Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Themius]

So before announcing the Afghan withdraw, Bifden talked to Obama and W.

But not Trump. Because Trump lies all the time about everything.

Also, NATO is backing the play.

Can't wait to see the rabid fanbase invent a reason why this, something Trump promised but did not do, is bad.

Well of course not Trump... but do you really believe we're "pulling out"??

We have death squads over there... private military contractors... we're not "pulling out" really.

[cubby]

So before announcing the Afghan withdraw, Bifden talked to Obama and W.

But not Trump. Because Trump lies all the time about everything.

Also, NATO is backing the play.

Can't wait to see the rabid fanbase invent a reason why this, something Trump promised but did not do, is bad.

I do like that that information is public - that not only did Biden seek the guidance of past Presidents, he intentionally skipped the only Resident we've had. And shit all over him while doing exactly the right thing.

[Breccia]

House panel approves bill for DC statehood.

[Themius]

House panel approves bill for DC statehood.

Until they get real serious and harsh about the filibuster it doesn't mean much.

[Kellhound]

House panel approves bill for DC statehood.

It just needs to be returned to Maryland and Virginia for voting matters. No need to make it a state.

[Themius]

It just needs to be returned to Maryland and Virginia for voting matters. No need to make it a state.

don't like democracy do you

[postman1782]

don't like democracy do you

No, he just doesn't like that Democrats would have more of an advantage to winning the Senate.

[Kellhound]

don't like democracy do you

The land was taken from them with the understanding it would remain federal. It is only proper to return it to them.

[Themius]

The land was taken from them with the understanding it would remain federal. It is only proper to return it to them.

During slavery? You want to use something a bunch of white rich men many of them slavers agreed to in order to disenfranchise an area nearly half black alone?

[Kellhound]

During slavery? You want to use something a bunch of white rich men many of them slavers agreed to in order to disenfranchise an area nearly half black alone?

I am calling for it to be undone. No more no less.

[Kaleredar]

I am calling for it to be undone. No more no less.

The people of DC determining if they want to be a state is what is important, not some antiquated decree.

And if that also casually sinks the GOP’s chances at ever controlling the senate again, then hey, that’s just a happy coincidence.

[Kellhound]

The people of DC determining if they want to be a state is what is important, not some antiquated decree.

And if that also casually sinks the GOP’s chances at ever controlling the senate again, then hey, that’s just a happy coincidence.

If that is all that matters, then most of Oregon should be allowed to form its own state as well.

And that there is the ONLY reason you want it to be its own state.

[s_bushido]

If that is all that matters, then most of Oregon should be allowed to form its own state as well.

This is one of those "I think land can vote" things, isn't it?

[Cthulhu 2020]

If that is all that matters, then most of Oregon should be allowed to form its own state as well.

And that there is the ONLY reason you want it to be its own state.

Chances of east oregon splitting off from west oregon are basically nill even if left up to the people. Sure, some east Oregon dwellers want it, but it's not a wildly popular idea either.

I'd say let's just get rid of the electoral college and districting, as well as severely neutering the role of the senate in making laws. Doing all of the above would put more power into the hands of a direct democracy of the people rather than the plutocrats who run the system. But well, we know elections more accurately representing people rather than "regions" or "land" would mean Republicans wouldn't win ever again.

[Dontrike]

If that is all that matters, then most of Oregon should be allowed to form its own state as well.

And that there is the ONLY reason you want it to be its own state.

You know Oregon is already a state, right?

[Gaidax]

Well of course not Trump... but do you really believe we're "pulling out"??

We have death squads over there... private military contractors... we're not "pulling out" really.

US does not have shit there, the moment US withdraws - Taliban will take over completely. They already effectively did in swaths of country.

This is the reality: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56747158

And really, it's nobody's fault not Biden's and not Trump's and not Obama's. It's just how it is with that mess of a "country", which is more like a bunch of loosely affiliated tribes filled with religious fanatics locked in some fuzzy borders they don't really care about.

US failed there just as much as USSR failed there and the "government" will crumble within a year there with everything going back to how it was two decades ago.

- - - Updated - - -

P.S. Withdrawal is a correct decision - it's just facing the reality of what's happening there and that it's a pointless waste of time. As a matter of fact, should probably have been done years ago.

[Themius]

US does not have shit there, the moment US withdraws - Taliban will take over completely. They already effectively did in swaths of country.

This is the reality: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56747158

And really, it's nobody's fault not Biden's and not Trump's and not Obama's. It's just how it is with that mess of a "country", which is more like a bunch of loosely affiliated tribes filled with religious fanatics locked in some fuzzy borders they don't really care about.

US failed there just as much as USSR failed there and the "government" will crumble within a year there with everything going back to how it was two decades ago.

- - - Updated - - -

P.S. Withdrawal is a correct decision - it's just facing the reality of what's happening there and that it's a pointless waste of time. As a matter of fact, should probably have been done years ago.

I guess you just want to ignore "how" they rose to such power or the role the USA plays in that.

You also say we "don't have shit there" but... yeah no we do have a lot of shit there.

The Pentagon employs more than seven contractors for every service member in Afghanistan, figures from U.S. Central Command show.

More than 18,000 contractors remain in Afghanistan, a Defense Department report released this week said, after the Pentagon announced Friday it had reduced its troop total in the country to 2,500.

The contractor population decreased by about 4,300 from last October, down about 20%. The drawdown of U.S. troops over the last year “drove reductions in requirements for contracted support,” the report said.

About one service member deployed for each contractor a decade ago, at the height of the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan.

The ratio grew as limits on troop levels led to a reliance on contractor and temporary duty personnel, a Congressional Research Service paper in 2019 found.

Concerns about DOD contractor use go back more than a decade. In 2008, Congress established the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan to look into the issue.

The commission found in 2011 that the two wars led to an “unhealthy over-reliance” on contractors, which often overwhelmed the U.S. government’s ability to effectively oversee or manage them, it said.

About 4,700 of the contractors are Afghans hired locally, but nearly three-quarters come from outside the country, including about a third who are U.S. citizens, the data in this week’s report show. Many of the rest are from developing countries such as Uganda and Nepal.

[Kaleredar]

If that is all that matters, then most of Oregon should be allowed to form its own state as well.

And that there is the ONLY reason you want it to be its own state.

Except Oregon is already a state that has representation in Congress.

DC does not.

And I proffer that’s the only reason you don’t want it to be a state. Because no one but no one gives a fuck about the antiquated decrees that formed DC, and I’ll air on the side of letting more people have representation in a democracy.

[Breccia]

So jobless claims are down, retail is up 10%, the DOW is ready to hit 34,000.

Considering Trump took credit for an imaginary unemployment drop of 42% to 5% the day he was elected, I'm going to give Biden credit for this because of the way he handled the outbreak (competently). Trump supporters who denounce this will announce their own hypocrisy while doing so, and as such, their opinion instantly becomes invalid.

[Bodakane]

Trump supporters who denounce this will announce their own hypocrisy while doing so, and as such, their opinion instantly becomes invalid.

So they've been invalid since 2015?