With Friends Like These…

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I heard McConnell has yet to visit the flood victims in his state. But hey, he didn't fly to Cancun I guess.

 

[lizkat]

From the fellow right leaning voters you socialize with do they put more thought into it than their representatives, meaning are they onboard with blanket obstructing everything and manufacturing an excuse after the fact? On the excuse, do they have a threshold on excuses or are they fine with any small or flimsy excuse to tank the entire thing?

West Virginians these days might have their noses out of joint in general, just because yet again they've emerged from the 10-year census with enough decline in population to lose a seat in the House. They're down to two seats now. Back in the 1960s they had six representatives in the House.

So more is probably expected and asked of the senior senator, Joe Manchin... how he reconciles that to the coal lobbyists who finance his re-elections is increasingly a challenge, one might think. It's not clear to me how much of the population there is aligned with the views of the coal miners' union, so who knows. But the politics of Joe Manchin have undoubtedly been recalculated over the decades.

It's easy to be cynical and say that it's biz as usual in DC no matter who wins an election, but in fact one does still have to win an election to get re-elected. Manchin is nominally a Democrat. His coal lobby supporters most definitely are not. His voters, well... I can see where he might flip his party allegiance at some point down the road, the way things are going. Not right now. Right now he's still juggling. His support among voters leaning Democratic is strongest in the southwest coal areas and in the larger cities of the state, but Dems only outweigh Rs by a couple of percentage points, and 22% or so are registered indies.

 

[Herdfan]

West Virginians these days might have their noses out of joint in general, just because yet again they've emerged from the 10-year census with enough decline in population to lose a seat in the House. They're down to two seats now. Back in the 1960s they had six representatives in the House.

Not so much lost as other states gained. When I was kid in school we had 4 and lost it in 1993. I remember that because we thought it might be the way to get rid of Rahall and we worked hard, but to no avail.

 

[lizkat]

Not so much lost as other states gained. When I was kid in school we had 4 and lost it in 1993. I remember that because we thought it might be the way to get rid of Rahall and we worked hard, but to no avail.

Other states gained more population, yes. But the loss of a seat is (and feels) real.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

So our good friend Joe made a cameo at Davos high on his own importance supply and nobody else having it. This meeting of the ultra rich has finally been getting some mainstream attention. They get together to pat themselves on the back based largely on their talent to extract wealth from everybody else and ignoring the fact that they probably have more in common with Charles Manson than Albert Einstein.

Quite a few members believe in Intelligent Altruism. Key to this belief is that everybody living now is expendable if it means the world will be a better place 1 million years from now. This is no exaggeration. They could maybe Office Space the solution and just "fix the glitch" in the food distribution machine and those at the other end will get the hint by dying off from starvation. If they decide to go a more equal opportunity holocaust route you can guarantee they won't be getting loaded onto cattle cars because they are geniuses. Also being geniuses, they shouldn't pay more taxes. They should acquire even more money because they and their wealth alone know how to best solve the world's problems because, again, they are geniuses.

Anyhow, kind of got off the point there. Joe went and apparently got accosted by several members, but not for what you might think. Was it for being a self serving corrupt tool of the fossil fuel industry? Fuck no. It was because the micro bill he finally signed off on had a slight whiff of US isolationism. Above all else Davos-heads are globalists because they aren't just geniuses, they are also lazy. They need the entire globe towing the same line. They can't have these little false exceptionalism outposts they need to give special treatment to, least of which is the US and it's hegemony.

They would have loved a Clinton or Obama, but instead they got Manchin. But I guess he proved he's not just disdained nationally, but globally. Globalism! He was also being coy about the possibility of running for President. If that happens I'm voting Trump.

 

[Herdfan]

He was also being coy about the possibility of running for President. If that happens I'm voting Trump.

I understand why you say this, but he was a great Governor. He really was. He didn't care which party you were in if you had a good idea.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I understand why you say this, but he was a great Governor. He really was. He didn't care which party you were in if you had a good idea.

I don’t doubt that, but people/politicians change and as we’ve discussed before there are politicians on both sides who do well on the local or state stage but would be really unpopular nationally. Some probably even dropped in popularity locally in the span of their political careers. Mayors who didn’t singlehandedly stop crime like they are superman come to mind, especially for those who believe crime has everything to do with the amount of militarized police and absolutely nothing to do with major shifts in economic reality. Sinema probably set a world record on how quickly her popularity went down the shitter.

 

[Herdfan]

Good news. You all may get rid of Manchin.

Governor "Baby Dog" or Jim "fucking follow the guidelines" Justice, how ever you want to refer to him as has announced he will be running for Senate. He has a 49% approval from Democrats. So he may very well be able to beat Manchin.

Probably not the solution you are looking for.

 

[Eric]

Good news. You all may get rid of Manchin.

Governor "Baby Dog" or Jim "fucking follow the guidelines" Justice, how ever you want to refer to him as has announced he will be running for Senate. He has a 49% approval from Democrats. So he may very well be able to beat Manchin.

Probably not the solution you are looking for.

I think Manchin just votes his conscious regardless of sides. I don't often agree with him but at least he's sane and seemingly measured in his approach, we'll have to see how this plays out but I'm personally fed up with vilifying those in the middle because they don't meet the idea of a hyperpartisan base.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I think Manchin just votes his conscious regardless of sides. I don't often agree with him but at least he's sane and seemingly measured in his approach, we'll have to see how this plays out but I'm personally fed up with vilifying those in the middle because they don't meet the idea of a hyperpartisan base.

I think he votes his wallet. But that’s not unique either.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

McConnell is endorsing Manchin’s Republican challenger and apparently Manchin is pissed and is saying that’s what’s wrong with Congress. I’ll just say the quiet part out loud. “Bro. Let’s forget I’m a Democrat for a moment. I forget I’m a Democrat from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I’ve helped your obstruction just about every time I had the opportunity. How can you play me like this, bro?”

 

[Huntn]

McConnell is endorsing Manchin’s Republican challenger and apparently Manchin is pissed and is saying that’s what’s wrong with Congress. I’ll just say the quiet part out loud. “Bro. Let’s forget I’m a Democrat for a moment. I forget I’m a Democrat from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I’ve helped your obstruction just about every time I had the opportunity. How can you play me like this, bro?”

Manchin: I’m confused because I’ve done such a great job for the GOP to date, and then they turn on me?!

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

It’s being reported that Sinema loves running marathons. So wherever there is a marathon she schedules some fund raising event that raises little to no funds and then charges the taxpayers to stay at posh places claiming she was there on government business. What a POS.

 

[Herdfan]

This could be a game changer :

Manchin not ruling out third-party run for president

Manchin says a "Plan B" is needed

www.ny1.com

Given that 60%+ of the voters don't want to see a Biden/Trump rematch, if they get it, they may bail for a 3rd party. And Manchin could be that ticket. Things aren't looking good for him in WV with Big Jim running for Senate as he has exhausted his 2 terms as Governor. He would probably beat Manchin in the Senate race.

I do think Joe would make a good President. I know some of you don't like him because he doesn't vote in lockset with the Dems, but he likes cooperation and consensus. And he is the type not afraid to go on TV and lay out what he believes and let the voters pressure their representatives.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

This could be a game changer :

Manchin not ruling out third-party run for president

Manchin says a "Plan B" is needed

www.ny1.com

Given that 60%+ of the voters don't want to see a Biden/Trump rematch, if they get it, they may bail for a 3rd party. And Manchin could be that ticket. Things aren't looking good for him in WV with Big Jim running for Senate as he has exhausted his 2 terms as Governor. He would probably beat Manchin in the Senate race.

I do think Joe would make a good President. I know some of you don't like him because he doesn't vote in lockset with the Dems, but he likes cooperation and consensus. And he is the type not afraid to go on TV and lay out what he believes and let the voters pressure their representatives.

Thanks for the setup, but I'll just say we should invite Supermatt to this forum just so he can respond to this and then get banned again for that response.

This specific third party is the corporatist party in everything but name. It's written in the platform in invisible ink that regardless of who runs for president Charles Koch will be the VP pick.

 

[Huntn]

This could be a game changer :

Manchin not ruling out third-party run for president

Manchin says a "Plan B" is needed

www.ny1.com

Given that 60%+ of the voters don't want to see a Biden/Trump rematch, if they get it, they may bail for a 3rd party. And Manchin could be that ticket. Things aren't looking good for him in WV with Big Jim running for Senate as he has exhausted his 2 terms as Governor. He would probably beat Manchin in the Senate race.

I do think Joe would make a good President. I know some of you don't like him because he doesn't vote in lockset with the Dems, but he likes cooperation and consensus. And he is the type not afraid to go on TV and lay out what he believes and let the voters pressure their representatives.

My problem with Manchin is that he stood in the way of Democratic sponsored measures that we needed to break or loosen the Right Wing‘s death grip on the Nations throat. He really would fit in well in the old GOP think of Bush Sr, but today I don’t see any of the MAGA crowd or enough Dems going for him.

The thing is I don’t think he’d have a chance of wining, and he’d likely hurt the Dems more than the Republicans, and that if there is any chance of The Head Shit running again and heaven forbid winning with the help of several corrupt State legislatures, the country will be in the worse shape since the Civil War, and this time the split might just work. It would be an economic disaster, and people (I predict) will die at a greater rate than they are today. I’ll admit, that this just might be our inevitable fate.

Right now we need something opposite of the corrupt anti-Democratic Right and that would be The Left. At this point I expect an equivalence argument from you.

And although I don’t support the complete socialist agenda. * I have to compare what it would up against on the Right, corruption, fascism, and the anti-democratic, , which would definitely be a choice of the lesser bad. I mean we are a pack of humans, how good can we expect to be?

*I’m actively questioning if Capitalism can carry us forward, and if humans have what it takes to evolve vs destroy ourselves.

What makes me feel sick, are the millions of people who support a party who says they support the Constitution, equality, equal opportunity, freedom of religion, with a wink, while spending all of their time undermining it’s intent, in many ways pushed by racist, bigots, intolerance, and greed.

 

[Eric]

This could be a game changer :

Manchin not ruling out third-party run for president

Manchin says a "Plan B" is needed

www.ny1.com

Given that 60%+ of the voters don't want to see a Biden/Trump rematch, if they get it, they may bail for a 3rd party. And Manchin could be that ticket. Things aren't looking good for him in WV with Big Jim running for Senate as he has exhausted his 2 terms as Governor. He would probably beat Manchin in the Senate race.

I do think Joe would make a good President. I know some of you don't like him because he doesn't vote in lockset with the Dems, but he likes cooperation and consensus. And he is the type not afraid to go on TV and lay out what he believes and let the voters pressure their representatives.

Regardless of his political beliefs he has the charisma of a wet sock.

 

[Citysnaps]

In the story right above, Manchin got this wrong:

“You better have Plan B because if Plan A shows that we're going to the far reaches of both sides, the far left and the far right, and that people don't want to go to the far left and the far right — they want to be governed from the middle.”

Nope... Most voters' concerns about Biden are not that he's a far left candidate (he's not). And that's absurd. Rather, it's about his age and health, and a lot can happen in the next year and a half (a looong time). That's what I'm worried about. Especially if trump is the R candidate and not serving time in a federal penitentiary.

With respect to Manchin... Even though I find his not coming together with the Dems when needed atrocious, I do have to respect that he always votes with his West Virginia constituents in mind. If I had confidence he would morph that into always being on the liberal side as president, I could vote for him, assuming Biden and other liberal candidates aren't viable.

 

[Herdfan]

My problem with Manchin is that he stood in the way of Democratic sponsored measures

But how is that different from what RINO's like Cheney and Romney did?

 

[Roller]

But how is that different from what RINO's like Cheney and Romney did?

If your definition of a Republican is someone whose purpose is to support insurrection and all the other nonsense many GOP politicians are promoting, I guess they were RINOs. But I prefer Republicans who care about the rule of law, actually governing to better the lives of Americans, and working with Democrats and Independents.