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Trump taps former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head Energy Department he once vowed to abolish

BH said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
I'd like to remind you of a period of American history in '01 and '08 where bad appointments didn't go well. These people are being appointed to undermine the US, not support it.
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You are probably correct. i will not argue with you there. What you are starting to see in my opinion is the final looting of the empire.

In my opinion the US is going down and is going down in such a way it will likely not recover in our lifetimes. We are going back to what we were pre-World War Two with a few rich people at the top and a still existing but very, very much smaller middle class that directly serves the rich. The great mass are going to be poor. I do not predict the country will break up or have a military coup or mass starvation or anything like what some people predict. The US is just going back to what it traditionally had been before the World War and the Soviet threat made it have to develop somewhat for the betterment of all and not just an elite few.
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What you just described is what Trump calls "Making America Great Again", didn't you get the memo? Don't feel bad, neither did 99% of the people who voted for him.
 
KeepTalking said:
BH said:
You are probably correct. i will not argue with you there. What you are starting to see in my opinion is the final looting of the empire.

In my opinion the US is going down and is going down in such a way it will likely not recover in our lifetimes. We are going back to what we were pre-World War Two with a few rich people at the top and a still existing but very, very much smaller middle class that directly serves the rich. The great mass are going to be poor. I do not predict the country will break up or have a military coup or mass starvation or anything like what some people predict. The US is just going back to what it traditionally had been before the World War and the Soviet threat made it have to develop somewhat for the betterment of all and not just an elite few.
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What you just described is what Trump calls "Making America Great Again", didn't you get the memo? Don't feel bad, neither did 99% of the people who voted for him.
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1984 has arrived.
 
Elixir said:
KeepTalking said:
What you just described is what Trump calls "Making America Great Again", didn't you get the memo? Don't feel bad, neither did 99% of the people who voted for him.
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1984 has arrived.
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In London maybe.

1984 described a dystopian future of an authoritarian surveillance state. While certain feature's of Orwell's book can be found in almost any society around the world, we should not confuse that with what is portrayed in said book.

It also isn't a catch-all term for describing any state of affairs you happen to find less-than-ideal.
 
LordKiran said:
Elixir said:
1984 has arrived.
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In London maybe.

1984 described a dystopian future of an authoritarian surveillance state. While certain feature's of Orwell's book can be found in almost any society around the world, we should not confuse that with what is portrayed in said book.

It also isn't a catch-all term for describing any state of affairs you happen to find less-than-ideal.
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Surveillance was a means to an end, not the central theme of the story. This is a case of 2 + 2 = 5
 
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Rick Perry to head the Energy Department, said two people familiar with the decision, seeking to put the former Texas governor in control of an agency whose name he forgot during a presidential debate even as he vowed to abolish it.

Perry, who ran for president in the past two election cycles, is likely to shift the department away from renewable energy and toward fossil fuels, whose production he championed while serving as governor for 14 years.

The Energy Department was central to the 2011 gaffe that helped end his first presidential bid. Declaring that he wanted to eliminate three federal agencies during a primary debate in Michigan, Perry then froze after mentioning the Commerce and Education departments. “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

Later during the debate, Perry offered: “By the way, that was the Department of Energy I was reaching for a while ago.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...once-vowed-to-abolish/?utm_term=.37beefb4d7cd

Great. Another stupid rich person who is incredibly selfish.
 
Jolly_Penguin said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Well, that didn't much happen after '01 to '08. Obama was elected, big majorities and then people fired the Democrats for passing the ACA.
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Obama the Candidate was pretty good, but quickly sold out to become Obama the president who didn't even TRY for universal health care and put in that ACA you speak of, which is really a gift to the insurance industry, forcing money into their pockets. The same guy that vowed to close guantonomo (sp?) and didn't, and who increased drone strikes killing innocents, etc. If you think that Obama was somehow not controlled by corporate interests and the establishment in Washington, you are rather blind. I am talking about an actual reformation where the 99% become relevant and the 1% no longer pulls the strings of their puppets to control your country, as they have been doing for decades. There is a reason why both Sanders and Trump were popular in the past election cycle. Both of them came across as populists. Trump as a sham, yes, but one that convinced enough to vote for him over corporate shill Hilary. Hillary came across as corporate sell out (rightfully so) and Trump came across as self funded (though really he's just as if not more corrupt than she is), spending far less on his campaign than her, etc. It worked in his favour. There is a lesson to be learned in this.

The question now is whether or not the Democrats will learn the lesson and push against money in politics, billion dollar speeches to banksters, etc and push to truly speak for the common people. The question also arises whether liberals will be able to get the regressives and the rabid identity politics under control and push for true liberal values (like free speech, government accountability, etc) to be able to mount a powerful force against Trump and the Republicans. The people for the most part already agree with liberal ideals, if only the Democrats can get their act together.

American Democrats done fucked up, and you need to realize it, instead of just pointing and waving and calling people who voted for Trump racist and deplorable, etc. Fail to learn from this, and you really will spiral into oblivion and Trump will win his 2nd term.
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Right, and I guess the fact Obama failed to nominate a supreme court justice is the very same reason we currently only have 8? It is amazing to me how easily people can fuck up even the last 4 years of history. What you describe is completely out of the realm of reality.

And democrats lost congress and the presidency because democrats don't vote period. They don't vote for anyone they aren't extremely invested in and they sure as shit don't vote in the mid-terms. (As opposed to the republican voters, 90% of whom seem to work at the election stations). So you're right, that unless we get off our ass and vote, we will have to contend with DJT for 8 years.

aa
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Jolly_Penguin said:
Obama the Candidate was pretty good, but quickly sold out to become Obama the president who didn't even TRY for universal health care and put in that ACA you speak of, which is really a gift to the insurance industry, forcing money into their pockets. The same guy that vowed to close guantonomo (sp?) and didn't, and who increased drone strikes killing innocents, etc. If you think that Obama was somehow not controlled by corporate interests and the establishment in Washington, you are rather blind. I am talking about an actual reformation where the 99% become relevant and the 1% no longer pulls the strings of their puppets to control your country, as they have been doing for decades. There is a reason why both Sanders and Trump were popular in the past election cycle. Both of them came across as populists. Trump as a sham, yes, but one that convinced enough to vote for him over corporate shill Hilary. Hillary came across as corporate sell out (rightfully so) and Trump came across as self funded (though really he's just as if not more corrupt than she is), spending far less on his campaign than her, etc. It worked in his favour. There is a lesson to be learned in this.

The question now is whether or not the Democrats will learn the lesson and push against money in politics, billion dollar speeches to banksters, etc and push to truly speak for the common people. The question also arises whether liberals will be able to get the regressives and the rabid identity politics under control and push for true liberal values (like free speech, government accountability, etc) to be able to mount a powerful force against Trump and the Republicans. The people for the most part already agree with liberal ideals, if only the Democrats can get their act together.

American Democrats done fucked up, and you need to realize it, instead of just pointing and waving and calling people who voted for Trump racist and deplorable, etc. Fail to learn from this, and you really will spiral into oblivion and Trump will win his 2nd term.
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When you are ready to talk about the world as it actually is...
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What about his post do you think misconstrues the way the "world actually is?"
 
LordKiran said:
Elixir said:
1984 has arrived.
Click to expand...

In London maybe.

1984 described a dystopian future of an authoritarian surveillance state. While certain feature's of Orwell's book can be found in almost any society around the world, we should not confuse that with what is portrayed in said book.

It also isn't a catch-all term for describing any state of affairs you happen to find less-than-ideal.
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You're missing quite a bit there - maybe you should re-read it. Remember how country A was the enemy one day, and the next day it's country B? How "facts" are whatever the government deems them to be?
It might as well be a catch all term, if you have your eyes open.
 
J842P said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
When you are ready to talk about the world as it actually is...
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What about his post do you think misconstrues the way the "world actually is?"
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I'll take the first two things and leave it at that.

Obama the Candidate was pretty good, but quickly sold out to become Obama the president who didn't even TRY for universal health care and put in that ACA you speak of, which is really a gift to the insurance industry, forcing money into their pockets.

In order to have insurance companies lose the right to refuse coverage, mandatory insurance is a must. Second, that isn't what lost the election for Clinton, nor was it bad for Obama, who won a second term. Third, UHC wasn't even remotely possible with the Congress he had available. Want to complain about ACA, talk to Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Nelson... and Norm Coleman.

The same guy that vowed to close guantonomo (sp?) and didn't, and who increased drone strikes killing innocents, etc.

Obama tried to, but the Republicans wouldn't allow the transfer of prisoners to the US. Blaming that on Obama is ridiculous. The number of people at Guantanamo is much lower than when he first took office. "Innocents" killed under Obama dropped substantially than under W.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
J842P said:
What about his post do you think misconstrues the way the "world actually is?"
Click to expand...
I'll take the first two things and leave it at that.

Obama the Candidate was pretty good, but quickly sold out to become Obama the president who didn't even TRY for universal health care and put in that ACA you speak of, which is really a gift to the insurance industry, forcing money into their pockets.

In order to have insurance companies lose the right to refuse coverage, mandatory insurance is a must. Second, that isn't what lost the election for Clinton, nor was it bad for Obama, who won a second term. Third, UHC wasn't even remotely possible with the Congress he had available. Want to complain about ACA, talk to Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Nelson... and Norm Coleman.

The same guy that vowed to close guantonomo (sp?) and didn't, and who increased drone strikes killing innocents, etc.

Obama tried to, but the Republicans wouldn't allow the transfer of prisoners to the US. Blaming that on Obama is ridiculous. The number of people at Guantanamo is much lower than when he first took office. "Innocents" killed under Obama dropped substantially than under W.
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Virtually everything for which Obama has been vilified for not doing, was not done because of the overtly expressed stance of the obstructionist Republican Congress. Somehow, now, trumpsuckers are managing to lay the blame on Obama, and making it stick in the minds of Trump's faithful.
 
Ford said:
So keeping score here, we've got...

A Secretary of Energy who wants to eliminate the Energy Department.

An EPA head who hates the EPA.

An Education Secretary who wants to demolish public schools.

The first Secretary of State to have never held a government job or a military position.

A HUD Secretary who is actually qualified...to be Surgeon General.

What's next?
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Trump has to be punking us. I swear I am starting to think this is all just some kind of colossal reality prank show for his new tv station. Either that or he is truly trying to destroy the federal government. He has to be searching for the very opposite of suitable candidates for every one of his cabinet picks. There is no possible way this is accidental.

I feel sick to my stomach every time I think about any of this. Seriously nauseous
 
RavenSky said:
Trump has to be punking us. I swear I am starting to think this is all just some kind of colossal reality prank show for his new tv station. Either that or he is truly trying to destroy the federal government. He has to be searching for the very opposite of suitable candidates for every one of his cabinet picks. There is no possible way this is accidental.
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You know, I think that on some level he's not out to punk us, but is instead assembling the cast for his show...The Celebrity Cabinet. He doesn't seem to grasp that the people he's hiring are going to be put in charge of vast federal agencies with huge budgets and hundreds of thousands of employees. He's picking people who will look good on television and will create some drama in the process.

He's not looking for competence. He's looking for entertainment value. He picks a die-hard foe of the EPA to head the agency, not because he thinks the guy will be able to do the job, but so he can sit back and laugh while "the media" scrambles to cover the absurdity of that particular pick. He tapped a Marine named "Mad Dog" to head the Defense Department. Not because he thinks the General will do a good job handling a trillion-dollar department where lives are on the line, but because he likes the name "Mad Dog" and thinks it sounds good in the press.


I honestly believe he'd hire Gary Busey to be head of the DEA if it would get attention. And it would.
 
Ford said:
So keeping score here, we've got...

A Secretary of Energy who wants to eliminate the Energy Department.

An EPA head who hates the EPA.

An Education Secretary who wants to demolish public schools.

The first Secretary of State to have never held a government job or a military position.

A HUD Secretary who is actually qualified...to be Surgeon General.

What's next?
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Putin's plan is working :)
 
dismal said:
Jolly_Penguin said:
That may be exactly what is needed. The USA needs to be undermined, stripped down, and rebuilt. The whipe out of the Democrats is exactly the wake up call that the Democrats needed. Assuming you survive Trump, you'll have a slim window where actual improvement can be made in the next election.
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Oh, there's no way we can survive without a Department of Energy. It's not like we didn't have one for the country's first 200 years and then hastily slapped one together in the wake of some silly Arab oil embargo.
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It would be nice to continue to develop a fusion reactor, manage nuclear waste disposal, track weapons grade nuclear material, develop industrial uses for quantum mechanics. But you are right, we can abandon these things and go back to being yeoman farmers.
 
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