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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#274051: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:06:06 AM

Buttigieg is pronounced BOOT-edge-edge. Saying he should be banned from politics for how his name is spelled is immature and stupid.

I’m from Indiana, and I’ve met him once or twice. Friendly dude, a little too business friendly for my taste, and I’ve heard he isn’t super diligent on race issues from his policies as mayor of South Bend.

That said, he’s been trying to get traction by flinging Pence under a bus (which is delightful; he’s good at it), and by saying he’s open to a lot of drastic policy on court packing and climate change, cause he’s 37 and we have big big problems to deal with.

Edited by wisewillow on Mar 11th 2019 at 12:18:00 PM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#274052: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:07:30 AM

The business friendly thing combined with his somewhat protectionist mindset concerning NAFTA rings some warning bells for me.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274053: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:11:35 AM

Trump's plan is to kill the poor.

Big surprise.

I wonder if Mitch drew it up for him.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#274054: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:12:32 AM

Ah, they're starting to take a page from the Tories' strategy then.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274055: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:15:25 AM

The fact he has increased his Wall budget request shows Trump's negotiating style.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 11th 2019 at 9:15:38 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#274056: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:16:48 AM

What, stubbornly browbeating the other party into giving him what he wants?

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#274057: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:22:37 AM

About voting at age 16, I agree with M84, I wouldn't want myself at that age having that power (would have cast a vote for either Trump or Stein). Many people I know matured a lot in those two years to adulthood as well.

Life is unfair...
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274058: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:25:56 AM

I think 16 is a good voting age given how many people are directly affected by laws regarding them.

No, you won't be wise then but many adults aren't either.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#274059: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:28:19 AM

I don’t think it’s fair to go off anecdotal “I was an idiot and/or conservative” evidence.

There’s plenty of stupid immature 18 year olds and plenty of thoughtful 16 year olds. And there’s certainly plenty of uninformed 85 year olds. But voting rights aren’t about having the best or most informed opinion- I would never, EVER support any sort of civics or literacy test as a prerequisite to voting.

Voting rights are about having the right to express your opinion on the government and policies which will control your life for the next however many years. And 16 year olds definitely have a lot of years ahead of them to be concerned about. Plus, if you turn 18 one day after the presidential election, well, you don’t get a say in the president until 4 years later. Imagine turning 18 in December 2016. I’d be pretty pissed. I think it’s valid to consider extending voting rights to 16 year olds.

Edited by wisewillow on Mar 11th 2019 at 12:28:54 PM

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#274060: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:31:24 AM

Truml's budget is dead on arrival, of course, but what does everyone think we will end up with? Have the Dems issued a formal response yet?

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#274061: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:32:10 AM

Buttigieg is pronounced BOOT-edge-edge. Saying he should be banned from politics for how his name is spelled is immature and stupid.

I feel like going into a presidential election with a sign saying "this is what you mock!" is an extremely poor decision. Openly gay man with that name is close to shooting yourself in the foot before you start.

I didn't say anything about what he should do, but we shouldn't be under any illusion it wouldn't be a problem.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#274062: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:32:11 AM

It depends on how long Trump wants to play shenanigans.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#274063: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:32:21 AM

A little WTF Just Happened Today preview:

Trump told donors at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Friday that "The Democrats hate Jewish people." He said he didn't understand how anyone could vote for a Democrat, reminded the crowd of his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and speculated that he would be at 98% in the polls if he were to run to become the prime minister of Israel. (Axios)

https://www.axios.com/trump-rnc-donors-democrats-jewish-people-anti-semitism-94b86cee-d741-4ca8-be3d-4244326b2cb5.html

GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#274064: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:33:14 AM

Thing is, it's two years's worth of people (re: voting age). It's not that big of an increase to the voting pool, and many of them are far more politically savvy and aware than the majority of voting adults. A lot of what is being voted upon is also going to affect them more than it will affect someone even twice their age. It's not like the difference between 16 and 18 is even going to make that much difference, it will vary from person to person when they 'mature'.

Edited by GoldenKaos on Mar 11th 2019 at 4:33:47 PM

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#274065: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:33:16 AM

[up]x5 So far, they've only complained that Trump's too stupid to know he won't get Wall funding through them.

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Mar 11th 2019 at 12:33:44 PM

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#274066: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:34:06 AM

Its "What the hell do you have to lose?" all over again.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#274067: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:36:04 AM

Buttigieg is a protectionist, too young, and has a significant experience gap in many areas. Let's focus on that, and not his name, shall we?

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#274068: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:38:50 AM

Where do you see an experience gap? I’m not a big fan, but he’s been touting his experience as an asset, and while no, he hasn’t been in federal government, he has had a lot of other experience.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#274069: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:43:02 AM

Nothing on the front foreign policy front (aside from a stint in the Navy reserves, and I don't count military experience as foreign policy experience unless its as a senior officer), that's critical right now. And a lack of experience in federal politics is a serious handicap for any 2020 prospective, as they'll be putting things back together after Trump's ongoing rampage. They need to know the system, have the contacts and connections, etc.

At a similar event, where CNN gave bit time to 3 probable also-rans, Tulsi Gabbard refused to commit to calling Assad a war criminal, using the "we need evidence" dog whistle as a dodge.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/10/politics/tulsi-gabbard-syria-bashar-al-assad-war-criminal/index.html

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Mar 11th 2019 at 1:44:14 PM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#274070: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:48:17 AM

Yikes. So glad Gabbard has made minimal impact. Though it’s quite unfair to compare Buttigieg to her; he may be flawed but he doesn’t come to her level of awful.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#274071: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:50:28 AM

"Better than Gabbard" is a pretty low bar to clear.

Disgusted, but not surprised
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#274072: Mar 11th 2019 at 9:58:22 AM

See, the impression I have is that the reason why Buttigieg is a protectionist is because you need to criticize NAFTA to be elected in the Rust Belt and the fact of the matter is that you need to get elected for your opinions to matter. Besides, one thing that economists including these of the WTO if memory serves have emphasized lately is that free trade treaties generate both losers and winners and politicians have consistently ignored the "loser" part of the equation. So I am kind of iffy of a linear "protectionist=bad" statement.

Trump's budget - like every presidential budget to date - isn't going to become law no matter what. It's just a reaffirmation of his beliefs and has nothing new to say on them.

Regarding the voting age, Laurence Steinberg - a noted expert on child psychology and development - wrote an op-ed in favour of this change.

Regarding the question of other polities with a voting age of 16, in Switzerland there has been discussion on lowering the voting age to 16 - which will likely get renewed impetus in light of the recent youth protests - and if memory serves the Canton Glarus has already implemented such a change. Of the other countries I'd exclude Cuba from consideration as it's a one-party system, but the only two commonalities that spring to mind is that a) these aren't Anglosphere countries and b) they usually have lower age of consent laws as well (Austria and if memory serves Ecuador and Brazil 14, Argentina 13, Nicaragua however 18). That said, there are plenty of places outside the Anglosphere and/or with lower age of consent laws which still have a voting age of 18, so it's not a strong correlation (and if Oregon - 18 there - enacts the change it'd further fall out of the line).

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#274073: Mar 11th 2019 at 10:00:09 AM

Part of me thinks that the Senator allocation was done partially to defend slavery, but I'm not sure if I'm misremembering or conflating something else in my mind.

If I remember my American History correctly, the structure of the US Congress was created in the Great Compromise, which split the difference between the Virgina Plan, which called for proportional representation, favoring large states, and the Deleware Plan, which gave each state equal representation, favoring small states.

Edited by megaeliz on Mar 11th 2019 at 1:03:57 PM

Soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#274074: Mar 11th 2019 at 10:03:34 AM

They might be thinking of the 3/5ths compromise?

GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#274075: Mar 11th 2019 at 10:04:18 AM

[up][up]Ok, that was way before the Civil War, then.

[up] No, I was thinking of something that was much closer to the Civil War, I believe. It was certainly in that context and the feeling I'm getting is that it was something that the slave-owning States did (or tried) to safeguard their ability to have slaves against the higher-population abolitionist states.

Edited by GoldenKaos on Mar 11th 2019 at 5:10:08 PM

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

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