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

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#283751: Jun 26th 2019 at 10:38:02 PM

Tulsi Gabbard is looking more and more like the George Galloway of the Dems.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#283752: Jun 26th 2019 at 11:45:17 PM

The question about Afghanistan had a simple answer neither of them seized: "Remain engaged just long enough to hammer out a final settlement, then get out as soon as we can."

The question is designed to be a torpedo — there's really no responsible option that doesn't have some level of engagement in the short term, but the phrasing results in admitting that making you the bad guy.

Edited by CrimsonZephyr on Jun 26th 2019 at 2:46:34 PM

"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."
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#283753: Jun 27th 2019 at 4:49:31 AM

So, Alabama takes one more step into the direction of the Dark Ages. Or in this case, Jim Crow Laws and stuff

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/21/politics/alabama-megachurch-police-force-trnd/index.html

Seriously, what is WRONG with this country? They basically just legalized christian morality police!

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#283754: Jun 27th 2019 at 4:54:14 AM

It's kind of a combination of both.

i'm tired, my friend
Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#283755: Jun 27th 2019 at 4:56:58 AM

Can't they just buy their pastor another private jet? That'd be just as exploitative of the congregation, but a million times less church army.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#283756: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:00:56 AM

They can't persecute black and non-Christians with a private jet.

i'm tired, my friend
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#283757: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:01:21 AM

The megachurches are corporations not churches.

Hence in the pocket of the GOP.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#283758: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:02:20 AM

A pregnant Alabama woman, Marshae Jones, was shot in the stomach during a fight. Her injuries also killed the fetus. Jones is being prosecuted for killing the fetus. The woman who shot her has not been charged.

She was five months pregnant and was shot in the stomach. The unborn baby did not survive the shooting.

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said at the time of the shooting. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

If someone ever says I’m too worried about reproductive rights/justice again, I’m gonna lose it.

Edited by wisewillow on Jun 27th 2019 at 5:03:46 AM

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#283759: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:08:20 AM

Alabama is a fucking hellhole.

i'm tired, my friend
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#283760: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:09:25 AM

They know exactly what they're doing here.

It's a statement not a fuck up.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#283761: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:23:35 AM

It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby

...What the actual hell, man!?

I sincerily hope this guy gets fired and never takes on a position of any sort of authority ever again in his life.

Edited by HailMuffins on Jun 27th 2019 at 9:24:55 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#283762: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:37:00 AM

I'm sorry, but unless the mother was herself armed, using deadly force in a fight is always a crime.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#283763: Jun 27th 2019 at 5:37:28 AM

OK, state government of Alabama: prepare to get sued hand over fist over the maliciously deplorable state of your prenatal services which therefore endanger the life of the precious, precious foetuses and their incidental incubators. After all, such malpractice and underfunding is akin to a pregnant woman refusing to wrap herself in cotton wool and put herself in a box for eight months, like you want her to do.

Easy access to a whole suit of prenatal services are cotton wool. Which you're not providing.

Edited by Euodiachloris on Jun 27th 2019 at 1:39:21 PM

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#283764: Jun 27th 2019 at 6:32:21 AM

I didn't really follow the democratic debate that closely, but it sounds like it wasn't a disaster. All of the people who stood out would be adequate as President I think, yes including DeBlasio, though I know he'd inevitably end up having the same pointlessly combative relationship with congressional leadership as he does with the governor of New York.


Incidentally to divert a bit to questions about candidates record and sincerity (which were raised in regards to numerous candidates), most elected officials, Donald Trump included, do attempt to make good on their campaign promises. They often fail because the president is not a dictator, and because sometimes things that sound good on paper prove to be unworkable in practice.


In general I think people focus excessively on how sincere a politician's beliefs appear to be, hence the popularity of people like Bernie Sanders, a long serving senator with fairly average political accomplishments who has been using the same stump speech for 30 years, only to gain unexpected traction


But that kind of insistence that our elected officials be "true believers" kind of misses the whole point of representative democracy; representatives are supposed to represent their constituents, they aren't supposed to be pursuing their personal agenda, and ideally they are a blank slate onto which their constituency imposes an agenda. That's not ever going to be the case practically, but I think professional integrity and competence are far more relevant than a candidates record of past positions.

Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jun 27th 2019 at 9:45:00 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#283765: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:20:21 AM

John Roberts will burn in hell. Jesus fucking Christ, he’s murdered SCOTUS and democracy.

Court rules 5-4 that federal courts can’t touch partisan gerrymandering.

MASSIVE blow against efforts to combat partisan gerrymandering. Roberts holds in 5-4 ruling in North Carolina case that partisan gerrymandering is NOT justiciable at all

NEW: In a 5-4 ruling along party lines, the Roberts Court holds that partisan gerrymandering cannot be challenged under the U.S. Constitution. This is a historic defeat for fair elections

This ruling means that court rulings that had overturned gerrymanders in Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, & Wisconsin will all be overturned, largely benefitting Republicans nationwide at both the federal & state level

We are so, so fucked. Unless we get the Senate, there’s no way to overrule this. Demographics won’t matter; whoever has each statehouse in 2020 makes the rules and can rig blatantly unrepresentative maps. Even racist ones- all they have to do is say black voters are Dems so it’s partisan not racist.

Edited by wisewillow on Jun 27th 2019 at 7:21:51 AM

RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#283766: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:21:38 AM

Good lord. That's awful.

It's been fun.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#283767: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:22:16 AM

That one is going to go alongside Dred Scott as among the worst decisions ever handed down by the Court.

Edited by Fighteer on Jun 27th 2019 at 10:22:44 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#283768: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:28:14 AM

[up]x3 Yeah that sucks. It does, however, allow for State Courts to determine if Partisan Gerrymandering violates the State Constitution, so the Pennsylvania Redistricting still holds... While the efforts to redistrict Michigan are dead at this time (their State Court has already ruled that Partisan Gerrymandering is Constitutional).

We really need to get out to vote next year. If the Federal Courts can't take on Partisan Gerrymandering, we will have to.

[up] While this is a stupid decision from the Court, to equate it to the "No Black Person counts as a Person in the Country" Dred Scott Ruling, is kind of appalling to me. It's bad, make no mistake, but it is nowhere near as bad as Dred Scott was.

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Jun 27th 2019 at 10:30:12 AM

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#283769: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:28:53 AM

So now winning the senate is even more crucial, but just shy of impossible.

i'm tired, my friend
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#283770: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:33:05 AM

This is fucked up, but tbh? Given the makeup of this court, it wasn't entirely surprising.

I've been more surprised by the times Gorsuch or Kavanaugh actually went along with the more liberal justices.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#283771: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:35:19 AM

The way I read the north Carolina decision was that they really needed a fedral law to rule on. In essence, the courts aren't going to do the legislature's job for them.

For me, I think a algorithm like compactness while following current borders(such as county) as much as practical would be the best.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#283772: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:35:57 AM

Horrifying reminder:

Brought to you by five justices whose ranks include

- Four guys installed by minority popular vote presidents

- Two dudes who lied to Congress, and

- One occupying a stolen seat

[up] The issue here isn’t compactness; it’s surgically drawing lines to ensure maximum seats for a party with minimum votes. For example, Indiana is about 60-40 republican and Democrat.

Our legislature is 80-20.

And that’s BLATANTLY unconstitutional; it’s not a lack of federal law, it’s refusal to enforce it.

[down] It’s really not quite that simple, but yeah, following county lines isn’t much help for various reasons.

Edited by wisewillow on Jun 27th 2019 at 7:40:07 AM

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#283773: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:38:41 AM

''The way I read the north Carolina decision was that they really needed a fedral law to rule on. In essence, the courts aren't going to do the legislature's job for them.

For me, I think a algorithm like compactness while following current borders(such as county) as much as practical would be the best.''

I know, I've said this before, but such a system gives undue weight to populations that are less densely distributed. I recall there was a Vox article saying so, let me check...

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
MattC Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: My own grandpa
#283774: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:39:03 AM

Our path to a one party dominated state continues.

"What do we say to the God of Death? Sean Bean is over there."
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#283775: Jun 27th 2019 at 7:41:28 AM

Just as a reminder for the Senate 2020 elections as of this writing:

  • 19 Republican incumbents.
  • 11 Democratic incumbents.
  • 4 open seats

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."

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