• Cyburbia is a friendly big tent, where we share our experiences and thoughts about urban planning practice, the built environment, planning adjacent topics, and anything else that comes to mind. No ads, no spam, and it's free. It's easy to join!

NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

estromberg said:
Why choose the lesser of the 2 evils? Pick the greatest evil!

Click to expand...
episode 1 halloween GIF
 
GREEN RIVER CITY NOTICE OF 2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTION CANCELLATION

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that the City Council of the City of Green River met in regular session on October 10, 2023, and resolved by Resolution No. R20-2023 that pursuant to Utah Code Annotated 20A-1-206 all conditions were met to cancel the 2023 municipal election. The number of municipal officer candidates does not exceed the number of open at-large municipal offices for which the candidates have filed. The resolution certified that Bo Harrison, Kent Nelson, and Guy Webster declared their candidacy for 3 open seats, they were unopposed and were thereby declared elected to the three seats that will become open in January 2024.

Julie SpadaforaGreen River City Recorder
Click to expand...

Welcome to Green River, UT

Welcome to Green River, UT
www.greenriverutah.com www.greenriverutah.com
 
I'm surprised that Mississippi wasn't a little closer. There are always shenanigans related to voting especially around Jackson. This time it was a lack of ballots and 2+ hr lines.
 
bureaucrat#3 said:
I'm surprised that Mississippi wasn't a little closer. There are always shenanigans related to voting especially around Jackson. This time it was a lack of ballots and 2+ hr lines.
Click to expand...
They've got voter suppression down to a science in the Magnolia State. Practice makes perfect.
 

Ohio enshrined women's rights to make their own medical decisions. In Kentucky, a democratic incumbent Governor convincingly defeated a Trump endorsed opponent. Virginia Dems take control of both legislative houses.

Off-year election results frequently act as bellwethers for the following regular election cycle. If this holds true, that's good news for 2024.
 
In OH, weed has more broadbased political support than healthcare autonomy.
 
I'm curious if any Ohioans care to offer their views on the outcome of yesterday's election. What did the voters really say?
 
Planit said:
Town in Michigan votes out entire government over Chinese affiliated battery plant
Click to expand...

Actually, it is a 37 square mile rural area of 3,200 residents.

And technically, only five of the seven legislative officials were recalled in yesterday's election.

MSN is garbage.
 
We now have a third term centrist white male Mayor and five white males, one black male, two white females and a Phillipino and a hispanic female so not bad in the diversity department.
 
See pasted text of letter to local weekly coming out Thursday.

Veterans Day

Dear editor,

Now that the fallen have all been remembered, now that the medals have all been pinned and the ribbons all hung, now that the wreaths have all been laid and the cheers and confetti followed all the parades, now we can remember the holiday began as Armistice Day.

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 an armistice brought the cessation of all the hostilities of World War I, the “war to end all wars”.

In 1926 Congress created Armistice Day to “...perpetuate peace...and mutual understanding between nations…”.

That day was to celebrate, as one writer said so well, “a farewell to arms”.

That kind of day, if we can remember, can happen again, even as we approach a new kind of eleventh hour.
 
Just saw a poll (albeit a small sample size) that says a majority of Democrats want to see someone on the ticket other than President Biden. To that I say "Duh!"
 
I don't know about their thoughts but here are mine. She gets the whole truckload of cred in terms of accomplishment and skill, but her physical stature (five feet two) would hobble her candidacy. Remember Dukakis, remember Randy Newman's song. There is a subliminal bias against short people here in the West.
 
fringe said:
I don't know about their thoughts but here are mine. She gets the whole truckload of cred in terms of accomplishment and skill, but her physical stature (five feet two) would hobble her candidacy. Remember Dukakis, remember Randy Newman's song. There is a subliminal bias against short people here in the West.
Click to expand...
I also think that would drive more of the right wing crazies to the polls. We can't have no women in the white house.
 
fringe said:
I don't know about their thoughts but here are mine. She gets the whole truckload of cred in terms of accomplishment and skill, but her physical stature (five feet two) would hobble her candidacy. Remember Dukakis, remember Randy Newman's song. There is a subliminal bias against short people here in the West.
Click to expand...
No. She does not. She's basically been MIA and it's so disappointing. She could have been out front for the administration on several issues but she's not. Quite frankly, they're really not out in front of anything. By design probably, because actually solving problems doesn't help keep people elected. It's much better to tell people what they should be bothered about and who's to blame for it. That's how you win elections. Sigh . . . .
 
I think most people like the idea of someone else. Joe is very old, very white, from Delaware, and fairly boring. Democrats want an inspirational Obama type. Republicans don't want to run against Joe because he's old, white, and boring. The only thing they can really stoke is that he's old which isn't going to go over as a good critique with most of their base, especially since Trumps not much younger, and the Hunter stuff which they can't really get to stick very well. They would rather run against someone that they can't get a group not to like and they can make into a stereotype. Sadly, there are some independents and never-Trumps that will hold there nose and vote for Joe, but might not vote for a female or minority. The media doesn't really like Joe because he's old white and boring and we've already had the Biden-Trump race so it doesn't bring much hype, at least early.

Everyone talks about how a generic Democrat would be leading, but people like the idea of somebody different because we've tried this and he's just boring. If Biden were 20-25 years younger, you couldn't get more "generic" Democrat. Put an actual name in front of any other leading Democrats and people start picking apart what's wrong with them. Biden wasnt extremely popular during the last primary, but neither was Harris.

Would I rather have a different candidate as an independent voter, yes. Do I know who that would be? Can't really think of one that's realistic. Overall, I'm not dissatisfied with what Biden's done. I don't agree with everything, but it's a nice change to see norms and standards of democracy not be broken on a daily basis. I like that people appointed by this president are trying to break the government. Does he say some stupid stuff every now and again? Yes, but so have most presidents. Trump wouldn't take questions from reporters and stop briefings for months. GW Bush said stupid stuff on a regular basis. Clinton could come off as used car salesman at times. Aides limited access to Regan at times. Even Obama and GHW Bush, who I think have carried themselves in a more presidential manner had some pretty major flubs and stupid decisions.
 
Many of you may be familiar with Prof. Allan Lichtman. He's the history/political science professor who devised the '13 points' that determine who will win a Presidential election (he's called them correctly since he began in 1984). He advises that going with a fresh young democratic face, and thereby giving up the advantage of incumbency, would be a big mistake for democrats in 2024.

www.thenationalnews.com

Will Joe Biden be re-elected in the 2024 presidential election? | The National

Election predictor Allan Lichtman shares insights about 2024 race - and a warning for Democrats
www.thenationalnews.com www.thenationalnews.com
 
Last edited:
If anyone here has seen the film "Death of Stalin", where Steve Buscemi plays Nikita Khrushchev, they will know what I suspect might happen down at Mar-a-Lago any day now.
In the film the universally hated great man drops to the floor and his deputies watch him lay there twitching, calculating how long he might last and just who has to know about it. They step back and forth across his body while they debate and calculate. When he finally passes, the cleverest among them knows how and who to rally to his side.
My question here is who might emerge from that primordial pestilential tropical pool to become the ringer for Khrushchev? Geatz? DeSantis?
 
Maister said:
Many of you may be familiar with Prof. Allan Lichtman. He's the history/political science professor who devised the '13 points' that determine who will win a Presidential election (he's called them correctly since he began in 1984). He advises that going with a fresh young democratic face, and thereby giving up the advantage of incumbency, would be a big mistake for democrats in 2024.

www.thenationalnews.com

Will Joe Biden be re-elected in the 2024 presidential election? | The National

Election predictor Allan Lichtman shares insights about 2024 race - and a warning for Democrats
www.thenationalnews.com www.thenationalnews.com
Click to expand...
Giving up the advantage of incumbency is ALWAYS a mistake.

What I've found most curious is how inconspicuous Kamala Harris seems to be. Seems like I only rarely see her mentioned in media... almost like how Dan Quayle was kind of tucked away, although Harris has been tasked with some high profile stuff (border issues/unaccompanied minors). I find her low approval rating a little bit fascinating (and it is likely why she isn't in the spotlight often). People forget the critical role she has played on tiebreaker votes for some pretty big stuff. While I'm not really a fan of her, I feel much of the criticism of her is unfair.

I'm eventually expecting to see Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg re-emerge as frontrunners in 2028. It wouldn't be a shock to see a Whitmer/Kelly ticket or a Whitmer/Buttigieg ticket. I generally think Whitmer is the best positioned. Even Ro Khanna and Hakeem Jeffries pose interesting options, considering how they can leverage current roles & experience.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
Giving up the advantage of incumbency is ALWAYS a mistake.

What I've found most curious is how inconspicuous Kamala Harris seems to be. Seems like I only rarely see her mentioned in media... almost like how Dan Quayle was kind of tucked away, although Harris has been tasked with some high profile stuff (border issues/unaccompanied minors). I find her low approval rating a little bit fascinating (and it is likely why she isn't in the spotlight often). People forget the critical role she has played on tiebreaker votes for some pretty big stuff. While I'm not really a fan of her, I feel much of the criticism of her is unfair.

I'm eventually expecting to see Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg re-emerge as frontrunners in 2028. It wouldn't be a shock to see a Whitmer/Kelly ticket or a Whitmer/Buttigieg ticket. I generally think Whitmer is the best positioned. Even Ro Khanna and Hakeem Jeffries pose interesting options, considering how they can leverage current roles & experience.
Click to expand...
I think Newsome has to be involved at some level. He is clearly angling for a cabinet position or something in the next Biden Administration with an eye on more. Buttigieg has only added to his already qualified resume. I was a Pete fan before, and I think his leadership of the USDOT has been amazing. He is also well spoken, which I miss deeply in the leader of the free world.
 
If giving up the incumbency is ALWAYS a mistake, then Biden must replace Harris on the ticket which I doubt would happen. I don't find criticism of her unfair in the slightest. She had an opportunity to truly take the lead on several issues and she failed. Miserably. When you are given a task, you push hard, you work with people, you get the right people in place from both sides of the aisle and from business and industry and come up with a workable solution. But instead all we get is finger pointing about who is to blame. There has been ZERO meaningful conversation about the border and immigration issues. Where is she? MIA. And because she happens to represent the tie-breaking vote on occasion doesn't mean anything beyond just that. I know people in border towns and cities. It is unmitigated disaster yet no one is doing a damn thing to fix it. IF, and I think this is a very big IF, President Biden is re-elected there is absolutely no way that Harris would have a shot in 2028 and it would just further divide the Democratic party. I'm a bit surprised there isn't as much talk about how the Democratic party is just as fractured as the Republican party.
 
MD Planner said:
I'm a bit surprised there isn't as much talk about how the Democratic party is just as fractured as the Republican party.
Click to expand...

Uhhhh, for dems, that is an existential issue. We might have a "herd the cats" imprimatur, but, currently, we, luckily, do not have a fringe (read: mainstream) that so willingly kisses the hand of the second coming.
 
Wannaplan? said:
Uhhhh, for dems, that is an existential issue. We might have a "herd the cats" imprimatur, but, currently, we, luckily, do not have a fringe (read: mainstream) that so willingly kisses the hand of the second coming.
Click to expand...
I agree with that thought. I guess the point I failed to make is that what you just cited is pretty much THE reason the Democratic party is even marginally aligned. But take that elephant out of the room and there are an awful lot of Democrats who are not very supportive of the general direction of the party.
 
MD Planner said:
I don't see it being that confusing. Fear of what another Trump term is the great uniter of the Democratic party. That's all I'm saying. Without that the party would be very splintered.
Click to expand...
That has been the rallying cry for the last two cycles. Not many people LOVE Biden. He is the better of the options when presented with Trump (and a Republican party that hasn't stood for anything policy-wise in a while). If the R's could put together an old school R policy list, and get the hell away from their attacks on all social policies, they would likely win a lot more.

I find more and more R and D friends who say something to the effect of neither party actually doing anything for people any longer and personalities and attacks are all they hear about in the news. I disagree that there isn't positive policy at times, but we hear so much less about bipartisanship, and so much more about litmus tests. The Republican party as it stands today needs to break into pieces, and a new party needs to form with the right-leaning D's, and force some actual conversations over these issues.

Sigh. And we get Biden v. Trump II in 2024.
 
MD Planner said:
I'm a bit surprised there isn't as much talk about how the Democratic party is just as fractured as the Republican party.
Click to expand...
I think each of the benchmarks of a stable society continue to crumble before our eyes. I am not saying that we will have a full on collapse, but I do wonder when the American people will have enough of these two parties and make a decision to go in a different direction. I have no idea if that will come in the form of vote or force, and I pray that it is vote, I do see more and more people expressing their thoughts on everything from infrastructure, to foreign policy, to economy, to health care, and everything in between.

As I have posted previously, the genius of this clip is so many of us can relate to what is is saying, even if it was just a TV show. When this was created over a decade it was a thought, but now we can actually feel what he is saying:


But regardless of what happens in DC, we have a duty to change this country starting with were we live and work. Our homes and our communities are the places that we have the greatest level of influence and our neighbors can see the greatest change. I think as planners, we have even a greater capability to make real change a reality. It does not matter if we vote R or D, but I think we know what needs to happen to improve the quality of lives of the people who live in our communities and we strive to do that every day. If things do go bad and it results in significant restructuring, there will be winners and losers. There always is. But if our communities and households have strong foundations, we will be just fine, if not better than before.
 
Even though they all voted to proceed, House R's said they have no evidence for Biden's impeachment, cause they'll find some during the inquiry.

They actually said it with a straight face. Unbelievable.
 
Back
Top