Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Due to complications in political history (for varying reasons), on the social end of things, Democrats are the small government sorts, Republicans are the big government sorts.
Indiana Solo
Remember, Republicans don't think the government should be able to tell you what to drive, or where to get healthcare, or help you go to school. But who you want to marry? Oh, that's their job for sure.
I'm baaaaaaack
Professional Forum Ninja
Here's a couple of stories from the Galveston County Daily News.
For those of y'all who don't know, Juneteenth is the celebration of the reading and beginning of Union enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston on June 19th, 1865.
Sorry, the latter one is behind a paywall...
edited 27th Jan '15 10:36:00 AM by tclittle
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Sinful Saint
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I want to disagree with you, as a conservative, but I just can't.
Okay, I can at least see where Galveston is coming on that one. Full-time living on those beaches is highly disruptive to the tourism that Galveston needs to continue being a thing that exists. Also, campers aren't the most eco-friendly bunch, at least not when it comes to beaches for some reason.
Oh, and here's a link that's not paywall-locked.
edited 27th Jan '15 10:40:54 AM by Frishman
If you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
Which weighs down our side, so Republican sanity is good for everyone except the most hardened of partisans.
edited 27th Jan '15 11:23:34 AM by Ogodei
Lost in Space
There is nothing "conservative" about the current crop of GOP leaders, not as the term is traditionally defined. It's all reactionary, anti-knowledge, anti-science BS. That sort of thing also exists on the left, but it has no political power.
The story of the modern political makeup of the U.S. is actually quite simple, and somewhat entertaining. Republicans had almost entirely lost the demographic battle until the Civil Rights era, when a lot of Democrats who'd been in it for the populist rhetoric but hated black people defected. In order to hold onto these people, the GOP abandoned their intellectual high ground and started pandering to the prejudices and ignorance of their new membership.
These people, in turn, realized that they had immense power to control the direction of the party simply by threatening to defect the other way (or not show up to vote), so they came to wag the dog. Few Republican candidates can seek office without the approval of the anti-welfare (despite many of them being on welfare), anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-science, faux-libertarian crowd, so those people effectively pick who gets nominated, and thus drive the national conversation.
There isn't really an equivalent on the Democrats' side. There are few "must support" issues to get nominated in the party, other than not obviously being anti-welfare, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-science, faux-libertarian — and even those make it in some districts that are heavily red.
edited 27th Jan '15 12:38:43 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
The Dropkick Murphies are on a small independent punk label. They are perfectly free to tell people to stop using their music for political gain. Especially since most of the time, politicians don't pay for their music. Which has been a big scandal in the past.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Republican state officials cast doubts on the Anti-Obamacare lawsuit
Or as a law professor at the end of the article puts it:
It’s the worst kind of revisionist history to claim that the ACA put states on notice of the harsh consequences of failing to establish an exchange. The states had no idea that tax credits hung in the balance. And the Supreme Court has said time and again that statutes shouldn’t be read to impose unexpected burdens on the states. That basic principle — the idea that states must have clear notice of the consequences of their decisions — protects the rights of the states in our federal system. And it cuts hard in favor of the government.
Sinful Saint
It's just as well, since I don't get mad at anyone for being liberal. Good ideas aren't limited to one group of people, after all.
What worries me most is that the current partisan nonsense won't stop. That the only people who will run for office and get elected are the ones who just keep fueling the fires and the Country will suffer for it.
If you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.
Oh, I agree. Somehow we need to have people (the public) willing to listen to all sorts of ideas and politicians be able to try them out, so we can learn what works and what doesn't.
Professional Forum Ninja
Indiana Solo
Well if he has the power of Veto, he has the power of Veto.
I'm baaaaaaack
HGW XX/7
Yes, but presumably not to use however he likes. That's kind of at the heart of the concept of "abuse of power".
edited 27th Jan '15 4:12:58 PM by Achaemenid
Schild und Schwert der Partei
Lost in Space
Vetoing stuff is fine in and of itself. Vetoing stuff because he's getting kickbacks or is interfering with an investigation, not so much.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
More like giant cherries
As surprising as it is, I think this is one case where I sympathize with Perry.
I mean it's not a particularly smart thing to do, but it wasn't obviously illegal either. You shouldn't have to consult a lawyer before doing anything.
edited 27th Jan '15 8:58:01 PM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
Scott Walker calls on RNC member who shared a white-supremacist post to resign.
See, Agema? If you were as smart as Walker you wouldn't be caught talking like that!
The problem with Perry's veto threat is that it was issued in a possible attempt to get someone in the Democratic party to quit their position. Over a drunk driving issue, but the point is Democrats aren't willing to cede one of their few positions here and Perry shouldn't have denied funding just because someone wouldn't resign over what is a pretty minor thing comparatively. Accusations that he would have just put in one of his cronies in the vacated position aren't without merit.
Police object to app set up to allow crowdsourced police-tracking.
My heart bleeds for the cops who don't want to be tracked. Police should always be subject to the highest public scrutiny.
V
Should Police be allowed to have a private life?
NOT THE BEES
Barring bathroom breaks, not when on duty. They're being tracked in public space, to a considerably lesser degree than their own employer tracks them, or that they can track regular citizens without a warrant.
My main objection is that it encourages phone use while driving, which is bad enough to warrant significant objection.
edited 28th Jan '15 12:32:34 AM by Pykrete
I have to wonder what the point of this tracking is, though. I know that in Germany, a major antiterrorist operation once went awry partly because the media were essentially communicating their position and actions to everybody.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
NOT THE BEES
The article says it's mainly to warn people about speedtraps. On the one hand, speedtraps have gotten really shady of late, and out-of-state plates are disproportionately targeted and overfined. But on the other, phone use while driving fucking kills people.
I'm noticing the police in question never even brought that up — they just don't want to be tracked. So much for protect and serve.
edited 28th Jan '15 12:34:11 AM by Pykrete
Oh. Yeah, I don't think there is a point to allowing drivers to skip a speed trap.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Re: Obama. That's actually pretty clever. I don't consider myself one of the man's supporters, but I have to tip my hat off to that play.
Re: Pence. What the heck? I thought state-run news was the province of Dirty Commies.
Republicans! Get your shit together or those of us conservatives who have brains in our heads are going to start calling you "Duhpublicans" until someone who's better at that sort of thing comes along.
If you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, have some taste. Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.