with over half answering "very little" or "no trust" to the question. Things look a little better when it comes to the presidency. A great deal of trust is placed in 10 percent, and more than half have at least a little trust. Only 11 percent of U.S. citizens have really great confidence in the Supreme Court, which is a direct result of the increasingly sharp politicization of the Supreme Court. In short, Joe Biden's diagnosis was correct. American democracy needs to prove, first, that it can solve problems, and second, to try to overcome political polarization. However, it is failing to do just that. He is credited with the high inflation under which millions of U.S. citizens groan. The national populist Donald Trump can exploit such conditions. He has already proven that once.

If he were to declare NATO obsolete once again or deviate from Biden's committed-defensive line, the alliance would be in trouble. For it is capable of acting only through the U.S.; all others are currently talking at its expense without being able to act autonomously. It is therefore in Europe's interest that no national populist becomes president in the United States. And neither is anyone, to address the second danger, who thinks the U.S. cannot sustain two conflicts at the same time. For then turning toward China would be tantamount to turning away from Europe. The debate currently underway in the U.S. about a realistic China policy - including the status of Taiwan, which Speaker Pelosi plans to visit soon against the urgent wishes of the White House - would be one approach to such a reorientation.

Transatlantic relations must be fostered

In view of these possible developments, the EU states are urgently called upon to make the shaping of transatlantic relations their most important foreign policy task. This has been criminally neglected in Germany for twenty-three years. That the Russian government does not take European governments seriously has been obvious for a long time, even if some people tell themselves otherwise.

Self-deception is normal in governments parallel to the degree of vanity. But the fact that the U.S. government also has to consider whom it takes seriously in Europe is dangerous, especially because the major EU states have long since ceased to be among those that can exert influence. Changing that is the most urgent foreign policy task for anyone who has understood how the European order of states has changed. Obviously, the circle in Germany is very manageable.


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The crux in a nutshell: the Europeans desperately need the US. But the US do not necessarily need Europe. That defines not equal partnership or friendship. That defines dependency.

[MaDef]

NATO has 30 member countries. If it can't survive 1 member leaving (for whatever reason), then it's really not much of a treaty.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by MaDef

NATO has 30 member countries. If it can't survive 1 member leaving (for whatever reason), then it's really not much of a treaty.

I forgot. How small was the American share of the combat power of NATO as a whole again?



Before the US leaves, i would prefer the leave of lets say - Albania. Or Iceland.

You get what I mean, I'm sure.

[Catfish]

Rather Albania than Turkey, look at the maps

[August]

I think Trumps problem with some NATO member nations was how they refuse to pay their full share of the alliance costs while they cozy up the very Russians that the alliance is supposed to protect them against.

As one who spent three years of his life protecting German soil from those Russians I can see his point. Why should Americans shed their blood to protect those who won't even pick up their small part of that slack?

[MaDef]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I forgot. How small was the American share of the combat power of NATO as a whole again?



Before the US leaves, i would prefer the leave of lets say - Albania. Or Iceland.

You get what I mean, I'm sure.

TBH, I'm not really on board with having to bail Europe out of the mess they've placed themselves in. Putin's actions & motive were pretty clear back in 2014 & 2015 when Russia "annexed" Crimea and then again when they Got involved in the Syrian civil war (which while not front and center in the news anymore, is still ongoing). And yet the NATO countries ignored it in favor of cheap gas and oil.

[Gorpet]

Originally Posted by Dowly

He makes zero effort at stabbing Zeldin, this is clear from the video I posted. You can choose to believe what you want.

Dowly, You posted an edited video.Post from the start to the end. What you posted.This Politician has his hand on the guy's forearm so ? How do we know he didn't try to stab him with his Horned Rings.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Gorpet

Dowly, You posted an edited video.Post from the start to the end. What you posted.This Politician has his hand on the guy's forearm so ? How do we know he didn't try to stab him with his Horned Rings.

Watch the entire video, not just the first few seconds.

Originally Posted by August

As one who spent three years of his life protecting German soil from those Russians I can see his point. Why should Americans shed their blood to protect those who won't even pick up their small part of that slack?

LOL

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Donald Trump's approval ratings are holding at about the same level as Biden's.

Confirmation bias much? Don't believe everything the press wishes were true no matter how many times they repeat it.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Why US inner poltics matter so much for Europe: the NZZ writes:


Trump as president would be nightmare scenario for Europe

The only nightmare scenario for Europeans is their fear of others telling the truth and calling them out on their hypocrisy, failures, and shifty Putin loving European politics and not contributing financially to the greater good of N.A.T.O. And when they fook up like they usual do they now expect someone else to do the dirty work and clean up their mess. IMO it’s the articles above that keep European population mounted on their high horse.

What Trump thinks of … Emmanuel Macron

“Trump didn’t really like either [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau or [French President Emmanuel] Macron, but he tolerated them, mockingly crossing swords with them in meetings, kidding on the straight,” Bolton writes of the 2018 G7 summit in Canada.

At the 2017 NATO summit, Trump accused Macron “of always leaking their conversations, which Macron denied, smiling broadly.” Trump later refused to answer Macron’s question on what the U.S. was planning to do regarding trade with China.

Meanwhile, during negotiations about the Iran nuclear deal in 2019, Bolton says Trump told him, “Everything he [Macron] touches turns to **** (feces).”

The president’s view of the German chancellor appears to reflect both respect for the country she leads and irritation with its foreign and security policy.

“[Trump] had great respect for Chancellor Merkel, noting that his father was German, and his mother Scottish,” Bolton writes in a chapter on the 2017 NATO summit in Brussels.

At the same meeting, Trump “kissed [Merkel] on both cheeks,” before saying “I love Angela,” following a commitment by European NATO members to up defense spending.

But the U.S. president has made no secret of his objection to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. “It’s very sad when Germany makes a massive oil-and-gas deal with Russia. We’re protecting all of these countries, and they make a pipeline deal,” Bolton quotes Trump as saying during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “We’re going to have to do something, because we’re not going to put up with it. Germany is captured by Russia.”

Trump and Biden tied

It’s obvious these pollsters never asked me about this. My answer would have been “who cares, these comparisons serve no purpose and are without a doubt absolutely meaningless”


As for so-called politicization of the SCOTUS. We should ask ourselves what made them suddenly a politicized branch of government. I’d wager it’s simply headlines, childish behavior of certain parties which make these accusations and the mindless mass people who just gooble it all up with doing any of their own due diligence . But if these mindless dumbasses actually took the time to be concerned citizens and watched a Senate confirmation hearing in its entirety, read the bios and history of the candidate and read the opinions of the justices all of which is public domain. They might find out those headlines and accusations by congressional party members are just leading them around by the nose.

[Skybird]

Biden and Trump maybe are irrelevant both now, havign been silenty sacked already by de Saantis - being extreme right wing and on the path of Trump - but unfortunately being much brighter. Bad news both for the US and Europe.



Pence should not even consider to run , he showed too long too much submissive loyalty and Kadavergehorsam - he is burnt.



I see no worthy candidate on any of the two sides. Not a single one. Nobody. Not even somebody I would describe as the smallest of all evils.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by MaDef

TBH, I'm not really on board with having to bail Europe out of the mess they've placed themselves in. Putin's actions & motive were pretty clear back in 2014 & 2015 when Russia "annexed" Crimea and then again when they Got involved in the Syrian civil war (which while not front and center in the news anymore, is still ongoing). And yet the NATO countries ignored it in favor of cheap gas and oil.

I cna udnerstand that, and evens hare that sentiment.



However, I also see strategic interests of the US at stake here that go beyond just an offended ego.



In the long run, however, I see Europe turning into an irrelevanc eon the world stage. This century wont be the century of Europe, but only see its decline. And you are right, the EU as well as individual European state shave brought this fate about themselves by their own hands, needlessly. Idiotic.

[Rockstar]

Here’s the full decision and opinion of latest headline drama. I’d bet not one person who believes the headlines and accusations and more political derp has even considered or taken the time to read it.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinion...-1392_6j37.pdf

[mapuc]

Can USA survive without Europe Here I mean not only in military terms but also in economical and in society terms.

Can Europe survive without USA -same here ?

Markus