Can America be fixed?

Binaural

Eats Squid
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/20/trump-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-crown-prince

Wow... Unsurprising of course, but every time i think it cant get any worse -it does.
This is virtually unthinkable. Even the public evidence is absolutely overwhelming for an assassination ordered by the Saudi prince, god only knows what the classified picture must be. At least now the Dems have the lower house, the evidence can be subpoenaed and Trump will have to publicly answer for pretending to believe the Saudis.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Trump will have to publicly answer for pretending to believe the Saudis.
No he wont. He will be accused, he will retort with "fake news" and all his followers will believe him. The end.

So no - I don't think the United States can be saved. It will break up I suspect, which will then lead to even more overt tensions between states. Civil war is probably inevitable in a decade i think if they stay on this trajectory.
 

Binaural

Eats Squid
No he wont. He will be accused, he will retort with "fake news" and all his followers will believe him. The end.
Congress has different and not necessarily aligned priorities with Trump. He's already led the GOP to the biggest midterm defeat in 60 years, it is very likely that the politics of pushing back on his dereliction of duty is going to change substantially going forward. Even previously a Republican-only congress was able to pass veto proof sanctions on Russia, and slapping Saudi Arabia with a weapons embargo could easily be on the table. At the very least, the threat of such sanctions could force Trump to the negotiating table. There are a lot of foreign-policy hawks who could conceivably come together to demand that Trump acknowledge the evidence and act against the Saudis or else. So while his drooling followers may not push back against him, there is at least some chance his political peers do take some action.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Congress has different and not necessarily aligned priorities with Trump. He's already led the GOP to the biggest midterm defeat in 60 years, it is very likely that the politics of pushing back on his dereliction of duty is going to change substantially going forward. Even previously a Republican-only congress was able to pass veto proof sanctions on Russia, and slapping Saudi Arabia with a weapons embargo could easily be on the table. At the very least, the threat of such sanctions could force Trump to the negotiating table. There are a lot of foreign-policy hawks who could conceivably come together to demand that Trump acknowledge the evidence and act against the Saudis or else. So while his drooling followers may not push back against him, there is at least some chance his political peers do take some action.
I hope you're right. But normal rules stopped applying a while back...
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Have you noticed though that the language around Khashoggi has changed? He is no longer referred to as an American resident...
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Have you noticed though that the language around Khashoggi has changed? He is no longer referred to as an American resident...
Yep. Enemy of the state now.

One does wonder how bad it has to get. Trump was dead right in saying he could shoot someone on 5h avenue and get away with it.
 

Comic Book Guy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
^ James Fallows is a great journalist. I remember reading some of his stuff back in the 80's and 90's (when I was a baby of course:D).
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
So, on trend for Australian gun crime, the firearm used in the recent NT mass shooting started its life as a legal weapon.


"The 12-gauge pump action shotgun was seized at the time of Hoffman's arrest, and police later confirmed its serial number matched a weapon stolen in 1997. "
 

Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
I'm assuming all guns were 'legal' at some point, unless it's some weird home-made contraption. Not sure what percentage of gun crime is committed using weapons purchased in other jurisdictions and illegally imported.

The Christchurch nutter bought his guns legally, and surprise surprise it was the good old AR-15 type weapon once again:


Doubtful he could have done what he did if in Australia.
 
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