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

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333801: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:22:40 PM

Often not even that, really. I've noticed a lot of these people are really cagey about even being asked questions at all. It has gone beyond simply conspiracy theory into active cultish distrust of anyone not in the cult.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#333802: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:26:00 PM

Conspiracy theories have always been cultish.

Disgusted, but not surprised
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333803: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:32:59 PM

[up] I once talked to a classmate who believed that COVID was just a conspiracy to defame Trump and how the media didn't focus on Swine Flu when Obama was president.

I wisely politely nodded and said my good byes as soon as possible.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#333804: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:40:05 PM

Because these people made up their minds already, so you simply asking an innocent question is taken as a challenge to their beliefs, to which they go LALALALALALA while covering their ears. We have Believing Their Own Lies for a reason.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333805: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:45:22 PM

Incidentally, given the kind of people we're dealing with, one of the entries that inspired that trope was a religious zealot who would use lies to further his own ends and end up genuinely believing them.

RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333806: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:49:41 PM

A wise man once said the hardest man to break is one who's fooling himself.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333807: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:53:50 PM

Speaking of religious fanatics, it's impressive for a believed zealot that Amy Baretts doesn't seem to have a single firm opinion on anything in her answers. Given the amount of double-speak involved, I have no belief she's someone who actually intends to follow any form of principle—even one I disagree with.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 14th 2020 at 8:57:35 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#333808: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:57:00 PM

[up] Either she is a self-aware religious zealot (a rarity, really, who knows how messed up her reality is to the rest of the world and keeps it too herself as a result.) or she was only picked for the spot by the GOP on the sole factor that she is a woman and nothing else.

Either case, she is totally the wrong person for this job.

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#333809: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:57:25 PM

She has been bizarrely unwilling to even give statements on matters of legislation, such as "is voter intimidation illegal". Which... yes? It's federal statute.

And couldn't remember the entire first amendment.

[up] She was picked for being a woman and the youngest possible option. Her sum total of experience was 3 years on a federal bench (a spot Mc Connell wouldn't let Obama fill) and having never been a lawyer in any major case or position of importance before that. They want the court to be ideological and hold it as long as possible, not competent.

Edited by RainehDaze on Oct 14th 2020 at 4:58:32 PM

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#333810: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:58:53 PM

Let's be honest, that last part (before edit, dammit) isn't really unique among the GOP and their base.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Oct 14th 2020 at 11:59:20 AM

i'm tired, my friend
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333811: Oct 14th 2020 at 8:59:33 PM

I believe that she's been heavily coached or she's playing to the base of her backers while not saying anything she thinks would give Democrats reason to denounce her.

So, "Is abortion something you'd outlaw?"

"Depends on the case."

"What about segregation?"

"Oh, there's no reason to challenge it these days."

"Can the President delay the election?"

"I'd need to hear the arguments."

Dear God, she is unsuitable.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#333812: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:00:23 PM

Then just disqualify her nomination already and be done with this pointless and blatantly corrupt GOP-circus already.

It's a complete waste of time and a superspreader event in process as it is already...

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#333813: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:01:07 PM

"Can the President delay the election?"

"I'd need to hear the arguments."

Which is also stupid because the argument is no, it's set in the Constitution.

[up] THE GOP CONTROLS THE SENATE. How the hell do you expect anyone to stop them?

Edited by RainehDaze on Oct 14th 2020 at 5:01:32 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333814: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:01:32 PM

It's theater already since the Republicans have their deathly ill plague members in the place, spreading the Red Death among journalists and others. Even though that is against the CDC guidelines.

So yes, I'm seeing her as a bog standard Republican Zealot.

I.e. it's not her religious principles that will be guiding her, just the orders from the Party.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 14th 2020 at 9:02:20 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#333815: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:02:25 PM

It's interesting to me that she's being so noncommital about everything when the GOP is becoming more and more willing to say the quiet part out loud. I mean, she's still going to vote exactly how you'd expect, but still.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333816: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:10:29 PM

I suppose that makes her like Barr than Trump.

Or Roberts, arguably, who I don't think of her as remotely decent.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
SatoshiBakura (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#333817: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:15:10 PM

It’s a shame that the hearing means effectively nothing. The senate will vote her on anyway, the Supreme Court will fall to the Republican side.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333818: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:17:49 PM

Packing the courts is a necessity.

Also passing a law that its limited to 12.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#333819: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:27:55 PM

So in completely unsurprising news (except perhaps how blatant they're being), the California GOP are refusing to comply with the C&D order against them in regards to the drop boxes.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#333820: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:27:58 PM

[up]x2 Add that the Justice can't have been put into the Federal System by the same President, that they have to come from the Federal System, and that Justices can't be put into court on an Election year. And something to stop Republicans from shrinking the Courts in the event they ever regain the Senate (like they would have done if Hillary had won).

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Oct 14th 2020 at 12:28:11 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333821: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:34:49 PM

Add that the Justice can't have been put into the Federal System by the same President, that they have to come from the Federal System, and that Justices can't be put into court on an Election year. And something to stop Republicans from shrinking the Courts in the event they ever regain the Senate (like they would have done if Hillary had won).

I agree with most butttttt....the Election Year rule is fucking stupid and a creation of the GOP. The fact the Democrats are arguing it is silly. Of course Obama should have been able to appoint is. It was a nonsense argument there.

And yes, the Republicans would try to undo it if they regained the Senate. I have the same feeling on EOS.

Yes, they'd undo them as President but they'd do that anyway.

So in completely unsurprising news (except perhaps how blatant they're being), the California GOP are refusing to comply with the C&D order against them in regards to the drop boxes.

Start arresting people.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 14th 2020 at 9:36:00 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#333822: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:37:47 PM

I.e. it's not her religious principles that will be guiding her, just the orders from the Party.

That's not really a thing. Once a Supreme Court justice gets appointed, they will never face re-election, they will never face another nomination hearing, they will never have opportunity for advancement. It's the tippy-top of the ladder and it's a lifetime appointment. The moment her ass is in that seat, she will never, EVER need anything from Mitch McConnell or the Republican Party ever again.

Conservative SCOTUS Justices are not slaves to Mitch's agenda. They do not dance on the end of party strings. They do not turn to their party to ask what they should do or beg for marching orders. The hold a level of authority above and beyond their party.

The reason Conservative Justices make awful rulings isn't because they're trying to look good for Republicans or obeying partisan masters. They have no masters and nobody's opinion of them will ever matter again; their authority is absolute and, barring an impeachment hearing (exceedingly rare) or voluntary retirement, eternal for so long as they shall live.

They make awful rulings because they rule in accordance with their values. And Conservative Justices tend to have conservative values. And conservative values are terrible.

That's all there is to it. If you think Trump's nominees are dangerous because they're going to obey Trump or Mitch's will, you're missing the point. A Conservative Justice's level of menace transcends Trump and even Mitch. They are entering halls of power that they will never have to leave.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 14th 2020 at 9:41:26 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#333823: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:52:17 PM

Texas changed a law that said social workers can't refuse service based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. So now, without being asked if they actually wanted the change, they get to discriminate. Because "regulatory alignment" or something, since obviously you can't hold social workers to stricter standards.

Or require social workers to, you know, work with the disabled. That's even more wtf than normal.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333824: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:57:01 PM

That's the way it's supposed to be but we saw Roberts do NOTHING to keep impeachment on the rails. He's still part of the conservative system and the fact he can't be removed doesn't mean he's not taking orders from the Republican party.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#333825: Oct 14th 2020 at 9:58:27 PM

Fortunately, that law change doesn't matter, because of American Federalism. Specifically, social workers who discriminate on any of these three bases can still be sued into poverty in federal court.


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