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George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

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Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#221

Post by int_19h »

edblarney wrote: post #209
anubisresources wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure to give up his business interests is an impeachable offense. He literally does not meet the requirements set forth in the Constitution. He isn't being impeached because his party controls both houses.

"Failure to give up his business interests is an impeachable offense." Nope. They've had lawyers on this for a while, and I think he's ok on it. FYI - do you know how many Republican secretly wished that Trump were 'gone'? Probably most of them. He's a) a loose cannon and b) not actually a conservative on many issues. I think he's legally in the clear on his ownership issues.

They wish he were gone for sure, but they're also too scared of his voters. If they impeach him? They're going to be facing a new pro-Trump Tea Party-like wave in the primaries, and many of them will get kicked out pronto. They need a really, really good excuse to kick him out... to the point where they could say "we really didn't want to, but we had no choice" to their constituents.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#222

Post by neolefty »

JauntTrooper wrote: post #205
arrosenberg wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say we're probably closer to 25th amendment territory than impeachment. It isn't clear (to the extent the law requires) that Trump has high crimes or treason, and whether he will or not is immaterial until he does. It does appear very clear that he is not fit to discharge his duties, however. What is going to happen the first time there is a crisis like a shooting or a hurricane. The next time the south gets wipe…

it's actually phrased "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" in the Constitution, so the President could be impeached for a misdemeanor.

Different meaning of misdemeanor. "High crimes and misdemeanors" was a phrase in common use at the time of its writing:

http://www.crf-usa.org/impeachment/high-crimes-and-misdemean...

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#223

Post by int_19h »

jupiter90000 wrote: post #193
azernik wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my (quite far-left) perspective, I would be very okay with that outcome. The Presidency's most unchecked power is in foreign policy, where Trump truly scares me. Pence as President would not change the balance of power in Congress, which is where most of the social and economic decisions (where I really have problems with Pence) would be made. Putting on my non-partisan hat, though, I am nervous about the preced…

Is there something about Pence's track record that suggests he'd be better for USA on foreign policy?

Pence is predictable. Diplomats can build plans around predictable. You can make deals, treaties and alliances with predictable. Your opponents know what to expect from you.

If nothing else, it at least provides some stability.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#224

Post by mynameishere »

edblarney wrote: post #202
beloch wrote: post #17

I must admit, I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S.. Clinton was impeached for perjury and abuse of power because he took advantage of his position (and a political intern) and then lied about it. Now we have a president who is not giving up his business interests while in office and who has already told some absolute whoppers, including the release of official press releases that were nothing but…

"This is probably a good time for people to be reading 1984." This is ridiculous. The hate for Trump has caused people to go into utterly misguided tizzies, and it's pathetic. I loathe Trump - but he's not a totalitarian. He has given no indication of encroaching on civil liberties, there's no indication he wants to socialize large parts of the economy, or expand control by government, or even expand surveillance pro…

Wait...why do you loathe him? You seem reasonable in everything else you say. Trump is basically Nelson Rockefeller with the difference that he never got denounced as the liberal he is outside the pages of the National Review.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#225

Post by dllthomas »

iamdave wrote: post #140
flukus wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is anyone still talking about Hillary Clinton? Because we're trying to ascertain if the complainers are genuinely principled or partisan hacks. I've a feeling most of them would be turning a blind eye if it wasn't trump.

Complainers can't prosecute and convict. Courts can. That's a difference I'd recommend coming to terms with as it's the crux of this discussion at a level that's intensely germane.

In this case particular, actually, it's the legislature that can prosecute and convict. Still not random people on HN, though :-P

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#226

Post by Fricken »

kylelibra wrote: post #31

Also highly relevant is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World

Highly relevant is Marshall McLuhan. 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 didn't anticipate what the internet would do to us at all in any way.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#227

Post by ifdefdebug »

akiselev wrote: post #183
knieveltech wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that if you honestly believe the world is unambiguously better now than it was 20-30 years ago this reflects either your youth or privilege more so than any objective truth. I'll just leave this here: http://thebulletin.org/timeline

If you honestly don't believe the world is unambiguously better now than it was 20-30 years ago, you've been living under a continental plate the entire time. The world has gotten better in almost every way including the rapid fall in poverty rates, more reliable sources of food and medicine, and better access to technology for even the poorest folk. All the problems that seem so overwhelming now like the threat of n…

> the world has finally recognized and united around solving the single greatest threat to our civilization

If it's CO2 you are talking about, Trump already said he doesn't give a shit.

EDIT: sorry for citing wrong ("world" instead of "majority of the world", wasn't intentional), but even then, you don't get a majority without the USA.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#228

Post by int_19h »

downandout wrote: post #196
oculusthrift wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I guess to you breaking the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution is nothing. And its funny you say that when that is exactly why they impeached Clinton.

They impeached Clinton for committing the crime of perjury, so your comparison makes no sense. With regard to the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Trump is donating all proceeds from stays in his hotels by foreign officials directly to the US Treasury. I am not a constitutional lawyer, but apparently he has been advised by those who are that this solution solves that particular legal issue. I realize that this issue will n…

Trump claimed that he will do so with hotel profits, but we have no evidence that he's actually doing that. This is exactly the place where his finances should be disclosed, at a minimum, to a bipartisan ethics commission for review.

And it's not like he only has hotels. He owns, or has stake in (not necessarily controlling, but still enough to derive profit) many other businesses. Some of which aren't even in US.

As many people - including several specifically involved in government ethics compliance - states, the only thing that can truly and definitely resolve this problem is divestment and transfer of control to a blind trust. Anything else is going to be suspect.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#229

Post by jakeogh »

rat87 wrote: post #220
jakeogh wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Na, he just won in a near landslide. Sure Pence could have won too, but he's nowhere as capable as Trump taking on the established false left-right MSM.

What landslide he barely slid in a electoral vote disaster, despite the electoral vote being meant to be used against men like Trump

227 vs 306 is not close. I said near-landslide because a landlside (I think) is usually something >=370. No worries, it might still happen.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#230

Post by sschueller »

pavanred wrote: post #200
beloch wrote: post #17

I must admit, I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S.. Clinton was impeached for perjury and abuse of power because he took advantage of his position (and a political intern) and then lied about it. Now we have a president who is not giving up his business interests while in office and who has already told some absolute whoppers, including the release of official press releases that were nothing but…

I really wish people and the media stop over emphasizing about every gaffe and focus on real news stories. For instance, the "alternative facts" comment/incident is being talked about everywhere, from TV news channels to news parody shows to talk shows to social media etc. But, at the same time it seems like there is so much more important news that one would think deserves more attention like the executive orders, w…

This is why he got that far in the primaries and then eventually got elected. Every gaffe was reported on and some of it also not true which muddied the water to a point where people stopped listening when serious things came up.

All of this just for profit and tv ratings. There is also ego in there because who want's to be the last to break a story.

We see the same thing happening when a disaster occurs. For example the airport shooting. So much false information is reported just because they have to be the first/exclusive.

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