Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Armitage]

3 hours ago, Ranxerox said:

 

It is illegal to make false statements to the House of Representatives?  Why aren't they all in jail?

 

It's illegal to make false statements to the House of Representatives, not in the House of Representatives.

 

A complaint was also filed today asserting that the treasurer hired to handle his campaign funds, and legally required by the FEC, doesn't actually exist.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Armitage

[Cygnia]

Fringe GOP presidential candidate wants to unconstitutionally raise voting age to 25

[Pattern Ghost]

1 hour ago, Cygnia said:

Fringe GOP presidential candidate wants to unconstitutionally raise voting age to 25

 

I feel compelled to point out that changing the Constitution is not unconstitutional. It's a feature. The guy wants to enact an amendment to modify a prior amendment. Doesn't seem well considered, TBH. He probably read Starship Troopers and thought "neat idea!"

 

[Iuz the Evil]

1 hour ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

I feel compelled to point out that changing the Constitution is not unconstitutional. It's a feature. The guy wants to enact an amendment to modify a prior amendment. Doesn't seem well considered, TBH. He probably read Starship Troopers and thought "neat idea!"

 

“Service guarantees citizenship, would you like to know more?”

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Iuz the Evil

[BoloOfEarth]

3 hours ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

I feel compelled to point out that changing the Constitution is not unconstitutional. It's a feature. The guy wants to enact an amendment to modify a prior amendment. Doesn't seem well considered, TBH. He probably read Starship Troopers and thought "neat idea!"

 

 

So, a quick check online doesn't see him doing any military or civil service from age 18-25.  Just sayin'.  

[unclevlad]

Yeah, I gotta go with PG here.  The gross misstatement in the headline is unforgivable.

 

Article in Politico says even his staff thinks it's a terrible idea, so my feeling is, it's largely trolling the voters, just trying to get some buzz.  No such thing as bad publicity, right?  It's gotten him attention.

[Sociotard]

US Senator Tommy Tuberville said the Biden administration is "destroying" the military by trying to root out the racists and extremists. He said, "I call them Americans."

 

He is also known for obstructing military promotions in protest over Biden's abortion policy.

[archer]

On 5/9/2023 at 2:54 PM, BoloOfEarth said:

So, does this put Trump on the list of sex offenders for New York?

https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/nsor/faq.htm

 

2. Who must register as a sex offender?

Anyone who was on parole or probation or incarcerated for a sex offense on January 21, 1996, must register as a sex offender with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services ("DCJS"). In addition, offenders convicted of a sex offense on or after that date, or sentenced to probation, local jail, or state prison after that date, must register upon returning to the community.

 

So yeah, since this was a civil case Trump technically under NY law wasn't convicted of a sex offense.

Edited May 12, 2023 by archer

[unclevlad]

If there was to be a civics exam to be eligible to vote...what kind of requirement should be in place to be eligible to run for Congress?

[archer]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:12 PM, Cygnia said:

Who was stupid enough to actually leave a paper trail and get caught.

 

And he might have gotten away with it if not for all those years when he was a body double for Che Guevera...at least that's what his Twitter claims.

[archer]

11 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

If there was to be a civics exam to be eligible to vote...what kind of requirement should be in place to be eligible to run for Congress?

 

US Civics exam.

 

Recent history of countries of the world focusing mainly on hot spots, major allies, and major potential enemies.

 

IQ test.

 

US geography focusing on how it affects politics (like which states which have large swathes owned by the federal government rather than owned privately, major watersheds and which states they run through, states which have fishing as a major industry and which fish, states with offshore oil drills, states with proposed offshore oil drills, states with offshore wind power, etc.) 

 

Basic general sciences test.

 

Personally I'd like those to exist as an absolute requirement for each candidate to take and with the scores made available to the public so candidates could be compared to each other. I wouldn't make getting a low score disqualify the person from holding the office, this is more for exposing the idiots and morons for what they are and letting the public see who is the better (non-idiot) choice.

 

And let the voters decide which of those tests are more important to them.

 

Personally I'd rather have a person of average intelligence who has bothered to educate themselves on civics, history, geography, and science than to have someone whose IQ shows them to be a genius but they haven't bothered to learn anything with their supposed genius. Because if they haven't bothered to learn when they're at least a couple of decades on in life, they're probably going to continue to not bother to learn if they get into office.

 

 

Lastly, a cognitive test like they do for dementia and mental problems (that might seem redundant but if you have a high IQ and have an interest in the specific areas covered by the other tests, you can pass those tests with flying colors despite having mental problems).

 

I would make failing the cognitive test disqualifying from continuing to run for office. Many people can function adequately with mild dementia and/or memory problems. But they can't function at a consistent level with those problems. And working well with other people (peers or subordinates) who don't have such problems can be a real chore for those other people.

 

Can't remember what you're told, when you were told it, who told it to you, and whether or not what you were told was supposed to be confidential or not? Sorry, you have no business being in office. if testing shows there's someone in the race without those problems.

[Cancer]

Unfortunately, all that smells way too much like the old "literacy tests" that were used to keep blacks from voting, and were declared unconstitutional a while back.  I appreciate the sentiment in the arguments you make, but local power structures will always enforce things like this in order to maintain their own power.

[Sociotard]

I would like to have presidential candidates do a multiple choice scantron that exclusively covered material in their presidential briefings.

[Ternaugh]

1 hour ago, Cancer said:

Unfortunately, all that smells way too much like the old "literacy tests" that were used to keep blacks from voting, and were declared unconstitutional a while back.  I appreciate the sentiment in the arguments you make, but local power structures will always enforce things like this in order to maintain their own power.

 

Military and first responders tend to skew conservative, as well.

 

It would, however, block many college students, who skew more liberal. And as Cancer notes, it would essentially be a literacy test that would be hard for many to pass, especially with the changes to education that are being made in red states.

[DShomshak]

"The Daily" explains what the 14th Amendment has to do with the debt limit impasse, the Constitutional crisis and financial upheaval that would happen if Biden invoked it, and how Congressional Republicans could retaliate even if the gambit worked.

 

The second-most-frightening thing said was that some Republicans say they want the government to default on its bills. The host and guest say they think that either these Republicans are just pretending to be crazy as a brinksmanship tactic, or they don't understand the consequences of a default. I am not so confident.

 

(Most frightening: That Republicans could retaliate by blocking appropriations bills, so as the defund the government. But nobody'd be that  crazy, right? I'm not confident about that, either.)

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/podcasts/the-daily/biden-debt-ceiling.html

 

Dean Shomshak

[Old Man]

45 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

The second-most-frightening thing said was that some Republicans say they want the government to default on its bills. The host and guest say they think that either these Republicans are just pretending to be crazy as a brinksmanship tactic, or they don't understand the consequences of a default. I am not so confident.

 

(Most frightening: That Republicans could retaliate by blocking appropriations bills, so as the defund the government. But nobody'd be that  crazy, right? I'm not confident about that, either.)

 

1. Rich people aren't really hurt by recessions.  If you have enough capital, recessions are a great opportunity to buy distressed assets at fire sale prices.

2. Authoritarians almost always engineer crises that they can leverage to seize power.

 

Unfortunately there isn't much you can do to prepare for the default.  It would wreck the global economy so there's nowhere to put your money; there won't even be a market for gold. 

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, DShomshak said:

"The Daily" explains what the 14th Amendment has to do with the debt limit impasse, the Constitutional crisis and financial upheaval that would happen if Biden invoked it, and how Congressional Republicans could retaliate even if the gambit worked.

 

The second-most-frightening thing said was that some Republicans say they want the government to default on its bills. The host and guest say they think that either these Republicans are just pretending to be crazy as a brinksmanship tactic, or they don't understand the consequences of a default. I am not so confident.

 

(Most frightening: That Republicans could retaliate by blocking appropriations bills, so as the defund the government. But nobody'd be that  crazy, right? I'm not confident about that, either.)

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/podcasts/the-daily/biden-debt-ceiling.html

 

Dean Shomshak

 

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

[Lord Liaden]

Kevin McCarthy understands what would happen if the government defaults, at least the basics. And he plans to blame Biden. If the budget the GOP in the House put forth actually passes the Senate and Biden were to sign it (both very unlikely), that would seriously degrade every government program from pensions to the military, causing much suffering. McCarthy knows that too, and he plans to blame Biden. The House GOP are holding Americans' financial security hostage and gambling that enough Americans are sufficiently ignorant, deluded, and/or stupid to not realize that the debt ceiling is an artificial construct, the debt ceiling and the budget are two completely separate issues, and this crisis is 100% manufactured by the Republicans to try to leverage suffering into a return to power.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

 

"Be careful what you wish for.  You might get it."

[Ternaugh]

Mailer number four for not-a-candidate DeSantis, so about every four business days. He's still not backing down, apparently.

 

 

Oh, well. At least the post office gets some revenue.

[Sociotard]

De-mining fields with an RC tractor. (or do we call it a drone tractor?)

 

 

I said earlier that if I saw anymore awesome Ukrainian tractor stories (after stealing Russian equipment and pulling light rail during a power outage) I'd make Ukrainian Tractor Guy a Dark Champions character. So here you go, Victor Tractorvich drove tanks in the Red Army just before the Soviet Union collapsed. Between that and decades on his family farm there's no equipment he can't work on. Killdozer? Don't tempt him.

 

Val    Char    Cost    Roll    Notes
15    STR    5    12-    200kg, 3d6
13    DEX    9    12-    Base CV: 4
13    CON    6    12-    
11    BOD    2    11-    
18    INT    8    13-    PER Roll: 13-
8    EGO    -4    11-    Base ECV: 3
13    PRE    3    12-    
10    COM    0    11-    
                
5    PD    2        
5    ED    2        
3    SPD    7        Phases: 4, 8, 12
8    REC    4        
40    END    7        
37    STN    11        

Cost    Skills
3    Combat Driving
4    2 Penalty Skill Levels for inadquate supplies for Mechanics
3    Hoist (Tow) 13-
3    Electronics 13-
5    Mechanics 14-
3    Computer Programming 13-
2    Gambling: Chess
2    AK: Kyiv oblast
2    KS: Russian Literature (and other former Soviet countries)
2    KS: Russian Military Equipment 11-
2    KS: Diesel Engines 11-
4    PS: Farming 14- (INT)
2    SS: Drone Controls / remote robotics 11-
2    SS: Agronomy 11-
0    Ukrainian (Native)
3    Russian (Idiomatic, Native Accent)
1    English (Basic Conversation)
5    Transport Familiarity (Common Motorized Ground Vehicles ; Construction and Agricultural Vehicles ; Tracked Military Vehicles ; Wheeled Military Vehicles)
8    Weapon Familiarity (Small Arms ; General Purpose/Heavy Machine Guns ; Shoulder-Fired Weapons ; Emplaced Weapons ; Tank Weapons)
2    Weaponsmith (Firearms, Advanced) 13-
2    Survival (Temperate)
    
    Perks
2    Landowner Money ($200,000/year)
1    Problemsolver Reputation (Kyiv oblast countryside, 11-)
    
    Talents
5    Unimpressed (+10 PRE (20 Active) only to Protect Against Presence Attacks (-1).
20    Action Hero's Luck (Luck 4d6)
    
-75    Disadvantages
-5    Age (40+)
-15    Chain Smoker Addiction (Must smoke cigarette at least once per hour or suffer Incompetence) (Very Common, Addiction)
-15    Babushka DNPC 11- (Mother-in-Law) Normal
-15    Functional Alcoholic Psychological Limitation Very Common, Moderate
-10    Helpful Psychological Limitation (Compulsively Volunteers, it bugs him to see problems unsolved) Common, Moderate
-15    Bad Back Physical Limitation (Each day he works on a Mechanics project, or other physical work, for more than four hours he must make a CON roll or spend 24 hours in bed) Uncommon, Fully

Edited May 13, 2023 by Sociotard

[archer]

12 hours ago, DShomshak said:

"The Daily" explains what the 14th Amendment has to do with the debt limit impasse, the Constitutional crisis and financial upheaval that would happen if Biden invoked it, and how Congressional Republicans could retaliate even if the gambit worked.

 

The second-most-frightening thing said was that some Republicans say they want the government to default on its bills. The host and guest say they think that either these Republicans are just pretending to be crazy as a brinksmanship tactic, or they don't understand the consequences of a default. I am not so confident.

 

(Most frightening: That Republicans could retaliate by blocking appropriations bills, so as the defund the government. But nobody'd be that  crazy, right? I'm not confident about that, either.)

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/podcasts/the-daily/biden-debt-ceiling.html

 

Dean Shomshak

 

I’ve spoken with a heck of a lot of voters over the last 28 years who sincerely think that defaulting on the debt is responsible governing.

 

Admittedly most of them haven’t understood what the debt ceiling is and what it does...and don’t accept what I say when I explain it to them in detail. 

 

But even with ones who understand, they think it’s better to do a complete default then start over with zero debt than to either continue to accumulate debt or to slowly pay down the existing debt.

 

And they don't change their minds when I explain, in detail, exactly why that's a catastrophically horrible idea.

[Cygnia]

Anger and rage right now...anything else I could say will get me banned.

 

Texas woman killed by boyfriend after she got an abortion, police say

[Ternaugh]

3 hours ago, archer said:

 

I’ve spoken with a heck of a lot of voters over the last 28 years who sincerely think that defaulting on the debt is responsible governing.

 

Admittedly most of them haven’t understood what the debt ceiling is and what it does...and don’t accept what I say when I explain it to them in detail. 

 

But even with ones who understand, they think it’s better to do a complete default then start over with zero debt than to either continue to accumulate debt or to slowly pay down the existing debt.

 

And they don't change their minds when I explain, in detail, exactly why that's a catastrophically horrible idea.

 

There's a certain blindness that consequences will only happen to other people. 

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

2 hours ago, Cygnia said:

Anger and rage right now...anything else I could say will get me banned.

 

Texas woman killed by boyfriend after she got an abortion, police say

 

Texan honor killing.  😡

 

Countless people said the state abortion bans would get women killed who didn't have to die. I don't think they factored in this possibility, though.

 

2 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

 

There's a certain blindness that consequences will only happen to other people. 

 

 

 

You can cure ignorance. You can't cure stupidity.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Lord Liaden