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
Pendrake, the instant Rittenhouse aimed his gun at a human being he was committing a felony and should have been arrested on the spot. That was the instigating crime. At that point nearly anything done to him was justified self-defense.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I think it's about time we moved on from this topic.
It's been fun.I'm still waiting for people to explain what Kyle was doing there and why he needed the rifle to do that.
"Yup. That tasted purple."I'm not arguing the contrary. You are correct.
TBH, the biggest failing that night was the Kenosha PD. The moment they saw a teenager with an Assault rifle, he should have been asked to hand it over, disarmed if he refused, and shoved into a squadcar. But he wasn't.
the original "reason" he was apparently there was to, quote "help protect a friend's shop from those violent protesters." So basically complete horseshit.
In any event, yeah, we should move on to stuff that's going on right now: In positive world news, that Container ship that was lodged sideways in the Suez Canal is now partially freed.
The entire Covid team under Trump's also opening up about the BS he pulled last year.
Edited by Pendrake on Mar 29th 2021 at 5:05:27 AM
Semper Fi. Semper Paratus. Vigilo Confido.Yeah IIRC the business he was allegedly protecting had already been burned out the day before.
"Yup. That tasted purple."Yeah, kyle go there with vigilantie or "militia" Mentality of act as sort of defense squad for buissness.
a lot of people said kyle was those kind of guys who want to mock liberal and is "easly trigger" and it seen this was the case here.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/29/us/joseph-edward-duncan-iii-dies-death-row/index.html
Serial Killer Joseph Edward Duncan III, on Death Row for the 2005 kidnapping and killing of a 10-year old boy just died of brain cancer.
Semper Fi. Semper Paratus. Vigilo Confido.I'd still like to see the sources for the stuff in your initial posts, Pendrake, if you have them (for example, I haven't been able to find anything on Gaige Grosskreutz saying "my one regret is that I didn't kill the kid.") If the thread's moved on, a PM also works.
Edit: I'm asking because looking at the Wikipedia page for the shooting (link here), I don't think that the events as they're detailed on the page matches the way you've described them here. So if you have any extra information, I'm interested in seeing it.
Edited by nova92 on Mar 29th 2021 at 5:29:53 AM
Continuing endless screaming about the MO legislature being "NICE MEDICAID EXPANSION YOU VOTED FOR THERE. SHAME IF WE CUT IT FROM THE BUDGET."
Though the expanded eligibility, which begins July, passed as an amendment to the state constitution, Republican lawmakers contend they are not obligated to pay for it. Only the legislature — not voter-initiated ballot measures — can direct the state to spend money, they said.
Meredith has warned that thousands will become eligible to enroll in Medicaid anyway on July 1, leading to an underfunded program.
Smith said if expansion is not paid for, “I would expect the Department [of Social Services] do not provide services to that population on July 1.”
I lost what little respect I had for the pro-gun argument when I realized that the episode of the Simpsons where Homer is using a gun to open bear cans and the NRA was horrified was being too fair to the NRA.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 29th 2021 at 6:00:33 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Since it appears the thread hasn't moved on, I'd like to address a few points:
Edited in some of the sources provided by Wikipedia.
Edited by nova92 on Mar 29th 2021 at 6:27:46 AM
I'll be honest, if someone killed me because I pointed a gun at them as well as a crowd, I would not blame my killer. This is the way my The Fundamentalist Right Wing family educated me about gun safety.
Never in my wildest dreams would I think this would this be attacked by the people who constantly beat into my head how horrifying it is to misuse the weapon or treat it like a toy.
And I'm done. Won't bring it up again.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.A top Justice Department official notified the county Tuesday that the federal government plans to file a civil lawsuit over violations that disenfranchised voters in the election, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post-Standard.
The two-page notice alleges the Oneida County Board of Elections violated the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, two key federal laws aimed at ensuring free and fair elections.
If it's a response to my post, this happened in New York state, which has a Democratic trifecta. Their election administration is notorious for being absolutely awful, which is why Dems need to get on fixing it ASAP.
(The Oneida County BOE had one Dem and one Rep election commissioner. Both resigned after it came out during the court case over NY-22 that they failed to process more than 2400 voter registration forms - the election was decided by around 100 votes.)
Edited by nova92 on Mar 29th 2021 at 6:57:31 AM
I sincerely say that the GOP not even trying to win voters anymore is the biggest sign our democracy has failed. Its all about suppression now and needs to be stopped by federal law.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Not to join the dogpile, I don't really have anything to add to the facts of this case that haven't already been discussed, but I do want to say:
The problem is that you've run headlong into the fundamental problem of centrism. Centrism can be very attractive as a political philosophy, especially for people who are young and trying to figure out for themselves what they believe. I don't know how old you are; that's just a blanket statement. But the problem is that it doesn't really work.
At its core, centrism is about the idea that there are two sides to any situation that both need to be considered. It's logical. It's reasonable. But it ignores the possibility that one of the sides might just be wrong. Sometimes people lie. Sometimes they're spinning a narrative. Sometimes they're straight up trying to defend the indefensible.
If I say the sky is blue and someone else says the sky is red, the responsible thing to do is not to decide the sky must be purple as a compromise between the two positions. The responsible thing to do is to look out the window, see that the sky is clearly blue, and question what the fuck that other guy's on about.
Centrism doesn't really engage with the reality that sometimes people are just wrong.
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.Heck, I'm a centrist, and I'm fully aware of the risks of falling into Golden Mean Fallacy. I always keep in mind that just because shades of gray exist, doesn't mean some things are not black and white. Sometimes, that really is the way things are.
Edited by M84 on Mar 29th 2021 at 10:27:37 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedI dunno, sometimes the sky is red. Or purple. If you have two people telling you that at the same time, it's probably evening sometime and there's gonna be some purple there somewhere.
Avatar SourceYeah, the problem with looking at the viewpoints of both sides is that when it comes to partisan politics one side is insane and awful. The American Right is profoundly bad faith and their logic just exists to serve the entrenched interests by defending the traditional hierarchy at the expense of all morality, rationality, and decency.
The only sides which are remotely comparable in terms of factuality and potential good-faith motivation are the center-left vs far-left. If you're getting the Right involved you've made a terrible mistake and are dangerously open-minded.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 29th 2021 at 7:39:54 AM
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -HylarnAlso, I've heard this a few times: "I'm a moderate", but then they say stuff that trends towards current GOP thinking.
Yeah that analogy is rather flawed. I've gone with using Green instead as that is purely the domain of Alien Sky color-wise and the other colors show up during Twilight.
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Mar 29th 2021 at 7:46:20 AM
A better analogy would be one person claiming the sky has been replaced with flying spaghetti monsters while another person claims the sky is not flying spaghetti monsters.
The correct approach is not to assume half the sky is made of spaghetti.
Disgusted, but not surprisedIf one person says that the Earth is flat and we never went to the Moon and another says that the Earth is an oblate spheroid and we did visit the Moon, there is not a compromise position wherein the Earth is a square and we went halfway to the moon. One of these positions is factually accurate and the other is bullshit.
Not all issues are so factually straightforward, of course, but the true centrist doesn't care. Any time there are two positions they will strive for some kind of compromise regardless of the truth. In some ways this is worse than being an extremist.
Edited by Fighteer on Mar 29th 2021 at 11:45:06 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"It's basically aggressive apathy. This kind of centrist is very insistent on not making decisions about anything.
Disgusted, but not surprised,In other words, centrism by way of South Park.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 29th 2021 at 7:59:55 AM
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
NEVER POINT A GUN AT SOMETHING YOU DON'T INTEND TO KILL or destroy...
Sincerely, some one who did sport shooting... Its literally the first fucking thing your taught, and the most basic rule of using a firearm... second being "Always treat it like its loaded, even if your sure its empty and you have cleared the chamber treat it like its loaded"
I have handled these things, I have... more experience with them then a lot of the people in this thread... there not hard rules to learn, there not something you "forget" or have accidents with... once you start neglecting them it either specifies mal-intent, or that your too incompetent to own a gun.
Neither are a good look for the person who does them, or the system that lets them do it.
This, exactly this, guns are dangerous objects and if your going to misuse them like that, well other peoples safety becomes the top priority.
Edited by Imca on Mar 29th 2021 at 4:56:46 AM