The General US Politics Thread

She will absolutely go against most of what Biden wants (voting rights acts, health care, gun control, separation of church and state, etc), although don't be surprised if she isn't completely in lock step with Conservative Ideology. But she will be a hindrance, especially as a part of a 6-3 Majority.

It is too bad there is no law against Republican obstruction where it is blantantly partisan hypocricy. Like if those assholes who didn't allow Obama's appointment "because it's an election year" but are okay with doing it here because "Ebul Demoncrats Ya'll11!!11" immeditatly impeached and got there assets seized, that would be true justice. And if they really wanna hurt poor people, gay people, and non-white people it should be a small price to pay.

If the election comes down to counting PA's votes, her confirmation pretty much locks Trump in for reelection.

Edited by Memers on Oct 26th 2020 at 6:19:19 AM

At this point, if I meet somebody who's a Republican, I just mentally write them off as a bad person and try to avoid contact with them.

And just how likely is that to happen?

538 give it a 5% change that the election hinges on a recount (which is needed to replicate Bush vs Gore).

Even Trump's first two appointees to the court have their limits on how far they are willing to go, the court itself has it's legitimacy to be concerned with. In addition there's no guarantee that Alito and Thomas are going to be around forever either.

Finally as I've maintained through all of this, if the court makes a horrifically unpopular ruling, it could result in retaliation. That's how we end up with court packing becoming a viable political option.

However I cannot understate how horrifically unpopular the decision would have to be. I'm talking something on the scale of striking down Social Security.

x3 Low right now; Early Votes for Joe Biden are +79% over Trump (87%-9%) based on Exit Polling of those who already voted. So far, ~1.5 Million people have voted; in 2016, ~3 Million people voted in total.

Signs point to Biden taking the state comfortably. Obviously don't get complacent, but things are looking good for us.

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:33:47 AM

Republicans are salivating at the oportunity to get rid of all social services, unless it involves something they use. If they could, (legally) do "social services but only for white people" you know like 90%, (and I'm probably underestimating it) would totally vote for that.

Edited by Wildcard on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:34:23 AM

Again, having concerns is reasonable, but just coming into the thread to say how you think the worst possible outcome is always the most likely one, really isn't helpful to anything.

If Biden wins the election, how bad do you think the GOP's meltdown would be compared to how they reacted when Obama became president?

On the other hand, I'm having a really hard time finding any actual contingency planning in the event of Trump trying to steal the election. I completely agree with the criticisms of fearmongering news articles for exactly this reason, because there aren't offering anything more constructive than "be afraid." At most there's vague statements about protesting from left-wing groups which I'm not convinced will accomplish much.

The best solution to panicking is having a constructive plan, but it's hard to not get the feeling that most people are just in total denial.

Edited by nrjxll on Oct 26th 2020 at 8:43:16 AM

The thing is that Mitch and company don't want white people to have social services either as he's shown in Kentucky many many times.

It's just he's fooled racist idiots into thinking that he's on their side.

Trump trying to steal the election how?

If you’re talking about a court battle or voter suppression, we already know the Democratic contingencies there. Tackling voter suppression is a ground game, and it’s very easy to find potential legal challenges being gamed out. If you’re talking about a military coup, there doesn’t need to be a contingency because it isn’t going to happen.

We have to be realistic here. Obviously the Republicans as a whole are going to try everything they can to stay in power. However, it’s not “total denial” to not be worried about things they can’t do.

Edited by archonspeaks on Oct 26th 2020 at 6:49:09 AM

I don't think you'll find a contingency plan because there's plans to deal with his attempts to steal the election right now out in the open.

x2 The only real "Coup Plan" I have heard is that the Republican State Congresses ignore the will of their Voters in key Swing States and either contest the elections or just outright put Electors who will vote for Trump. Problem is that it could only work in Florida; the rest of the Swing States have Democrats somewhere that can over rule those attempt, which will almost certainly not happen anyways.

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:51:59 AM

I reiterate that this thread isn't the place for you to vent your anxiety.

Edited by M84 on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:49:44 PM

One thing is for sure, the Supreme Court will now likely make a ruling, or more than one, in favor of voter suppression or tossing out votes before Nov 3. Just hoping the massive turnout and the large amount of early votes already counted can nullify that.

The Supreme Court has already made many such rulings - they don't need Amy Coney Barrett for that. Roberts is no friend of democracy.

Edited by nova92 on Oct 26th 2020 at 6:58:31 AM

I mean assuming those early votes aren't "lost". I don't think that will happen in all states. But the Republicans have tried it already.

Edited by Wildcard on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:59:38 AM

People keep forgetting Democrats actually have a reasonably large degree of local control in swing states.

The Pennsylvania Governor, LG, and AG are all Democrats IIRC and the majority of its State Supreme Court are also Democrats (5:2). The legislature isn't but it isn't like Republicans control the whole state.

Edited by RainehDaze on Oct 26th 2020 at 2:08:30 PM

So to try to make a constructive comment instead of just posting how I find doomsaying super-annoying and often indistinguishable from pro-Trump posting.

While I'm 100% on board with packing the court, including just for the amusement value, I find the concern about Barrett to be a bit exaggerated in at least some areas.

There's no question that the Republicans on the current Supreme Court suck and it's definitely highly concerning that Barret seems likely to be on the far, far, far right Alito and Kavanagh side of things rather than the far, far right Roberts and Gorsuch side of things.

That being said, the Supreme Court has recently had some pretty favorable Equal Protection rulings in term of religious garb in the workplace and LGBTQ rights, and in general (see Barrett's own "N word ruling"), will achieve Conservative results by interpreting those laws very narrowly.

Also, in a lot of areas (i.e. abortion rights, healthcare, and voting rights), the bad faith Conservative approach has been to uphold Conservative state laws and to strike down Liberal appellate court rulings in the absence of federal law stating otherwise. Or at times, to strike down part of a federal law with the premise that the Court would uphold a revised version if Congress would pass it.

It's clearly bad faith because the assumption is that Democrats will never control Congress again (and they are trying to make that a reality through upholding gerrymandering). But at the same time, it's very firmly established that Congress can make laws in these areas.

So, I don't find the idea that a majority of the Supreme Court would suddenly start ruling that the federal government can't make laws in any number of areas.

Probably the only thing that is off-the table for a Democratic administration, absent a Constitutional Amendment, would be laws regarding gun rights and political contributions. Because the Conservatives on the Court previously made decisions which interpreted the Bill of Rights very broadly in those areas.

I also want to thank most people in this thread for remaining constructive and helpful with my questions, rather than immediately trying to throw my friends under the bus without a second thought.

Through the courts. I think by far the most likely - if not only plausible - scenario is challenging the results in key states they're unhappy with, and if those challenges get to the Supreme Court it's a certainty they'll be decided in Trump's favor. So I'd be very interested in seeing these legal strategies you mentioned. (I didn't know, for instance, that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is dominated by Democrats).

Though on the flip side, as far as the Supreme Court goes - like I said before, I do think the Supreme Court is more receptive to popular pressure than the lack of legal mechanisms to affect it makes it seem. If Democrats do end the election in a position where they have even the potential to make drastic changes to the court, I think Roberts, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh at least will be very hesitant to cast votes that would blatantly fly in the face of public opinion, lest they wind up shifting the public stance dramatically in favor of messing with the court. Like I said, I'm pretty sure this actually happened after FDR's court-packing attempt back in the day - just the threat was enough to get one justice to mend his ways.

Edited by nrjxll on Oct 26th 2020 at 9:28:57 AM

Not that there's anything wrong with ditching someone who is willfully going down a dark path.

At some point you just gotta admit you can't fix people. Especially if your only involvement with them is online.

Edited by M84 on Oct 26th 2020 at 10:35:36 PM