A Deeply Fractured US
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QV
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I can respect that position. Of course there are various opinions on some of those points and I don't think many institutions have met the bar of honesty with the voters, but I digress.
Until I see a better option, and there are some out there, of the two choices it is clear it can't be Biden - from my standpoint.
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The last ten posts prove how useless this thread has become. It's not Trump or Biden, they are simply catalysts, to accomplishing nothing but angst and hard feelings amongst participants.
I'll bet if the mods dropped a two or three week freeze on it, things would get a whole lot quieter and friendlier on the forum.
This isn't a call to stifle discussion, because truthfully, there is no real discussion. Just posters staking out territory, like trench lines in WWI.
I'll bet if the mods dropped a two or three week freeze on it, things would get a whole lot quieter and friendlier on the forum.
This isn't a call to stifle discussion, because truthfully, there is no real discussion. Just posters staking out territory, like trench lines in WWI.
QV
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I don't know... I've asked for a substantive example of how 45 mismanaged the country during his time in office. I'm not interested in CNN saying he overfed the Coi fish or what he does in the privacy of his bedroom. Granted not everything will be a success, but there were a lot of wins there which get ignored and it turns to orange man bad - "I don't like his character". I blame that part on the media bull. I'm trying to draw out substantive examples where he failed in foreign policy, the economy, energy, defence, environmental stewardship... and am not getting many solid examples though there are a few.
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Let someone else do it, so you don't have to.
The other has been described as "a brain dead zombie".
Sounds like voters may be getting a little concerned down there.
The GOP opted to not pick the adult choice in the room. The Democrats now have a chance to put a non senile adult in the room. We’ll see if they are up to it or not.
FJAG
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This policy direction, however, was one that reaches back to W Bush's presidency. Rumsfeld's stated aim, and oft heavy handedly implemented, was to get the US out of foreign ventures. That included a drawdown in Afghanistan as well as very limited objectives and low troop numbers going into Iraq (leaving aside the issue as to whether going into Iraq was really necessary) To paraphrase US policy at the time it was to "hit hard and get out."
The trouble was that events and the enemy had plans of their own. While the Iraqi military and the Saddam regime were easily defeated, the insurgency there and the rise of ISIS created a whole new conundrum.
In Afghanistan, at the time, no one saw Dadullah's offence in the south shape up. By all appearances the US could get out, but ...
By the time the Obama administration took over it had inherited the consequences of what went had gone on before it. A lot of doubling down had to be done if one didn't want to leave behind a a couple of Petrie dishes within which the next crop of international terrorists could thrive and multiply.
Let's be honest. By the time Trump took over, the US had gotten out of everywhere. A few observers/advisers were left behind to try to steer things along, but the tens, even hundreds, of thousands of Americans (and allies) who had been in Iraq and Afghanistan, had long gone home. From a high of 102,000 during the height of the 2009-2011 surge in Afghanistan to just 12,500 in 2016. Direct US operations had ended in 2014 under Obama. In 2017 Trump in fact increase the troop strength in Afghanistan by an additional 4,000 or so trainers before starting a slow drawdown over the next four years. By the time that Biden took office in Jan 2021, there were only 2.500 left.
The few, regrettable, casualties which came from time-to-time were insignificant militarily albeit that they were a great plaything for both the media and politicians.
Every administration has had the objective of a small war with a quick withdrawal. Events dictated the course of actual progress. There is no one administration that truly succeeded. Each had some successes and each had some dismal failures. America simply can't stop being involved. That's the price of leadership. The problem for America is that there are so many factions and so many information channels that there will always be criticism and downright lying. One can be either be a populist and follow the baying mob one likes best, or one can take a reasoned approach and do the right thing. Regardless of the path chosen there will always be consequences including 2nd and 3rd order ones which won't bear fruit for years. These will in many cases be rationalized after the fact and laid off as someone else's fault. That's the nature of American politics.
Brad Sallows
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Presidents submit budget requests.
Congress legislates budgets.
If presidents spend money not appropriated by Congress, it's up to Congress to hold presidents accountable.
If your opinion is that spending is not what it should be, blame Congress.
Congress legislates budgets.
If presidents spend money not appropriated by Congress, it's up to Congress to hold presidents accountable.
If your opinion is that spending is not what it should be, blame Congress.
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If picking a fantasy dream team, you may wish to consider drafting Gov. Whitmer ( Michigan ) and Gov. Shapiro ( Pennsylvania ).
"Big Gretch" for top of the ticket.
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Hypothetical question for Brihard, or any other SME.
I understand military and federal employees should refuse illegal orders.
But, if they obey, and get court martialled, fired, or federal criminal charges, the president has the power to pardon.
If I understand that correctly?
And, what if a president took a bribe in exchange for a federal pardon?
Definitely not a SME, not a lawyer either, just a cop who likes the law… I don’t want to get too far into sensational hypotheticals; the farther I get from what’s solid, the farther the trajectory of any errors will take me off course.
Um, to your question- the president can absolutely pardon federal criminal offences, including military courts martial. We saw Trump, for instance, pardon convicted or accused war criminals. He also restored the rank of a SEAL who was demoted after a UCMJ conviction. So yes, the President has the authority to do that, and Trump personally has shown a willingness to intercede in military justice both during its course and post conviction… So that’s a hard data point that I’m comfortable enough mentioning.
A civilian federal officer convicted for a federal crime could similarly be pardoned by the president. Pardons can also be granted without charges being laid (see, eg, Ford pardoning Nixon). Trump did pardon a number of people based on clear political and/or family connections, so certainly pardons would be conceivably in play. Nothing unusual there, it’s a power every president has and exercises, and they have full constitutional authority to do so arbitrarily.
As for the hypothetical of a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Tougher for me to say. The pardon itself would not be prosecutable; the bribery could be. Proving the solicitation and acceptance of the bribe beyond a reasonable doubt with admissible evidence would be necessary, and hard. A bribery charge would not necessarily depend on the pardon being granted. But there would likely be considerable opacity to the president’s communications and deliberations that, even once his term were done, would be difficult for an investigation to pierce. So, criminal, but good friggin’ luck prosecuting it succesfully.
Some insight on this from a U.S. law prof who’s worth a follow:
daftandbarmy
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Keeping the plot it seems... and not in a good way
Jarnhamar
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It's beyond belief watching the role of leader for the most powerful nation in our history come down to Trump, Biden, and Harris.
kkwd
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He starts out describing Biden and that would fit in the demented category then the Trump description would fit in the delusional category. I see the video as a wash, he says both are a threat to national stability.
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