Breaking the illusion of a 2 party system

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[–] 13 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

I think it would probably be shocking for us to see what actually was going on behind closed doors in the 1950s in the U.S.

Edit: my guess would be the 1870s and 1880s as most corrupt?

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  • [–] 26 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    So Trump is right saying that Obama is an idiot? Well, that was unexpected...

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  • [+] -1 points 1 month ago (2 children)
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    [–] 14 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    What did he actually say/ mean?

    My bet is that this is once again a statement generalized/taken out of context to push ones agenda.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Obama argued that reforms that reduced patronage and other forms of political dealing also stripped away some of the transactional tools lawmakers once used to build coalitions.

    He pointed to former President Lyndon B. Johnson's era, saying reforms before and after Watergate "eliminated or greatly reduced" the ability of political machines to trade votes and favors. "It's part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication...to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there," he said.

    Reality check: Obama was talking specifically about bribery, patronage and favors. Polls asking Americans whether government corruption is "widespread" capture a much broader perception, making the two measures difficult to compare.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Remember when we were naive enough to think he'd reverse all those George Dubbya policies?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    I remember arguing with people in 2008 who insisted he was the most liberal candidate, which he wasn't. Ronald Reagan was one of his idols, FFS.

    People saw a charming black man and then put all their hopes and aspirations onto him without actually realizing what he was about. In a sense he was very Trump like in that regard. He was a walking horoscope for his supporters. He didn't have to say anything concrete, the followers would dutifully fill in the blanks.

    Hell, I still like Obama. He's a pretty decent guy, but he was not going to disabuse people of their inaccurate notions of him.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 month ago

    Paywalled, but I'm sure this was taken out of context.

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  • 12 comments in c/usa@lemmy.ml view that post
    [–] 14 points 1 month ago

    Driving the news: "People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it's ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors," Obama said in an episode of his newly launched podcast, "A Great Book with Barack Obama."

    The six-episode series, in which Obama sits down with celebrities and public figures to discuss famous books, premiered on Amazon's Audible platform Thursday.
    
    In the third episode, he speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore about Robert Penn Warren's 1946 novel "All the King's Men."
    

    Between the lines: Obama argued that reforms that reduced patronage and other forms of political dealing also stripped away some of the transactional tools lawmakers once used to build coalitions.

    He pointed to former President Lyndon B. Johnson's era, saying reforms before and after Watergate "eliminated or greatly reduced" the ability of political machines to trade votes and favors.
    "It's part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication...to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there," he said.
    

    Reality check: Obama was talking specifically about bribery, patronage and favors. Polls asking Americans whether government corruption is "widespread" capture a much broader perception, making the two measures difficult to compare.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago

    Barry, what are you even talking about? ARE YOU SEEING THIS SHIT?!

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  • [–] 10 points 1 month ago

    Mental decline in old age is sad to see. 😔

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    The only way this isn't the clown-car-est universe is if he's saying this to bait trump into bragging about more corruption.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Well this is FUN i.e. Fully Unhinged Non-sequitur.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    God I hate Obama with every fiber of my fucking being. What an evil man he is.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (3 children)

    Does anyone have a non-paywall link? I want to read the whole quote to accurately gauge how insane he is.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    https://archive.ph/CcyMR

    People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it's ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors

    Its a quote from this podcast: https://www.audible.com/about/newsroom/president-barack-obama-to-host-a-great-book-on-audible

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  • I love how this fucking clown is the libs' god 🤦‍♂️

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  • [–] 0 points 1 month ago

    That cause no more government Till next week

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