Cheater! #21 is a copy of #16 !

Basically what Loz says, it's a statistic to talk about. She did win more votes overall, but he won in the places where it mattered more.

26 Democrat congress people are boycotting the inauguration. I suspect more will follow.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38636136

Interesting topic--they are boycotting due to what Trump said about Lewis.
Lewis said: Trump is not a legitimate president-elect.
I would disagree
Trump said: Lewis is all talk, talk, talk - no action or results
I also disagree.
Trump said: Atlanta is in horrible shape, and falling apart, and crime infested.
I partially agree.
Overall I think it's kind of petty to boycott because of this.

I don't see it as petty and it's their choice to make, obviously. What I see is a bunch of political representatives questioning how attending would sit with their personal integrity. I bet there were people who boycotted Obama's first inauguration...but I can't find any reference to this on Google.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38636136

Oh please, this statement has been thoroughly debunked in the last several days. There is nothing fact-based to qualify John Lewis' district as more crime-ridden or in worse shape than others. Although we can probably infer where Trump got that idea from.

But I can see why Trump doesn't care about the Atlanta vote, it's metropolitan area in the South with an actual diversified economy that isn't clamoring for orange savior to open the local factory again.

I wonder if this thread will keep going until Friday?

Meanwhile:



http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-38635518

Tom

Atlanta has nice bits and ugly bits but I expect overall that it's no worse than other cities of comparable size.

I agree that it's petty to use that as an excuse to boycott his inauguration.

Trump didn't specify Atlanta at all, he broadly specified "inner-cities". Likely pointing to bastions of Democrats suffering high crime rates.

Atlanta is alright.

Somewhat unprofessional and immature, but I'll let their constituents decide.

I really guess this comes down to how you define falling apart or crime ridden. Is it the worst? far from it! but it's definitely closer to the negative end of the spectrum.
Just as Lewis' comments about believing that Trump only won the election through working with the Russians to destroy Clinton's campaign---it is arguable.


Now to have a congressman to be exempt from any criticism because of a strong history of racial battles--for me this is a petty reason to boycott the ceremony.

That was the 15 January backpedal. His original 14 January tweet, which is still up:

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results."

Sure, everything is arguable. IMO boycotting the inauguration because Trump is a shitstain of a human being is reason enough.

If somebody would say that honestly and up front I would take my hat off for them (and this although I disagree).

But hiding behind some constructed excuses is a bit cowardly, no?

Okay, thanks, in which case, bad call. I know the place. That would be around Interstate 20. There is a mixture of bad and great places there. That is right smack in the middle of the city.

Awful call on behalf of Trump, as well as Lewis. And they wonder why our country is divided. :roll eyes:

Fortunately, most people in the US choose not to be bitter and vindictive.

Fair enough, that's your opinion and probably the opinion of others as well.
Personally I've always found protest to be the lowest form of opinion.
For me, and hopefully for anyone else who has to work with him (aka congressmen), a better effort would be to respect the democratic process and find a middle ground to work together with those you despise and disagree with. Consensus.

I'm happy to see quite a few on trumps advisory who fit that description eg Elon Musk

If you don't want to come across as vindictive, you don't need to give a reason for not coming. You could say you couldn't get a babysitter or had an important appointment. Or just not give any reason at all. People can interpret into that what they like but any vindicitiveness that may or may not come up didn't come from you.

Quibbling over small details (crime statistic of one city) just comes across as just that .. quibbling.

Fortunately, we have a country where protest is a perfectly legitimate expression. I don't really mind it. In fact, it peeved me for the longest time that Americans were so complacent and did not protest enough.

Although they are directly responsible for how effective it is for their goals.

No Congressman is required to attend an inauguration, just like no presidential candidate is required to disclose his tax returns. The Russia connection allegations are very serious and if a member of Congress truly believes that where there's smoke, there's fire, I'd say it's more than reasonable to not consider him a legitimate President. If any of these allegation are substantiated in an investigation, Republicans will dump Trump like a sinking ship. Maybe John Lewis is just ahead of the curve.

My god, to think of the field day the Republican congress would have had with Obama if he had any scandals with an iota of the potential gravity that Trump does.

The boycotts began back in December, long before John Lewis announced his. Trump's reaction to that has been the last straw for some though it seems.