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    Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
    Well your system is also really terrible. three quarters of the seats in your country would elect a pig in the right colour rosette. Frequently on nowhere near half the votes. The net result of this is that there is no reason for your parliamentarians not to be terrible. It simply doesn't matter. we may grumble a lot about the parish pump politicians we get as a result of multi seat constituency PR Stv, but the thing about them is that they place certain minimum requirements for competence on our politicians. They have to understand how things work well enough, to deliver enough stuff, to get and stay elected, and to protect their seat from rivals within their own party. There's no real Room to impose an insane oxbridge moron on a local party and give him a 40 year parliamentary career.

    The upshot is that even the most outlandish gobshite in the Dail has a fundamental understanding of how the EU works, essentially because they engage with it to get stuff for their constituency. The UK manages to get the very worst of the List system without the proportionality associated with that way of going about things.
    Yeah, far too many safe seats. Careers aren't usually 40 years though, because usually a deadweight MP can be ushered off to the Lords. Also, I think the parties got wise to the nuisance of by-elections, particularly for the Major government, which lost its majority through its MPs croaking.

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      The net result of this is that there is no reason for your parliamentarians not to be terrible.
      Of course, in our system, if you suggest that there should be some sort of more robust and accountable democratic process for reselecting candidates for the legislature, you are immediately accused of being a HARD-LEFT BULLY INTENT ON PURGING ALL OPPONENTS.

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        As long as you Start with Kate Hoey. Her brain is decaying.

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          And Frank Field and Graham Stringer.

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            By contrast, 80 year old Ann Clwyd has reinvented herself as a staunch Europhile in a Leave borough. If only there were a few more like that.

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              Anyway, this isn't a Brexit thread. Term limits – a good idea. In all circs.

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                I didn't realise that Trump had started going on about nato nations needing to pay.

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                  It's a reprise of one of his riffs from the campaign.

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                    The problem with his brain rotting is that he forgets that he had to stop talking about this.

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                      When he’s at these rallies, he can’t stop himself from playing the hits.

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                        It was one of the bigger themes around the first UN meeting in his presidency. It is something that there is no sense they will let go.

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                          For now I suppose, Europe has nowhere else to go. But outside of the madder Visegard States, no one has any faith left in the Americans. And Turkey definitely has somewhere else to go. Themselves and Iran could become best of enemies in an awkward Entente. A Turkey Russia Iran alliance for extra geopolitical shit stirring. EU align with China in some shit this is worse than NATO pact (imagine French protect your interests expertise being carried into the Chinese Spheres of Influence in Africa, and Pity the Continent), US left with Israel/Saudi/Egypt friends from Hell. And Mad Jack McMad in the Philippines. Britain shitting itself.
                          Last edited by Lang Spoon; 12-12-2017, 20:53.

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                            Well Europe is moving to set up an army. The scale of the damage Trump has done to the US's standing as unchallenged global hegemon is extraordinary. Putin got good value for his money there.

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                              A proper Army would need a unified foreign and defence policy. Malta, Cyprus, Hungary are fairly swimming in Russian hot money and shady arrangements. Even with Britain out the picture I can’t see there being enough cohesion among the 27 for it to be easy enough. To let the French do their thing when it comes to Africa and drape it in an EU flag, I can see that, but when there is an issue that divides the States, I think this would be very lucky to survive its first crisis.

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                                The scale of the damage Trump has done to the US's standing as unchallenged global hegemon is extraordinary.
                                Absolutely true and generally under-appreciated here. Even if he doesn’t finish his term, it will take at least a generation to remedy the damage (and may well not be possible at all)

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                                  Like how Jim Crow undermined anti-Communism, Trump destroys for decades any basis for the US being able to say, "Don't follow the Russians or Chinese, stick with the Good Guys."

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                                    That would be a positive outcome, I think.

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                                      Read today that bonuses paid out to corporation big whigs in the USA came to 24 billion, and that the combined wage of everyone in the USA in minimum wage comes to 14 billion.

                                      As Mark Blyth said, the Hamptons are not in a strategically defensible location.

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                                        Moore ahead in Alabama, but pundits saying wait for the city precincts.

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                                          Very close now, time to check out the Alabama recount laws ...

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                                            OK, based on my lifelong expertise (twenty minutes and counting) it seems there are no more Moore (arf) precincts left to count, so he's stuck. Jones will win.

                                            (edit: counties, not precincts. But still: it's the cities wot won it ...)

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                                              Automatic recount if the margin is less than half a percentage point.

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                                                Fox has called it for Jones

                                                Roll Tide

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                                                  Hell, I'll add a "War Eagle" as well. Lee County overwhelmingly voted for Jones.

                                                  I'll be damned --- can't wait for the repukes response --- especially from 45.

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                                                    Tax cuts might be harder to get through?

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