BarrileteCosmico wrote:The US might not be particularly trust-worthy, but if your other options for international heavy-weight allies are China and Putin, the EU is kind of stuck with them.

Babun wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:You’re making an assumption that the only ‘big’ influential countries are USA, Russia and Chine. I would argue that the list includes UK and EU (given the economic strength and similar viewpoints, EU can be considered an influential bloc) and you can add countries like Japan, Australia and Canada not big but influential.

In other words the USA isn’t nearly as influential as it once was, there are alternatives without caving into Russia and China.

This! Financial and market power are just as important as military prowess.

Babun wrote:

Myesyats wrote:

Babun wrote:There's a bilateral deal between China and the EU which is going to strengthen the economic bond between the two. Basically, Biden is shown the middle finger or cold shoulder (whichever way pleases you). After 4 years of Trump and the Nordstream 2 blackmail (Biden announced to continue with that), Europe is fed up with the US' unstable short sighted politics. Biden wanted to unite with Europe vs. China but no one in the EU trusts the US anymore.
US' degradation to 2nd/third tier world power is all but certain. The question is when.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_2541

For us it's better Nordstream isn't finished. Russian influence over Europe would grow significantly and we're in the middle of it. I hope Berlin takes on a different course.

The US put a lot of effort into influence with money and gimmicks to blackmail the EU over the gas transport (Ukraine regularly steals substantional amount of gas which goes from Russia to central Europe through the pipes, Poland always threatens to block the transport to get away with their rightwing BS). With the Nordstream 2, Europe will bypass US influece completly and would also make the US retreat from Poland and Ukraine. Without the intervention, they can be easily brought in line with the rest of the EU.

So maybe the ideal outcome—even if an unlikely one—is a split decision.

If Republicans emerge from this run-off election with a 51–49 majority, that would still allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) to act as a needed roadblock. With a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in the House, Republicans will probably rediscover their interest in fiscal conservatism. But putting that into practice—perhaps with a resurrection of the Obama-era spending caps that the Trump-era Republicans shattered—will require at least a slim GOP majority in the Senate.

A split decision Tuesday, pairing a single Republican victory with a single Republican loss, might do more to break the party's Trump fever than a wipeout loss would. A slim Republican Senate majority would maximize the leverage of moderate Republicans like Sens. Susan Collins (R–Maine) and Mitt Romney (R–Utah)—who happen to be some of the senators least corrupted by Trumpism.

Being in the minority, on the other hand, would elevate a different set of Republican senators. Rather than feeling like they've narrowly survived a bout with Trumpism, the party might sink further into that morass under the weight of Trump's grievances and (in his hardcore supporters' eyes) political martyrdom.

It's tempting to wish for Republicans to get swept on Tuesday. It's what they probably deserve after the past two months, to say nothing of the past four years. But for reasons centered in politics and policy, I'll spend Tuesday rooting—as usual—for both parties to lose.

futbol_bill wrote:You’re making an assumption that the only ‘big’ influential countries are USA, Russia and Chine. I would argue that the list includes UK and EU (given the economic strength and similar viewpoints, EU can be considered an influential bloc) and you can add countries like Japan, Australia and Canada not big but influential.

In other words the USA isn’t nearly as influential as it once was, there are alternatives without caving into Russia and China.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:In case any european posters were planning to stay up for this (unlikely), this is also expected to be a many day affair

BarrileteCosmico wrote:In case any european posters were planning to stay up for this (unlikely), this is also expected to be a many day affair

CBarca wrote:Joe Manchin is the most powerful senator in the chamber

A Dem sweep in GA. Times are changing.

Congrats everybody and thank you to Black Americans even though America stomped on their heart once again today

Myesyats wrote:Kelly Loeffler blackened Warnock's skin on her campaign advertisement.
Perdue ran an ad with Ossoff's nose edited to appear longer alluding to his jewish roots.
and Trump made Biden look older in his ads.


I'm beginning to see a pattern here that I'm not sure I like. Scum of the earth!

BarrileteCosmico wrote:
So what can we dare to dream of at this moment? A 50 person majority is weak AF and I'm sure some 'centrist' dems will be a pain for Biden's agenda, just like Collins, Romney and Markowski were for Trump.
.

rincon wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:
So what can we dare to dream of at this moment? A 50 person majority is weak AF and I'm sure some 'centrist' dems will be a pain for Biden's agenda, just like Collins, Romney and Markowski were for Trump.
.

This is good though. If the country is so divided it shouldn't be ruled by a one sided supermajority.