We are not enemies

[Logan Darklighter]

Just a little reminder - from one republican quoting another. 

[Bob Schroeck]

It is a touching sentiment and a fine video -- and yeah, Austrian-flavored Lincoln has a certain appeal. But I'm sorry, Logan, but if Trump does half of what he promised or idly speculated doing on the campaign trail, he is the enemy of everything I was taught -- by my extremely conservative Republican father -- America was and is.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Pyeknu]

I doubt I could begin to equal the simple eloquence that Arnold tried to put out here, but here was what I wrote on Facebook yesterday about the election:

Well, here are my thoughts about last night:
First of all, congratulations to those who exercised their franchise and voted for the person they desired to be their new Commander-in-Chief and Chief Executive. Regardless if you're Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green or independent, that precious right has been the cornerstone of American liberty for over two centuries.
As a Canadian who votes New Democratic, I would have supported Secretary Clinton had I been American. I'll admit that up front. In fact, had Senator Sanders been on the ballot as the nominee for President, I would have gladly voted for him. Still, one has to admit that the former First Lady has worked tirelessly for the causes she supported over the years regardless of her many imperfections and mistakes. The glass ceiling of the Presidency could have been shattered last night. That she made it that far and got that close to the White House speaks a lot about how much America has advanced over the last few decades.
As for Mr. Trump, I was very wary of a fellow like him, even now. However, I can understand what motivated so many to vote for the man. As I've discussed with a friend who is a Republican, people in America are just sick and tired of the constant political gridlock in Washington that stalls the nation's growth, allows things to slip through that ended up hurting people across the board and has become so detached from the electorate that the real purpose of the legislative side of the American government has been lost in the face of constant "He said! She said!" arguments across the floor of both houses of Congress. Look at what happened when Justice Scalia passed away some months ago. That post in the SCOTUS should have been filled in right away; it was the duty of the Senate to get someone in there and they failed their duty because they didn't approve of President Obama's choice...and the President went out of his way to choose a conservative at that! If that was so, why didn't members of the Senate recommend someone that could have satisfied both sides of the floor?
There still are those types of people in America.
I refuse to believe that America has become so radicalized that there is no more middle ground!
Mr. Trump's personal behaviour, from what has been revealed to date, leaves a lot of people inside America and out quite scared for the future. Much that getting a Washington outsider into the White House is a good thing in many ways, someone who is as - and I'm being diplomatic here - quite undisciplined as he's shown himself to be is someone that is unpredictable to Americans and their allies. While such could be used to devastating effect on ones enemies, America can't go it alone in many places. I am sure people in the Union will not support another Vietnam-like conflict.
Given the many accusations of rape and other sexual misconduct that have been made in the last year, they HAVE to be investigated even if he has now been elected President. I was raised by my divorced mother and my widowed grandmother and my best friend is a woman. The very thought that there are still people of power out there who have gladly done such to women makes me sick. However, I must caution - again, I'm being diplomatic here - that Americans should remember the phrase "Innocent until proven guilty". Here's a chance for the members of Congress on both sides of the floor to show some unity and hold the President-elect accountable. To paraphrase what Tom Clancy wrote about Jack Ryan in Executive Orders, Mr. Trump IS the United States of America in the eyes of the world after 20 January 2017.
Is this the example Americans want the world to see?

[Morganite]

That seems like a... really bizarre way of viewing the Supreme Court situation.

-Morgan.

[Valles]

Given that the judge in question was originally fronted, before Scalia's death, by Republican legislators as their hypothetical dream pick, I don't think there's any other honest way to view it.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Morganite]

And they don't get to change their mind?

I don't know, I'm not that familiar with the guy, but what I heard didn't make him sound particularly conservative. But either way, the Senate doesn't have a duty to fill the seat, they just approve or reject candidates. And they rejected this one. At that point, it was Obama's turn to suggest another candidate... and he never did.

-Morgan.

[Valles]

No, they didn't.

Merrick Garland was the 'dream' because he's a moderate, a centerist with no real axes to grind. If his nomination had been brought to a vote, he'd have had cross-aisle support from the surviving moderate/establishment Republicans. Maybe not enough - God knows the hive mind is strong there - but some.

So Mitch McConnell refused to even allow a vote. He and his didn't accept and they didn't reject - they dodged the question, and their own responsibilities.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Morganite]

So Mitch McConnell refused to even allow a vote.

And that is his prerogative.

Which isn't a rule I'm a big fan of, based on it's effects in our state senate, but that's the situation as it stands.

-Morgan.

[robkelk]

...
And that is his prerogative.
...

A system with such an obvious single-point-of-failure needs to be redesigned. A single person should not be allowed to refuse to allow other elected representatives to carry out their duties, even if that single person is herself an elected representative.

Call closure, let the vote take place, and abide by the will of the majority.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Morganite]

A system with such an obvious single-point-of-failure needs to be redesigned.

Yep.

It seems pretty weird that cloture motions or something like them doesn't already do this, but frankly a lot of Senate procedure seems kind of squirrely to me from the start.

-Morgan, thinks there's a good chance Iowa would have medical marijuana if it wasn't for this kind of thing.

[Dartz]

Fascists are the enemy of civilisation anywbere
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[ordnance11]

Logan Darklighter wrote:

---

Just a little reminder - from one republican quoting another. 

Kinda funny considering the alt right considered him to be a RINO.  And Banon's installation at the White House says the alt right had gone mainstream. I would say that Trump was clever in instituting the Fueherprinzip.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Logan Darklighter]

You are all UTTERLY MISSING THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS POINT. 
Here's a hint. It's not about Trump. 
EDIT: Here's another hint - watch the new video I just dropped into the Trump thread #2. 
EDIT EDIT:  (Just realized how that looks - Heh... Dropped in the #2... heh. I am such a child sometimes... )