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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
No one looks like they're cheating. Because the rules they're breaking are social convention, not actual rules.
The Republicans are frequently horribly hypocritical about when they employ or decry certain breaches of these social conventions, but the only people who remotely care about this are their opponents, because Republicans base their selective insistence on proper behaviour on whether an issue matters to their base, while Democrats insist on proper behaviour at all times even when it horribly screws their base.
Angry gets shit done.Eventually, I'm going to get sick of pointing out that none of this has anything to do with the system (which is indeed broken and does indeed need to be fixed) and everything to do with the social conventions that kept just how broken the system has always been obfuscated up to this point. Eventually, but not yet.
Angry gets shit done.I don't really agree, is it a sign that the elections are as good as won? Certainly not, but at the same time it's really encouraging and if it bears out in election day it could mean extremely good things for Democratic odds.
So it's rather more than "probably not a bad sign".
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangWow. That'll teach me for posting before watching the video. Basically shot down my opinion flat out on rules and the following thereof.
I'm sorry if you thought I wasn't addressing your point on social conventions. I guess I am conflating "the system" to include social conventions. They ultimately are the oil in the engine of democracy. The ideal engine is frictionless, and therefore would not need oil. As we step further and further away from ideal, the greater quantity of oil that is needed. The US democratic system is far from ideal - so it needs a ton of oil and funny enough removing it causes everything to grind to a halt.
But back to the video. He made some good points about why liberals are vulnerable to people playing the system. I just feel that he missed a fundamental point - namely that the Democrats are the party of the state.
There always has been a divide in US politics on those who want to grow the state and those that wish to shrink it. Right now it is Democrats on the grow it side. They don't defend the process just out of convenience: it is fundamental to the beliefs that the state can solve problems.
Which ultimately shows the biggest problem we have with Republicans and why it is impossible to work with them. For Republicans, government disfunction is a feature, not a bug. Plus those that get hurt by government disfunction are overwhelmingly Democratic supporters. Breaking the system in this context is to go full accelerationist - and I don't think any Democrat can support that.
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Yes; I was using it in the context of our ruling elite and their supposed obligation to, y’know, act fairly and listen to their constituents and the nation.
Republicans are happy to grow the state, if it means more military, more police, more ICE, etc. They oppose growing the state in order to enact social programs like, y’know, education, etc.
Edited by wisewillow on Nov 4th 2018 at 12:37:30 PM
That's actually why I, as a Republican, hate using the term "small government". It's one of those terms that has too many strings attached to it.
Indeed. And it doesn't help that 'small government' in this context also frequently means 'small federal government' (Republicans in state governments never seem all that eager to trim the fat in government locally) and that this doesn't usually involve actually lowering federal taxes (for anyone but the richest people and corporations) by all that much, but instead re-allocating all that money currently going to federal social programs into grants to state governments for discretionary spending instead.
Edited by Robrecht on Nov 4th 2018 at 7:56:03 PM
Angry gets shit done.So since the midterms are tomorrow, I was just wondering what exact times the voting opening and closes, and when the results are in. I know here in the UK, whenever a vote of any kind is held, usually the ballots are open from 6 or 7 in the morning until 10 or 11 in the evening, which gives people as much time as possible to get in. Do they not do that in the US?
Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Nov 5th 2018 at 10:54:50 AM
Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!7am to 7 pm local time. I'm pretty sure there are laws where if there are people in line to vote, that polling location must stay open until everyone has voted, but I'm not sure of the specifics.
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."7am to 8pm
per the Maryland board of elections.
Yeah one of many things that could be packaged into a new Voting Rights Act is a requirements that polling stations stay open from 6am to 11pm, combined with a requirement that a polling station be provided for every X number of people and every X square miles.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

I'm glad my home state is experiencing almost 3 times more young voters, maybe Arizona can finally inch over the precipice of being a red state into a blue one. Also, holy crap some of those numbers are crazy! This midterm very well might have the highest turnout of any midterm ever.