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
Maria Butina (one of the Russian assets within the GOP/NRA) has been sentenced to 18 months. She will almost certainly be deported to Russia after her release.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/politics/maria-butina-sentencing/index.html
Seems a bit low for a spy, but she did cooperate, as I understand. (Yes, I know the government hasn't officially called her a spy, but who are they kidding?)
Edited by Fighteer on Apr 26th 2019 at 2:24:13 PM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Given the current state of affairs, I'm going to be grateful she's even receiving that sentence.
My musician pageConnolly threatens to jail Trump officials who won't comply with subpoenas – A Democratic lawmaker on Thursday ratcheted up warnings to the Trump administration amid a growing standoff over subpoenas and oversight requests the White House says it will resist.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/politics/gerry-connolly-subpoenas-white-house-cnntv/index.html
Edited by sgamer82 on Apr 26th 2019 at 12:34:55 PM
This subpoena thing is as clear cut a case of legal absolutes as I've seen. I want to see some people in jail over it.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Any blow to the traitorous NRA is good in my book, can't believe they're still allowed to exist after knowingly cooperating with a Russian spy. Anyway, I'll be looking to see how CNN treats Biden, given how they had Bernie basically just getting smear
questions.
Yes, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing.
Many stable nations have legislative supremacy
, I wouldn't mind if the US had an equivalent considering that for much if not most of its existence the Supreme Court has been a tool of reactionaries.
That's why I support packing the court, so it can cause a series of partisan court packing battles which renders the Supreme Court irrelevant.
Focusing on his sexuality doesn't mean that he can't have a sizable boost because he's a white guy.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Apr 26th 2019 at 11:50:58 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
x6
The right doesn't actually care, and once packing the courts to get an agenda passed becomes a position worth taking you may as well just kneecap the court rather than messing around adding more and more judges and hoping Republican courts won't start taking chunks out of things like Roe vs. Wade or Obamacare. What happened with the Muslim ban exactly? IIRC from the far side of the pond it looked like "no, no, no, oh go on then, you reworded it cleverly enough". Some balance of power that proved to be, even before that wonderfully impartial rapist Kavanaugh got a seat.
What he said. There's a reason the various centre and right-wing governments over here have been ignoring or attempting to evade Parliament and handing off government competences to "independent watchdogs", QUANG Os, the private sector and various other largely unaccountable bodies like it's going out of style, and it's not because they want to put checks and balances on themselves.
Edited by DeathorCake on Apr 26th 2019 at 6:56:42 PM
The Supreme Court ruled that slaves couldn't escape their chains by coming to the North.
It ALSO ruled that the President or Congress could not steal the land of Native Americans.
It'd have been nice if the latter hadn't been overruled by people who believed in legislative supremacy.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Beat
It ALSO ruled that the President or Congress could not steal the land of Native Americans.
It'd have been nice if the latter hadn't been overruled by people who believed in legislative supremacy.
Just because something is good 25% of the time doesn't mean that the 75% of the time it's bad is any less real.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangIt also legalized homosexuality.
And has struck down many many unconstitutional laws.
The problem with thinking the Supreme Court is the problem is that it forgets that a huge chunk of elected officials would love to make laws that would have everyone living the Handmaid's Tale if not for the fact the SC forbids it.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Sadly, no, because FOX News would throw a fit over her having her own private Bat-server.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.And has struck down many many unconstitutional laws.
The problem with thinking the Supreme Court is the problem is that it forgets that a huge chunk of elected officials would love to make laws that would have everyone living the Handmaid's Tale if not for the fact the SC forbids it.
Fine, you want to play at that game? I'll play.
Dred Scott v. Sanford, Buck v. Bell, Korematsu v. United States, Plessy v. Ferguson, Bowers v. Hardwick, Lochner v. New York, Hammer v. Dagenhart, Kelo v. City of New London, Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Commission, Bush v. Gore, Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, Citizens United v. FEC
What a wonderful institution.
I hope this has proven my point, mentioning the nice things it has done doesn't magically erase the decades it was controlled by reactionaries.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Apr 26th 2019 at 12:03:58 PM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
x5
Then you outlaw their election-rigging antidemocratic bullshit at a federal level, make power as accountable as you possibly can to the population, ignore all the pearl-clutching and wailing from Fox News and dare them to beat you in a fair election after you've legalised homosexuality and abortion properly. I'm fairly sure they won't. If they do, take your lumps, although obviously even a proper one-man-one-vote system for President and Congress isn't anywhere near the scale of democracy I'd like to see.
Also, "unconstitutional" is not even close to a synonym for "good", especially with your constitution. My personal opinion is that denying the democratic bodies of your polity the actual power because the people might vote for the wrong policies isn't much more right-on if you don't like the last people who did the exact same thing.
Edited by DeathorCake on Apr 26th 2019 at 7:10:13 PM
The problem with that logic is that the Supreme Court exists so that 51% of white people can't vote to kill 49% of black people in a community.
The majority is not more likely to be moral, decent, or freedom-loving than a minority.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 26th 2019 at 12:16:57 PM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.The courts have made good and bad decisions, often coming from the same people.
The legislature have made good and bad decisions, often coming from the same people.
The presidents have made good and bad decisions, often coming from the same people
No institution is infallible because there are people in it. Best we can do is design a system that makes us more likely to emphasize the good decisions and mitigate the bad ones.
x6 And I could list other positive decisions the Supreme Court has made. Here's just a few.
- Brown V. Board of Education 1954 (Separating black and white students in public schools is unconstitutional.)
- Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963 (Criminal defendants have a right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one)
- Loving v. Virginia, 1967 (Invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage.)
- Roe v. Wade, (1973) (protects womens' right to an abortion)
- Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015 (Legalized Same Sex Marriage)
Doesn't mean that much either way.
Edited by megaeliz on Apr 26th 2019 at 3:29:40 PM
So with the Kentucky sex trafficking story, "good" news - two days ago, a Federal indictment was unsealed
charging Cleoretta Allen, 41, of Louisville, KY with "two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and one count of interstate transportation for prostitution".
So it seems as though the Feds are stepping up somewhat.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"You need to have some form of limit on democracy, because otherwise you run into mob rule. A major purpose of government is to protect minorities from the majority.
![]()
Exactomundo-Fourth Spartan's logic also works the other way around.

The white nationalism issue with Twitter should be taken as instructive. Why do so many Republican politicians' tweets get detected as promoting white nationalism? The answer is dangling riiiiiight there.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"