If I were them, I’d stop worrying about losing the House, it’s gone. It’s the freakin Senate that’s the one tottering on the edge.

So just charge him. Oh, wait, the SCOTUS sez you can’t do that.

So, anyways…

In a democracy Biden shouldn’t attempt to influence any action against Trump. That’s the job of the Justice Department. Trump has made political judicial activism so normal that people just expect this kind of political interference.

Fox “News Stars”.

Americans have a very low bar in describing “stars”.

In our case, it’s not the constitution. It’s a result of long running electoral reform. in essence, political parties nor politicians can fuck with the electoral system nor boundaries. It’s run by an independent commission. Parties are welcome to make a submission suggesting change, evenake a case for change, but if it doesn’t match the set criteria, they get shut down. Unlike your states who can redraw boundaries to pick their voters.

Great reply!

Thanks for the tip, but get your own house in order before lecturing everyone else. To date, we are good.

Our two electoral systems couldn’t be more different. For a start in ours the politicians aren’t allowed to draw electoral boundaries.

You are not at fault. But nothing good will come from all this and it is what it is.

I’m in Australia, and yes, far right idiocy happens here too. But in this country our electoral system keeps the wackos contained. We have compulsory preferential voting. Elections here are decided by the middle, not the extremities.

There is a great deal in what you say that I heartily agree with, and a few things that I don’t. I’m not European, although I do visit annually, so I have no horse in that race.

I would say that you repeat a tired American trope that has been outdated for at least 35 years now. That Europe gets more out of the NATO than America does.

The US gets a great deal out of NATO, arguably all lot more than Europe gets. For a start, the US has 31 permamant military bases across Europe and free access to another 19 hosted by member countries. It doesn’t really need to ask permission on how it operates on any of them. It also maintains another 275 smaller units and installations for free. This is not a one-way deal for Europe. For the US, a country that insists on projecting power to influence national policy objectives, the ability to operate like this is incredible. Does it pay rent? No. Does it seek agreement with the host country? No. It bombs first and informs later.

Secondly, wherever possible it forces US military hardware onto European countries by way of ‘interoperability’. Those F35s provide jobs for US workers. Same with parts, same bombs and weapon systems. All that hard cash flows back to the US. There is a reason why US administrations bitch and moan about Europe not pulling it’s weight on NATO but still won’t pull out of the region. It’s because the US gets a massive indirect benefit from the deal.

But what does Europe get in return? It’s supposed to be security guarantees. But the only country that has triggered NATO’s Article Five has been the US following 9/11. Hundreds of Europeans died in defence of what happened in far-off New York. Not that this has been appreciated by Trump.

Lastly, the biggest threat to Europe is Putin. And what has been the US response? Not great. All of Europe has been watching and wondering has all this been worth it. The one reason Europe has been tolerating America taking over much of its foreign policy is for a security trade-off. Now it seems the arrangement is worthless.

I’m not European, but I’m watching events. Nothing dramatic will happen in the short term. Spain cancelled it’s F35 contract. European countries have universally increased their defence budgets, not from US pressure, but from the realisation that security is unlikely to arrive from America. Countries have failed to support the US openly. First time since WW2. The whole world turned their back on the stupid Iran war. Things have changed irrevocably. However, they will only visibly change over time. You guys are sleepwalking into isolation.

Let’s revisit the subject in 10 years and see how things have turned out?

You will probably have to point out where I said that hating all Americans is ok? I don’t think that I said anything about hating anyone. I said, more or less, that America is a damaged society. Others have pointed this out as well. It’s just best to ignore them, work around them and hope for the best. This crap won’t end with Trump.

This is a cliche, fair enough, but my best friend is American, and now an Australian. Why would I hate him just for being born in a different place. I’ve also acknowledged that a great many Americans hate Trump. That is immaterial. He’s still your representative, he acts in your name and almost 50% still vote for him. All the rest doesn’t change a lived reality.

Once again, personal responsibility doesn’t mean shit. The Americans inflicted him upon us. That you personally didn’t has no actual bearing on reality. You may not like it, you probably hate it, but you share collective responsibility for Trump as a nation.

So, if the rest of the world reroutes around you as a damaged and dangerous state, that should be an expected outcome. Save your pouting, and collectively deal with it.

Saying that, I do appreciate your helpless frustration. But we all have our own political problems in our own countries. If your country is a absolute fucking trainwreak and set to destroy all normal and reasonable order, we owe all of you nothing. And if you open your eyes real wide you can see the globe rapidly sidestepinng away from you in real time. This situation won’t change an inch if you elect a jolly, sane Obama next time. Because elemental MAGA runs deep in your DNA. The only question is when will it surface next?

And how does “not all Americans” limit the damage to the rest of us?

The point, you are missing it.

It’s not that “not all Americans”, it’s that you inflicted him on the rest of us. If you are butthurt at the rest of the world for rejecting the US you might have a rethink.

It’s like this. No shade to Americans, but you guys can do this shit in any four year period. You elected him TWICE.

No hard feelings, but you’re on your own.

The guy who orchestrated a full-blown insurrection -and got away with it - shouldn’t be underestimated.

Possibly, but the OP was talking about sitting in a cafe, not brewing at home.

At a cafe you have overheads, staff, cleaning, etc. Plus the rising cost of beans. All I’m saying is that cafes can’t freeze the price of coffee to a past point in time because customers have a fixed idea of what a brew should cost.

Not to be that guy, but we have been under-paying for coffee for many years now. The price of beans kept going up, but customers were locked into what a cup of coffee should be and extremely price sensitive about addressing the reality.

A catch-up is underway all over the world.

Note. Not a cafe owner and I don’t have anything to do with coffee except drink it.

She got experimental treatment 8 months before Trump wrote an executive order allowing such treatment. This had actually been permitted in such cases for years. So, her treatment 8 months before Trump even got remotely involved is ridiculous.