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
> This didn't make sense without context. John Brown was an abolitionist who got executed for trying to free some slaves in 1859.
Aka John Brown's raid,I remember from the history lessons he was an idiotic extremist who eventually was hanged for said raid
have a listen and have a link to my discord serverSomeone with some sense, maybe?
John Hickenlooper Mulling Ending Presidential Bid to Run for Senate – Mr. Hickenlooper, who has remained near the bottom of the Democratic field, is in discussions to challenge Colorado’s Republican senator, Cory Gardner
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/us/politics/john-hickenlooper-2020-senate.html
He was a violent maniac.
And an American hero, god bless him.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Aug 14th 2019 at 11:12:46 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangRevealed: Republican lawmaker aided group training young men for 'biblical warfare' – The group ‘Team Rugged’ offers ‘patriotic and biblical training’ that includes instruction on how to use knives and guns
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/matt-shea-biblical-war-washington-team-rugged
Also, someone less sensible:
O’Rourke plots return from 2020 sidelines
Persistent calls for the former Texas congressman to run for Senate have exasperated his supporters.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/14/beto-orourke-2020-democrats-senate-run-1461533
Edited by sgamer82 on Aug 14th 2019 at 12:17:48 PM
Do it.
Dooooo eeeeeeeet.
Hickenlooper's problem from the beginning was that he let a Big Fish, Small Pond ego get to him. Coloradans love Hickenlooper and practically worship the ground he walks on, but there ain't nobody outside this state that knows or cares who this guy is. That's a problem for a Presidential run, when you're standing on a stage with people who already have national acclaim.
That is not a problem for winning a Senate seat, however. There, Hickenlooper's reputation among Coloradans actually gives him a chance to shine. If he can lock down that Senate seat, he can start building a national reputation from there and then, maybe in eight or twelve years if it goes well, think about a Presidential run.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.There's a tool for every task and a task for every tool. Hickenlooper will never cut it as a presidential candidate, but if he can advance the cause closer to home, he should do so.
"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."High fives, Tobias Drake.
Now please spread that story to all the other no-hopers. This obsession with the presidency above all else is really grating and really inconsiderate.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanLet's just hope he doesn't rant about the evils of universal healthcare in his next venture. Personally, because of that, I'd rather have someone more progressive take the available Senate seat, since Colorado is practically a blue state now.
Life is unfair...So, in a statement that utterly astounds me, Steve King defends getting rid of the rape and incest clause for anti-abortion laws because "would there be any population left if not for rape and incest?"
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/14/politics/steve-king-rape-incest-comments/index.html
I think he meant to amend "would there be any GOP population left" to that, but what do I know.
The entire text is ''"What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" he said in Urbandale, Iowa, according to video posted online by the Des Moines Register, which was first to report on the remarks Wednesday. "Considering all the wars and all the rape and pillage that has taken place ... I know I can't certify that I was not a part of a product of that," King said. "I'd like to think that every one of the lives of us are as precious as any other life," he added. ''
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanThat doesn't really sound better in context. We used to drown people that we thought were witches, too; it doesn't mean we should keep doing that because the human race survived.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I'll bite, ~Soban, how should a statement like that be defended?
Edited by sgamer82 on Aug 14th 2019 at 1:23:59 PM
If you only care about the continued existence of a concepted fetus and not about the life or wellbeing of its mother, then there is a logic for removing the rape/incest exception. It's gross and horrible logic, but it's a logic.
See, that exception is there for the sake of protecting forcibly impregnated women from having to birthe their victimizer's child. But if your agenda is built around forcing women to carry children to term regardless of whether or not they want to, then what does it matter if the pregnancy is consensual or not? If you've accepted the premise that women are breeding stock who exist to manufacture men's children, then it naturally follows that rape and incest don't really matter.
Now, that doesn't mean that everyone who is pro-life sees women that way. Abortion is a complex issue. I'm talking about a specific subset that I like to call "anti-choice", men whose primary purpose for supporting the pro-life movement is to take away a woman's control over her own reproductive organs and restore male dominance.
From that perspective, what King's talking about is natural step-by-step social progression. First, you criminalize abortion but say "It's cool in extreme circumstances; don't get worked up about rape and shit, we all know that's bad." Then, once everyone's acclimated to the new status quo, you go after those extreme circumstances.
Anti-choicers are the worst part of the abortion debate because of shit like this.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Aug 14th 2019 at 1:48:12 PM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.@Soban
Just to point out, the rape/incest exception is there to make sure that women who become pregnant as a result of those acts can get an abortion, they are not forced to. That's a crucial difference that seems to fall by the wayside when it comes to the abortion debate.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"

Shots fired into ICE offices in San Antonio.
>Goddamn it, this is only going to make shit worse.
We haven't killed John Brown yet.
This didn't make sense without context. John Brown was an abolitionist who got executed for trying to free some slaves in 1859. On the day of his execution he wrote, "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done."
In essence, shit can get worse, but it's not past the breaking point.
Edited by Soban on Aug 14th 2019 at 1:36:43 PM