Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, GM Joe said:

I barely remember hearing about that thing back in the 80s, but apparently it's become some sort of menacing presence to the tinfoil hat set?? Yeesh.

 

Well, calling it "the American Stonehenge" immediately ties it to non-Christian beliefs, and if you're gonna buy that, calling it Satanic follows directly.

 

That part of the far right would be happiest to have a state religion, and the power to dictate ANY public display...monument, billboard, etc...or any media, be doctrinally compliant...and preferably go further, to assist in promoting Christianity and the Bible.

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

 

That part of the far right would be happiest to have a state religion, and the power to dictate ANY public display...monument, billboard, etc...or any media, be doctrinally compliant...and preferably go further, to assist in promoting Christianity and the Bible.

 

Saddest of all, what they promote isn't based on what's in the Bible and doesn't deserve to be called Christianity.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

47 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Saddest of all, what they promote isn't based on what's in the Bible and doesn't deserve to be called Christianity.

 

Not at all relevant as you're not one of the righteous....

[Ragitsu]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Saddest of all, what they promote isn't based on what's in the Bible and doesn't deserve to be called Christianity.

 

That text is fully capable of promoting either nice or nasty behavior.

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Ragitsu said:

 

That text is fully capable of promoting either nice or nasty behavior.

It is, but the people we’re talking about are especially notorious for cherry picking from the few parts of it they’ve actually read. 

[L. Marcus]

"Like the Devil reads the Bible," as they say.

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, Ragitsu said:

 

That text is fully capable of promoting either nice or nasty behavior.

 

Old Testament, sure. New Testament, i.e. what Christ and his disciples actually preached, not so much.

[Ragitsu]

38 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Old Testament, sure. New Testament, i.e. what Christ and his disciples actually preached, not so much.

 

People have sustained more on less.

[Cygnia]

What the hell is going on in this world?

 

Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, assassinated at a campaign stop

[Ragitsu]

Huh. Was he not nationalist enough or was he too nationalist?

[Hermit]

To quote Pogo "We have met the enemy, and he is us"

[death tribble]

In 1960 a socialist leader was assassinated in Japan by a right wing fanatic while he was speaking as part of a debate on fair elections.

[tkdguy]

On a more positive note President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people. Some of these medals are way overdue, IMO. Denzel Washington was unable to attend due to COVID and will receive his medal at a later date.

 

In other news, the President has signed an executive order protecting abortion rights.

[Tom Cowan]

Supreme Court gun ruling cited in bid to dismiss machine-gun indictment in Clay County case

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/courts/2022/07/07/citing-supreme-court-lawyers-try-get-clay-county-gun-case-dismissed/7819544001/

 

[Joe Walsh]

Guess we can't regulate nuclear weapons, either, since they didn't exist back in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was passed. Oh, well, I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll just pass a new amendment, right?

 

 

[Ragitsu]

This idea that US citizens should be limited to muskets continues to appreciate in value.

[unclevlad]

2 hours ago, GM Joe said:

Guess we can't regulate nuclear weapons, either, since they didn't exist back in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was passed. Oh, well, I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll just pass a new amendment, right?

 

 

 

While the rulings were bad enough, yes, the underpinnings of them are simply horrifying.  The Constitution says nothing about TV or radio or the Internet, so is the FCC even slightly legit?  Prescriptions didn't exist;  the smallpox vaccine was (checking)...developed in 1796.  And it was the first one, IIRC.

 

Next big scare is this:

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/independent-state-legislature-theory-explained

 

Because 4 of the current justices have said they favor the independent legislature theory.  Insane interpretation, IMO, as it asserts the state Supreme Court can't reverse the actions of the legislature.

 

And such a case is on the Court docket for the next term.  If the Court validates the theory, well...that might be the beginning of the end.  That puts us on a path that will likely lead to secession and/or civil war.

[Tom]

Not having read all the relevant documents, my understanding on the gun case was it struck down the New York law based on it being “may issue” as opposed to “shall issue”.

 

Assuming I haven’t been badly mislead, this would not invalidate the National Firearms Act of 1934 simply on the basis of what we would recognize as a “machine gun” was not specifically referenced by the framers (along with suppressors, short barreled rifles, sawed-off shotguns, and a few other things).

 

Which doesn’t mean there isn’t any “there” there.  The NFA requirement for transfers of the regulated items can be argued as being “may” authorize as opposed to “shall” authorize - which likely would run afoul of the SCOTUS ruling. 

 

 

[Cygnia]

 

[Pariah]

It's really strange. Growing up, I learned that the entire reason the colonists came to the Americas, specifically what would be the United States, was to get away from theocratic governments. Have I missed something?

[Cancer]

No, you're just another frog in the pot that's been being turned up a degree every half hour.

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

It's really strange. Growing up, I learned that the entire reason the colonists came to the Americas, specifically what would be the United States, was to get away from theocratic governments. Have I missed something?

 

I especially love it when they justify their theocratic government with "constitutional originalism".  Although I suppose that if they won't read the Bible, we could hardly expect them to read the Constitution.

[Joe Walsh]

18 hours ago, unclevlad said:

While the rulings were bad enough, yes, the underpinnings of them are simply horrifying.  The Constitution says nothing about TV or radio or the Internet, so is the FCC even slightly legit?  Prescriptions didn't exist;  the smallpox vaccine was (checking)...developed in 1796.  And it was the first one, IIRC.

 

Next big scare is this:

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/independent-state-legislature-theory-explained

 

Because 4 of the current justices have said they favor the independent legislature theory.  Insane interpretation, IMO, as it asserts the state Supreme Court can't reverse the actions of the legislature.

 

And such a case is on the Court docket for the next term.  If the Court validates the theory, well...that might be the beginning of the end.  That puts us on a path that will likely lead to secession and/or civil war.

 

Yeah, it's pretty grim stuff. The kind of stuff you'd expect media to be screaming from the rooftops. "Hey, everyone, they're going to send us back to the time before Silent Spring, before The Jungle, and even before Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Goodbye Great Society, goodbye New Deal, goodbye Progressive Era."

 

But, nope. When they talk about the import of these cases, it's with at best an air of resigned acceptance. "It's the Supreme Court! They gave themselves absolute power without any real accountability, just as the Founding Fathers intended [but didn't], so whattayagonnado?"

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Honestly...State Rights to me has always been BS. Federal law should always trump it. We're one country. Are we going to a time where I'll be married in one state and not married in another? How backwards can we get?

[BoloOfEarth]

5 minutes ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

How backwards can we get?

 

Don't tempt the GOP.  I'm sure they'd love to show us.