Lurker > Antifar

Thanks, I was actually kinda hoping you'd respond to this since you're CE's radical these days.

I still would much rather have Sanders but I just think my friend is getting a little overboard with politics.

Fuck the Democrat Party and fuck the Republican Party even harder. She should run as an independent.

I think impeachment, unfortunately, will only further embolden Donald Trump, increase his support and the likelihood that hell have a better shot at getting elected while also seeing the likelihood that the House will lose a lot of seats to Republicans, she told ABC News.
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Thinking about whats politically advantageous, whether for me or for my party, does not enter into my mind around these decisions that have really great consequence, she said.

Much as people may return to the film Its a Wonderful Life to remind themselves that feeling worthless does not mean you have no worth, or to the childrens book Goodnight Moon to remember that bedtime once meant being enveloped in a cocoon of love, fans revisit The West Wing to recall an era even a fictional one when it seemed possible for the three branches of government to be populated by public servants of integrity, intellect and wit.

When I feel the need for comfort from the circus in the White House, I watch the pilot, said Terry Callanan Kempf of Glens Falls, N.Y., who belongs to the Facebook group Fans of West Wing Weekly Podcast, whose members share a passion for revisiting the show. Seriously, almost every night before I go to sleep.

The West Wing premiered two years into President Bill Clintons second term in office, but the bulk of it was broadcast during President George W. Bushs administration. The partisan divide was bad then, but it was not nearly so awful so personal, so vicious, so apocalyptic, so apparently beyond redemption as it appears to many people now.

Bradley Whitford, the actor who played Josh Lyman, the deputy White House chief of staff, has called the show liberal porn, and that is true, in a way. Its president, Josiah Bartlet, is a progressive Democrat whose policies run firmly to the left. Erudite, articulate, empathetic, able to speak Latin and quote the Bible, inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt, he seems almost painfully distant from many American presidents (some perhaps more than others).

But The West Wing also presents the opposition Republicans, for the most part, as equally honorable as much as they may disagree with President Bartlets politics. For much of his administration, he battles a Congress led by Republicans, losing as often as he wins.

The bulk of the mail wed get would be from people who identified themselves as Republicans or said, I dont agree with the politics but nonetheless liked the way they felt when they watched the show, Aaron Sorkin, who created the show and wrote nearly all of the episodes in the first four seasons, said in an email. That continues today.

Katherine Bell Butler, 43, a lifelong conservative from Sharpsburg, Ga., who describes herself as not crazy over Trump, said that she had the boxed set, and had watched every episode of The West Wing multiple times.

I love the show, she said in a Facebook message. Even when I disagreed with something said, I honestly didnt care.

For Allison Picard, 61, a retired local government official from Martinez, Calif., the best episodes are those that show healthy bipartisan cooperation, as in Season 4 when President Bartlet, played by the actor Martin Sheen, steps aside after his daughter is kidnapped by terrorists, briefly ceding control of the country to the conservative Republican speaker of the house, played by the actor John Goodman. (The vice president has unfortunately resigned over a sex scandal, leaving a gap in the order of succession.)

Ms. Picard also loves the presidents decision to hire Ainsley Hayes, a fast-talking, fast-thinking Republican lawyer who vehemently disagrees with him. Its such a patriotic moment, that the president would want someone who was smart and who would challenge his perspective, Ms. Picard said, sounding a little teary over the phone.

Netflix does not release viewing figures, so it is impossible to know how popular The West Wing reruns are. But for something that ended 13 years ago, the show continues to have a peculiar relevance to public life.

While a student at Harvard, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, ran for president of the Institute of Politics in part by proposing that students meet for West Wing viewing parties.

He has appeared on The West Wing Weekly podcast and seems to see himself as a West Wing-style politician. When he opened his presidential campaign office, Mr. Buttigieg posted a video of himself walking down the hall while interacting with his aides, one of the classic shots from the show. Finally an office with room for a walk and talk, he wrote on Twitter.

There is also a What would Bartlet Do? Facebook page, with nearly 4,200 members. At American University in Washington, students compare the show to real life in Gautham Raos The West Wing as History course. And on The West Wing Weekly podcast, the actor Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey in the show, and Hrishikesh Hirway, a musician and superfan, have been hosting an episode-by-episode discussion of the program since March 2016.

They are currently up to the final season, which only has a few more episodes scheduled. Some 3,500 fans showed up in London for a live broadcast recently. (The podcast has its own Facebook page, with more than 56,000 followers. The fans Facebook group has 6,800 members.)

Its a particularly painful time to be watching the show, Mr. Malina said. We have an administration and a chief executive who ought to watch it for basic civics lessons about the Constitution and checks and balances and all the stuff the rest of us learned in fifth grade.

Not everyone is into it, of course. People who dont like The West Wing say, as they have all along, that the program presents an unrealistically idealistic view of government, that it moralizes, that it preaches, that it incorrectly suggests that minds can be swayed by grand gestures and eloquent speeches.

I sense there are two kinds of people: people who like The West Wing and people who find that shows like Veep and House of Cards are much more realistic portrayals of how politics happen in the real world, said Christy Quirk, an American-born consultant who lives in Nice, France, and is also a member of the podcast fans page on Facebook.

She would put herself in the latter group.

I watched the first season or so, but I found the speechifying, the high-minded earnestness it was like fingernails on a blackboard, she said. The stakes are really high right now, and we have to have a very realistic view of what can happen if we dont understand the real dynamics and motivations of people, that not everyone is in this for the right reasons.

But it can be hard, sometimes, to follow politics in Washington and not indulge in wishful thinking, even when what you are wishing for comes from a television show.

After observing the impeachment proceedings unfold, Al Sibilo of Alberta, Canada, had a question: Why cant the politicians in 2019 behave more like the politicians on The West Wing?

He is thinking of a parti

Without the electoral college the president is determined by California and New York every time

they should have had a comedian tell some jokes with that conservative humor I've heard so much about

In November, we noticed a mysterious spike in the price of available rooms at Trumps DC hotel for a Saturday night in December. The minimum cost was 13 times the average, but we couldnt identify a reason for the spike, until photos surfaced of the Trump Victory Committees winter retreat at Trumps Hotel on that exact night, which appears to have sold out much of the venue. While the least expensive room for a one-night stay at the hotel was around $500 on surrounding days, the cheapest room on December 14 was a whopping $6,719. With access to Trump, Pence, and other top officials, and a bonus invitation to the White House holiday party for donors, we no longer have to wonder why.

On November 7th, CREW flagged a massive spike in the cost of a room on December 14, suggesting that every less expensive room in the hotel was sold out, leaving only pricey suites. Presumably, rooms were taken up by donors to Trump Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee of the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign. The exorbitant cost is even more evidence that hosting fundraisers at the Trump International Hotel is one of the best ways to sell out the notoriously empty venue, sending donor money right into Trumps pocket.

Lucky donors who managed to snag a room were also invited to the White Houses holiday open house, meaning that the cost of a room at Trumps DC Hotel and donations towards his reelection included exclusive political access for the buyer.

For those seeking access to the president and top members of his Cabinet, the Trump Victory Committee fundraiser did not disappoint. According to 1100 Pennsylvania, President Trump, Vice President Pence and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt were scheduled to attend Trump Victorys retreat. Vice President Pence, who is one of the most frequent visitors to Trump properties, was a special guest for lunch. Pences lunch alone appears to have attracted 650 guests, according to a social media post that appears to have been from the event, well over the Trump Hotels 263 rooms. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, who is one of the top visitors to Trump properties among executive branch officials, also participated in a Women for Trump Panel. Finally, Trump and Secretary Bernhardt were slated to be special guests at the Jingle and Mingle Cocktail Reception and Winter Retreat Gala.

Theres no question that political spending like the Trump Victory Committee fundraiser has helped make Trumps DC Hotel one of the few bright spots in his financial portfolio, despite its high vacancy rate. CREW has tracked 72 political events held at Trump properties during the Trump presidency, 40 of which have been held at his DC hotel. Trump Victory has been a particularly loyal customer for the DC hotel, hosting fundraisers in June 2017, September 2018, May 2019, and June 2019. The Center for Responsive Politics found that all the political spending at the hotel is paying off, totalling nearly $20 million since the 2016 election cycle.

Rate spikes like this have happened before at Trumps DC hotel, on the Fourth of July and during a Senate Republican retreat in November; but at thirteen times the average rate, The Trump Victory retreat drove an unprecedented jump.

Running for president typically involves raising vast sums of money for the campaign, but to be personally making millions off of a reelection effort is both unprecedented, and wildly corrupt. President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the presidency has cost him business. The repeated rate jumps at his hotel surrounding political events suggest that, at least for his DC property, this couldnt be further from the truth.

I hate my state sometimes

I thought Trump banned the stocks after Vegas

Events like Trumpstock are not limited to Arizona. Its organizer, Laurie Bezick, recruited speakers from around the country through social media, tapping into a network of pro-Trump voices only a click away.

Long-shot congressional candidates touting an America First agenda came from places like Iowa and Maryland. Leaders of fledgling political groups with names like JEXIT: Jews Exit The Democratic Party, Latinos for Trump and Deplorable Pride, a right-wing L.G.B.T. organization, told the overwhelmingly white audience they were not anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, homophobic or racist. In fact, the speakers insisted, people who used those terms were more guilty of bigotry than the people they accused.

To applause, the co-founder of Latinos for Trump, Marco Gutierrez, read the pledge he took when he became a naturalized citizen and renounced his Mexican homeland. Nitemare, a pro-Trump rapper who refused to give his legal name, invoked QAnon and called Mr. Obama a racist slur in his set.

Brian Talbert, the founder of Deplorable Pride, was contacted by the White House after he was barred from the L.G.B.T. pride parade in Charlotte, N.C. At Trumpstock, Mr. Talbert, who has a history of expressing anti-Muslim beliefs on social media, gave voice to hatred of Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Mr. Trumps 2016 opponent.

I think she should be hanging at the end of a rope for treason, he said of Mrs. Clinton.

Members of groups like these at once make up a critical portion of Arizonas conservative base, and espouse derogatory rhetoric that must repeatedly be repudiated, creating political difficulties for the states Republican lawmakers. After a photograph emerged last April of members of Patriot Movement AZ posing with Gov. Doug Ducey, he said he had never heard of the group. I absolutely denounce their behavior, he added.

Trumpstock attendees say they are used to being denounced, another quality they feel they share with the president. Its part of why they are protective of him, to the point that they refuse to acknowledge the possibility of a Trump loss in 2020.

Mark Villalta said he had been stockpiling firearms, in case Mr. Trumps re-election is not successful.

Nothing less than a civil war would happen, Mr. Villalta said, his right hand reaching for a holstered handgun. I dont believe in violence, but Ill do what I got to do.

Great American Pizza & Subs, on a highway about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas, was busier and Trumpier than usual. On any given day it serves M.A.G.A. Subs and Liberty Bell Lasagna. The Second Amendment pizza comes loaded with pepperoni and sausage. The dining room is covered in regalia praising President Trump.

But this October morning was Trumpstock, a small festival celebrating the president. The speakers included the local Republican congressman, Paul Gosar, and lesser-known conservative personalities. There was a fringe 2020 Senate candidate in Arizona who ran a website that published sexually explicit photos of women without their consent; a pro-Trump rapper whose lyrics include a racist slur aimed at Barack Obama; and a North Carolina activist who once said of Muslims, I will kill every one of them before they get to me.

All were welcome, except liberals.

They label us white nationalists, or white supremacists, volunteered Guy Taiho Decker, who drove from California to attend the event. A right-wing protester, he has previously been arrested on charges of making terrorist threats.

Theres no such thing as a white supremacist, just like theres no such thing as a unicorn, Mr. Decker said. Were patriots.

As Mr. Trumps bid for re-election shifts into higher gear, his campaign hopes to recapture voters who drifted away from the party in 2018 and 2019: independents who embraced moderate Democratic candidates, suburban women tired of Mr. Trumps personal conduct and working-class voters who havent benefited from his economic policies.

But if any group remains singularly loyal to Mr. Trump, it is the small but impassioned number of white voters on the far right, often in rural communities like Golden Valley, who extol him as a cultural champion reclaiming the country from undeserving outsiders.

These voters dont passively tolerate Mr. Trumps build a wall message or his ban on travel from predominantly Muslim countries theyre what motivates them. They see themselves in his fear-based identity politics, bolstered by conspiratorial rhetoric about caravans of immigrants and Democratic coups.

The president draws support from a broader political and ideological cross-section of Republicans than the Trumpstock crowd reflected, and he attracts some independents and Democrats as well. The festival itself was relatively small, drawing about 100 people, though significant enough to attract the likes of Mr. Gosar.

But events like it, as well as speaking engagements featuring far-right supporters of the president, have become part of the political landscape during the Trump era. Islamophobic taunts can be heard at his rallies. Hate speech and conspiracy theories are staples of some far-right websites. If Trumpstock was modest in size, it stood out as a sign of extremist public support for a sitting president.
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Grass-roots gatherings play a critical role in the modern culture of political organizing, firing up ardent supporters and cementing new ones. Small circles of Trump-supporting conservatives, often organized online and outside the traditional Republican Party apparatus, engage in more decentralized and explicit versions of the chest-beating that happens at Mr. Trumps closely watched political rallies.

In interviews, people in the crowd described a white America under threat as racial minorities typified by Mr. Obama, the countrys first black president, gain political power. They described Mr. Trump as an inspirational figure who is undoing Mr. Obamas legacy and beating back the perceived threat of Muslim and Latino immigrants, whom they denounced in prejudiced terms.

I dont have a problem with Muslims, said Angus Smith, an Arizona resident who attended the festival, but can they take the rag off their head out of respect for our country?

At Mr. Trumps official rallies, including a recent one in Florida, the president has referred to Mr. Obama by stressing his middle name, Hussein, and said Democrats were trying to stop me because Im fighting for you.

The Trumpstock speakers pushed even further, tying Mr. Obamas middle name to a false belief that he is a foreign-born Muslim.

And Democrats were portrayed as not just political opponents, but avatars of doom for Mr. Trumps predominantly white voter base and for the country.

There is no difference between the democratic socialists and the National Socialists, said Evan Sayet, a conservative writer who spoke at the event, referencing Nazi Germany. Democrats, he said, are the heirs to Adolf Hitler.

Speakers at Trumpstock said their cultural fears had been exacerbated by their states own changing nature: Arizona is on the front lines of undocumented border crossings from Mexico and racial minorities are expected to outnumber white people in the state in the next decade.

Arizona Democrats made political gains in 2018, and the national party is riding high after it won governors races this year in Kentucky and Louisiana. But Republicans remain bullish. They argue that a slice of their electoral base will only vote when the president is on the ballot, and point to regions like Northern Arizona as places to find, as Mr. Trump wrote in a recent tweet, the Angry Majority.
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In Arizona, the most prominent pro-Trump, anti-immigrant groups are AZ Patriots and Patriot Movement AZ, which have held tight to the themes of white nationalism that some Republicans have denounced. In September, after repeated clashes, some members of the groups agreed to a court order to stop harassing migrants and church volunteers who help them.

Earlier this year, the groups and their allies organized a Patriotism over Socialism event in Gilbert, Ariz., near Phoenix, that included speeches from Representative Andy Biggs, the areas congressman, and Kelli Ward, the states Republican Party chair. They appeared alongside more fringe figures: Sharon Slater of Family Watch International, which has promoted figures associated with anti-L.G.B.T. conversion therapy, and Laura Loomer, the far-right activist and Arizona native who was banned by Twitter and some other platforms after making anti-Muslim comments.

Stacey Goodman, a former police officer from New York who retired to Arizona and attended Trumpstock, said her distrust of Mr. Obamas birth certificate had led her to Mr. Trump.

If youre Muslim, just tell us youre Muslim, she said of Mr. Obama. Its not that I didnt believe him, Im just not qualified to answer that question. Ive seen information on both sides thats compelling.

Mona Fishman, a singer from the Las Vegas area who perf

Oh I gotcha. What a colossal waste of time. Also black voters and other minorities are gonna be voting Trump.

What alternate timeline is this?

The southeast and Texas voting for Quid pro Joe? What alternate timeline is this?

For those that don't remember, Bernie could run as the Democratic candidate in NY because he was independent, and couldn't make the D ballot...thus handing NY over to Hillary.

There are these regions called the Southeast, Texas, California, and Atlantic coast which are going to vote for Biden like they overwhelmingly did for Hillary Clinton and they have a lot of people and voting power. I know Bernie is killing it in these one city dominated states like Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, but they aren't strong enough to beat Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, California, and etc.

lol does Bret bring in the cliques that drive traffic? I dont see why they employ him when I dont see him having a single fan

Of course this guy has a racist avatar.