Politics (Split Thread)

[basslicker]

According to Brad Wall's ads during the game, they seem pretty proud they aren't NDP anymore. I can see that logic.

Are we so far gone as a country that only Saskatchewan maintains sane voters?

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Saskatchewan is the envy of Manitoba. And soon to be Alberta.

[The Unknown Poster]

Not sure if this will eventually deserve its own thread (US Federal Election) but I have a strong interest in the subject though my predictions are usually wrong.  My one big correct prediction was when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  There was a local political radio show happening at the same time and talking about what an ingenious move it was.  I called in and said McCain just lost the election.  It was such a transparent move to capture women voters from the Hilary supporters and provide some youth to the campaign.  Voters would see through it, was my position and it lets the Democrats pounce on the "heartbeat away from the job" debate.

 

Anyway, things are exciting already with Donald Trump injecting his brand of crazy.  His immigration position actually resulted in him leading the polls.  His anti-McCain remarks will likely hurt him though.  Makes me wonder though, will Trump play nice to stay in the good graces of the GOP or will he call their bluff and threaten to run as an independent (which would split the right vote)?  Does he have any staying power?  Maybe if he ran as an indy he could get Jesse Ventura as his running mate... ;-)

 

Early prediction: Jeb vs Hilary.  And I think the right will shoot themselves in the foot leading to President Hilary Clinton

[basslicker]

I would like to see trump get it.

Who wants the old tired and elite-picked puppets. Say what you want about trump, but he's not afraid to speak his mind. Kind of refreshing, whether you agree or not.

Clinton vs. Bush........what a joke that would be. The bank-backed turd show.

[kelownabomberfan]

.  And I think the right will shoot themselves in the foot leading to President Hilary Clinton

 

Bite your tongue.  Though that would guarantee another four years of a press that rolls over and lets the president stroke their belly rather than ask any hard questions or do anything to embarrass the leader.  It's been 8 years now of just softball questions for the current president and its time that the press in the US got some balls again.

[sweep the leg]

.  And I think the right will shoot themselves in the foot leading to President Hilary Clinton

 

Bite your tongue.  Though that would guarantee another four years of a press that rolls over and lets the president stroke their belly rather than ask any hard questions or do anything to embarrass the leader.  It's been 8 years now of just softball questions for the current president and its time that the press in the US got some balls again.

What questions do you want asked?

[kelownabomberfan]

Here's an example of what I am talking about...

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/100913-674432-media-wont-ask-obama-about-obamacare-or-shutdown-barricades.htm?p=2

[The Unknown Poster]

I was right about my thoughts concerning Trump threatening to run as an Indy.  That was good timing! 

 

Trump is a major problem for the Republicans if he's serious about running.  He's likely too crazy to win but if the party boots him and he runs as an indy, the Democrats are assured victory.

 

I like both Hilary and Jeb for the most part.  I was a pretty big W fan to be honest.  Which is not to say I think any political leader is perfect but I think he was well-meaning and history will judge him a lot more fondly than when he left office.  Jeb's issue will be two-fold I think: 1) being tied to the "failed" Bush name 2) not being right wing enough for the Republican nuts that seem determined to control the party.  Once the election gets cooking though, he will win over voters.

 

Bill Clinton is very likeable.  Hilary not as much.  But Bill softens her image a bit.  Its a unique political partnership, good for both of them.  Her issue will be Benghazi.  She's got the experience now where people wont question her qualifications.  She's more popular than Obama.  The combo of Obama's supporters and Bill fans could give her the presidency.  If it's Hilary vs Jeb, that might benefit Jeb in I suspect the Clintons would be less prone to attack Jeb for the work of his brother and father since it would then be fair game for Jeb to attack Hilary for Bill's job as President.  Plus, the Clinton's and Bush's seem to be pretty friendly.

 

Maybe they can shock the world and run on the same ticket. ha!

[The Unknown Poster]

Trump has a bombastic way of saying things but a lot of what he says is not without merit.

 

 

Exclusive: Trump lashes out at 'vicious, horrible' lawyer over breast pump break

By Dana Bash and MJ Lee, CNN

Updated 4:30 PM ET, Wed July 29, 2015

 

New York (CNN)Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at a female lawyer whom he had called "disgusting" several years ago for requesting a break to pump breast milk in the middle of a deposition, calling her a "vicious, horrible person."

 

In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, the Republican presidential candidate claimed that the attorney, Elizabeth Beck, had wanted to pump breast milk in other people's presence. Trump alleged that Beck was now retaliating against him because she was unhappy about having lost that legal battle, and that she had fabricated a story about Trump losing his cool and storming out of the deposition room.

 

"She wanted to breast pump in front of me and I may have said that's disgusting, I may have said something else. I thought it was terrible," Trump said. "She's a vicious, horrible person."

 

Elizabeth Beck described the 2011 encounter -- first reported by the New York Times late Tuesday -- as Trump having "an absolute meltdown" in an interview with CNN's "New Day" Wednesday morning.

 

"He got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, 'You're disgusting, you're disgusting,' and he ran out of there," Beck said.

 

Trump strongly refuted this characterization in Wednesday's interview, saying Beck had distorted the events.

 

"She made it up. She made it up," he said. "She's saying, 'Oh, he was so violent and he was so, so wild and she was afraid.' She was afraid of nobody. She's a tough killer in Miami everyone knows she's a killer. They all hate her."

 

Well-known for his colorful language and imagery, Trump went on to compare Beck's interview with CNN earlier in the day to the way people who had never met Michael Jackson discussed the iconic pop star after his death.

 

"So many people are on television that don't know me and they're like experts on me," Trump said. "You know when Michael Jackson died -- I knew him very well -- and everybody was talking about Michael Jackson. They didn't know him, they knew nothing. Some of them never even met him."

 

Pressed on how the 2011 incident reflects on how Trump would behave as president -- and how he would react if challenged by a world leader like Russian President Vladimir Putin --

 

Trump answered: "Believe me, I'd do very well with him. I get along with people."

Trump's immigration policy takes shape

Trump also started to give his immigration platform some shape.

 

He said that as president he would deport all undocumented immigrants and then allow the "good ones" to reenter the country through an "expedited process" and live in the U.S. legally, though not as citizens.

 

"Legal status," Trump suggested. "We got to move 'em out, we're going to move 'em back in if they're really good people."

 

For a blustering candidate whose rhetoric has snatched headlines and galvanized a sizable segment of the Republican base, Trump's comments Wednesday represent his most detailed explanation into what he would do with the estimated 11-plus million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

 

He had previously suggested that he favors a "merit-based system," but did not delve into his support of granting legal status, but not citizenship to undocumented immigrants he calls "the good ones."

 

But Trump is still a long ways from presenting a specific immigration policy platform and his explanation in Wednesday's interview shows a candidate who -- despite leading in the polls a week ahead of the first primary debate -- is still largely dealing in broad strokes.

 

Trump would not say how he would locate, round up and deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants he says must go. Instead, he deflected, saying that while it may be a task too tall for politicians, it isn't for a business mogul like himself.

 

"Politicians aren't going to find them because they have no clue. We will find them, we will get them out," Trump said. "It's feasible if you know how to manage. Politicians don't know how to manage."

 

And when asked about whether he would deport undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, Trump fumbled and said, unsure, that "it's a tough situation" and "it depends."

 

Trump was unequivocal, though, that a Trump administration would immediately deport undocumented criminals living freely and in American jails.

"We have a lot of bad dudes, as I said. We have a lot of really bad people here," Trump said. "I want to get the bad ones out...And by the way, they're never coming back."

 

But he was also unwavering in his insistence that many of the undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are positive additions to the country and should be allowed to live in the U.S. legally -- of course, only after being expelled and then brought back in through Trump's "expedited process" for legal status.

 

"We have to make sure they were exemplary, they were wonderful people when they were here. They worked hard, there was no problem," he said. "We have to bring great people into this country. OK? And I want to bring -- I love the idea of immigration. But it's got to be legal immigration."

Health care

Trump also didn't delve into details when asked about his position on health care, which has changed over the years.

 

Trump once supported the liberal plan to create a national, single-payer health care system similar to the one in Canada, a position he explained in his 2000 book "The America We Deserve."

 

But as a Republican presidential candidate, Trump's plan is now simpler: Repeal Obamacare.

 

And then? "Replace with something terrific," Trump said, explaining that the "terrific" would be handled by private companies competing in the private market.

 

But Trump suggested an alternative system for lower-income individuals -- describing what, in the broad strokes, appears to sound similar to Medicaid.

 

"I want to try to help those people. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I want to try and help those people," Trump said. "And you know what, if I lose votes over that, or if I don't get a nomination over that, that's just fine with me."

Getting along with the RNC and why Biden might yet run

 

Trump said Wednesday that he has recently had "very nice" conversations with the head of the Republican National Committee.

 

"I respect him," Trump said of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

 

Trump's interactions with Priebus have come under close scrutiny after the businessman said he was more likely to run as a third-party candidate if he felt the party establishment wasn't treating him fairly. The relationship hit a particular rough patch when the committee scolded Trump earlier this month for making disparaging comments about Sen. John McCain's service in the Vietnam War.

 

Trump repeated that the best path forward for him is to win the GOP nomination and face Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. "Believe me. I will beat Hillary," he said.

 

He questioned, however, whether the former secretary of state would even be able to continue her campaign due to her use of her personal email at the State Department.

 

"What she did is a criminal act. She burned up the emails. She got rid of her hard drive," he said.

 

Trump suggested that Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, could end up with more competition.

 

"I think that other people are going to probably join the race, eventually, like maybe (Vice President Joe) Biden and other people," he said.