Jump to content

US Politics: Guns versus Butter


DMC

Recommended Posts

3 minutes ago, DMC said:

 

The thing to remember about the Northam scandal is that the LG and AG - the next two in the gubernatorial line of succession - were (soon) also embroiled in their own scandals.  It created some fascinating form of MAD for the Dems, and interestingly all three survived.  Hell, Fairfax (the LG) is currently running for governor and Herring is running for his third term as AG.  Anyway, if Fairfax was in good standing at the time I suspect Northam would have been forced to resign.

Wasn’t the AG scandal ALSO a blackface scandal? I mean if someone had put that in a work of fiction I might criticize it as not believable. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, S John said:

Wasn’t the AG scandal ALSO a blackface scandal?

Yes.  And Herring had called on Northam to resign.

7 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

If you are interested, read it.  If not, I honestly DGAF.

Yeesh, I was just teasing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, S John said:

As to your first paragraph, I’m surprised to find such a naive take from a reliably cynical poster. :P  Like I agree with you in  theory, but in reality - in today’s climate, that would have been an epic self-own. I don’t blame him for just kinda hoping that wouldn’t come out and carrying on with his business and ultimately letting his record as a public servant speak for itself.

On the second paragraph, I agree that showing remorse is important, but it needs to be accompanied by a general acceptance of that remorse and forgiveness. If they do it again, then we get out the pitchforks. But I don’t think forgiveness and redemption are currently a part of what’s going on today and that is where my problem is.
 

I honestly think that the publics capacity for forgiveness is a lot higher than you think. The problem is that the strategy has been for too long deny and deflect instead of taking responsibility. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

‘They are, in effect, supporting racism’: Black leaders zero in on Dems' filibuster holdouts
Advocates are telling senators they can enact civil rights laws or keep the filibuster, but not both.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/voting-rights-filibuster-477905

Quote

 

Facing that GOP opposition, activists have called for scrapping the filibuster entirely, or for creating a carve-out specifically for voting rights legislation. Though Manchin has previously dismissed a filibuster carve-out for voting rights on grounds that it’s like “being a little bit pregnant,” activists hope it can win over Democratic senators who are uneasy with entirely blowing up the Senate rules.

“I fundamentally believe that Congress alone has the ability to create a unified threshold for democracy in our country,” Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said in an interview. “I believe there needs to be a carve-out, an exemption, a suspension of the filibuster.”

Abrams and others argued that the current exemptions to the filibuster — from Supreme Court nominations to the use of budget reconciliation — and efforts of Republican state legislators to introduce restrictive voting laws opens the door for a voting rights exemption as well. “This is not new,” she said. “I believe that there is both exigency and there is a precedent for creating this [filibuster] carve-out in order to protect democracy.”

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, S John said:

I liked your whole post but this part particular resonated with me. I don’t think the left eating their own, as mentioned up thread, is always a good thing. I understand that holding people accountable is important but purity tests that apply not only to recent times, but well into the past are bullshit. It appears to me that if one has transgressed today’s standards at any point in their lives, then fuck your forever. Last week Bill Maher described this as a phenomenon with all the fire and brimstone of religion with none of the salvation and redemption. I don’t think that’s an entirely unfair characterization.

Case in point, Virginia governor Ralph Northam. Big time blackface scandal. Totally unacceptable, yes, but it WAS a long time ago. And it really looked like something he did all the time and was known for based on photos and his suggestive nickname. Many folks on the left calling for his head, to be drummed out of Richmond like Al Franken was from the Senate. But Northam kinda just said ‘nah’ and went on about his business.

As a result of that, under his governorship Virginia has made no-knock warrants illegal, passed restrictions on the militarization of police, decriminalized marijuana with full legalization in the works, passed protections for LGBTQ, instituted stricter background checks for gun ownership, and just this week abolished the death penalty in a state where blacks were historically executed at a rate 3x that of whites. He’s removed confederate monuments from what was once the Capitol of the Confederacy. Many other things on the blue state wish list have come into being under Northam and in a state that has deep conservative roots and a nasty history when it comes to race relations.

Point being, I don’t think Northam is the kind of guy who would suit up in blackface at his next Halloween party. When he was young he repeatedly did something stupid but obviously he is not that person anymore and hasn’t been for some time. People grow up, they change, they evolve. Would Virginia have accomplished Northam’s agenda if he’d have resigned in disgrace? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s hard to argue he has not been effective at unhitching Virginia from its Confederate and Jim Crow legacy.

Society is too obsessed with finding the gotcha from the past when it comes to public figures. That unflattering old photo of miming a boob grab or a regretful old tweet and coming to the conclusion - fuck this person forever. Fuck them today for who they were when they did that. I just can’t get behind that. I think it’s wrong and it does feel like a gleeful pastime of the left. I really think Trump’s inability to do or have done ANYTHING that would turn his base is a direct result of that climate. He didn’t give a fuck and as maddening as that was to me and many others, his people loved him for it. Anyway, accountability IS extremely important but it needs to be applied with common sense and it too often is not. 

That is not entirely what Franken was in trouble for. The lady from the boob grab photo was herself a public figure so it got more traction. But there was at least one (I vaguely recall it might have been two) woman who credibly accused him of grabbing her ass at the Minnesota State Fair while he was Senator and she was taking a photo with him. There were a few other similar accusations. He was a great senator who did great work, but he was abusing the power that gave him to be a creep. It wasn’t just or even mostly about the picture. It was a pattern of behavior that continued. We got rid of him and Tina Smith has been doing just fine for Minnesota. And the left can’t say Donald Trump is a rapist and it’s unacceptable and not call out our own Frankens and Cuomos and we can’t throw up our hands and say there are too many predators to do anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Quote

 

Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power From the Gilded Age to the Digital Age,’ by Amy Klobuchar (Knopf, April 27)

Klobuchar, the senior senator from Minnesota, is the chair of the Senate subcommittee overseeing antitrust enforcement. Here she gives a sweeping look at the history of antimonopoly laws in the U.S. and outlines a plan to better enforce the fight against monopolies, particularly those in the tech and pharmaceutical industries.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

‘They are, in effect, supporting racism’: Black leaders zero in on Dems' filibuster holdouts
Advocates are telling senators they can enact civil rights laws or keep the filibuster, but not both.

Saw that, I think the headline is a bit misleading based on what you quoted/bolded.  Abrams isn't saying Manchin and Sinema have to abolish the filibuster.  She - and others - are saying there should be a carve out just like there is for appointments and budget reconciliation.  Considering Manchin already kinda indicated support for the latter in the Sunday morning interviews a few weeks back, I think that's the best tack to take.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

If you are interested, read it.  If not, I honestly DGAF.

I feel like this is one of the most brazen things you've ever written here. :P And I did read the whole post, btw, there's just a lot to address, and we actually agree on a good bit, shocking I know, but I must return to slap-fighting @DMC first and more than I expected has come up this morning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said:

If they wanted to stand upon principle and get rid of a treasonous, lying, grifting, racist, sexist, rapist- they could have.

This needs to be repeated 5 times daily, lest one ever forgets. Some memories should never be allowed to fade!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A noose is gently snuggleing around Sidney Powel's disgusting neck.

Sidney Powell's defense in defamation suit could put her in legal jeopardy

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/politics/sidney-powell-bar-dominion/index.html

"The First Amendment doesn't protect knowingly false statements of fact," Boutrous added. :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

A noose is gently snuggleing around Sidney Powel's disgusting neck.

Sidney Powell's defense in defamation suit could put her in legal jeopardy

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/politics/sidney-powell-bar-dominion/index.html

"The First Amendment doesn't protect knowingly false statements of fact," Boutrous added. :D

 

Good. There should be fucking consequences for lying to undermine a fairly decided election for the most crass and greedy reasons.

In Ye Olde Times she'd be a head on a pike. May she be fired into the sun, legalistically speaking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suspect Powell has calculated that losing her law licence is, compared to losing the Dominion suit, not significant. She may anticipate making a comfortable living through TV and speaking appearances, releasing a book, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, DMC said:

Saw that, I think the headline is a bit misleading based on what you quoted/bolded.  Abrams isn't saying Manchin and Sinema have to abolish the filibuster.  She - and others - are saying there should be a carve out just like there is for appointments and budget reconciliation.  Considering Manchin already kinda indicated support for the latter in the Sunday morning interviews a few weeks back, I think that's the best tack to take.

Looks like Manchin wants to to try to try to be bipartisan on it first. I have no issue with him trying and failing at that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Looks like Manchin wants to to try to try to be bipartisan on it first. I have no issue with him trying and failing at that.

He's not a DINO, he's just a little bi-partisan curious. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a thought through piece provoked by the author knowing what's already going on around Biden's "first 100 days."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/better-way-judge-joe-biden/618382/

"A Better Way to Judge Joe Biden
Some of the qualities that produce a successful presidency don’t receive the attention they should."

Quote

....The first quality inspired this article: perspective. .... The second attribute is related to the first. Does a president, or presidential candidate, know how to build a team? .... Finally: restraint. Our campaigns and media demand action. When the 100-day assessments start, we’ll spend a lot of time on what’s immediately visible. We should think more about what we don’t see, and the actions a president does not take—a partisan dig not made, a slower approach on one issue that allows attention and progress on another. Restraint is the key to prioritization.....

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...