Senate The 2016 General Presidential Election

So, also in other news, the alt-right is attempting to paint Hillary's later relationship with Robert Byrd as exactly the same as the current KKK leaders (and David Duke specifically) supporting Donald Trump.

And, for some reason, no one's pointing out the obvious: while Robert Byrd was emblematic of everything wrong with Dixiecrat politics from the 50s and 60s, he explicitly recanted everything about that period of his life. He's explicitly said he was wrong on filibustering and voting against the Civil Rights Act. He's said joining the KKK was "the worst mistake I ever made." By the time his last term in the Senate rolled around he was 100% from the NAACP on his voting record, and (because he was the Appropriations macher he was trying to steer massive amounts of money to the MLK Jr. monument and praising MLK).

 

Isn't there footage of Byrd actually saying how much he regretted it?

Good luck trying to find similar statements from Duke...

 

He spent almost all of his last years making sure people knew it!

 

Yes, that's literally what I've just been saying...

 

It's my job to provide the pictures.

 

Oh, that's not a good bet. There are plenty. He was still salty and not entirely correct with his language, even after he'd changed. But he was legit attempting to do good with his last remaining years, which counts for a lot. (go look up "white <n-words>" from him)

 

I don't know if it's clear to everyone, but that photo of Byrd in Klan gear is Photoshopped and he quit in the 1950s. He was enough of a right-wing bigoted old coot without us fabricating things.

 

Harris County in Texas has a larger population than both Dakotas, Alaska, DC, Vermont, and Wyoming combined.

 

@realDonaldTrump:
Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!

(He then deleted the tweet, only to put it back up again to correct the spelling )

 

Yep. Don Cheadle called Trump a "POS" and then later added he spelt "die in a grease fire" wrong. I don't think Trump's outreach is working as well as he thinks it is.

Also, CNN has reports on Trump's doctor with the Doctor saying he wrote the letter in about 5 minutes as he was in a rush. So this whole Hillary is ill thing might be backfiring on Trump as attention starts shifting more to his health.

 

Well, Trump's 120-character idiocy does correctly insinuate that African-Americans are marginalized, ignored, and mistreated by the establishment and Hillary Clinton is not going willingly use up political capital to change that. It would be easy enough to tactfully point out the disproportionate poverty, incarceration rates, violence are tied directly with historical and current institutional racism. That ties into Hillary Clinton evoking the legacy of a man-- her husband-- who gleefully fed the machine. Regarding Dwayne Wade's cousin, it would also be prudent to point out that gun control as proposed by Clinton and other Democrats would not stop Chicago's violence.

But instead of competent criticism, we get a old-man-child flailing and pandering because he barely gives half a **** about anything and Not Trump will sail right into the unimaginatively painted mansion. Sigh.

 

There's clearly no issue that Trump actually cares about. Literally the only thing he cares about is himself and what he thinks will help him. I can only imagine how giddy he was to hear about this woman's death. What an opportunity for him!

I really don't think someone could exist with a more despicable personality than Trump. I'm not used to his bs and I never will be, because the frequency of it doesn't make it any less disgusting.

The only silver lining is how repeatedly tone deaf his attempts at opportunism have been. It helps his base, but man he really doesn't understand how to get anyone but angry white people to like him.

Gerrymandering is without a doubt a massive issue, and a bigger one than term limits. But I still think unchecked lobbying edges it out. But both things should be incredibly illegal.

 

The House was 244 R - 184 D. The bill passed with 237 R and 47 D voting yea on February 6, 1947.

The Senate was 51 R - 45 D. The bill passed with 45 R and 13 D voting yea on March 12, 1947. It was then proposed to the states on March 24, 1947.

It was ratified by the requisite number of states (36 of 48) on February 27, 1951. The following shows the alignment of state legislatures during that time:

Year - D - R - Split
1946 - 17 - 25 - 4
1948 - 19 - 16 - 11
1950 - 19 - 21 - 6
1952 - 16 - 26 - 4

The 22nd Amendment was introduced by the Republicans but, had to have bipartisan support not only in Congress but also the States to be ratified.

From a politician's point of view, term limits can be a good thing as it's impossible to take the reins if the old guy/gal never gets out of the saddle. Of course, as soon as they are elected, term limits become a horrible, terrible, no good idea.

 

I went to check out the tweet and noticed that after the tweet Ghost quoted there was a standard "thoughts and prayers" tweet. Like his social media manager had to go in afterwards and add sympathy as an afterthought. Awful.

 

Don't you remember the "white n-word" controversy? Sometime in the W Bush years. He got into quite a bit of trouble for that. I remember it clearly because it was a reminder that you don't always rid yourself of those sentiments even if you are more tolerant in actions.

 

He was in the Klan during the 40s. He also was a part of the Southern Dems who opposed desegregation. But I concur with dp4m that Byrd was pretty vocal later in his career about how these were mistakes. He frequently stated that joining the KKK was the biggest mistake he ever made and he discouraged others from joining. IIRC someone once asked him what was his advice for young people who wanted to go into politics and he said "Don't join the KKK!" He could have tried to hide his past or gotten angry when it was brought up, but instead he took ownership of it. That doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be criticized for what wrongs he did -- and I have no problem with anyone who wants to completely condemn him for it either -- but it's dishonest to use his early life to smear someone who knew him later in his career after he had disavowed that past. If he were still alive today he would be out there in public fuming over this.

 

This one seems appropriate. Trump really does act 6 years old and I do think his campaign must panic every time he tweets:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/26/politics/paul-wolfowitz-voting-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/index.html

Trump is too wreckless for one of the leaders of the movement to start the Iraq War. Process that.

 

The Iraq War wasn't "reckless" in Wolfowitz's estimation. The man isn't exactly self-aware.

 

What amuses me about Trump trying to link Clinton to Byrd is that he's using two African-American sisters who are supporting his campaign to do it. It reminds me of a rally last year when he had a middle-aged Hispanic woman stand up and say something along the lines of "I'm Hispanic, and I'm voting for Trump! It's okay, vote for Trump!!"

Does he really believe this is going to convince anyone, or that it's a viable way forward for him?

 

I don't know.

I have a black friend.

Let me ask him.