Fully disagree. Xi is sacrificing the (economic ) wellbeing of his citizens at the altar of stricter repressive policies on its own population, and international power games. Corruption is running rampant there’s a massive real estate bubble, the population is aging quicker than in the west and I don’t think he has the ability to fix these issues, because he takes growth for granted.

Lol at supposedly asking an open question, while simultaneously stipulating that the open rebellion cannot be mentioned. That’s not how open questions work.

What makes you think that? Do you think we are buying made in China artillery shells? Of course the West makes its own. The main difference is that we never expected to need very many of them, because in a typical war the West has air superiority and uses bombs/rockets instead of shells.

Guessing it is common for the state department to send a representative. Perhaps the Secretary of State since it’s an important neighbour. Since it’s campaign time, you could see others going if they believe it helps their reelection bid somehow ( though I don’t know how), but it would not be unusual if only the US ambassador to Mexico is present. I don’t know of any foreign politician that attend the US presidential inauguration.

No that’s not the case. The US actually was a big fan of the pre-Khomeiny government in Iran. Of course Trump did make things worse by tearing up the Iran-nuclear deal.

I mean fck Israel for their genocide, but also fck Iran. Don’t forget that they sponsor terrorist groups around the world including the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah, which destabilise three countries in the Middle East. They send drones to Russia that have killed thousands of Ukrainians. They have a brutal regime that’s one of the worst for women’s rights. This is a fight between two complete dicks.

Nah, Trump won’t admit defeat.

I dunno. This demographic also suffered a lot from the pandemic. It seems like a lifetime ago, but the first lockdowns started almost exactly 4 years ago. I would think that reminding them will be beneficial.

Absolutely not. Everyone who voted Biden in the previous election is persuadable.

There is more than the presidency. Flipping the house and keeping the Senate are almost as important as winning the presidency. The ideal October special is a house that’s in chaos, together with Trump throwing tantrums because of legal issues.

I mean that’s really not fair. If he had invested in the stock market he would have had 13 billion that could be sold at any time without any significant loss of value. On the other hand, his real estate is probably worth less than a billion in a fire sale.

She represents 20-30 percent of Republican primary voters. If Biden would cement these (HUGE if), he cannot lose the election. I don’t think you realise how thin the margins are!

Two big differences though: 1. Right now the practical benefit of having a moderate instead of an extreme GOP senator from Ohio are very small. In the end, all GOP senators will vote with the crazies. That’s of course completely different for the presidency. 2. Dems are very unlikely to win Ohio and need every advantage they can get.

I think in this case the risky strategy is completely warranted whereas in 2016 it was just stupid.

The main point is that if you are ever putting pressure on NH to change the date on their primary election, then this is the time.

To increase support obviously. The theory is that GOP representatives will vote for this bill saying they helped Israel, whereas Dems can say they are helping Ukraine (of course there are also local issues in e.g. districts with many Jewish voters). The 2-party system in combination with local representation means that bundling bills is the only way to ever pass anything.

People complaining about the process of the Democratic Primary this year seem to have forgotten that there is only one viable candidate this time around. If somebody else viable had announced his candidacy this year, I would be there with you all the way. However, if an open primary implies that Biden has to debate anti-vaxer Kennedy as his closest competitor, I don’t see what the point is. This primary is not rigged by the DNC, but by other candidates (e.g. Whitmer/Newson/AOC) not running.

What are you talking about? They needed 50 votes in the Senate for a reconciliation vote which they did not have, because of the aforementioned senators. The bill was passed by the house (of which Pelosi was Speaker at the time). There was a lot of negotiation between the White House and the two senators to get the bill to 50 in the Senate. None of what you are saying is correct!

What part about Manchin/Sinema is difficult to understand here? How does that relate to Biden who pushed the bill?

The president has little power to address climate change/wealth inequality on his own. That all relates to the budget and is firmly in control of congress. Replace Manchin/Sinema with two progressive senators and you would have the BBB bill, which would have addressed both these concerns.

With respect to encroaching racism I am just not sure what any politician can do about it. Ideally, you would like to change the mind of hardcore Republicans, but it’s not like they are listening.

Wtf? Did Iraq/Afghanistan ask you to invade??? When was the last time the US did a military intervention to help somebody else?