Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Ragitsu]

1 hour ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

Underestimating Trump and Republicans in general is what got us to this point to begin with....

Too much laughing.

[archer]

7 hours ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

Underestimating Trump and Republicans in general is what got us to this point to begin with....

 

They are a threat.

 

I don't think this contract will be a threat on any level during the mid-term elections.

[Pariah]

Typical GOP thinking. "Hey, it worked 25 years ago, let's do it again!"

[Old Man]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

Typical GOP thinking. "Hey, it worked 25 years ago, let's do it again!"

To be honest I’m not sure it’d be any less effective today. 

[Lord Liaden]

5 hours ago, Pariah said:

Typical GOP thinking. "Hey, it worked 25 years ago, let's do it again!"

 

1 hour ago, Old Man said:

To be honest I’m not sure it’d be any less effective today. 

 

It is a whole new generation to not have learned from the past, and plenty of time for the previous generation to have forgotten it...

 

17 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

The "something" you're looking for is the stolen 2020 presidential election.  That's how the GOP plans to override elections at the state level in 2024 (if not 2022).  They're already laying the groundwork with the election fraudits in Arizona and Georgia (so far) and direct legislative control over election certification in a number of other states.

 

Arizona voting bill fails in the House, with 2 Republicans crossing party lines

 

By no means indicative of a trend, but suggestive that Republican-dominated state legislatures may not give those efforts a smooth ride.

[Pariah]

She announced last week that she's running for Governor next year.

 

With Idaho governor out of state, lieutenant governor bans mask mandates

[archer]

About these "election security" bills.

 

< rant on >

 

I absolutely don't mind the "you have to have an ID and show the ID to vote", which has been a hobby-horse for conservatives for decades before Trump ever raised his ugly head in Republican politics.

 

IMO everyone should be registered to vote and should be registered to vote at only one address so an ID requirement doesn't bother me.

 

Make the ID free and make the state come to the person's home to make him/her/other an ID (if he doesn't already have one). And make the state come at the convenience of the voter whatever time of day that happens to be. (Sure, offer to pick him up and bring him into the office first or pay for an Uber during office hours. But when all else fails, go to him. Working odd hours or not having transportation to go get the ID should never be an obstacle.)

 

The restriction to the voter of voter ID's comes when the state makes you go through hell to get an ID, whether it makes you show an impossible number of other ID's in order to get a state ID or whether the state ID's are only given out in certain locations and certain times which make it highly inconvenient for a potential voter to get one.

 

Actually carrying that ID, after you get it, to the polls on election day is not any kind of significant restriction to the voter. If the ID is lost/stolen on election day, let the person do a provisional ballot, take his photograph to keep conservatives from gasping in horror at someone voting without an ID, and call it good.

 

I personally think Democrats should push that as a compromise on the state level in every state.

 

It'd defang a lot of the "elections aren't secure" chatter/concerns that have been around for decades and make the Democrats part of "securing elections" rather leaving that as a Republicans-only issue.

 

And it'd not allow some common sense low-key "voter ID" concerns be a smoke screen to allow Republicans to push for draconian anti-voter legislation.

[TrickstaPriest]

On 5/28/2021 at 2:20 PM, archer said:

And it'd not allow some common sense low-key "voter ID" concerns be a smoke screen to allow Republicans to push for draconian anti-voter legislation.

 

Unfortunately the current R strategy seems to be to slam bills out to exhaust D's resources stopping the most horrific stuff so they can make room to seize politics (via voter laws) en masse:

 

https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/proposed-ohio-bill-would-prohibit-requiring-vaccinations-masks/

 

Literally a 'we are going to force bills that you have to stop or the bills will **** the country over, so then we can pass bills that will let us seize control of the political apparatus legally'

[Pariah]

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Senate Republicans block commission to study Capitol riot of Jan. 6.

 

Notable GOP dissenters include some familiar names: Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Portman, Romney, and Sasse.

 

Nothing to see here, really.

[Sociotard]

[Quote]"I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here?" one attendee asked, prompting loud applause from the crowd.

"No reason. I mean, it should happen here," Michael Flynn said.[/quote]

 

https://www.newsweek.com/michael-flynn-says-coup-like-myanmar-should-happen-america-1596248

[Pariah]

19 minutes ago, Sociotard said:

[Quote]"I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here?" one attendee asked, prompting loud applause from the crowd.

"No reason. I mean, it should happen here," Michael Flynn said.[/quote]

 

https://www.newsweek.com/michael-flynn-says-coup-like-myanmar-should-happen-america-1596248

 

For those who might still be confused, this is what actual treason looks like.

[Lectryk]

40 minutes ago, Pariah said:

 

For those who might still be confused, this is what actual treason looks like.

 

Um, no.  Not at all.  Treason has a very defined meaning under the law.  Expressing an opinion, no matter how misguided you may feel it is, or how much you disagree with, isn't treason.  It may be argued to be a lot of things (misstated, misguided, incendiary, etc) but it is nowhere near treason.   

 

[Sociotard]

That's the whole reason Treason is defined in the Constitution. It used to be common to accuse anyone opposing the kings agenda of treason. So, they defined it in the Constitution, where it would be hard to change.

 

Still, saying there should be a coup is pretty awful.

[TrickstaPriest]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

For those who might still be confused, this is what actual treason looks like.

 

2 hours ago, Sociotard said:

Still, saying there should be a coup is pretty awful.

 

To elaborate my own thoughts - this is not legal/Constitution treason, but the clear rabble-rousing to legitimize a military coup looks pretty bad (speaks to intent), especially when the motivations are wholly political satisfaction.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

What amazes me is the amount of people in the country that openly support authoritarian fascism. It's insulting and frightening at the same time.

[Old Man]

3 minutes ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

What amazes me is the amount of people in the country that openly support authoritarian fascism. It's insulting and frightening at the same time.

 

It amazed me too, but I'm done underestimating the depths to which corrupt American politicians, and the people who support them, will sink.  I'm just trying to get my elected representatives to come to the same realization.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

14 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

It amazed me too, but I'm done underestimating the depths to which corrupt American politicians, and the people who support them, will sink.  I'm just trying to get my elected representatives to come to the same realization.

 

Sadly, I don't think that's possible. Meaningful bipartisan governance in America is dead, but the Dems continue to act as if it is still possible. That's why they always lose. They want to do things in the perceived "proper way"  while the Reps just care about winning. Guess who is having better results? The side that plays to win. Victory is perceived as strength. And Americans perceive strength as being needed to "fix" the country. That's why Reps can literally do just about anything...no matter how heinous....and it doesn't matter...as long as they are victorious. Remember Deep Space Nine?  "Victory is Life!" At this point, I'm more worried about this old adage... "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Do we really want to be a country that has so much in common with Nazi Germany? I sure as hell don't.

[unclevlad]

To be precise, Flynn's statement isn't treason;  it may, however, be sedition.  I have to leave it as "may" only because his phrasing doesn't necessarily rise to the level.  From FindLaw:

 

Quote

Sedition is a serious felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison and it refers to the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it.

 

So was Flynn inciting revolt or just blowing smoke?

 

That said, I think most of us agree with Pariah's overall sentiment, because Flynn's at the root of a faction that WOULD consider revolt, we believe.

[wcw43921]

I imagine that like all elitists, they think they will be the ones in charge, and they will get to do whatever they want and injure/kill whomever they want without consequence.  That would seem to be why they are so fond of their guns.

 

[unclevlad]

So yesterday, as the players were walking off after the Nets pretty much thrashed the Celtics, some stupid moron threw a non-empty bottle of water at Kyrie Irving of the Nets...formerly of the Celtics.  Yeah, Irving's rep in Boston is only marginally better than LeBron's is in Cleveland.  The whole thing was caught on video.  The kid was cuffed and removed.  

 

So today, the kid, who's 21 and white, got charged with a felony-level assault and battery charge.

 

Now, ok, I'm not gonna be surprised if this was a tactical move to drive a plea deal, and I'd be fine with that too.  But I think it's a sign of a general shift where actions like this are not tolerated, in light of Black Lives Matter and Jan. 6th both.

[Pattern Ghost]

1 hour ago, wcw43921 said:

 

 

 

Hey! Where'd you get my family Christmas picture!?

[unclevlad]

1 minute ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

Hey! Where'd you get my family Christmas picture!?

 

I thought it was the cast shot from Animal Kingdom....

[archer]

Democrats stopped the anti-voting legislation from getting passed in the Texas state legislature by staging a last minute walkout.

 

The session of the state legislature expired so the bill won't get voted on until next session.

 

The governor has said he's going to call a special session of the legislature just to consider this legislation, which is his right.

 

He's also saying he's going to suspend pay for the legislators since they aren't doing their job (essentially doing a line item veto to erase funding for the legislature).

 

Interesting back and forth. At the very least, it buys time for the public pressure to mount against the legislation before it actually gets voted upon.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

2 hours ago, archer said:

Democrats stopped the anti-voting legislation from getting passed in the Texas state legislature by staging a last minute walkout.

 

The session of the state legislature expired so the bill won't get voted on until next session.

 

The governor has said he's going to call a special session of the legislature just to consider this legislation, which is his right.

 

He's also saying he's going to suspend pay for the legislators since they aren't doing their job (essentially doing a line item veto to erase funding for the legislature).

 

Interesting back and forth. At the very least, it buys time for the public pressure to mount against the legislation before it actually gets voted upon.

 

They ARE doing their job...opposing anti democratic legislation.

[Pariah]

5 hours ago, archer said:

He's also saying he's going to suspend pay for the legislators since they aren't doing their job (essentially doing a line item veto to erase funding for the legislature).

 

By this definition, most of the Republican members of the Senate should not have drawn a paycheck between about 2013 and the present.