The Next President of the United States

[Karabiner]

I'm guessing that after China upping it's game and landing on the dark side of the moon Trump's Space Force will now be fast-tracked as priority.

I'm not even sure if I'm joking or not..

[MintTrav]

I thought this was a photoshop when I saw it

Click to see full-size image.

Yeah. The Cabinet meeting was a waste of time. They are always questionable, as the US Cabinet doesn’t run the country the way our Cabinet does, only meeting every few months and charging through numerous updates from Secretaries, without time for any real discussion. Decisions are made by Departments, in conjunction with the White House when necessary.

Under Trump, they have got worse and are just a PR event. They are also a massive waste of the valuable time of these people who need to get on with running the country at their Departments. The National Debt has increased by $2 trillion to $22 trillion since Trump took office, with nothing to show for it - the promised investment in infrastructure hasn’t happened yet, so the money has been dribbled away on military spending, veterans’ benefits and tax cuts. Several indicators are suggesting that the US is on the brink of a recession, which is still avoidable, yet the Treasury Secretary and President can waste their time on this nonsense. The meeting itself was one of the worst, with Trump shooting off ill-considered statements in all directions (including a blast at recently-departed James Mattis) and Secretaries praising him North Korea style. The ‘Acting’ name-cards tell a story.

[Marky147]

It's like a parody of SNL, lol.

This is com...



Alec Baldwin is so good, it's almost unreal.

[MintTrav]

There has been a lot of depressing news from Washington, but there was good news and hope for the future this week, when the most ethnically-diverse Congress ever sworn in, with more Black and Latin Representatives than ever.

There is a record number of women (and a record number with young children) including the first two female Muslims (a Palestinian and a Somali refugee) and the first two female Native Americans (one of them a lesbian former MMA fighter). Most prominent of all was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Socialist who unexpectedly upended the Chairman of the House Democrats (a ten-term Congressman who was tipped to be a future Speaker) in the biggest shock result of the Democrat primaries to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, These Progressives wasted no time showing that a new generation was in town by Instagramming and tweeting previously unseen aspects of the House. AOC, as Ocasio-Cortez is already known in Washington, has 3.4million followers between Instagram and Twitter (though most are probably the same people on both).

The gradual reduction in White males continued and, at 41%, House Democrats almost reflect the general population, which is 38% White male. Democrat Senators are now down to 63%, but breakthroughs are harder as you need to appeal across a whole State as opposed to a small area (often enthically-concentrated) for the House. For Republicans it is still 88% and 82%.

The Democrats will have a difficult time within their own ranks over the next couple of years. These newcomers have high profiles and have been elected on anti-Trump/anti-immigration enforcement/anti-poverty platforms and are already showing that they will be problematic for the party leadership, but there are also plenty who have been elected on moderate pro-small business platforms, who would prefer to work with Republicans where possible. They have some mutual beliefs and a common enemy, but controlling the already-apparent tensions in the run-up to 2020 will be a struggle.

Click to see full-size image.

[MintTrav]

There are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Unitarians in the new Congress. Catholics and Protestants are over-represented as always, with 88% of Congress for 71% of the population. Congress is a lot more Jewish than the country, with 2% of the people represented by 6% of the House and 8% of the Senate.

The most under-represented group? That’s the unaffiliated. 23% of Americans say they have no religion, but there is only one newly-elected Senator and no-one at all in the House without a religion.

Again, the diversity is all on the Democrat side. Other than two Jewish Senators, Republicans in Congress are 100% Christian.

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Former Somali refugee Ilhan Omar being sworn in with a Quran. The no-hat rule was changed to accommodate her scarf.

[Karabiner]

A couple more great posts there Mr Trav - thank you.

[RED-DOG]

A couple more great posts there Mr Trav - thank you.

This

[Marky147]

A couple more great posts there Mr Trav - thank you.

+1

Very interesting, as always.

[Marky147]

SNL on Tuesday

[MintTrav]

Determined not to be upstaged by Congress, the President held a press conference on diversity.

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

Oh dear....

[tikay]

A couple more great posts there Mr Trav - thank you.

+1

Very interesting, as always.

+ some more. Love this thread, thank you.

[tikay]

Determined not to be upstaged by Congress, the President held a press conference on diversity.

Click to see full-size image.

Too good.

[tikay]

If this whole POTUS thing were not such a disaster, it'd be really funny.

[nirvana]

Determined not to be upstaged by Congress, the President held a press conference on diversity.

Click to see full-size image.

Very good