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
Yeah, after the Sessions->Barr transition I am pretty much resigned that no matter how crooked, odious or incompetent a Trump official is, their replacement is almost certainly worse.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman@Imca: Which reminds me, do they still let him delete his tweets, which IIRC is also illegal?
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."@Imca, That doesn’t square with them removing copyrighted material from his tweet, they just did act on one of his tweets.
You’re confusing the legal requirement for the president to not hide official communications (which is a thing), there’s no legal requirement for private organisations to provide the president with a platform from which to speak.
On the FEC, are they able to order ballot bans, I thought they were effectively shutdown due to lack of staff? Also who enforced a ballot ban, because I could see some people refusing to enforce such an order.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranAlso...honestly, the idea that anyone has the power to ban someone from being voted for is a problem, even if it's Trump's.
Do we really want a future Republican President to have the power to appoint commissioners who will take his Democratic opponent off the ballot and invalidate them as a write-in?
![]()
![]()
She was appointed by a Republican President who believes in the rule of law, free and fair elections, and at least trying to do what's best for America and the world. And who doesn't like Trump anymore.
That's different from a commissioner appointed by President Jared Kushner because he was wearing a MAGA hat and a Blood and Soil t-shirt.
Edited by Ramidel on Oct 4th 2019 at 1:36:50 AM
I mean, the Ukraine thing is only a thing because of the threatening. His calling on China is nothing new, considering in 2016 he was openly asking Russia for help.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.So now I hope Trump keeps running his big mouth so he'll be ineligible to run for office in 2020.
Banning a sitting President from the ballot is one of those things where I'm holding my applause until it moves from empty threats to real action.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Incoming firing of the FEC chair in three... two... one...
Edited by Fighteer on Oct 4th 2019 at 9:40:13 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"So what’s the alternative if people cheat at elections? Declare the election invalid? Then who gets the office, the incumbent? Then every incumbent is untouchable because they can cheat without facing consequences.
If Trump can’t be removed from the ballot and he’s allowed to rig the ballot then the US is no longer a democracy.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranYes, election watchdogs are critical to the proper functioning of any democracy.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Its the big problem Pelosi has and almost an admirable one. Until now, she's basically been acting like Trump is an awful horrible person that can be defeated by democracy. The problem is that Trump actively does not care about democracy and is a different personal character than other Republican candidates. It's now a fight to the death for the country's institutions.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 4th 2019 at 6:49:08 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Pelosi, Biden, and many other parts of the Democratic Party have been acting for years as if Trump is a normal politician that can be defeated by normal politics... as if appeal to democratic and institutional norms will have any effect. The process of waking up to reality has been a slow and painful one, but it is happening at breakneck pace now.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I give them more credit than that. I think they are and have been fully aware of just how bad Trump is and how much of a threat he represents, but they've been holding back until they can hit him for maximum effect — a combination of timing (near enough to the election that it won't be old news by the time voting begins, but early enough that it doesn't come off as just an election stunt) and circumstances (the whistleblower complaint is so obviously blatantly wrong that it makes for a more effect anvil to hammer Trump against than a huge collection of "minor" things would be).
I think it's less that they've been considering this "business as usual" until suddenly they aren't, and more that they've been hanging back and waiting for an opportunity to go after it with maximum effect rather than diluting their efforts.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.I think there was a certain level of:
- Believing Trump was an embarrassment rather than a monster.
- Being stunned at the sheer level of how little Trump gave a shit about anything resembling the law.
- Being thrown by how perfectly willing the Republicans were willing to betray their own country.
It's a bit like waking up and finding the Hamburglar murdered your family and your next door neighbor (who you've never liked) is actively trying to burn the evidence to protect him.
You lose some SAN points from the whole thing.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.So, uh, did everybody know that Tulsi Gabbard is a member of a racist cult
? Can't say I did.

I'm not sure "the law doesn't apply to us" would hold up in court.
Especially if they had ample opportunity to silence Trump.
The courts have already ruled they cant do any thing about the presidents account, since it counts as a public address.
Like wise, because of that its technicaly illegal for trump to block people on twitter as well, yet he does.