Wednesday, November 21, 2018

A Pre-Thanksgiving Political Primer (Try Not To Need It)




Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. 


My wife Andrea, my daughter Randi and I will be venturing forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude (home of a brand new properly functioning toilet!) to spend time with… family. 


One of the parties in attendance is a very successful and nominally intelligent financial advisor who is in a high enough income bracket to have voted for Trump because he’s looking for that sweet tax cut as well as to cut some of the regulatory red tape around the financial planning industry. I also suspect he might be slightly misogynist but that’s probably not a fair assessment for me to make. Just because Trump is overtly misogynist doesn’t mean I should apply those same attributes to his supporters. 


Another person is an old white dude who is very friendly and kind and he agrees with Trump that kneeling football players should be shot… I mean fired. Or whatever. And we should be able to say “Merry Christmas” if you want to. 


On the other hand, the food is good, there is wine to go with the good food and I didn’t pay for any if it so I am grateful for the generosity and graciousness of our hosts.


Hopefully, discussions of a political nature will be curbed. 


Just in case.  here is a checklist of potential political topics that may come up.  


Election Fraud 


Short answer: there ain’t none. 


Ironic answer: candidates who were ahead on election night cried “FRAUD! FRAUD, I say!” Ultimately these same candidates prevailed through recounts to still win.  


In a stab at political theater, Rick Scott ordered law enforcement to probe his allegations of fraud. Florida state police checked and said, “Look, no fraud going on here.” 


So the election is riddled with fraud except when it goes your way.  


Caution: some of these points may contain excessive snark.    


Pre-existing Conditions


During the recent campaign, TV ads and mailers from Democrats decried Republicans for trying to take away insurance protections for pre-existing conditions. 


During the recent campaign, TV ads and mailers from Republicans denounced Democrats for lying about Republicans trying to take away insurance protections for

pre-existing conditions. 


Prior to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, private insurers could deny coverage to sick people who were not insured by their employers or the government.  They could

also offer them a health plan that excluded coverage for their pre-existing condition, or charge higher prices.


Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare have all aimed to retain the guarantee that past conditions would be no bar to new coverage. Republican proposals for ACA replacement did not provide the same certitude of ACA guarantees for pre-existing conditions but no one campaigned to actively cut out those protections. 



Democrats Are Socialists


Do Democratic want to turn the United States into Venezuela or Cuba?


Ooh boy!


Socialism is when the government owns (or at least controls) the means of production.


The expansion of already available social programs and potentially raising taxes to do so is not socialism in that “red scare communism” sense of the word.      


MedIcare  


The most aggressive proposal by Democrats to expand health care coverage is Medicare for All.


Trump has suggested that Medicare for All would obliterate Medicare.


The proposed new system would exchange Medicare and Medicare Advantage as they stand for a new program with more generous coverage. Nobody covered by Medicare now would lose coverage under this plan.  


Sanctuary cities


I hope no one tomorrow gives thanks they do not live in a sanctuary city where there is rioting in the streets. 


In recent rallies, Trump said that criminals and gang members were being released into communities en masse.


FALSE!


Trump said people were rioting in California over sanctuary cities.


FALSE! 


Trump said "thousands upon thousands of illegal alien criminals and vicious gangmembers" were preying on the streets in Pennsylvania. 


FALSE!


He also said ICE liberated towns from the violent MS-13 gang. 


FALSE!  


I really do not have a more cogent response to any of these talking points under than to proclaim FALSE but damn, there’s not a lot of nuance to be parsed here. All these statements made by Trump are simply not true.  


The caravan


On this topic, I can’t do much better than to just proclaim the falsity of various statements.  


Migrants in the caravan  caught on camera burning the American flag?


FALSE!


Middle Easterners mixed in with the caravan? No evidence to support that.


The caravan is not an "invasion". It is not an organized, armed group. The caravan is a loose collection of migrants looking to escape a life of crushing poverty and excessive

violence.  


Other shit that might come up.


Black Panthers waged war in the streets of Atlanta? FALSE!


The guy who sent pipe bombs to people who are critical of the president is a Democrat posing as a Republican? Nope! Not true!


Democrats voted twice in Maryland? Nope, they did not.


Voters changed clothes to vote more than once in Georgia? Not true! 


Eventually, having exhausted my patience with saying “That’s not true” over and over, my family will take our leave and go see Ralph Breaks the Internet

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