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
Well I was talking in terms of a national election. I don't think there's a good argument that says otherwise. That's a criticism of the winner take all system.
But even in the state and local level, your vote is many times more powerful in a purple state/district.
I made one joke about that.
I'm actually a lot more sympathetic to Trump voters than a lot of you. I can just recognize a self-implosion when I see it.
edited 12th Apr '17 2:20:40 AM by MadSkillz
I live with a Trump supporter. So believe me when I say I know why and how some of them can support Trump even if I don't agree one iota. Just to remind you that they aren't all located in middle America or the Deep South.
Anyway, I think we're going around in circles here. I'm sorry for getting on your case over what was probably not a serious suggestion anyway. Keep up the good fight.
edited 12th Apr '17 3:02:26 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedThey'll be there in a week.
North Korea is warning of a nuclear attack on US soil.
It's congressional recess, so that means town halls.
Here's the resources, they have but together.
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/guide/advocacy-tactics/town-halls/
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/town-halls/
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/making-april-recess-five-policy-priorities/
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/april-recess-town-hall-sample-questions/
edited 12th Apr '17 3:38:02 AM by megaeliz
Before moving to a swing state, make sure the state has a sound infrastructure. Arizona and Texas have certainly enough space, reliable water supplies on thevother hand...
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanFirstly, the goal is to flip the house in 2018. That means focusing on districts, not states.
Secondly, why are we arguing about this?
Republicans are stuck on what to do, as nothing they have tried is actually working.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/328395-gop-wrestles-with-big-question-what-now
10 more days to the science March.
thanks
edited 12th Apr '17 4:52:55 AM by megaeliz
Someone mentioned they live in Alabama, somebody else answered with a callous comment that they should move to a swing state because fuck the red states, then a third person took offense to that idea and it escalated from there.
@Dingowalley 1: If you want to support a district in your state, Alabama second possibly has the potential to flip.
https://swingleft.org/district/AL-02/district-resources
edited 12th Apr '17 5:25:40 AM by megaeliz
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328371-white-house-to-lift-federal-hiring-freeze
The White House will lift President Trump’s federal hiring freeze on Wednesday, following fire from critics who said it hampered the government from carrying out core functions.
The end of the freeze is part of guidance ordering federal departments and agencies to submit restructuring plans to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by the fall.
I've seen it said many times that we need to silence the bigots, the scum, the racists, etc. That tactic seems to not be working, to not really be possible.
Cracked has a pretty good article on this.
So they will criticize talk show hosts for having discussions with accused white supremacists, but the choice is not between giving these people a spotlight or denying it to them. They have their own spotlight — curious teens can find these guys on You Tube or wherever they operate. It's a matter of whether or not you want to let them have that spotlight all to themselves. Me, I'd rather a curious young person see Tomi Lahren debating Trevor Noah than listen to her speaking unopposed on her own show.
"But I'd rather they not hear her at all!" you say. That's not one of our choices. Not in 2017.
I worry about the time my mixed-race nephew and niece encounter racist assholes among their favorite YouTubers. These are people who have an enormous young fanbase, even if they see themselves as aiming their messages at adults. Some of these celebrities are showing their politics out there.
I saw a non-religious person say that the way he inoculates his kids against fundamentalism is to expose them to it and prove it wrong and get them to think "How do you know if they're right or wrong?" for themselves. Hiding something from people makes it more desirable. Heck, my older brother and his wife gave up on trying to keep their kids from being exposed to violence or profanity, so they're allowed (at ages 8 and 5) to curse now, or play M-rated video games.
Idaho gun, ammo makers cheer on Trump as their sales plummet
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article144009024.html
Apparently now that Obama's no longer trying to Take Our Guns (TM) gun sales are dropping. At least here in Idaho. Yet those same gun sellers are happy with the election's outcome and believe Trump's tax policies will make the difference.
Bill O'Reilly announces vacation amid scandal; report claims he may not return to show
New York Magazine reports that four separate network sources said Tuesday's episode could be O’Reilly’s final show on the network. In the middle of a storm surrounding numerous sexual harassment claims, his fate may be decided by the Murdoch family in the coming weeks, the magazine reported.
According to CNN, a Fox News spokesperson denied reports that O'Reilly isn't coming back and said he will return April 24.
The sources say that a legal team from the same firm that investigated former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is now investigating O’Reilly’s past and present. They’re looking into recent sexual harassment claims made by Fox News guest Wendy Walsh, according to the report.
A recent mass boycott of “The O’Reilly Factor” caused the show to lose at least half its advertisers; the New York Times says the number may be closer to two-thirds.
![]()
They won't. Guns were commoditized to a high degree than normal under Obama so people were buying guns just to have guns, but now that many of these people own guns and the government probably doesn't care about taking them, or at least that's the perception, they're a lot less likely to buy more.
And tax benefits don't really help if your sales have plummeted.
The other thing is that I really doubt Trump cares about guns one way or the other. He'll do nothing to help or hurt them. Congress might try and do something, but a lot of Congress is in the pocket of the NRA, and I doubt the NRA really cares about the gun stores either.
edited 12th Apr '17 6:13:18 AM by Zendervai
From a website called "The Week" we have an article saying that the Republican Party are dissolving
and explaining how they are split on most issues (the tl;dr is that they are only united regarding the SCOTUS and abortion)
Indeed, Fox News would lose one of their most iconic and influential voices.
edited 12th Apr '17 6:44:53 AM by MorningStar1337
I don't know... as much as I'd love to see O'Reilly's smug face taken off the air, this is yet another case where a company failed to take any sort of remedial action on workplace sexual misconduct until it became too public to ignore.
edited 12th Apr '17 6:26:32 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Re: mass migration of liberals to affect political turnover in swing states: Idiotic idea, never going to happen.
1.) It requires organization and black-ops level secrecy, which is impossible, which means every conservative outlet will learn of it, and work to counteract it through metadata analysis and targeted funding.
2.) It'll breed local resentment. A cohort of liberals from the Deep South will still stick out like a sore thumb, and a candidate perceived as being the champion of carpetbaggers will be the target of backlash.
3.) It's counterproductive. Demographic shifts will give the GOP an unassailable stronghold in the South, which will never be taken under any circumstances, while giving the Democrats maybe a marginal demographic advantage that can easily be toppled due to political waves. It also makes it difficult for the Democrats to come back, since upon their return, they'll be perceived, and rightly this time, as a carpetbagger party with no local support.
4.) Bald-faced cynicism of that nature is almost always hated by the electorate. Voters, as moronic as they often are, generally don't like being told they're pieces on a chessboard, and on that issue, for once I can agree with them.\\
edited 12th Apr '17 7:12:10 AM by CrimsonZephyr
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."I'm agreeing with literally every word Crimson Zephyr is saying.
I have no idea who I am anymore
Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for youNote that economic migration is always a more powerful force than political migration, absent some kind of catastrophe. I recently saw an article, which I'll have to dig up (was it over in the Econ topic?) saying that the South is benefiting enormously from the global supply chain, attracting educated workers away from the Rust Belt states. As more educated workers tend to be more liberal, this means that the South is getting bluer over time as a natural consequence of economic change.
This is the sort of organic movement that is way more powerful in the long run than any organized political effort.
Edit: Here's that Reuters article, FYI.
edited 12th Apr '17 7:17:27 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"So, in order for the Democrats to defeat the Republicans, they have to be more crazy and cynical than them now?
For someone who complaint so much about the moral failings of the Democratic Party for using the same method as the Republican Party like receiving donations from corporations, this is kinda hypocritical and just plain crazy in general.
Only an experienced editor who has a name possesses the ability to truly understand my work - What 90% of writers I'm in charge of said.It also helps that the largest military base in the South, Redstone Arsenal, keeps getting military folks reassigned here from bases all over the country. A few years back a lot of bases were being shut down, and Redstone keeps growing.
These aren't just grunts either, these are Army engineers. RA is likely 70% of the reason Huntsville has one of the highest concentrations of PH Ds in the US. (like, top fifteen cities or something)
Huntsville, unfortunately, is part of the larger Madison County, which is Bumfuck, Alabama. To put it nicely, it's an island in a swamp.
What? That was nicely.
Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
Oy, Alabama. As a wise man once said, "We'll try to stay serene and calm, when Alabama gets the bomb!"

Apologies for being a tad harsh. But you get attacked partly because you make "jokes" about how everything apart from Deep Blue states like California and New York are mistakes. That was a post you made in response to the Iowa minimum wage thing.
edited 12th Apr '17 2:16:41 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised