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

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#278251: Apr 22nd 2019 at 11:14:00 AM

Guess he didn't have enough good Pokemon quotes evil grin

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#278252: Apr 22nd 2019 at 11:20:23 AM

Team Rocket stole his pokemons

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#278253: Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:30:52 PM

Okay, my top choice is warren for now. I still like harris (and frankly, going from a white man to a white woman is only a small step in the right direction)

So this was from a few pages ago, and I honestly feel kind of weird bringing it up because I understand the sentiment, but I still feel compelled to point out this sentiment isn't the best.

I totally get why better representation in the government is important, but that is only one thing. If, say, Caitlyn Jenner became president, having a trans President would be huge, but also she would be awful because her beliefs are awful.

Just a point that the substance of policy should be the most important thing. And, yes, I'm aware that's a very similar argument to why the Right claims there's nothing wrong with things being disproportionately white and male. But the thing about that is they're blatantly arguing in bad-faith. I don't think we are.

Edited by LSBK on Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:36:23 PM

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#278254: Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:33:00 PM

Thread:

THREAD: What can we learn from Trump's lawsuit against the Chair of the House Oversight Committee to halt enforcement of a subpoena for his financial records?

1/ Today Trump sued Oversight Committee Chairman @Rep Cummings to stop the enforcement of a subpoena against his longtime accounting firm for his financial records.

2/ Although the suit was brought by Trump "solely in his capacity as a private citizen," the suit is full of politically charged language and criticism of what the lawsuit calls the "Democrat Party." It's hard not to see this suit as, at least in part, a political statement.

3/ As noted above, one oddity about the suit is that Trump is trying to enforce his rights as a private citizen to ensure the privacy of his information, but of course he is the President of the United States. No court would view him like an ordinary citizen.

4/ That could impact his case in a couple of different ways. First, courts do not like to get involved in disputes between the other branches of government. To the extent the judge views this as a political fight, the judge could decide to stay out of it entirely.

5/ That could hurt Trump's chances in this particular suit, but it could help later on, if the accounting firm refuses to comply with the subpoena and the Oversight Committee seeks to compel compliance with the subpoena in court.

6/ The fact that Trump is president will have an even bigger impact if the judge is willing to consider the legal issues presented by the suit itself. The main question presented by the suit is whether there is a proper legislative purpose for the subpoena.

7/ Trump argues that there is no legislative purpose, and perhaps one reason his lawyers are filing the suit is to force the Oversight Committee to articulate a legislative purpose. It's hard to imagine that the Democrats would be unable to come up with one.

8/ But perhaps Trump gains something politically by forcing Democrats to state publicly that they are considering legislation regarding his finances.

9/ The way to view this lawsuit is as the first shot in a potentially long legal battle that could involve multiple court cases. In the short term, Trump seeks a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, which would stop the subpoena while the case goes on.

10/ He is unlikely to succeed in that effort because the bar is very high for a plaintiff to win for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order. It is possible that the Democrats could withdraw the subpoena if it looks like the judge is concerned about it.

11/ It's too early to say how this will play out. But I'd expect this to be merely the first in a series of legal maneuvers by Trump's legal team meant to delay or limit House Democrats and/or to help Trump's legal or political position. /end

Edited by megaeliz on Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:33:40 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278255: Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:34:25 PM

Mind you, Jenner made a public article in Newsweek about how her association with the GOP and Trump was a mistake.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/25/caitlyn-jenner-trump-941481

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:35:08 PM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#278256: Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:36:22 PM

You know, speaking of representation ... I was reading a while ago this discussion, which stated "But they’re also running scared after losing to Trump, which is perhaps reflected in the fact that three of the four top candidates in the horse race, according to the polls, are straight white men."

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278257: Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:45:04 PM

As a straight white man, I feel unqualified to point out that they seem less focused on the issues than they should. I support Warren primarily because the issues are the most important thing for me.

I think they're right that women as a voting block is making a lot of weird assumptions about class, race, and other things they'd vote over.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 22nd 2019 at 12:46:13 PM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#278258: Apr 22nd 2019 at 1:02:34 PM

Has there ever been a legitimate argument against the 1% paying more taxes? And I mean more than "but socialism!"

Yes. Specifically, Kennedy cut taxes on the rich as part of a larger macroeconomic effort (including raising interest rates) to slow down the economy's growth rate a bit, because the economy was overheating a bit after a decade of exceptional growth and he wanted to reduce the nation's monetary velocity.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#278259: Apr 22nd 2019 at 1:07:27 PM

I'm not sure that really works as a justification. You can get the same effect by raising interest rates, and it doesn't set us forth on a slippery slope. That said, we didn't really run into trouble until top tax rates fell below 70 percent.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#278260: Apr 22nd 2019 at 1:25:00 PM

So that Washington lawmaker mentioned a few pages back? It's worth reading the original article from The Guardian, due to this part:

The group included Jack Robertson, who broadcasts a far-right radio show, Radio Free Redoubt, under the alias “John Jacob Schmidt”. The chat also included Anthony Bosworth, whose history includes a public altercation with his own daughter and bringing guns to a court house. Bosworth participated in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, reportedly at Shea’s request.

They also include some of the messages they'd sent which are... well:

Fist full of hair, and face slam, to a Jersey barrier. Treat em like communist revolutionaries. Then shave her bald with a K-Bar USMC field knife.
Would make good attachment points for hoisting communists up flag poles. Especially the ones with nipple rings
But… if you cinch up zip ties enough, you don't even NEED nipple rings for hoisting.

As a fan of nipple-rings, I really don't want to see them abused like that.

[down]

Well, yeah. The former abide by Safe, Sane, and Consensual - the latter don't.

Edited by ironballs16 on Apr 22nd 2019 at 5:04:47 AM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#278261: Apr 22nd 2019 at 1:46:28 PM

As usual, BDSM sadists don't hold a candle to the garden variety.

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#278262: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:10:14 PM

US threatens to veto UN resolution on rape as weapon of war, officials say

Exclusive: US warns it will reject measure over language on sexual health in latest example of hardline abortion stance

The US is threatening to veto a United Nations resolution on combatting the use of rape as a weapon of war because of its language on reproductive and sexual health, according to a senior UN official and European diplomats.

The German mission hopes the resolution will be adopted at a special UN security council session on Tuesday on sexual violence in conflict.

But the draft resolution has already been stripped of one of its most important elements, the establishment of a formal mechanism to monitor and report atrocities, because of opposition from the US, Russia and China, which opposed creating a new monitoring body.

Even after the formal monitoring mechanism was stripped from the resolution, the US was still threatening to veto the watered-down version, because it includes language on victims’ support from family planning clinics. In recent months, the Trump administration has taken a hard line, refusing to agree to any UN documents that refer to sexual or reproductive health, on grounds that such language implies support for abortions. It has also opposed the use of the word “gender”, seeking it as a cover for liberal promotion of transgender rights.

“We are not even sure whether we are having the resolution tomorrow, because of the threats of a veto from the US,” Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, told the Guardian.

In cases of disagreement in the security council, member states often fall back on previously agreed text, but the US has made it clear it would no longer accept language from a 2013 resolution on sexual violence.

“They are threatening to use their veto over this agreed language on comprehensive healthcare services including sexual and reproductive health. The language is being maintained for the time being and we’ll see over the next 24 hours how the situation evolves,” Patten said.

“It will be a huge contradiction that you are talking about a survivor-centered approach and you do not have language on sexual and reproductive healthcare services, which is for me the most critical.”

In a draft of the resolution seen by the Guardian, the contentious phrase is only mentioned once, in a clause that “urges United Nations entities and donors to provide non-discriminatory and comprehensive health services, including sexual and reproductive health, psychosocial, legal and livelihood support and other multi-sectoral services for survivors of sexual violence, taking into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities.”

A spokeswoman for the US mission said it “does not comment on draft resolutions that are under active negotiation”.

European states, led by Germany, the UK and France, have been resisting abandoning the language on access to family planning and women’s health clinics, as they believe it would mean surrendering the gains of recent decades in terms of international recognition of women’s rights.

“If we let the Americans do this and take out this language, it will be watered down for a long time,” a European diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said. “It is, at its heart, an attack on the progressive normative framework established over the past 25 years.”

“Until the Trump administration, we could always count on the Americans to help us defend it. Now the Americans have switched camp,” the diplomat said. “Now it’s an unholy alliance of the US, the Russians, the Holy See, the Saudis and the Bahrainis, chipping away at the progress that has been made.”

Diplomats at the security council expect a long night of negotiations on the wording.

The latest version of the draft resolution recognises the work of the informal expert group on women, peace and security, but Patten had argued that the current system does not provide a consistent channel to bring violations on sexual violence to the attention of the security council.

A formal mechanism, with a panel regularly assessing compliance and recommending sanctions, would have given her more leverage on states and non-state groups.

“In the current draft as it stands, the formal mechanism is gone,” she said. “It’s very, very weak.”

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#278263: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:20:32 PM

Absolutely disgusting, especially when even the 2013 version is being disregarded.

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#278265: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:45:58 PM

Right. OK. Fine.

Guys... get everybody you can out to vote. Bribe them with cake. Drive busses. Beg. Plead. Promise to walk their dogs.

Just.

Wow.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278267: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:52:09 PM

Trump continues to be an argument for the existence of a literal Satan.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#278268: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:52:59 PM

[up] Isn't the devil supposed to be subtle, though?

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#278269: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:55:47 PM

He's worshiped by the masses as White Jesus, God of Wealth and Objectivism.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:55:57 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#278270: Apr 22nd 2019 at 2:58:35 PM

> Trump continues to be an argument for the existence of a literal Satan.

Which one?

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#278272: Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:05:55 PM

@Charles: Reminds me of that speech from Daredevil: "On that man's eyes, I saw the Devil".

Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#278273: Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:25:46 PM

He's worshiped by the masses as White Jesus, God of Wealth and Objectivism.

"I am not being political," the pastor says with a dramatic pose, while engaging in blatant political advocacy, calling Trump "strong" and his opponents "witches".

"I am not being political."

I think that's the bit that makes me blow my fuse.

And what the fuck does "it's time" even mean? What is he egging them on to do?

Edited by Oruka on Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:27:14 AM

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#278274: Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:26:58 PM

It means it's their time to be greedy

Anyway,religion thread is that way ——>

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Oruka Since: Dec, 2018
#278275: Apr 22nd 2019 at 3:28:34 PM

He says he's not being political, but I think this belongs in "Politics" a lot more than it does in "Religion".


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