That’s the thing, Trump did accomplish something - he showed that radicalism in a position like the president is possible. One can act like an autocrat and actually get things done. He showed that being cut throat to accomplish your political ends is possible even when in power.
Obama had a chance to put in a second Supreme Court Justice near the end of his second term, but decided it was too close to the election and wouldn’t be fair to the democratic process… Then came Trump. Trump’s accomplishment was showing the world what radical rightwing politics could do.
Now we have imitators around the world and new strains of fascism.
Many on the left feel like similar is in order on the left. So don’t blame the tankies, as they’re as much a product of the times as anything else… And it’s quite easy to want a radical leader when it’s this obvious that the system is no longer efficient at serving the will of the people… Or should I say, the will of the left.
RIP Bernie Sanders’ presidential run. Hopefully we’ll get someone similar, but we won’t get there without making the demand clear as possible.
Obama had a chance to put in a second Supreme Court Justice near the end of his second term, but decided it was too close to the election and wouldn’t be fair to the democratic process
Obama didn’t decide anything. The GOP had majority. They stonewalled his nomination.
Obama’s mistake was to not give a forced ‘thank you for your service, you deserve rest’ to RBG when DNC had majority.
Which was a social norm Obama wasn’t legally bound to follow but he chose to (and we all know Trump wouldn’t have). See the Merrick Garland section below:
is it legally possible for President Barack Obama to make some sort of last minute move to appoint Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court? The short answer is yes. The long answer is that it would likely pose a Constitutional challenge.
Trump would have. So some people think the democrats are neither radically left, nor ruthless enough.
It’s laughable that Democrats pretend to be powerless when they held the presidency and Congress for two years. I’m not a Trump supporter, but he was living proof that the president can (at least to a degree) achieve what they promise if they’re willing to fight for it.
There were several good things he did for the wrong reasons, in fact, like pulling the US out of Syria.
Did he really accomplish much, though? The only thing he did with his trifecta was passing Yet Another Tax Cut, with everything else either filibustered or voted down (ty Mr McCain). After 2018, his legislative agenda was DOA. He forced a shutdown over border wall spending, which failed. I can’t think of anything else notable legislatively.
On the executive side, he managed to unwind some regulations (that were reinstated after Biden came in) and his FCC pick repealed net neutrality, but all of the super radical stuff he tried to do got tied up in the courts for most of his term and either struck down, reduced drastically in scope, or only took effect for a short while before he left office.
The biggest thing he did was packing the supreme court, but I would argue that’s just as much due to McConnell, and any Republican president would have given us the same extremist court. All the stuff that’s uniquely Trump, like the border wall or the Muslim ban, failed miserably.
That’s the thing, Trump did accomplish something - he showed that radicalism in a position like the president is possible. One can act like an autocrat and actually get things done. He showed that being cut throat to accomplish your political ends is possible even when in power.
Obama had a chance to put in a second Supreme Court Justice near the end of his second term, but decided it was too close to the election and wouldn’t be fair to the democratic process… Then came Trump. Trump’s accomplishment was showing the world what radical rightwing politics could do.
Now we have imitators around the world and new strains of fascism.
Many on the left feel like similar is in order on the left. So don’t blame the tankies, as they’re as much a product of the times as anything else… And it’s quite easy to want a radical leader when it’s this obvious that the system is no longer efficient at serving the will of the people… Or should I say, the will of the left.
RIP Bernie Sanders’ presidential run. Hopefully we’ll get someone similar, but we won’t get there without making the demand clear as possible.
Obama didn’t decide anything. The GOP had majority. They stonewalled his nomination.
Obama’s mistake was to not give a forced ‘thank you for your service, you deserve rest’ to RBG when DNC had majority.
Which was a social norm Obama wasn’t legally bound to follow but he chose to (and we all know Trump wouldn’t have). See the Merrick Garland section below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_judicial_appointment_controversies#Nomination_of_Merrick_Garland_to_the_Supreme_Court
Here’s a legal article saying so:
https://lawandcrime.com/uncategorized/obama-could-make-this-last-minute-move-tomorrow-to-appoint-merrick-garland-to-supreme-court/
Trump would have. So some people think the democrats are neither radically left, nor ruthless enough.
Their politeness is paralyzing.
You are absolutely right.
It’s laughable that Democrats pretend to be powerless when they held the presidency and Congress for two years. I’m not a Trump supporter, but he was living proof that the president can (at least to a degree) achieve what they promise if they’re willing to fight for it.
There were several good things he did for the wrong reasons, in fact, like pulling the US out of Syria.
Are you joking? How do you think bills get passed? And how long does that take, do you think? A few weeks maybe?
Please learn what the word “radical” means.
Did he really accomplish much, though? The only thing he did with his trifecta was passing Yet Another Tax Cut, with everything else either filibustered or voted down (ty Mr McCain). After 2018, his legislative agenda was DOA. He forced a shutdown over border wall spending, which failed. I can’t think of anything else notable legislatively.
On the executive side, he managed to unwind some regulations (that were reinstated after Biden came in) and his FCC pick repealed net neutrality, but all of the super radical stuff he tried to do got tied up in the courts for most of his term and either struck down, reduced drastically in scope, or only took effect for a short while before he left office.
The biggest thing he did was packing the supreme court, but I would argue that’s just as much due to McConnell, and any Republican president would have given us the same extremist court. All the stuff that’s uniquely Trump, like the border wall or the Muslim ban, failed miserably.