The US is a Banana Republic

[JoeWeber 2,823]

1 minute ago, SkyDekker said:

This is exactly what happened in my opinion. Plus there are reports the orange dufus was warned by the WH lawyer he could have some personal exposure here.

To which he replied: "WTF, I didn't pull out my mushroom, I only sent in some goons!". You know, I read Gibbon's Rise and Fall recovering from a fuck up. This story will be easily read while waiting to wipe, methinks.

[headoverheels 333]

1 hour ago, airdvr said:

I'd like to see anyone take control of our government without the help of the military.

Then watch January 20th.

[gowlerk 2,249]

3 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

Thanks, I'm on it. Anything you need from the store on the way back?

I was talking about Pence making it so. But since you are at it, I do like Oban.

[Phil1111 1,149]

2 hours ago, airdvr said:

I'd like to see anyone take control of our government without the help of the military.

Why you voted for the status quo a scant 65 days ago? Whats changed?

[kallend 2,106]

13 hours ago, headoverheels said:

Then watch January 20th.

Why does the US give a repudiated and disgruntled president so much time to cause trouble and chaos?

 

[GeorgiaDon 379]

8 hours ago, kallend said:

Why does the US give a repudiated and disgruntled president so much time to cause trouble and chaos?

 

Most of the fast turnover countries are parliamentary democracies as I am sure you know.  The structure of government is very different and leadership can change unexpectedly, as for example with a vote of non-confidence or if someone calls a snap election and miscalculates/loses.  Bureaucrats do all the day-to-day work and can carry on irregardless (there's a deep state for you!) so it's easier for politicians to play musical offices without gumming up the works too badly.

Having lived under a parliamentary democracy (Canada) for half my life and the US system for the other half, I think the parliamentary system works better.  If a leader is a total screw up it's a lot easier to get rid of them.  Plus, I would have loved to see Bush or Trump be forced to appear in Congress to take questions from the "loyal opposition" at frequent intervals.  Also minority governments force the ruling party to compromise and adopt at least some policy priorities of smaller parties in order to form alliances.

 

[gowlerk 2,249]

The Daily Bonnet!

https://dailybonnet.com/u-s-capitol-to-be-replaced-with-one-massive-banana-republic/?fbclid=IwAR3uxls_ZKcY-DbGMFLXBANvXuMWH5jvZmVYAyjQSHYuvX-9rPxlTnZr3dw

[Phil1111 1,149]

Its somewhat astonishing to read that 15,000 fully armed troops will be needed at the capitol. Just to bring in a new president.

The sacred cows of white supremacists, the gun culture are all just a part of American identity.

India

America

[SkyDekker 1,465]

4 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

Its somewhat astonishing to read that 15,000 fully armed troops will be needed at the capitol. Just to bring in a new president.

And that they need to be vetted since they cannot be implicitly trusted not to be part of an armed insurrection.

[gowlerk 2,249]

24 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

And that they need to be vetted since they cannot be implicitly trusted not to be part of an armed insurrection.

As we discussed before in another thread, many leaders  over the years have been assassinated by their guards.

[kallend 2,106]

30 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

As we discussed before in another thread, many leaders  over the years have been assassinated by their guards.

It was quite common in ancient Rome.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

36 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

As we discussed before in another thread, many leaders  over the years have been assassinated by their guards.

Change from: this is just a minor dust-up.

[kallend 2,106]

What an embarrassment to the nation that this should be considered necessary:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/01/13/national-guard-inauguration-security/
 

An additional 5,000 members of the National Guard could arrive to support Inauguration Day security in Washington, city officials said Wednesday, which would increase the total to at least 20,000 in a rapidly swelling security apparatus focused on the Capitol.

 

“I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia,” acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III said at a news conference.

[ryoder 1,590]

26 minutes ago, kallend said:

What an embarrassment to the nation that this should be considered necessary:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/01/13/national-guard-inauguration-security/
 

An additional 5,000 members of the National Guard could arrive to support Inauguration Day security in Washington, city officials said Wednesday, which would increase the total to at least 20,000 in a rapidly swelling security apparatus focused on the Capitol.

 

“I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia,” acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III said at a news conference.

So as I understand it, planned US troop levels as of 2021-01-15 are:

Iraq: 2,500

Afghanistan: 2,500

District of Columbia: 20,000

[Phil1111 1,149]

1 minute ago, ryoder said:

So as I understand it, planned US troop levels as of 2021-01-15 are:

Iraq: 2,500

Afghanistan: 2,500

District of Columbia: 20,000

The 50 states capitols...hey the is the new America. So you're on you own because we got ours.  FBI warns of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals next week

Canada has a half dozen troops and another dozen reservists available. The US would have to transport however because our last serviceable C-130 is still in the shop. Hey its got 65,400 TT.

[JoeWeber 2,823]

1 hour ago, SkyDekker said:

Change from: this is just a minor dust-up.

Sure it is. airdvr told us so. Maybe he's finally taken some time to watch the video reports of the day long enough to see that fine American dusting off that officers head with a fire extinguisher instead of OANN and Newsmax.

 

[Phil1111 1,149]

Another day in the banana republic, cash and corruption. His supporters feign ignorance.

The president’s allies have collected tens of thousands of dollars — and potentially much more — from people seeking pardons.

The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Mr. Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations are intended to show mercy to deserving recipients, but Mr. Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies....

lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme....

Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer John M. Dowd has marketed himself to convicted felons as someone who could secure pardons because of his close relationship with the president, accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a wealthy felon and advising him and other potential clients to leverage Mr. Trump’s grievances about the justice system."

[kallend 2,106]

2 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

Another day in the banana republic, cash and corruption. His supporters feign ignorance.

The president’s allies have collected tens of thousands of dollars — and potentially much more — from people seeking pardons.

The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Mr. Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations are intended to show mercy to deserving recipients, but Mr. Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies....

lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme....

Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer John M. Dowd has marketed himself to convicted felons as someone who could secure pardons because of his close relationship with the president, accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a wealthy felon and advising him and other potential clients to leverage Mr. Trump’s grievances about the justice system."

Selling indulgences has a long long history.

[Phil1111 1,149]

32 minutes ago, kallend said:

Selling indulgences has a long long history.

'The Supreme Court has mostly completed its decimation of any anti-corruption laws that might present more than the slightest inconvenience for the plutocracy’s political investments. Therefore the Court has now picked up its judicial supremacy ax to perform the same demolition on the other side of the corruption equation. In a decision announced on June 27, timed to be one of the three final opinions of its 2015-16 term, the Court turned its attention to protecting the influence peddlers who benefit from the now freely flowing plutocratic investments from prosecution for their delivery of the peddled policies."

Corruption Perceptions Index

Trump and the GOP have tried their best. Hence the post in this thread instead of "The GOP swamp loves trump".

[feuergnom 29]

1 hour ago, Phil1111 said:

'The Supreme Court has mostly completed its decimation of any anti-corruption laws that might present more than the slightest inconvenience for the plutocracy’s political investments. Therefore the Court has now picked up its judicial supremacy ax to perform the same demolition on the other side of the corruption equation. In a decision announced on June 27, timed to be one of the three final opinions of its 2015-16 term, the Court turned its attention to protecting the influence peddlers who benefit from the now freely flowing plutocratic investments from prosecution for their delivery of the peddled policies."

Corruption Perceptions Index

Trump and the GOP have tried their best. Hence the post in this thread instead of "The GOP swamp loves trump".

if I read the above chart right, the usa ranks lower than united arab emirates and one notch above bhutan. what does that tell the rest of the world about the credibility of the worlds leading exporter for democracy *sarcasmoff*

[wmw999 2,534]

5 minutes ago, feuergnom said:

if I read the above chart right, the usa ranks lower than united arab emirates and one notch above bhutan. what does that tell the rest of the world about the credibility of the worlds leading exporter for democracy *sarcasmoff*

Well, obviously it’s UNFAIR. We’re America The Great; if your chart shows us as les than perfect, your chart is obviously wrong

/sarcasm

Wendy P. 

[feuergnom 29]

1 minute ago, wmw999 said:

Well, obviously it’s UNFAIR. We’re America The Great; if your chart shows us as les than perfect, your chart is obviously wrong

/sarcasm

Wendy P. 

i wouldn't have expected any other answer from an american citizen
(hope that this doesn't get me forked..... )

 

[Phil1111 1,149]

21 hours ago, wmw999 said:

Well, obviously it’s UNFAIR. We’re America The Great; if your chart shows us as les than perfect, your chart is obviously wrong

/sarcasm

Wendy P. 

In other MAGA news:

"In its hurry to use its final days in power to execute federal prisoners, the administration of President Donald Trump has trampled over an array of barriers, both legal and practical, according to court records that have not been previously reported.

Officials gave public explanations for their choice of which prisoners should die that misstated key facts from the cases. They moved ahead with executions in the middle of the night. They left one prisoner strapped to the gurney while lawyers worked to remove a court order. They executed a second prisoner while an appeal was still pending, leaving the court to then dismiss the appeal as “moot” because the man was already dead. They bought drugs from a secret pharmacy that failed a quality test. They hired private executioners and paid them in cash."

trump's evangelical supporters cheered the rule of law. While they donated money to the Proud Boys so they could deal with their treason charges.

[yoink 321]

I don’t get it. What’s with the hard-on for these executions that Trump has?

It’s psychotic.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Just now, yoink said:

I don’t get it. What’s with the hard-on for these executions that Trump has?

It’s psychotic.

I think you answered your own question.