Sunday, May 7, 2017

Quick Thoughts

Let's start the week with some quick thoughts.

● Marine Le Pen lost in France is a damning landslide. I'm not surprised. She's a dipshit and her politics is unpalatable. Anti-Arab. Anti-Europe. Anti-American. That's not a recipe for success in the modern world.

● The Democrats think they will now win in 2018 because of Trumpcare. They think it's the exact same thing as Obamacare, which wiped them out. They're wrong. For one thing, it will be easy for the GOP to blame Obamacare for the problems that arise. For another, the bill shifts money from Democratic voters to other groups who vote GOP or neutral, like old people. They are even coming up with new subsidies for the working poor rather than the leeching poor.

Even more to the point, I don't think the GOP will have nearly as much of a problem because Obamacare messed everything up so badly that it's impossible now for average people to decide what is causing their unhappiness. Unlike Obama, Trump has not claimed to fix the whole system and make it divine. That's a key difference.

Finally, I think the Democrats have been so cynical about this whole thing that many of the genuine complaints will get dismissed as politics.

● There's been an interesting shift from the ranks of billionaires and tech giants. Before the election (when they thought the working poor were on their side), they warned us about machines taking jobs and made a big deal about someone needing to do something (a patented liberal phrase). In this week alone, a half dozen of them have said that machines taking those jobs is not a big deal. Interesting. I get the sense they've now turned against "the workin' man" because he voted against their desires. We'll see.

Feel free to add your thoughts!

22 comments:

Kit said...

The French will vote for an anti-American candidate, such as a Gaullist like Chirac, but it seems voting for an anti-American Pétainist is a wee bit too much for them to swallow. ;-)

tryanmax said...

I don't know French politics. It sounds like they had the choice between the lesser of two socialists. Much like Americans had the choice between two egoists.

I have some thoughts on healthcare and machines taking jobs that I'll post when I have the time.

AndrewPrice said...

Hillary said this about the French elections:

Victory for Macron, for France, the EU, & the world. Defeat to those interfering w/democracy. (But the media says I can't talk about that).

Some thoughts.

1. This was a defeat for a party with intolerable views, little else. Not a win for "democracy" by any means. The reason the hacking didn't matter is that Marcon wasn't as stupid/arrogant/hateful as team Team Clinton was in their emails.

2. This election higihlights further just how bad Hillary was that a hacking attack could prove so irrelevant as to allow a massive blowout whereas hers stuck to her like toilet paper on her shoe.

3. The media is on your side you paranoid hag.

4. The media can't stop anyone from talking, so the idea that the media is stopping you is a lie.

tryanmax said...

Democracy: a system whereby you vote until you get it right. (Additional voters will be brought in as deemed necessary.)

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, The French elections are peculiar in that they allow a fringer to sneak into the run off, but then exposed them. Le Pen got exposed here. People want nothing to do with a party with this pedigree.

It's too bad people like Ann Coulter don't get this. Supporting a party like Le Pen's only undermines the people with more genuine ideas about how to solve problems like the radicalization of Islam.

It really is too bad the choices today are between blind-eye on the left and whack-a-doddle on the right. There are a great many issues that need someone with genuine solutions.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Exactly. And until you get it right, we'll hold you up by any means necessary.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Lesser of two socialists sounds just about right. But that's Europe in general.

Critch said...

Macron still has to form a government, this is not American style politics that France practices...this could all go in the crapper overnight for him if he makes any mistakes..

BevfromNYC said...

Hey y'all. I was in Paris the day before the election...sad to say there were no riots or anything like that....started by me. But I do believe that just by my being there, I was a great influence. 8-}

tryanmax said...

Funny Tweet by Lauren Southern:

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Macarons:
- mostly air
- no nutritional value
- comes in whatever flavor the public wants
- for rich people
Macron:
- same but he's president of France

AndrewPrice said...

Nice job keeping France peaceful, Bev! :)

tryanmax said...

As promised, my thoughts on the healthcare situation:

Democrats are acting like the midterm elections are tomorrow in a giant waste of energy. Conversely, the GOP is actually doing something smart for a change (color me surprised) by doing big legislation as far away from an election as possible. If this is on purpose, they should turn to petty, feel-good measures a year from now. I'm not sure, but we're in one of three scenarios:

1) It's on purpose, Trump's driving it, and GOP is on board. In which case, I expect the above.

2) It's on purpose, Trump's driving it, and the GOP is against it. In which case, I expect continued big legislation and Trump to fight Congress and back primary challengers.

3) It's completely by accident, in which case, everyone who thinks Trump slipped on a banana peel and landed in the Oval Office was right.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Nice! Very true.

AndrewPrice said...

Critch, Apparently, the conservatives think they can marginalize him. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

AndrewPrice said...

traynmax, Let me through this into the mix.

4. There is no thought to the timing. The GOP is acting because this is the one thing they need to do and they want to get it out of the way so they can focus on defending their seats.

tryanmax said...

Andrew, Let's just call it 3a. ;-)

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Sorry if that's what you said. I have a fever and am not thinking clearly.

I've been staring at the headline: "Demi Moore sued in swimming pool death" and it took me a moment to realize she hadn't killed a pool. :(

Critch said...

Parliamentary style governments can be brought down because they can't agree on the color of a tablecloth...I think French politics are as befuddling to outsiders as they are to the French.

tryanmax said...

Andrew, The pool probably attacked without provocation. Trucks do it. Guns do it. Demi shouldn't be held responsible for the wiles of inanimate objects.

Critch said...

Why are some Republicans acting so butthurt over Trump firing Comey? From what I can tell the man is incompetent as a law enforcement manager or investigator.

AndrewPrice said...

Critch, I would say because butthurt is the natural position of a lot of Republicans, sadly.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, No doubt. It's always the fault of the inanimate object.

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