The apex of journalism, right there
I strongly disagree with this interpretation of the parliamentarian.
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Surprised to learn a bipartisan group of lawmakers (including Sens. Menendez and Graham) visited Taiwan in April.
A different group led by Tammy Duckworth visited in May.
Making a big deal about Pelosi visiting seems like transparent bullshit. Why now?
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why is nancy going or why are certain people getting their jimmies rustled this time?
I have no idea what the upside is other than to probe Xiās response, the answer to the second question is pretty obvious.
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China is in the middle of an epic housing meltdown, people are pissed about COVID lockdowns and he wants to whip up nationalist fervor? This playbook should look familiar to USAians
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https://twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/1554482274430844928?s=21&t=ExWnEH-pxI7-GmcZoLOVIg
https://twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/1554482290050342915?s=21&t=ExWnEH-pxI7-GmcZoLOVIg
China agreed to accept some conditions, as is stipulated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, such as the drafting and adoption of Hong Kongās āmini-constitutionā Basic Law before its return. The Hong Kong Basic Law ensured that Hong Kong will retain its capitalist economic system and own currency (the Hong Kong Dollar), legal system, legislative system, and same human rights and freedoms, as a special administrative region (SAR) of China for 50 years.
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Iām not saying they didnāt make promises, but they didnāt have to make promises and it was silly to expect them to keep any promises they made.
Ultra short term minded capitalists : weāll sign an agreement that holds for 50 years thatās basically forever I canāt imagine 50 years into the future.
5000 year old Chinese state : yeah, weāll waitā¦
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Why wouldnāt they? The mainland has a capitalist economic system too.
Not sure what you mean by they didnāt have to make promises. Their two options were to negotiate a treaty with the UK, or to take back Hong Kong by force, which they threatened to do and Thatcher acknowledged the UK couldnāt prevent. But if they went the treaty route, they did have to make promises.
This isnāt an interpretation, itās taken directly from the Senate website:
As a staff official, neither parliamentarian is empowered to make decisions that are binding on the House or Senate. The parliamentarians and their deputies/assistants only offer advice that the presiding Representative or Senator may accept or reject;
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS20544
This article spells out exactly what these grifting cowards are doing:
Many leftists suspect that what the Democratic leadership is doing right now is similar ā playing a ārotating villain gameā where they let various figures take the blame for not passing important reforms. Sometimes itās Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Sometimes itās the parliamentarian. But these obstacles arenāt really why the Democratic leadership isnāt passing these reforms. They just donāt want to ā or at least they donāt want it enough.
That sounds cynical, but in this case, the truth is even worse. Itās not that Democrats are using the fact that they canāt do something they donāt want to do as an excuse. The more we look at the actual legal status and powers of the Senate parliamentarian, the more the real situation starts to look like this:
Black points his finger at Jones and says, āThis is a gun. If you donāt do what I say, Iāll shoot you!ā Jones grins from ear to ear and says, āIn that case, I better do what you say!ā
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Oh really? Hereās what the GOP does when they donāt agree with the parlimentarian.
So yes, itās another rule that only one party abides by.
The UK could only retain their colonialist control of Hong Kong by force and they chose to negotiate instead.
rotating villain is exactly whatās happening here. this bill has no chance.
i dont know why we act so surprised our politicians are owned by corporate interests when we allow them to take unlimited money from them practically without oversight.
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Vote harder imo
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The office of the parliamentarian exists for good reasons.
gonna make a prediction that by 2026 āvote harderā is gonna be a macabre meme once even the illusion of fair elections is gone
Itās very easy to imagine China redefining modern warfare when you consider what American rebels did vs the British military.