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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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One of the mysteries of Republicans is how much they love inflation and instability. George W. rode high in poll after poll until his chaos came home to roost; are we seeing much the same thing again?
To back the same two things - inflation and instability - so soon after W is astonishing. The show might be different, but the fundamentals look eerily similar on reflection. The changes on the margins of the voting block don't really alter this.
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HAL
Please don't shout at me - I can't help it.
Joined: 17 Mar 2003
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| Do you think he is a good president? |
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Mugwump
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne
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| pietillidie wrote: | One of the mysteries of Republicans is how much they love inflation and instability. George W. rode high in poll after poll until his chaos came home to roost; are we seeing much the same thing again?
To back the same two things - inflation and instability - so soon after W is astonishing. The show might be different, but the fundamentals look eerily similar on reflection. The changes on the margins of the voting block don't really alter this. |
I’d say that both sides of politics love “instability”. Few things are as destabilizing as the twin forces of globalization and mass migration, which are overwhelmingly part of the consensus between the pro-business, libertarian right and the postmodern Left. Given that you are an ardent advocate of these twin forces, perhaps you struggle to see the contribution your ideology makes to instability.
If you mean destabilization in international relations, then I think it is a Trump phenomenon. Bush invaded Iraq, a gross act of hubris, but otherwise he was relatively conservative in terms of supporting the world order. Trump is just a rampaging elephant ridden by a lot of people enraged by the way their lives and values and communities have been ripped apart by those twin forces.
Your inflation point is not obvious to me. Ever since Volcker and the dawn of global supply chains, some thirty years ago, US inflation has been low. The Republicans of the modern era are certainly worse managers of the economy than the Democrats, because they like to cut taxes but they have to get elected, so they do not cut programmes. This causes deficit expansion and private debt accumulation, which creates monetary instability but not, in a globalised economy, inflation. Trump’s tariff baiting may well create inflation if he follows through with it, but it is hardly a fact, let alone a pattern, at this point.
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Two more flags before I die! |
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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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^I think you're wrong, but I appreciate the reply and will respond and explain what I mean when time permits.
_________________
In the end the rain comes down, washes clean the streets of a blue sky town.
Help Nick's: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/fundraising.htm |
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Mugwump
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne
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| pietillidie wrote: | | ^I think you're wrong, but I appreciate the reply and will respond and explain what I mean when time permits. |
No worries mate. We don’t agree on much, but as you know I respect your intellect and preparedness to engage with big questions.
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Two more flags before I die! |
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David 
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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| stui magpie wrote: | | Wokko wrote: | Trump just offered Warren $1 Million to prove her Native American heritage.  |
He actually offered to give it to Charity.
| Quote: | He went on to suggest that, should Warren win the Democratic nomination in 2020 and they were to debate, he would toss an ancestry test to her and dare her to take it. In doing so, he made light of the #MeToo movement.
"We'll take that little kit and say, we have to go it gently because we are in the Me Too generation, and we will very gently take that kit, slowly toss it" to her, Trump said, adding that he would offer $1 million to charity if she took the test and it "shows you are an Indian."
"I have a feeling she will say no," he added. |
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/05/politics/trump-montana-rally-pruitt-resigns/index.html |
I don’t understand why he or anyone else would think this is relevant. Can you imagine Turnbull or Shorten demanding that Jacqui Lambie prove her claims to Aboriginal heritage? And this from a guy who wouldn’t release his tax returns or a proper medical assessment.
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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I just lost the longest post of all time. Usually, when your account times out while you're composing you can use the browser back button to recover the text, but for some reason it didn't allow me to. Nooooooooooooooo!
Mugwump, another time.
_________________
In the end the rain comes down, washes clean the streets of a blue sky town.
Help Nick's: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/fundraising.htm |
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Mugwump
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne
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Ah, so frustrating ! Sorry to hear it. While I probably would have enjoyed reading the longest post of all time, perhaps others may be less chagrined. 
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Two more flags before I die! |
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stui magpie 
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005
Location: In flagrante delicto
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| David wrote: | | stui magpie wrote: | | Wokko wrote: | | Trump just offered Warren $1 Million to prove her Native American heritage. |
He actually offered to give it to Charity.
| Quote: | He went on to suggest that, should Warren win the Democratic nomination in 2020 and they were to debate, he would toss an ancestry test to her and dare her to take it. In doing so, he made light of the #MeToo movement.
"We'll take that little kit and say, we have to go it gently because we are in the Me Too generation, and we will very gently take that kit, slowly toss it" to her, Trump said, adding that he would offer $1 million to charity if she took the test and it "shows you are an Indian."
"I have a feeling she will say no," he added. |
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/05/politics/trump-montana-rally-pruitt-resigns/index.html |
I don’t understand why he or anyone else would think this is relevant. Can you imagine Turnbull or Shorten demanding that Jacqui Lambie prove her claims to Aboriginal heritage? And this from a guy who wouldn’t release his tax returns or a proper medical assessment. |
I didn't realise that Lambie had claimed that but, if she was in the running for leader of a major party you can bet that both Shorten and Turnbull would bring it up to attack her credibility
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Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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Wokko 
Come and take it.
Joined: 04 Oct 2005
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| If Lambie used her Aboriginality to land a job at a prestigious University, wrote an aboriginal cookbook and had Aboriginal groups demanding she prove it then yes, it would be something that would be demanded she prove. |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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I don’t think either of you really believe that. An Aboriginal cookbook, really? That’s a matter of political import that a mainstream party leader is going to make an issue of? I mean, FFS, Shorten was (justifiably) toey about the Abbott birth certificate issue, let alone going after someone’s ethnic heritage.
Face it, Trump’s either a racist or surrounded by enough of them to be convinced that this is a) a matter of public interest and b) a good angle to discredit a political opponent. Considering his obsession with Obama’s birthplace, I think we can draw our own conclusions.
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All watched over by machines of loving grace
Last edited by David on Sat Jul 07, 2018 10:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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think positive
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Location: somewhere
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| pietillidie wrote: | I just lost the longest post of all time. Usually, when your account times out while you're composing you can use the browser back button to recover the text, but for some reason it didn't allow me to. Nooooooooooooooo!
Mugwump, another time. |
seriously scary, we miss your epic war and peace posts!
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You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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stui magpie
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Joined: 03 May 2005
Location: In flagrante delicto
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| David wrote: | I don’t think either of you really believe that. An Aboriginal cookbook, really? That’s a matter of political import that a mainstream party leader is going to make an issue of? I mean, FFS, Shorten was (justifiably) toey about the Abbott birth certificate issue, let alone going after someone’s ethnic heritage.
Face it, Trump’s either a racist or surrounded by enough of them to be convinced that this is a) a matter of public interest and b) a good angle to discredit a political opponent. Considering his obsession with Obama’s birthplace, I think we can draw our own conclusions. |
Seriously? It's purely a discrediting tactic. Read any more into it, you're drinking the Koolaid
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Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down. |
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David
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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This is what international hegemony looks like:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html
| Quote: | American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.
When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.
The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced. |
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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Mugwump
Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Location: Between London and Melbourne
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| David wrote: | This is what international hegemony looks like:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/07/08/health/world-health-breastfeeding-ecuador-trump.html
| Quote: | American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.
When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.
The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced. |
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Well, if it is, then hegemony clearly isn’t what it used to be : the resolution in question was passed !
It appears to show a rather cynical use of trade muscle, but that’s what large economic powers do in many ways, Europe and China included. I’d suggest that to understand this properly, one might need to know more about the history of trade in this particular product. Trade issues are very complex and often beset with obscure agendas,. They are best pontificated upon by those with a deep knowledge of the details. It may be another example of Trump’s elephantine loutishness. But it’s not much of a hegemonic achievement.
_________________
Two more flags before I die! |
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