The Story of Lori, Chapter 2

[ChrissyRyan]

If you go to Town Hall meetings, now often disrupted by extremists of various political affiliations, you may even be able to talk face to face with a representative instead of leaving a message with a staffer.

Unfortunately, jerks at these town halls have scared many politicians away from personally attending except via a remote feed.  Having tomatoes or mystery liquids thrown at them and having threats against them and their families have run many of them away unless there is a lot of security.

So sad. 

This nonsense has and will keep many good people out of politics.

Do call your politician.  Many promise whatever to get elected then do what they want, defying promises.  Many try to do what the voters want.  Sometimes they change their minds though for good reasons, like learning applicable and relevant facts.  One wonders if their primary goal after getting elected is to get re-elected.  Perhaps for many.  But there are many good people in these jobs.  I hope you have one.

[Lori Dee ✅]

My ballot has been cast, so now we wait to see what happens in the midterms.

🤞

[Stottie Girl]

If you go to Town Hall meetings, now often disrupted by extremists of various political affiliations, you may even be able to talk face to face with a representative instead of leaving a message with a staffer.

Unfortunately, jerks at these town halls have scared many politicians away from personally attending except via a remote feed.  Having tomatoes or mystery liquids thrown at them and having threats against them and their families have run many of them away unless there is a lot of security.

So sad. 

This nonsense has and will keep many good people out of politics.

Do call your politician.  Many promise whatever to get elected then do what they want, defying promises.  Many try to do what the voters want.  Sometimes they change their minds though for good reasons, like learning applicable and relevant facts.  One wonders if their primary goal after getting elected is to get re-elected.  Perhaps for many.  But there are many good people in these jobs.  I hope you have one.

AS I mentioned previously,our pollicicians do have to hold surgeries where they are face to face with their constituents. There are rarely protests outside their offices (I have never heard of one happening) Most of our protests usually gather in city or town centres and usually hava a London Focus.

The surgeries thing backfired one year when a politician (Davis Ames MP - a nice guy by all accounts) was stabbed to death by an Islamic State sympathiser posing as one of his constiuents. It was genuinely quite shocking.

On your midterms Lori - Surely HE is going to get his butt handed to him? The world will loose faith in average American's sanity if the Republicans aren't roundly trounced.

[KristaFairchild]

Legally it's not a two party system but the election system favors two parties.  There are local elections where a political party is not stated and in that level there are more elected official from other parties 

But I'll just offer this. 

525 seats in Congress. 522 are Democrats or Republicans. 

If we look at our 50 states there are 7,300 seats and about 21 that are are in other parties. 

Voters often see a vote for a third party candidate as a wasted vote or protest vote. Bernie was an independent for most of his career but ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020. He did well for an independent but did not receive either nomination. 

[Stottie Girl]

It is mad that we have more representatives in government 650 vs 525

Ours break down as following for this parliment:-

Labour: 402 MPs
Conservative 116 MPs
Liberal Democrats 72 MPs
Independents 12 MPs
Reform UK 8 MPs
Scottish National Party (SNP) 7 MPs
Sinn Féin 7 MPs
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 5 MPs
Green Party 5 MPs
Plaid Cymru 4 MPs
Your Party 2 MPs
Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP) 2 MPs
Alliance Party 1 MP
Restore Britain 1 MP
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) 1
MP Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) 1
MP Speaker of the house 1MP (not afiliated)

We then have the House of Lords which are unelected but are alfiliated with political parties.

Confusing or what!

[Lori Dee ✅]

On your midterms Lori - Surely HE is going to get his butt handed to him? The world will loose faith in average American's sanity if the Republicans aren't roundly trounced.

He is not eligible for re-election due to term limits. The pendulum is swinging the other way now, or so it appears. He is constantly accusing everyone of cheating and saying elections are rigged, even though there have been hundreds of investigations and many court cases that found no evidence. He doesn't do it because he believes it. He does it to throw all future elections into question.

https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=250087.msg2292663#msg2292663

[Stottie Girl]

He can't be re-elected as things stand but it wouldn't be unsurprising if he tried to change that rule.

[Lori Dee ✅]

He can't be re-elected as things stand but it wouldn't be unsurprising if he tried to change that rule.

He and his minions have discussed it. The Constitution forbids it, so it would take an act of Congress to change.

However, there is one loophole that he could use. He could run for Vice President alongside JD Vance for President. If Vance won, he could then resign, which would move Trump back into the Presidency for the remainder of the term.

This is a highly unlikely scenario, though. 1) The GOP is losing popularity by leaps and bounds, 2) many candidates endorsed by Trump are losing elections, 3) he is on his way to becoming a pariah in politics. He has the lowest approval rating of any president since Kennedy.

In a discussion with Putin, he said that during times of war, he can suspend elections. Trump found that interesting. However, our Constitution has no provision to suspend elections for any reason. Each state has the authority to determine the time and manner of elections, not the federal government. So even declaring Martial Law does not suspend elections.

He could try to declare Martial Law, then impose a curfew to threaten anyone attempting to cast a ballot in person. Maybe that's why he is trying to revoke mail-in ballots? It is already illegal to intimidate voters at polling places, and some states have outlawed the presence of law enforcement as well.

We will see what happens. People around the world are increasingly disliking him, or at least distrusting him. At some point, there will be a reckoning.

[Stottie Girl]

Kennedy had low approval ratings? really? I find that surprising. What was it the people disliked about him?

People around the world do not dislike Trump they flat out hate the guy and all his minions. Not one of them is merely disliked. I've just had to delete the long tirade I just launched into there for fear of another reprimand!

He has wrecked Americas reputation across the whole world. America is no longer the leader of the free world. Nobody is looking to the Americans to lead anymore. As you can see with this Iran debacle, none of the traditional US allies have stepped up, none of them. I think that tells you what Trump's standing is in the world. I feel sorry for your next president trying to repair the damage. Let's hope it isn't Vance or Rubio as they will just pour oil onto the fire.

I know these morons in power are not representative of decent Americans and I would imagine many of those who did vote for him are a bit shocked at what he has been doing. It has been gratifying to see how ordinary Americans have behaved towards the worlds football fans at this world cup, even the police have been on a charm offensive. We love the American people for what it is worth, always have, always will.

[Lori Dee ✅]

Kennedy had low approval ratings? really? I find that surprising. What was it the people disliked about him?

Kennedy was loved. He and his brother were considered to be good, honest people. That ticked off a lot of people who would be stopped from making a lot of money through their criminal enterprises, and they conspired to have them assassinated.

After him, it went downhill fast (strictly my opinion).

Lyndon B. Johnson - there is evidence to suggest that he, Nixon, Ford, and George W. Bush were in on Kennedy's assassination and coup.

Richard Nixon - resigned to avoid conviction after impeachment.

Gerald Ford - see above. Pardoned Nixon for his crimes. Nixon's VP Agnew resigned amid bribery and tax-evasion allegations, elevating Ford to the VP position. Quid pro quo?

Jimmy Carter - Peanut farmer. Was good for Human Rights, but slashed the Defense budget so much that military promotions and pay raises were frozen. Our tanks sat useless in the motorpool for almost a year because we couldn't budget for repair parts, fuel, or training ammunition.

Ronald Reagan - a Hollywood actor, had an awful economic plan. Anyone remember the Iran-Contra scandal?

George H.W. Bush - Oil billionaire family. Reagan's Vice President during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Bill Clinton - impeached but not convicted. Numerous corruption investigations into his and Hillary's Clinton Foundation. Not to mention Hillary's corruption as Secretary of State.

George W. Bush - see above. Oil billionaire family. Also went to war in Iraq looking for WMD and never found any. Sound familiar?

Barack Obama - big on Human and Civil Rights. His corruption is evident, going back to his entry into politics in Illinois. Anyone remember the ACORN scandal? Michelle was their attorney. Many believe he was a Manchurian Candidate for the Clinton Foundation.

Donald Trump - Real estate billionaire. Impeached twice, but not convicted. Started a war in Iran without Congressional approval, to get uranium from them, but didn't. Went to open the Straight of Hormuz, which wasn't closed until the war. Not to mention extrajudicial killings and violations of International Law.

Joe Biden - Did so much for Human Rights, but also loads of corruption is evident in his overseas business dealings.

Each of these people did some good things for the country. Some did some exceptionally good things. But every one of them was corrupt. They exploit loopholes in the law for their own enrichment. They all pledged to serve their country and walked away so much wealthier than when they entered office. None of them went to prison for their crimes.

Serving your country should never be about the money. And yet, here we are.