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

Imca (Veteran)
#335201: Oct 25th 2020 at 3:46:31 AM

Its also not something that is getting fixed unless redistricting gets handed over to a machine, and even then it probably wont depending on who programs it.

You can say "You can't gerrymander like that" repeatedly, but its one of those things where enforcement is impossible, since making uniform voting districts isn't possible either, the next maps drawn are also going to be skewed in favor of whoever is in charge at the time.

Like I fully agree that the extent that it happens is disgusting, and it needs to be given a no, but practically nothing will change from the no meaning its a symbolic gesture.

Edited by Imca on Oct 25th 2020 at 3:47:51 AM

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#335202: Oct 25th 2020 at 4:26:20 AM

There are mathematical algorithms that can say, 'Yeah, that's badly gerrymandered!' I'd love for such a test to be mandated for new districts with a decent cutoff point. No partisanship, just math, and no subjective arguing, just a yes or no.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#335203: Oct 25th 2020 at 6:42:02 AM

Its also not something that is getting fixed unless redistricting gets handed over to a machine, and even then it probably wont depending on who programs it.

You can say "You can't gerrymander like that" repeatedly, but its one of those things where enforcement is impossible, since making uniform voting districts isn't possible either, the next maps drawn are also going to be skewed in favor of whoever is in charge at the time.

Like I fully agree that the extent that it happens is disgusting, and it needs to be given a no, but practically nothing will change from the no meaning its a symbolic gesture.

Other developed democracies don't have a gerrymandering problem as we do, I'm pretty skeptical that it's as set in stone as you're arguing.

Wow, no.

Abortion is not the biggest issue in danger.

Fair redistricting is.

I would argue that healthcare is comparably important, if they destroy the ACA then people will die. Many people.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 25th 2020 at 6:42:15 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#335204: Oct 25th 2020 at 6:53:00 AM

We aren't exactly running out of critical issues that the Supreme Court might take up...

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#335205: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:06:52 AM

Indeed.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#335206: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:28:34 AM

It’s not true that you can never have fair redistricting - many countries have managed it, including Canada.

You don’t have politicians or political appointees do it - you have it done by a commission of civil servants hired on through a merit-based process like any other civil servants, you give them a list of factors to take into consideration, they consult with the communities in the relevant state and draw up a plan.

Edited by Galadriel on Oct 25th 2020 at 10:31:05 AM

Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#335208: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:38:48 AM

Because of course they did.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
clemont107 Mega Togekiss?! from Land of Missed Opportunities (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
Mega Togekiss?!
#335209: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:50:55 AM

[up][up]Trump is kind of like Ghetsis in a way. Both are narcissists obsessed with power and take advantage of other people or things to obtain it. Although Ghetsis is smarter and would not do something as idiotic as this.

"Wow, no Mega Togekiss in Legends Z-A. Or any non-Froslass new Sinnoh Mega Evolutions. Round of applause, everybody." - Dawn
RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#335210: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:56:57 AM

And, you know, his kids are actively working with him knowing the truth, rather than being Unwitting Pawns.

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
SatoshiBakura (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#335211: Oct 25th 2020 at 7:59:16 AM

Trump is like a combination between Ghetsis (a villain who is a narcissistic, power hungry asshole) and Chairman Rose (almost destroys the world out of sheer idiocy).

Edited by SatoshiBakura on Oct 25th 2020 at 10:59:28 AM

devak They call me.... Prophet Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
They call me.... Prophet
#335212: Oct 25th 2020 at 8:05:21 AM

[up]x5 "guess what you got for christmas? COVID, HO HO HO"

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#335213: Oct 25th 2020 at 8:22:08 AM

Democratic Senate: Alright then we pass a new law legalizing same sex marriage. Democratic President: I ratify this law Supreme Court: Fuck not much we can do now

The Supreme Court can override federal legislation. Furthermore, in the case you mentioned, they'd have a slam-dunk argument to kill the law in question - namely, that marriage is a states' rights issue.

It would work like this:

Democratic Senate: We pass a new law saying that the Supreme Court has no appellate jurisdiction on marriage cases. Democratic President: I ratify this law. Supreme Court: Fuck not much we can do now

And even then, the law regarding the Supreme Court's jurisdiction might be appealable - and so on, turtles all the way down.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#335214: Oct 25th 2020 at 8:22:38 AM

Someone is going to make a Covid Christmas Movie, I just know it.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#335215: Oct 25th 2020 at 8:25:20 AM

Straight to DVD/streaming services probably,thats topic movies for you

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#335216: Oct 25th 2020 at 9:01:05 AM

What kind of movie? The one where they use the generic Christmas Miracle to cure the Ill Girl?

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#335217: Oct 25th 2020 at 9:22:39 AM

Umm......

A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million in taxpayer money after it offered a special vaccine deal to an unusual set of essential workers: Santa Claus performers.

As part of the plan, a top Trump administration official wanted the Santa performers to promote the benefits of a Covid-19 vaccination and, in exchange, offered them early vaccine access ahead of the general public, according to audio recordings. Those who perform as Mrs. Claus and elves also would have been included.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Friday the Santa plan would be scrapped. The deal was the brainchild of the official, Michael Caputo, an HHS assistant secretary, who took a 60-day medical leave last month. The rest of the campaign now is under an HHS review.

The Santa “collaboration will not be happening,” and HHS Secretary Alex Azar had no knowledge of Mr. Caputo’s outreach discussions, an HHS spokesman said. Mr. Caputo didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Also:

In a 12-minute phone call in late August, Mr. Caputo told Mr. Erwin of the Santa group that vaccines would likely be approved by mid-November and distributed to front-line workers before Thanksgiving.

“If you and your colleagues are not essential workers, I don’t know what is,” Mr. Caputo said on the call, which was recorded by Mr. Erwin and provided to the Journal. “I cannot wait to tell the president,” Mr. Caputo said at another point about the plan. “He’s going to love this.”

Mr. Erwin said on the call: “Since you would be doing Santa a serious favor, Santa would definitely reciprocate.”

Mr. Caputo said: “I’m in, Santa, if you’re in.”

This really is the Bad Place!

Edited by megaeliz on Oct 25th 2020 at 12:29:57 PM

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#335218: Oct 25th 2020 at 9:44:22 AM

What in blazes is "The Santa Group?"

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#335219: Oct 25th 2020 at 9:48:58 AM

The Supreme Court can override federal legislation

It's not nearly so simple, the Supreme Court's power is derived wholly from its legitimacy. If it goes against the will of the public or congressional elites then its agenda can be stymied or entirely reversed.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#335220: Oct 25th 2020 at 9:56:36 AM

It's not true that you can never have fair redistricting - many countries have managed it, including Canada.

Since someone brought up Canada and redistricting: Redistricting occurs every ten years, and is carried out by Elections Canada, which is a completely non-partisan body.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#335221: Oct 25th 2020 at 10:16:23 AM

That’s how most countries with district/constituency systems (as opposed to PR using large regions or simply the entire country) operate I believe. Partisan drawing of election boundaries is very rare.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#335222: Oct 25th 2020 at 10:17:46 AM

Meadows: 'We're not going to control the pandemic' (Note: the bold emphasis is not mine. If the link doesn't take you straight there, it's the 13:50 update.}

    Quote 

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has just made one of the most revealing comments to emerge from Trump's inner circle about the president's historic mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. On a Sunday political talk show, Meadows admitted that the federal government was not focusing on trying to control the pandemic.

"We're not going to control the pandemic," he told Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. "We are going to control the fact that we get a vaccine, therapeutics and other mitigation."

Tapper pressed Meadows to explain why the administration was not going to control Covid-19, given the massive surge that is pummeling the Midwest and mountain states. He replied: "Because it is a contagious virus."

Meadows' statement would be astonishing at any time during the pandemic. It gives an unusually candid insight into the mindset of a White House that from the outset has played down its role in marshalling a federal effort to bring the virus under control.

The remark was all the more astounding given it's timing. Marc Short, chief of staff to vice president Mike Pence, has just tested positive for coronavirus, as have three other VP staff and an adviser.

Yet Pence continues to travel the US, unmasked, holding campaign events, the White House avoiding the recommendation to quarantine set out by the administration's own public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by calling the vice-president an "essential worker".

Pence is in charge of the White House coronavirus task force, which a key member, Anthony Fauci, said on Friday has seen its meetings "diminish" while President Trump has not attended in "several months".

Around the country, confirmed cases are on a steep upward curve, with Friday and Saturday recording the highest levels since the pandemic began. Hospitalisations and deaths have also begun to rise.

In a heated exchange with Tapper, Meadows repeatedly sidestepped the administration's responsibility for this surge in numbers just nine days before the presidential election. He kept on stressing the role of therapeutics and a future vaccine in "mitigating" the number of deaths, while implying the federal government had no responsibility for the rampant spread of the virus.

Tapper asked why the vice-president continued to travel to campaign events without wearing a mask, despite having been exposed via his closest staff. Meadows tried to redirect the blame to China as the source of the virus, but Tapper continued to challenge him.

"Would you agree this is very serious, people need to take precautions?" Tapper asked.

"I agree it is very serious, but we continue to test more and more so the cases will go up," Meadows replied.

In fact, the number of new confirmed cases is rising significantly faster than the quantity of testing.

Lincoln Project lawyer to Kushner and Ivanka: 'Sue if you must' (Note: Bold emphasis is not mine. If the link doesn't take you straight there, it's the 13:06 section.)

    Quote 

The Lincoln Project "will not be intimidated by empty bluster", a lawyer for the group wrote late on Saturday, in response to a threat from an attorney for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner over two billboards the group put up in Times Square.

The billboards show the president's daughter and her husband, both senior White House advisers, showing apparent indifference to public suffering under Covid-19. Kushner is shown next to the quote "[New Yorkers] are going to suffer and that’s their problem", above a line of body bags. Trump is shown gesturing, with a smile, to statistics for how many New Yorkers and Americans as a whole have died.

The Lincoln Project is a group of former Republican consultants who have made it their mission to attack Donald Trump and support Joe Biden.

On Friday Marc Kasowitz, an attorney who has represented the president in cases involving allegations of fraud and sexual assault, wrote to the Lincoln Project, demanding the "false, malicious and defamatory" ads be removed, or "we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages".

The Lincoln Project responded that they would not remove the billboards, citing among other things their first amendment rights of free speech.

In a legal response released on Saturday night, attorney Matthew Sanderson wrote: "Please peddle your scare tactics elsewhere. The Lincoln Project will not be intimidated by such empty bluster ... your clients are no longer Upper East Side socialites, able to sue at the slightest offense to their personal sensitivities."

Due to a "gross act of nepotism", Sanderson wrote, Trump and Kushner have become public officials whom Americans "have the right to discuss and criticize freely". Sanderson cited supreme court precedent and "substantial constitutional protections for those who speak out".

Kasowitz claimed Kushner "never said" the words attributed to him on the billboards, and Trump "never made the gesture" she is shown to make.

Vanity Fair reported the Kushner quote, from a meeting on 20 March, as the pandemic gathered terrible speed, New York reeled and Kushner attacked Governor Andrew Cuomo. Trump tweeted the pose used by the Lincoln Project in July, controversially promoting Goya foods.

The "bruised self-image" of the president's daughter "does not change the fact that this billboard accurately depicts her support of a federal response that has utterly failed to prevent an unmitigated tragedy for the United States", Sanderson wrote.

"May I suggest," he added, "that if Mr Kushner and Ms Trump are genuinely concerned about salvaging their reputations, they would do well to stop suppressing truthful criticism and instead turn their attention to the Covid-19 crisis that is still unfolding under their inept watch.

"These billboards are not causing [their] standing with the public to plummet. Their incompetence is."

Sanderson also said "This isn't over" and added: "Sue if you must."

As University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the Guardian, that seems unlikely.

Ivanka Trump's "father has honed litigation abuse, as a business person and president, to an art form," Tobias said. But "if they did sue, the litigation might take years to resolve, be expensive and lead to embarrassing revelations ... suits like this by people who have thrust themselves into the public eye are notoriously difficult to win.

"In short, this appears to be the usual Trump family bluster."

Edited by Wyldchyld on Oct 25th 2020 at 5:34:03 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#335223: Oct 25th 2020 at 10:44:56 AM

[up][up] Yeah, while any organization made up of people can't be perfectly nonpartisan, every level of separation between explicitly partisan elected officials and the redistricting process reduces the impact of gerrymandering.

If for no other reason than the body has a vested interest in the appearance of nonpartisanship so there are practical limits to how much they can actually fudge things.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#335224: Oct 25th 2020 at 10:49:48 AM

[up]x6

Ric Erwin, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas, called the news “extremely disappointing,” adding: “This was our greatest hope for Christmas 2020, and now it looks like it won’t happen.”

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#335225: Oct 25th 2020 at 10:57:30 AM

In news that will surprise no-one, Barrett will be confirmed tomorrow after today's filibuster by the Democrats failed 51-48.

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

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