TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

The General US Politics Thread

Go To

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

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#248426: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:05:06 PM

[up]x5 it's designed to handle weather, and people climbing the staircase to the observatory, but someone running around on the actual statue itself, is much more likely to damage it.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 5th 2018 at 4:11:05 AM

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#248427: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:10:22 PM

If we're that skittish about getting some dents in it and ruining vacations, rather than protesting for the ideals that the statue represents, then the statue of liberty is just an idol and should be melted down for pennies. We don't deserve to even look upon it if we're not willing to act worthy of it.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#248428: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:20:16 PM

[up] And by that logic, there's nothing wrong with sitting on the rising sun chair where George Washington sat at the Consitutional Convention.

The mission of the NPS is to preserve our cultural and natural heritage for future generations, and that means it's our job to respect them as well.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 5th 2018 at 4:21:59 AM

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#248429: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:23:00 PM

[up] I'm not really sure what point you're trying to prove. The risk of damage to the statue was very minimal, and as far as protests go it was both peaceful and high-profile. Arguably it was effective, and trying to diminish that after the fact makes no sense.

That's the kind of reaction I'd expect to see from a Very Serious beltway pundit, it's facile bothsides stuff.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jul 5th 2018 at 1:25:19 AM

They should have sent a poet.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#248430: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:24:39 PM

[up][up]Is this really the hill you want to die on? Your desire to preserve national monuments is praiseworthy and admirable, but minor damage simply isn't worth opposing a perfectly reasonable protest over.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jul 5th 2018 at 4:24:21 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#248431: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:29:28 PM

The only concern I'd have is the safety of the protester,it's true the statue can be repaired but supposing she lost her footing and fell? Lives are irreplaceable,bits of a statue are

To be clear, I'm not against the protest,especially since passive protests don't get you the attention that civil disobedience does

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#248432: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:33:52 PM

[up] I've also mentioned that. None of her fellow protesters knew that she was going to do that, and if she has lost her footing, she could have hurt herself or the first responders.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 5th 2018 at 4:46:56 AM

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#248433: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:39:09 PM

She wouldn't have hurt the first responders,don't be daft

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#248434: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:41:20 PM

And by that logic, there's nothing wrong with sitting on the rising sun chair where George Washington sat at the Consitutional Convention. The mission of the NPS is to preserve our cultural and natural heritage for future generations, and that means it's our job to respect them as well.

And you know what? I'd give a protester props for staging a photo in that chair if, say, the current administration was in the process of abolishing the Constitution. Because in my opinion, these artifacts lose all cultural heritage when what they symbolize gets ignored.

The Statue of Liberty is just an old hunk of copper devoid of meaning without the symbolism behind it, and the administration is actively trying to undermine its meaning.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Imca (Veteran)
#248435: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:41:41 PM

[up][up]Your right, some one falling from 151 feet up onto you would kill you instead.

Edited by Imca on Jul 5th 2018 at 1:43:23 AM

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#248436: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:44:59 PM

I wasn't thinking of the protester falling on someone,my brain farted

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#248437: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:46:23 PM

NPR has a full article regarding Pruitt's resignation - I just hope that the investigations will continue into his behavior during his tenure.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#248440: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:54:12 PM

"they're flying a blimp instead of a flag,SAD!"

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#248441: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:57:38 PM

Can't wait to see Cheeto flip his lid over that one.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Raptorslash Since: Oct, 2010
#248442: Jul 5th 2018 at 1:58:13 PM

I'm glad Pruitt's gone, but he'll be replaced with someone just as bad or even worse. There's plenty more where he came from.

Trump will never appoint someone who sincerely wants to run the EPA according to its actual purpose. He's a Captain Planet villain made flesh.

Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#248443: Jul 5th 2018 at 2:07:55 PM

[up]He's got to run out of terrible people eventually.

danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#248444: Jul 5th 2018 at 2:09:59 PM

[up]Sadly, he's got roughly 20% of the country or so to run through before he runs out. Even at this administration's rate of turnover, that'll take a while to burn through.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#248445: Jul 5th 2018 at 2:10:20 PM

Sadly, reactionaries/Republicans are a rather plentiful resource.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#248447: Jul 5th 2018 at 2:39:28 PM

Democrats’ playbook for stopping Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/jul/03/democrats-playbook-stopping-donald-trumps-supreme-/

Goes into detail on what options Democrats have to block or delay Trump's pick for SCOTUS.

Options include flipping Republican votes, quorum busting, adding term limits to judges, playing on Trump's conflicts of interest in nominating a Justice while the Mueller probe is ongoing, and court packing

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#248448: Jul 5th 2018 at 2:45:35 PM

Interesting.

IIRC The vox posted recently about court packing also suggested that court packing could be used as a threat to push for term limits of judges, so the damage is reduced without the risk of taking such potentially unpopular action as court packing.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jul 5th 2018 at 5:45:40 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#248449: Jul 5th 2018 at 3:34:49 PM

Re: protesting, if you aren't making people angry/inconveniencing someone you're not doing a very good job of it. Yeah, there should be limits, but "One person might slightly damage a giant monument" isn't one of them, I think.

Protests don't happen when everything is fine and dandy, and expecting their to be no controversy at all is just naïve.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#248450: Jul 5th 2018 at 3:48:21 PM

It's from huffpo, but this is worth a read.

Trump Isn't Remaking The Supreme Court. Leonard Leo Is.

WASHINGTON ― For the second time in less than two years, President Donald Trump is poised to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. But he’s not the one remaking the nation’s most powerful court for generations of Americans. It’s Leonard Leo.

Leo, executive vice president of The Federalist Society, a national organization of conservative lawyers, has played a central role in the selection and confirmation of three Supreme Court justices: John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. And on Wednesday, Leo announced that he’s taking leave from his job, effective immediately, to personally advise Trump on a replacement for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Trump plans to pick someone from his previously released list of 25 potential Supreme Court nominees ― a list that Leo put together for him, at Trump’s request. If all goes as planned, Leo, 53, will have helped secure his fourth justice on the court by the early fall.

No president in modern history has had this kind of influence in reshaping the Supreme Court. Leo doesn’t singularly deserve credit for putting these judges on the court, of course; it takes teams of people to get a nominee through. But long after Trump is out of the White House, Americans will be feeling the effects of a court stacked not by any particular president but, in large part, by Leo.

“It’s incredible,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at Virginia’s University of Richmond and an expert on judicial nominations. “Certainly, he’s had an outsize influence for any one person. I know President George W. Bush relied on him a fair amount for two nominees, and in this administration, I don’t think there’s ever been anything quite like it.

Since he is on leave to advise Trump, that could run into some legal issues. [1]

Leonard Leo runs Federalist Society's social conservative wing. His agenda is first about reversing Roe v. Wade, and then about reversing same sex marriage and any other case offending ultraconservative religions. Sen. Judiciary must find out more.

Legal issues include whether he is delegated duties normally carried out by a federal employee, making him subject to federal conflict of interest rules, 18 USC 208, and whether his services violate augmentation laws banning outside supplementation of government agency functions.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 5th 2018 at 6:48:48 AM


Total posts: 417,856
Top