Hanaguma

Really? When Zelensky himself was found to have secret offshore bank corporations both before becoming President and during his tenure?

What can I say, it's a talent.

Nice dodge. But I see a leader of a less free country than Hungary getting daily tongue baths from the media and western politicians, as well as many people here.

So, fascist countries would include the UK, Australia, Japan, Sweden....

Something tells me you don't understand the basic principles of a federal republic.

Well, a fight for part democracy anyway... Would you say the same if Ukraine invaded Hungary? You would side with Orban since Hungary is by most standards a freer country than Ukraine?

Nope. Trudeau was asked to form a minority government without them. In the previous election, 2019, he won an outright majority in Parliament despite getting less than 40% of the popular vote.

Trump is absolutely the most successful troll in history. I can still remember the first time it seemed he was interested in the Presidency. It was at the WHite House Correspondents Dinner. Obama was poking fun at The Donald, which he never takes well. You could just see the steam rising from his ears, and inside his head he was thinking, "you SOB, I'll have your job some day..."

It is all about the hysterical, infantile rage that the Donald generates. He feeds off it, as do people who support him. If you could just calm down a little bit life would be easier, and your blood pressure would thank you for it.

The popular vote means as much as a bucket of warm hamster vomit. Many countries, especially parliamentary systems, have systems that do not work on popular vote. My home country of Canada elected Justin Trudeau with just 33% of the popular vote, the Conservatives got 34%. But he is Prime Minister and I have to respect that. Even with 2/3 of the country voting against him. Think of a chess match. The goal is to checkmate the opponent's king. If you do so, and your opponent complains "but I took more of your pieces than you took of mine, so I should win", what would you think? It isn't as if the Clinton campaign was operating under different rules, or didn't understand the federal system. They played, they lost, they cried. Any time you want to alter the Constitution to a popular vote system, feel free. Until then.... everyone knows the system and apparently is comfortable in it.

I think people who don't like Trump are so over-invested in their hatred that it clouds their sense of reason and proportion. It has been that way for years, ever since he won the election in 2016. There is nothing wrong with not liking a politician, I get that. There are some I don't like as well. But Trump seems to inspire people to such over-the-top levels of vitriol and frustration that I honestly worry for their health. It has become a kind of cult or addiction that they just can't overcome.

Ironically, Hungary is given a rating of 69/100, or "partly free" by Freedom House. A middling score to be sure, but one that eclipses that of Ukraine, which got 61. Now I wonder how many of the people here who are excoriating Orban can be found in "other" discussions heaping praise on Zelenski (sp) and cheerleading the war with Russia as a "fight for democracy"...

I am constantly amused and in awe of the Bad Orange man's genius in the area of real estate. Even after nearly 2 years out of office, he is STILL living rent-free in the heads of so many querilous beta males. The man has talent! It seems that nothing can happen in the USA involving politics that doesn't soon devolve into yet another tiny fisted tantrum against the former President. It just plays into his hands, people. If you want Trump to go away, just ignore him.

Yes, the Democrats are responding IN THIS election cycle. To whit (from the article): This cycle’s Republican gerrymanders pulled the median district (which already leaned 2 percentage points to the right) another point further right. But state court rulings striking down North Carolina and Ohio maps effectively wiped out most of that net gain. Meanwhile, Democratic gerrymanders in states like New York and Illinois pulled the median district nearly 3 points leftward, so it was actually close to neutral. But the practice itself dates back farther than 2020. I think your anti-Trump and anti-conservative bias is blinding you to the bigger picture and preventing you from seeing things in a more historical context.

Yes, I did. Both sides do it, and have done so for decades. The article simply shows the latest round. It is all part of the big game of "Stay In Washington At All Costs".

I think you may find that gerrymandering and money games are one of the rare things that BOTH parties agree on. It has been happening for decades, if not longer. Might want to see this article from VOX, hardly a right wing site' https://www.vox.com/22961590/redistricting-gerrymandering-house-2022-midterms

Yes, I agree completely. Luckily they were at least halfways competent, but no reason for family to be in politics. Would I be right in assuming you also agree about Pelosi then? Or the Clintons? The Bushes?

I was being nice. Plus a lot of politics is the "sitting on your <deleted>" kind of work. And it is at least a starting point. Another thing I would be in favour of if it were workable is some sort of anti-nepotism law. No political dynasties allowed. Gotta skip a generation before going into politics again. So no Bush senior-junior. No wife taking over a congressional district for her husband. No Bill-Hillary connection. No Trudeau Sr-Jr in Canada. It is too close to what dictatorships do to keep power in their own select families, like the Kims in North Korea. And no Pelosi in Congress, with her father being in congress and then Baltimore mayor, followed by her brother being mayor. Get some new blood in there! I don't think the Founding Fathers ever envisioned a professional political class taking over the country.

All good points. Also, just as an aside, has Speaker P ever had a job outside of politics? I was reading her bio, she has been in Congress for 34 years, hasn't participated in a candidates' debate in nearly all that time, runs unopposed... the classic politician's politician. But no experience outside of politics that I can see.

Politicians like Pelosi, Biden, McConnell are perfect poster children for the need for two things; a/ Mandatory retirement ages b/ Mandatory term limits in the US goernment. There is no reason on God's green earth why dinosaurs like this need to linger in Washington for decades. They need to find gainful employment that doesn't involve sticking their collective snouts into the huge slopping trough of money known as Washington. I propose: retirement at 70, or at the end of your current term of office if already 70. Max service of one re-election at each level. This would give a max possible time in Washington of 24 years. Surely that is enough.

Those are a virtual guarantee that the person is American. We have...other ....ways to recognize each other that I cannot reveal to the public at large.

I think so. But I think my "sarcasm" button is missing...

I am very calm. But I am keen to call out acts of micro aggression and systemic discrimination... Especially the Bureau of Land Management. They are an underappreciated and underfunded arm of the government that deserve more love than they get.

More racism. The only things that ...Matter ... are the ones that begin with B and L . You need to do the work.

Of course it was. Total hysteria and LARPing. Especially since the ruling was leaked months ago, so there is no way this was a surprise. As for the Kansas referendum, it is no surprise. Americans in general fall between the two extremes of abortion being illegal and abortion being allowed up to the day of birth. From what most polls say, the majority position is somewhere around the end of the first trimester (14 weeks or so). After that, barring unique circumstances, there is no reason to allow abortions to occur.