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
Nah the problem with the far-left wasn't hysteria, it was the advocation of violence I belive, it got into serious "all cops are murderers who need to be shot" and "we need to stage a violent revolution against the corrupt capitalist system" territory at times.
As for other aggressive argument makers, beyond Fighter who else does that?
edited 15th Feb '16 11:21:42 AM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranYou guys are dooooomed! I say doooooomed!
Out of context post ho!
edited 15th Feb '16 11:23:15 AM by AngelusNox
Inter arma enim silent leges![]()
Obama's primary objective is to govern, not make Republicans look like fools. That is a consequence of their own actions. However, if he is obstructed from governing by their foolishness, he is not going to be shy about pointing it out.
edited 15th Feb '16 11:22:43 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
He does both, depending on the circumstances. This is a case where a recess appointment wouldn't help much and would lead to more crap getting on him than it would be worth, while insisting that the Senate do its job would put the ball in their court and force them to fumble it.
It's like not doing the trillion-dollar platinum coin to fuck the debt ceiling.
edited 15th Feb '16 11:24:54 AM by Ramidel
edited 15th Feb '16 11:29:45 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"For those not getting the Pro Forma bit:
Essentially McConnell is playing the equivalent of accounting tricks for politics. He's saying "We're not 100% at recess, just informally at recess"
And it's likely the reason McConnell and the Senate Republicans are being such a massive and gigantic tools about this is besides any ideology, the GOP is suffering a No True Scotsman fallacy. If they allow Obama to get a nomination either heard or passed, you prove you're not sufficiently Republican and then you get Primaried by a more hardliner rightwing conservative.
Basically bad feedback loops since 2010 keep feeding back in on themselves, per usual.
We're basically getting to the point that, and I don't advocate this, the other party would basically have to outlaw or kill the members of the opposition party to get anything meaningfully done. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hopefully the system snaps back at some point, 'cuz this shit is getting annoying.
Otherwise we're going to get to the point to prove you're sufficiently Republican, you'll have to prove you've never breathed the same air as a Democrat.
edited 15th Feb '16 11:35:42 AM by PotatoesRock
We can only hope that there is enough anti-GOP sentiment in the swing states to vote out all the Tea Party nuts. I have a feeling that if Clinton/Sanders win, they will have a shitty time getting a justice appointed; unless the Dems get a filibustered proof Senate majority.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.@Fighteer: From a governance perspective, it would have been correct. Politically, however, it would have given Republicans credibility among swing voters, and I can see why Obama preferred to force a shutdown when all the shit was going to fall on Congress' side of the fence.
Same thing here. Getting a temporary Supreme Court majority isn't worth looking like you've made a blatant power grab, when a Republican failure to act puts the ball in play on your side for November.
Though I think Shinra was on point, the main problem is that the Evangelical and Libertarian wings took over when the War Hawks and Business wings fucked up with Iraq and 2008. The only way this gets fixed is the GOP fractures in half or something discredits the Libertarian/Evangelical wings. But I fear those wings may suffer from "We cannot fail, we can only be failed" syndrome. Which is a bad sign for Democracy.
Meanwhile:
@Rationainsanity: To Sanders' credit, he has been much more open about playing the long game and the importance of (young) Democrat voters in taking back Congress.
Though, has a president ever explicitly told people "remember, go vote Democrat in your congressional election!"; is that kind of promotion even legal? (Did Obama say anything to that effect and I just don't remember?)
I think the reason McConnell is playing things so safe is remember, according to all information, this is not a good year for the GOP with Senate seats. A lot of the GOP seats scooped up were done so in 2010 in the Tea Party wave which could easily be overturned this year, so he's basically trying to avoid his guys being primaried and thus getting a clown-shoe candidate that the Democrat can turn into a fun-house mirror joke in the general, OR scare off the general election voters for the Republican side from coming out to vote at all.
President Obama has already stated that he won't make a recess appointment, which I think is a smart move.
Circumventing Congress would only allow the Republican debate to further criticize Obama's administration for executive overreach, while attempting to go through the 'proper channels' and facing Congressional obfuscation will shift voters to Democrats.
edited 15th Feb '16 12:14:30 PM by SolipsistOwl
I'm finally back guys (sorry I was gone so long, was engulfed in work).
So with the Supreme Court blocking Obama on climate change, Congress blocking him on Scalia's replacement and pretty much anything, what would Obama be able to do in his final year, best case scenario? Does the Equality Act have a shot at being passed at least?
![]()
![]()
They did and then it became January 1st, 2016 and McConnell started thinking about November.
He's paranoid about losing the Senate to the Democrats, and thus losing a potential chance to seize of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary branches. Because again, a fair number of the GOP seats up this year aren't in Republican strongholds. (Hell, Rubio only got elected due to a fucking split vote.)
The Repub playbook is "Don't rock the boat (please let Trump vanish and let Rubio stop glitching) and lets get all three branches so we can herald in a new golden age of Republican government."
edited 15th Feb '16 12:38:20 PM by PotatoesRock

edited 15th Feb '16 11:19:52 AM by PotatoesRock