Politics The 2016 US Presidential Election

Here's the problem with that...they will NOT learn the lesson.
Time & trend has shown they are truly incapable.

I'd rather there be no movement...but as little impact as possible.
And if the GOP can win by being a party of NO, then the Dems can do the same. (and it would train them to increase their spines and work together, which they don't do as well as the GOP)

The only thing that seems to work in DC these days is momentum.
If you wait until only certain times, they'll steamroll you.
The key is to be consistent.

Sad...but true.
I wish it were otherwise.

 

Since the other thread is still locked...I'll post this here. (besides, I guess he's not president yet...and they're still counting...and they electors haven't voted yet...not that it's likely things will change...but it's been a very weird year)
This from a conservative GOP ex-CIA officer (AND independent prez candidate, that got mostly traction in Utah)
Trump’s Threat to the Constitution

Makes some very valid points.
Article XII ???

 

And the saga continues...

All I can say is, Wow!
And this from a republican elector (I've only heard of Dems so far, with a campaign from Oregon & Washington...some willing to compromise in John Kasich - which actually I wouldn't mind)
Why I Will Not Cast My Electoral Vote for Donald Trump

 

Well...Hell...
NOW I know how the racists felt when Obama was elected. (just sucks when someone you detest wins)

AND I know how the traditionalists felt when he didn't wear his "Flag Pin" (it upsets you when your leader does something "un-presidential" )

 

Ok, the election saga continues...with the new revelation of the CIA report stating Russia's intent to give undermine Hillary and thus give advantage to Trump. (and of course, the FBI waffling...are they even reliable anymore on this topic??)
December 19th is the deadline as far as US Constitution is concerned.
Unlikely to overturn things...but this has been a VERY weird year...and then some.

So to the point..."Will to power"
Trump, McConnell, Putin, and the Triumph of the Will to Power

This like the scenario of a pacifist being confronted by a killer.
Yes, one may win ethically...but the other survives.
Anything to win.

The Dems keep playing by the rules and honorably (by comparison, at least...they are far from saints or perfect)
The GOP leans to bending the rules (at least, lately more so)

Has it gotten to party over country?? Or is the party just a platform to their power?

Is this where all the megalomaniacs win??

You can tell who's is and not...
Ex: Kasich turned down the potential electoral compromise of both Dem & GOP voting for him.
Trump is denying any intelligence saying there could be a problem.
Clinton has backed off recount pushes (the campaign represented but didn't push or sue for it)
...McConnell puts in his own wife as a Cabinet member

Anything for power.
The only thing we haven't gotten to yet is violence and murder. (I guess we should be grateful we've gotten out of that stage...except Putin, of course )

 

Yes, but even the "deplorables" comment was piecemealed and taken out of context.
This whole campaign has been a series of negative spins versus Hillary...and the media harping on the fact, because they really had nothing else to talk about. (other than emails)
They were an instigator of false equivalence.

And if the note on Podesta's password is true...it's just part of the running joke.
As a tech who has dealt with cybersecurity over a long career...this occurs EVERYWHERE...and often.
Not just in government...but in corporate world too.

All the stupid and silly things that people do in their personal lives and computer interactions...they also do AT WORK.
We've had the security technology.
We've had the proper protocols and rules.
FOR YEARS...
It's just that people (including security and admins) are lazy and neglectful...and do things because they want to make it easy, not deal with it and not be inconvenient.

I can't tell you HOW MANY times...including to this day, how there are bad decisions and settings made on computer security.
No logging...no one reviewing the logs...no reporting...lax passwords...open ports...privs that are obsolete...etc, etc, etc and so on...

THAT is the joke about Hillary's emails...it's not that she did it or not...or that it was "wrong" or not... (it was foolish, it wasn't really that bad...not with ALL the other things execs do by comparison)
It's that it happens AGAIN & AGAIN with oh so many people...and especially with people of authority, because they are "too busy" and they have enough "oomph" to push things through...or people won't bother them with real issues or concerns.

This is why the bad guys get through.
This is why China is stealing our technology and got all the info from OPM
This is why Russia was able to pick and choose what it found...to influence the election...and provoke our less than aware citizens...from either hacking by intent...or random findings from probes by bots.
This is why hackers are able to hold hospitals hostage for blackmail.
And so on...

We are a nation that CONSTANTLY leaves the door open.
Or has a weak lock on the door.
Or leaves the key under the mat.
Thieves are not that smart...but they're not THAT dumb. (we make it easy on them...and even easier for intelligent trained hackers working under orders by a foreign nation with BILLIONS at their disposal...and want to see US fail)

WE are a bunch of lazy idiots!!

Saying OMG!! Someone broke in...how could THIS happen??
Saying to others..."did you lock the door?" how could you forget?
Saying beforehand...I'm not worry about that...it's not likely to happen. (the "it won't happen to me" syndrome...a bunch of ostriches with our heads stuck in the sand)

We are the folk that don't change our oil...ignore the warning light...and are SHOCKED when our engine is fried. (AND how much it will cost...)

We are the people who leave the kid in the oven of a car...while "tisking" the mom swatting the butt of a kid in the store in anger. (this is called "false equivalence")

The people want good government???
Start with the person looking at themselves in the mirror!

The people want good security???
Start with the person looking at themselves in the mirror!

But Noooo...that's too inconvenient.
Let's just find a scapegoat.
Blame someone else.

 

My favorite part is going with a "the Russians couldn't hack a basement server!" argument while also offering a "Russians hacked the election electronics!" argument.

I'm not a Trump supporter at all, but the stuff flying around since he is elected is every bit, or even more, laughable than the stuff he was hurling at the wall before the election.

 

BTW...even though Trump was confirmed by electors...AND there was a record number of "faithless" (both parties...)

FYI
In 1969, Democrats and Republicans united to get rid of the electoral college. Here's what happened


So even though, many hate the EC...the smaller states (and southern)
don't want CA, TX, IL, NY and FL to decide the fate of the nation. (AND get the attention...and money....)

 

Well. Imagine that! The electoral College is way to mitigate the tyranny of the majority.

 

Well, they're both correct.
This is what the Great Compromise was all about when the states were formed.

But what it comes down to these days is influence.
If you're a Dem, you want it gone...then they'll have leverage (or whomever is advantaged by the cities and progressive policy)
If you're the GOP, you want it existing...then they'll have leverage (or whomever is advantaged by the rural areas and conservative policy)

The GOP got lucky...and the census this time came about when they were in power.
And they played hardball, leveraging any advantage they had and bending the rules in their favor when they happened to be in power.

But remember, the Dems used to be the rural, southern and conservative party...and the GOP was the elite, progressive and northern
...it's just switched over time.

Really, the question is not who's in control.
But what's being done for the best of the country and it's citizens.
NOT for the few powerful.

Each party has forgotten this often in the past.
It's just now, the GOP has the honor of being the party that's pushing the envelope.

My question is...what's in it for me and my family...and will someone be stupid enough to get us nuked.
Call me selfish.
But then again...everyone else seems to be these days.

 

And the saga continues...
But now people are putting down their cards.
U.S. intelligence agencies: Putin ordered intervention in presidential election

And OMG, Trump actually said that there "may" be something to it after having an ACTUAL intelligence briefing.
But like UFOs...I'll believe it when I see it...action-wise.

 

Even more so...
And specifically against Clinton over years
Russian Intervention in American Election Was No One-Off

All too little, too late.
We have the schmuck now.

Ignorance is NOT bliss.

 

When US advisors secretly went to Russia to help Yeltsin win, it later made the cover of Time magazine as a huge US victory once the info was leaked. There are supposedly over 80 documented cases of the US influencing foreign elections, not including the people the US directly helped overthrow. It's pretty naive to think the street doesn't go both directions, or that these things are unique to this election. My $.02.




No really, it made the cover, he started with a 6% approval rating. After the US advisers got involved, he ended up winning by a double digit margin. Sounds kind of familiar...