Looking forward to Donald Trump's State of the Union* tonight, 9pm ET

*Technically called the Joint Session of Congress, as you have to be president for a minimum of one year for it to be a State of the Union. Pedantic semantics if you ask me, as the result is the exact fucking same.

Politics is cyclical. Always has been, always will be. #GOP


www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/02/28/since-2008-nearly-every-state-moved-right-in-both-presidential-and-state-politics/?utm_term=.99fcb5a9bcf5

Watching Donald Trump's State of the Union, aka Joint Sessions of Congress, aka Trump's America.

#trump #foxnews

Heavily medicated and reading straight from the teleprompter! "DON'T GO OFF MESSEGE DONALD!"

Never seen an administration shoot itself in the foot as much as this one.

They actually get a pretty decent speech from Trump, optics wise, and Jeff Sessions pops up. Amazing.

Right now, it's about 50/50 that Session survives, imo. But reading the transcripts, it's clear that he lied under oath and committed perjury as an addendum to an answer he didn't need to give.

I'm leaning toward Sessions surviving this at the moment. Though he did commit perjury, the Democrats really don't have enough teeth to get him. But then again, they didn't have much for Flynn anyways.

But this is what happens when you make too many deals to get endorsements. There are so many people in Trump's cabinet who have either been fired from other low ranking government posts or wouldn't be caught dead in a legitimate cabinet. There are so many people with skeletons in their closets in this cabinet. You just wonder what else is hiding out there.

Also, with Trump's war against the media, there is extra incentive to find dirt. Never give reporters more reason to keep searching for dirt on you.

We need a general "Insane Trump" thread because we could talk about it daily for the next 4 years at this rate.

So Trump supporters are wanting this thread consigned to history now? You can also tell they've been humbled by the fact they are conspicuous by their absence on this thread over the last couple of months. I can see their point in not wanting to stray into this thread though given the way the last month has gone, it does make them look remarkably stupid.

Beady’s Here Now, this comes off as a desperate attempt to close a thread because it contains too many inarguable and legitimate attacks on Trump. Don't bother mate.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39387550

Was it not rejected by the Republicans?

Honestly don't think Trump and Republicans will be revisiting health care for a bit. I think it will mostly stay in place, and if anything is added or taken away, then it will be by a progressive Democratic president.

Both Trump and Republicans got burned and exposed. Republicans, because as much as they complained about healthcare, they didn't have a better plan other than repealing, which would have gotten a decent majority of them voted out of office. There was a reason Obama kept saying that if the Republicans had a better deal then he would sign it. They never had anything better through 7 years. Without anything better, it'll be difficult for them revisit, especially since they spent a ton of political capital, and were all made to look like fools.

Trump will never revisit healthcare. He's finished with it. He lost the most capital and face in this fight. He confirmed what many thought, that he isn't actually interested in the nitty gritty portions of being president. He's aloof. The idea that he was trying to sell Republicans on a bill that he knew nothing about is laughable. It also killed his luster as a deal maker. He couldn't push through his first major initiative with a congress that his party controls. Utterly embarrassing and amateurish. It took Obama 13 months to pass healthcare, and Trump tried to do it in less than two. It also confirmed what many thought, that Trump is not capable of being president,and certainly not capable of getting out of his own way. A business man doesn't equate a good president, and so far, Trump has lacked the temperament and savvy. It also continues Trump's slide. He's getting really close to being so low in the polls that he becomes another Carter, too unliked to pass any legislation or command any power, especially considering that he got played by the freedom caucus.

The only good thing that happened to Trump and Republicans is that the bill wasn't passed. It died, and they can try to recover. Nevertheless, it's difficult to see how they recover when it's clear that Democrats have no intention to help them out of their mess (Democrats returning the favor), that, and Republicans aren't united. In fact, there are too many divisions to count. Will the freedom Caucus relent? Will they vote for moderate bills? So far, the answer is no. And as long as the answer is no, there's very little chance that Republicans will get much done.

Obama's greatest achievement was passing healthcare. This episode only deepened that achievement. The fact that Obama united, negotiated, and pushed so many Democrats and a couple a Republicans to get healthcare passed, while costing himself 15 points in his approval rating, 13 months, a lot of political capital, the house, and almost his second term showed the kind of resolve that Trump lacks. Healthcare cost Obama a lot, and it'll cost Republicans a lot more to take it away.

Premiums have indeed skyrocketed. As have deductibles. Obamacare will explode on itself.