Cygnia Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 DShomshak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Well, no surprise that in 240 years a litigious people should have already considered the constitutionality of secession... The problems of state-by-state dissolution of the Union are well described, but I think there's something to be said for limited forms of 'soft secession.' My favorite scheme would let individual counties declare themselves quasi-states on the South African "homeland" model -- nominal sovereignty while having no control over their defense or economy. These "Albistans" could be legally Straight White Christian only, since so much of MAGA grievance seems to be loss of acknowledged racial, sectarian and cultural hegemony. They can also do without those nanny-state features that offend their peoples' sense of heroic self-reliance, and the rest of us don't have to feel guilty if this results in starvation or plague. Corporations can also exploit them for non-union labor, if that's how the albistanis roll. (But be careful to draw up the charters of quasi-secession so companies can't use them as tax havens.) Most importantly, Albistanis lose any right to vote in national elections, leaving the rest of the US to chart a more progressive path. Failing that, the easiest way to unzip the USA is through sale of territory to other countries. The US grew by buying tracts from other countries; it can shrink the same way. If Trump wins the Presidency again, it might be a good idea for urban governments to petition to be bought by, say, Canada. Trump might love to be the broker of "THE GREATEST REAL ESTATE DEAL IN HISTORY!!!!!" while bidding farewell to most of the people who voted against him. The rural, rump Unites States of Real America can then hold a constitutional convention to make him President for Life, or Emperor, or whatever. The USRA would lose maybe half its population and more than half its economy, but at least the righteous Real Americans would be rid of people like me. We'd be Canadian, and I for one would be glad of it. As for blather of civil war: It doesn't seem impossible to me, but what's so mind-blowing is the lack of substantive issues on the MAGA side. Slavery gave the Confederate States abundant grounds for secession: It wasn't just a "peculiar institution," like, I don't know, Austtralians and Vegemite. It was integral to their economy and the wealth of its ruling class. Rational, in a deeply unpleasant way. But studies show MAGA isn't suffering economically (though many of them think they should be wealthier). They aren't being robbed to support the elites; rather, the liberal and urbanized states are subsidizing conservative and rural. Nobody is forcing MAGA to worship in particular ways; merely that they can't force their faith on others. The Constitution's setup means they are in no danger of being steamrollered politically. The grievances seem to be all cultural: the rest of us no longer accept their dominance. If it happens, it'll be a Seinfeld civil war, fought about nothing. Dean Shomshak L. Marcus, Old Man and Pariah 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Jury Awards E. Jean Carroll Over $80 Million In Case Against Trump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 The BBC had that as well. The punitive damages are over 3 times loss of earnings and that is sending a message. Or so it seems to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 On 1/25/2024 at 10:39 PM, Lord Liaden said: Could you cite a source? Local radio news. I'll see if I can find a second source. OK, here you go, from a TX newspaper site: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/24/texas-border-wire-supreme-court/ Quote The Texas National Guard and state troopers are still rolling out concertina wire and preventing Border Patrol agents from accessing most of Shelby Park, a 47-acre Eagle Pass park that sits on the bank of the Rio Grande where thousands of migrants have crossed. Seems like Abbot is using his state police and NG troops to block Border Patrol access to the park. Lord Liaden 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 And it's getting worse. https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-standoff-border-shelby-park-greg-abbott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iuz the Evil Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 Pretty decent legal summary on the whole Texas border thing. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/27/politics/texas-border-supreme-court-what-matters/index.html It’ll likely keep going on in one way or another for a bit yet. Old Man, Ternaugh, unclevlad and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1222539335/banned-books-high-school A secret collection of banned books for students. In Texas, no surprise, though I expect it could be needed in at least a dozen other states. At least it shows that books still matter. Dean Shomshak Cygnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 The books are the focal point, but the issue is the right to think independently, rather than within ultra-narrow doctrinal-conformist boundaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 The bitter irony is that the people who want their children to learn only one way of understanding the world, consider exposing them to multiple ways to be brainwashing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 I have to say, I find this particular insight pretty compelling. Ternaugh, DShomshak and tkdguy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Transgender People in Florida Face Having Their Driver's Licenses Revoked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 (edited) Kynoch also wrote that the term "gender" does not refer "to a person's internal sense of his or her gender role or identification, but has historically and commonly been understood as a synonym for 'sex,' which is determined by innate and immutable biological and genetic characteristics." Good God, man, look in a dictionary sometime! "The male sex or the female sex, especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones, or one of a range of other identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female." (Oxford Dictionary) Florida is in a time warp to the 1950s. 🙄 Edited January 31 by Lord Liaden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 There’s a good chance that book is on the banned list. It surely contains words like “homosexuality” and “transgender”. Lord Liaden 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/us/politics/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.R00.nEdD.uJpCOBtclluJ&bgrp=a&smid=url-share Cygnia and Ternaugh 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 I've got bad news for MAGA folks who want the Niners to win because Taylor Swift is rooting for the Chiefs. It doesn't matter. The 49ers have Gavin Newsom. Remember he was Mayor of San Francisco before he was Governor of California. So regardless of the outcome, Woke wins, and MAGA loses! 😜 Tom Cowan, L. Marcus, Lord Liaden and 3 others 3 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcw43921 Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 And I don't have a problem with that! tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 Oh lordy, the irony! We don't need to mention Newsom per se...it's SAN FRANISCO!!! One of the hubs of gay culture in the country. World Population Review (and some others) rank it as the #1 most liberal city in the country. THAT is what they choose to root for??? The mind...boggles................ TrickstaPriest and tkdguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickstaPriest Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 4 minutes ago, unclevlad said: Oh lordy, the irony! We don't need to mention Newsom per se...it's SAN FRANISCO!!! One of the hubs of gay culture in the country. World Population Review (and some others) rank it as the #1 most liberal city in the country. THAT is what they choose to root for??? The mind...boggles................ Pure reactionary politics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 Cognitive dissonance is deeply ingrained in the MAGA movement by this point. They refuse, on a reflexive level, to see the contradictions in the positions they've been told to espouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 I will say, MAGA is so easily triggered, the Biden team should exploit this by copying Trump's own tactics: Keep tossing out shiny new outrages to chase, and so command the news cycle, pushing other subjects -- including their hero Trump -- off the front page. When they make everything a conspiracy tied to Biden, they implicitly declare that Biden is powerful, that he matters. While also reminding the non-insane portion of the electorate how crazy Trump and MAGA are. Now, what would be some good new shiny outrages...? Hm. Maybe have the Press Secretary mention Joe Biden's favorite vegetable. But really, they just need to throw out lots of random information and let MAGA invent its own connections. Dean Shomshak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 44 minutes ago, DShomshak said: I will say, MAGA is so easily triggered, the Biden team should exploit this by copying Trump's own tactics: Keep tossing out shiny new outrages to chase, and so command the news cycle, pushing other subjects -- including their hero Trump -- off the front page. When they make everything a conspiracy tied to Biden, they implicitly declare that Biden is powerful, that he matters. While also reminding the non-insane portion of the electorate how crazy Trump and MAGA are. Now, what would be some good new shiny outrages...? Biden would look great in a tan suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 1 hour ago, DShomshak said: While also reminding the non-insane portion of the electorate how crazy Trump and MAGA are. Dean Shomshak Have any of them forgotten how crazy he is? Or the degree of irrationality his core supporters show so often? But perhaps from time to time...altho Trump and MAGA certainly manage to demonstrate it with regularity. I think part of the problem is desensitization. On a side note...from the Meidas Touch vid about the amicus brief in the 14th amendment case...huh, well...maybe there's more hope the SC will declare Trump an insurrectionist. Enough so that...mmmmm...IF!!! they disqualify Trump...I think the large bottle (750 ml) of either Chimay Gold or Cinq Cents will definitely be an appropriate way to celebrate. I'd say Champagne, but I don't know if I can get a decent bottle here. I do know where to get the Chimay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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