American Politics 3.0 - Back to Brunch

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by woob

What is this garbage about the US "crushing us"? When has the US ever crushed us? Yes, we've had trade disputes, predatory tariffs, etc. But they're our largest trading partner whom we do billions of dollars of business with. Yes, we may not like some of the decisions they make, but none of it is "crushing" us. Calm down the chicken little rhetoric.

I don't know if "crushing us" is a fair statement, but there is definitely an imbalance in bargaining power.

Having the U.S. right next door is both a curse and a blessing. It's an advantage to have access to that market right next door, but when they want to throw their weight around, we are never in a position to say no or play hardball with the them.

We typically balance this out by supporting them on international foreign policy. I am not sure how much value that has any more as they move closer back to isolationism.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by rubecube

He must have been devastated.

ManhattanBoy is CP’s Tim Thomas.

[MoneyGuy]

Given a choice of four more years of Trump destroying the U.S. and doing horrible damage around the world or some Canada-unfriendly Biden decisions, I’m taking Biden every single day.

[Manhattanboy]

Ok fine guys, point taken...

[ah123]

Interesting series of articles on what happened in the Trump camp immediately after the election:

https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-...b00094e39.html

[woob]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I don't know if "crushing us" is a fair statement, but there is definitely an imbalance in bargaining power.

Having the U.S. right next door is both a curse and a blessing. It's an advantage to have access to that market right next door, but when they want to throw their weight around, we are never in a position to say no or play hardball with the them.

We typically balance this out by supporting them on international foreign policy. I am not sure how much value that has any more as they move closer back to isolationism.

Agreed, but there's always been that imbalance. It's part and parcel of trading with a superpower. That being said, even if they tend towards more isolationism based policy, I don't see that ever equalling them not being our number one trade partner.

[PostandIn]

‘Wake Up’. Dude sums it up nicely. Don’t know if posted previously but worth a second post in any event.



https://twitter.com/lesdoggg/status/...287927296?s=21

[Pizza]

Trump ‘furious’ so many celebrities performing for Biden inauguration

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...rce=reddit.com

[KootenayFlamesFan]

So what’s the over/under for pardons Trump gives out today? 100? 150?

[Lanny_McDonald]

I'm going to call 200+.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

So what’s the over/under for pardons Trump gives out today? 100? 150?

I say about 100, with all of them being people that shouldn't have received one.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

Alberta’s future is tied to the energy industry. That’s just the reality.

You know, lots of guys tied to O&G/old people/old money in Alberta say this, but we *do* have other avenues of making money.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The number of pardons doesn't really matter today. Not to defend Trump but every President has had several hundred pardons in the final days. It's who is he going to pardon. And not even just his criminal family, but some of the whack jobs who could find the $2 million. And of course a certain Madame of Pedo Island is worth keeping an eye on.

[GirlySports]

Watch him pardon all black people just to make a point. Lil Wayne, Kodak Black et cetera

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Is he really going to pardon Joe Exotic? Lol that’s funny.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Watch him pardon all black people just to make a point. Lil Wayne, Kodak Black et cetera

At first I thought you meant all black people, like all of them. The for-profit prison industry would collapse overnight.

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Is he really going to pardon Joe Exotic? Lol that’s funny.

I was literally thinking about that this morning. If Trump doesn't pardon Joe Exotic, you know who's fault it would be?

[direwolf]

So Trump and his cronies are still trying to install a Trump loyalist at the NSA, even though they relinquish the WH in less than a day. Pelosi is trying to block it from happening, although it sounds like she can't really do much about it at this point. Biden can apparently push the guy out though, or at least assign him somewhere else.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/u...ellis-nsa.html

Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to the acting secretary of defense demanding that he not install a Trump loyalist as the top lawyer at the National Security Agency, her office announced Monday.

The action by Ms. Pelosi increases the pressure on the Pentagon to change course and not install Michael Ellis in an important Civil Service job within the intelligence community. It also increases the likelihood that the Biden administration will move Mr. Ellis out of the job, if the Pentagon pushes through with their plans to swear him in on Tuesday.


In the letter, which was sent Sunday after a phone call between Ms. Pelosi and Christopher C. Miller, the acting defense secretary, the speaker said that Mr. Ellis was not qualified for the position of general counsel of the National Security Agency. She requested an investigation of his appointment by the Pentagon inspector general.

“The circumstances and timing — immediately after President Trump’s defeat in the election — of the selection of Mr. Ellis, and this eleventh-hour effort to push this placement in the last three days of this administration are highly suspect,” Ms. Pelosi wrote.

The National Security Agency was moving forward getting the proper authorizations for Mr. Ellis, and new security clearances. But Mr. Miller, frustrated by what he saw as the agency’s slow-rolling of the process, ordered Mr. Ellis installed on Saturday.

On Sunday, the National Security Agency announced they had given Mr. Ellis his final job offer. He is set to begin his position Tuesday, the final full day of the Trump administration. Because he has Civil Service protection, Mr. Ellis cannot be easily fired by the Biden administration, although he could be moved to another, less important position.

[Fuzz]

although he could be moved to another, less important position.

I recommend "guy who has to review MAGA nudes and match them to faces of insurrectionists."

[Lanny_McDonald]

Civil Service Protection just means they have to maintain your pay grade and benefits. They can re-assign you to anything. When I was in law enforcement an Assistant Chief got the Office Space treatment. He was literally assigned to an old broom closet without any technology infrastructure (phone or computer connectivity) and given a role with zero reports or responsibilities. He was still paid the same and was receiving his benefits, but they were trying to embarrass him and get him to quit, which most executive officers would do. He refused to quit and spent his last three years in a closet reading classical literature.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by New Era

Civil Service Protection just means they have to maintain your pay grade and benefits. They can re-assign you to anything. When I was in law enforcement an Assistant Chief got the Office Space treatment. He was literally assigned to an old broom closet without any technology infrastructure (phone or computer connectivity) and given a role with zero reports or responsibilities. He was still paid the same and was receiving his benefits, but they were trying to embarrass him and get him to quit, which most executive officers would do. He refused to quit and spent his last three years in a closet reading classical literature.

I would say he won.