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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
This one may be more important than people realize. If the same lawyers have to present a new reason for the census question, then they're basically being forced to admit they lied about their stated reason the first time. I've also heard rumors that the lawyers themselves aren't happy about having to defend obviously fake reasons before the judge.
I'd run. I know I don't have the slightest clue about actual proper politics or really anything. But I can make it seem like I have all the answers. Which it seems is exactly what is needed right now for electoral success rather than any of the above. Which is entirely the problem these days; lack of education or the will to obtain said education.
Nick 2024; I have no fucking clue and neither do most of my constituents.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Jul 9th 2019 at 6:53:40 AM
No offense, but that kind of attitude is worthy (almost morally so, I would say) of a concerted effort to sink your campaign or at least run an 'anyone but NickTheSwing' countercampaign. More clueless populists is the last thing we need in politics - or the second-last, right after evil like McConnell.
It's been fun.On one hand, I'm not really sure anyone can be said to know what they're doing until they've actually had some practice. On the other, I'm sure some people are absolutely more suited for actually gaining and using that experience.
And I already know that I'm not the kind of person who'd make a good politician at all.
Its a problem isn't it? That an idiotic Spencer Pratt level anti-celeb like me could conceivably run such a vacuous campaign...and actually get support.
My position on Campaign Finance is LOOK AT ME IM FAMOUS.
So until such a day as actual countermeasures are developed, I'd be the most completely clueless of contemporary populist nitwits.
Nick 2024: Imma let my voters choose everything down to the fucking slogan.
@Red Savant Well, it should be noted that Nick The Swing is an open sociopath. This isn't an insult toward him, it's something he's said himself. So he doesn't necessarily think running like that is right, he's just being honest and saying he'd do it anyways, because he thinks it would work.
I would argue it wouldn't, ironically, because it's too honest. If one candidate declares "we're both unqualified", then the counter-strategy is to say "see, even they admit they're unqualified! So vote for me!"
EDIT: Oh, it appears I might have misunderstood Nick's statement (I thought he was suggesting running on a campaign of declaring "yeah, I'm unqualified, like everyone else").
Edited by Protagonist506 on Jul 9th 2019 at 8:32:35 AM
Leviticus 19:34Personally, if I was running my campaign slogan would be "Let's Build a Better Future, Together", or some variant of such as "Build a Better Future" or "A Better Future, Together".
Leviticus 19:34Yeah, contrary to popular belief, most politicians are actually rather intelligent. Though I do stand by the statement that nobody's especially qualified to run a nation (though I do think it's something somebody has to try to do).
Leviticus 19:34![]()
The stereotype isn't that politicians are stupid. The stereotype is that politicians are corrupt and self-serving and don't really stand for anything. We've got a Corrupt Politician trope for a reason.
And no one person is truly qualified to run a country.
That's why we have democracy.
Edited by M84 on Jul 9th 2019 at 11:51:13 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised@ Protagonist: yeah, basically. The difference between me and guys like Trump, Assad's Girlfriend and Yang is that I'm honest about exactly what I am. Is a serpent who shows his fangs and says something about the state of things better or worse than a serpent who dresses in kingly attire and insists he has the right to rule?
The At Least I Admit It approach is also manipulative in its own way. It's akin to how Littlefinger deflected suspicion in ASOIAF by "warning" people not to trust him. This apparent self-deprecation led to people lowering their guard around him — right before they found out that they really should not have trusted him.
Edited by M84 on Jul 10th 2019 at 12:01:19 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedAt Least I Admit It either works or doesn't depending on context. Sometimes one shouldn't claim to be moral. Also someone like a sociopath openly warning others about it is arguably good in its own way.
Under most circumstances, though, I tend to invert it. Pretending to be virtuous creates the opportunity to become the mask. Also sometimes, being a hypocrite merely means you have ideals to fail to achieve. If you are not hypocrite because you stand for nothing, that is no achievement.
Leviticus 19:34Probably, this whole administration is a lesson in "Nobody ever thought it would hit this point, so there is nothing beyond customs preventing it"
Like take Trump for instance, no one thought the US populace would elect a criminal, so there is actually legitimate questions to if the president can commit a crime (why he chose the judges he chose, is they have the stance that no he can not)
Its.... incredibly dumb, and it really should be fixed when the chance presents itself.
Edited by Imca on Jul 10th 2019 at 12:34:18 PM
Ben Shapiro's associate literally called for Genocide against Iran on Twitter
https://mobile.twitter.com/andrewklavan/status/1148377103353561088

Today's and yesterday's WTF Just Happened Todays
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/07/08/day-900/
1/ New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill allowing congressional committees to access Trump's New York state tax returns. The bill requires state tax officials to release the state returns for any "specified and legitimate legislative purpose" on the request of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, or the Joint Committee on Taxation. Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, called the bill "more presidential harassment." The House Ways and Means Committee has unsuccessfully tried to access six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns. The House sued the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service last week to try to force them to release the returns. (New York Times / NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/ny-gov-cuomo-signs-bill-allowing-congress-access-trump-s-n1027396
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-democrats-sue-trump-administration-effort-secure-president-s-tax-n1025721
📌 Day 809: New York lawmakers will introduce a bill this week to permit the Department of Taxation and Finance to release state tax returns requested by a congressional committee. Under the new proposal, the release of tax information would only happen after efforts to obtain federal tax information through the Treasury Department had failed. The move comes as the Trump administration has signaled that it will resist the House Ways and Means Committee request to turn over six years of Trump's federal business and personal tax returns by April 10th. Mick Mulvaney, meanwhile, promised that Democrats will "never" see Trump's tax returns. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Politico)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/trump-tax-returns-congress-whats-next/index.html
📌 Day 804: House Democrats formally requested six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns from the IRS. In a letter to the IRS, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee cited a little known provision in the IRS tax code that grants tax-writing committees in Congress the power to request tax information on any individual. Chairman Richard Neal requested Trump's personal tax returns from 2013 to 2018, giving the agency until April 10 to comply. Trump claimed his returns are being audited by the IRS and that he would "not be inclined to" turn anything over to Congress. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin previously told the Ways and Means committee that he would protect Trump's privacy if members of Congress requested his tax returns. (CNN / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-democrats-formally-request-trump-tax-returns-n990726
2/ Congressional Democrats issued three-dozen subpoenas to the Trump Organization and other Trump businesses tied to a lawsuit accusing Trump of profiting from foreign governments in violation of the Constitution. The Justice Department is asking an appeals court to prevent the subpoenas from going forward. (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/politics/trump-organization-subpoena/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/democrats-emoluments-lawsuit-against-president-trump-can-proceed-federal-judge-rules/2019/06/25/73bcc6ac-8b95-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html
3/ Trump is "very seriously" considering an executive order to get the citizenship question on the 2020 census despite statements last week from both his Department of Justice and his secretary of commerce that the administration was printing the census without the question. The Justice Department also assigned a new team of attorneys to defend Trump's attempts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census following the Supreme Court's ruling that effectively blocked the question. A statement released by the DOJ gave no clear reason for the change to the legal team, but experts say the team is likely to face questions on multiple fronts after the Trump administration spent the last 15 months giving conflicting explanations about why the question should be added. Trump also recently ordered officials to keep pursuing the addition of the question, even if it means delaying the constitutionally mandated decennial survey. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News / Axios)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/03/politics/census-question-trump-tweet/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-appears-to-contradict-his-own-administration-on-census-citizenship-question/2019/07/03/b720bb94-9da4-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html
Previously: Government lawyers scrambled to find a legal path to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 Census, despite their conclusions in recent days that no such avenue exists. (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-scrambles-to-save-citizenship-question-on-census/2019/07/04/238fe3fa-9e85-11e9-9ed4-c9089972ad5a_story.html
Previously: The Trump administration confirmed that it will press forward with efforts to add a citizenship question to next year's census, with Trump saying he’s exploring the possibility of reviving the question via executive order and government lawyers telling a federal judge that they've "been asked to reevaluate all available options." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/05/trump-executive-order-citizenship-question-census-1399067
4/ Attorney General William Barr believes there's a "pathway" to legally add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Barr said he believed the Supreme Court's ruling against the administration was "wrong" and that there is "an opportunity potentially to cure the lack of clarity that was the problem and we might as well take a shot at doing that." Barr would not detail the administration's plans, but said the Trump administration will take action in the coming days that he believes will allow the government to ask the controversial question. (Post and Courier / Associated Press / Talking Points Memo)
https://apnews.com/d3455cd57e744af08c5690fe1f0517ae
5/ ICE officials used facial recognition software to analyze state driver's license photo databases without motorists' permission. ICE requested to comb through repositories of license photos in at least three states that offer licenses to undocumented immigrants. At least two of the states — Vermont and Utah — complied with the requests. In Washington state, agents authorized administrative subpoenas of the Department of Licensing to conduct a facial recognition scan of all photos of license applicants, but it's unclear whether state officials carried out the searches. (Washington Post / New York Times)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/07/fbi-ice-find-state-drivers-license-photos-are-gold-mine-facial-recognition-searches/?utm_term=.42ff1162888a
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ken-cuccinelli-on-face-the-nation-ice-is-ready-to-deport-1-million-undocumented-immigrants/
The Trump administration plans to replace in-court interpreters at initial immigration court hearings with videos informing asylum seekers and other immigrants facing deportation of their rights. (San Francisco Chronicle)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Trump-administration-ending-in-person-14070403.php
6/ Trump said he wants members of the press to "go in and see" inside the "beautifully run" migrant detention centers. "I'm going to start showing some of these detention centers … to the press," Trump said. "We're going to send people in. We're going to have some of the press go in." Trump's comments come days after several Democratic members of Congress toured two facilities in Texas, where they found migrants and their children are being forced to live in squalid conditions while detained near the southwestern border. (CNN / USA Today)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/07/politics/trump-press-migrant-detention-centers/index.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-idUSKCN1TY1A5
7/ The White House correspondent for Breitbart has joined the Trump administration. Michelle Moons will work in the office of Domestic Policy Council. (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/media/breitbart-white-house/index.html
poll/ 44% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance – up 5 percentage points from April and the highest point of his presidency – while 53% disapprove. (ABC News / Washington Post)
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-reaches-career-high-approval-faces-range-election/story?id=64117018
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/07/09/day-901/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-09/census-judge-denies-new-government-team-s-request-to-join-case-jxwbmwrj
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-mulling-executive-order-census-64150029
2/ House Democrats plan to move forward with criminal contempt proceedings against Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for defying congressional subpoenas related to the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. The move is largely symbolic one, unlikely to lead to many tangible consequences. The DOJ will most likely refuse to charge Barr or any other cabinet secretary with a crime, and has even urged officials not to comply with the House Oversight and Reform Committee's subpoenas. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/08/criminal-contempt-william-barr-wilbur-ross-census-1402210
3/ Democrats in Congress called on Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to resign over a controversial plea deal he brokered as a U.S. attorney that gave a lenient sentence to Jeffrey Epstein, who served 13 months for sexually abusing dozens of young women and underage girls. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said Acosta "must step down" because "he engaged in an unconscionable agreement" with Epstein that was "known" by Trump at the time. Acosta defended his 2007 decision, tweeting that he supports the "horrific" new charges and was "pleased" that prosecutors in New York are "moving forward with a case based on new evidence." (New York Times / Politico / USA Today / CNBC / CNN / Washington Post)
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/trump-labor-secretary-acosta-defends-2007-deal-with-jeffrey-epstein.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/prosecutors-expected-to-unseal-charges-against-jeffrey-epstein/2019/07/08/3dec0fbe-a0db-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html
4/ Trump said he felt "very badly" for Acosta while praising him as "excellent" and "very good" at his job. Trump added that he would be looking "very closely" at the circumstances surrounding the plea deal, but has no immediate plan to force out or fire Acosta, two White House officials said. In 2002, Trump told New York Magazine that Epstein was "a terrific guy," who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Today, however, Trump told reporters that the two "had a falling out" about 15 years ago and that he "was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." (Washington Post / Associated Press / Miami Herald / CNN / Washington Post)
https://apnews.com/10108839f8ad4aa2a9f8ae0fd71fcbb4
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-09/barr-won-t-recuse-himself-from-new-case-against-jeffrey-epstein
5/ The House Judiciary Committee will vote on to authorize subpoenas for 12 of Robert Mueller's witnesses. The subpoena targets include Jared Kushner, Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein, Michael Flynn, John Kelly and Corey Lewandowski, as well as Dylan Howard and David Pecker, two executives at American Media, Inc., and Keith Davidson, an attorney who previously represented Stormy Daniels. Republicans called the subpoenas as an effort to "relitigate" the Mueller investigation. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/09/house-dems-prep-subpoenas-for-jared-kushner-jeff-sessions-and-10-other-mueller-witnesses-1402876
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/government-no-longer-wants-michael-flynn-to-testify-against-ex-partner/2019/07/09/3138cfa4-a1b3-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html
The White House blocked a witness in the Mueller investigation from answering 212 questions about potential obstruction of justice by Trump. Annie Donaldson is the former chief of staff to ex-White House counsel Donald Mc Gahn, and her contemporaneous notes are cited 65 times in the Mueller report. Trump administration lawyers, however, blocked her from going into detail about her documented exchanges between Trump and Mc Gahn. (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-blocks-key-mueller-witness-from-answering-more-than-200-questions-from-house-investigators/2019/07/08/d21bc6b6-a1d0-11e9-b7b4-95e30869bd15_story.html?utm_term=.f81c158fbd36
The former British spy behind the Trump "dossier" was interviewed for 16 hours by the Justice Department's inspector general. During the 2016 election, Christopher Steele was hired by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS to research Trump's Russia ties. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/09/christopher-steele-trump-dossier-doj-1403318
Felix Sater testified before the House Intelligence Committee today. The former Trump business associate and chief negotiator for the defunct Trump Tower Moscow project has rescheduled his appearance several times since he was first slated to appear in March. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/08/felix-sater-moscow-trump-tower-1401940
6/ Trump said the U.S. will "no longer deal with" a British ambassador who called him "inept" and said his administration was "dysfunctional," in leaked cables. Trump attacked Sir Kim Darroch for the second day in a row, threatening to cut ties altogether over the leaked memos, which described Trump as "radiating insecurity." Trump tweeted that Darroch "is not liked or well thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with him." He then attacked Prime Minister Theresa May for making "mess" over Brexit. Weeks ago Trump praised for having done a "very good job." (The Guardian / Washington Post)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/08/donald-trump-we-will-no-longer-deal-with-the-british-ambassador
7/ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unveiled a panel aimed at providing him with "an informed review of the role of human rights in American foreign policy." During remarks to the State Department, Pompeo said "words like 'rights' can be used by good or evil," and complained that some have "hijacked" the rhetoric of human rights and used it for "dubious or malignant purposes." While Pompeo offered little detail as to what the panel will actually do, emphasizing its focus on outlining principles instead of directing policy, he said he hoped the panel would facilitate "one of the most profound reexaminations of the unalienable rights in the world since the 1948 universal declaration." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/08/pompeo-panel-unalienable-rights-1400023
8/ Mitch Mc Connell's great-great-grandfathers owned at least 14 slaves in the 1800s. Mc Connell, meanwhile, recently said he opposed paying government reparations to the descendants of American slaves "for something that happened 150 years ago, when none of us currently living are responsible." Mc Connell added: "We've tried to deal with our original sin of slavery by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation. We've elected an African American president." (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mitch-mcconnell-ancestors-slave-owners-alabama-1800s-census-n1027511
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/amy-mcgrath-2020-senate.html
9/ Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking people on Twitter who criticized or mocked him, a federal appeals court ruled. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled unanimously that because Trump uses Twitter to conduct government business, he cannot exclude some Americans from reading his posts. The case was brought against Trump, Dan Scavino, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders by a group of Twitter users who say they were blocked by Trump. Public officials who use social media for official government business, the court said, are prohibited from excluding people "from an otherwise open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees." (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/09/trump-first-amendment-blocking-twitter-critics-1403910