US politics: Manchin to the beat of a different drum

[Ormond]

On 5/31/2021 at 1:16 AM, TrueMetis said:

So uh, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/28/arizona-gas-chamber-executions-documents

Arizona is refurbishing its gas chambers for executions. First off, Arizona has fucking gas chambers? Second, no seriously they have fucking gas chambers for hydrogen cyanide built after WW2.

Gosh, how young are you? The gas chamber has been used in the past as a method of carrying out the death penalty in 12 different states in the United States. The first such execution was in Nevada in 1924. The last was in Arizona in 1999. California used the gas chamber for decades. It was originally introduced because it was thought it would be a more humane form of execution -- the same reason it was itself later replaced by lethal injection. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chamber#United_States

[Martell Spy]

A frantic warning from 100 leading experts: Our democracy is in grave danger

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/01/frantic-warning-100-leading-experts-our-democracy-is-grave-danger/

Quote

 

Now, in a striking intervention, more than 100 scholars of democracy have signed a new public statement of principles that seeks to make the stakes unambiguously, jarringly clear: On the line is nothing less than the future of our democracy itself.

“Our entire democracy is now at risk,” the scholars write in the statement, which I obtained before its release. “History will judge what we do at this moment.”

And these scholars underscore the crucial point: Our democracy’s long-term viability might depend on whether Democrats reform or kill the filibuster to pass sweeping voting rights protections.

“We urge members of Congress to do whatever is necessary — including suspending the filibuster — in order to pass national voting and election administration standards,” the scholars write, in a reference to the voting rights protections enshrined in the For the People Act, which passed the House and is before the Senate.

What’s striking is that the statement is signed by scholars who specialize in democratic breakdown, such as Pippa Norris, Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. Other well-known names include Francis Fukuyama and Jacob Hacker.

“We wanted to create a strong statement from a wide range of scholars, including many who have studied democratic backsliding, to make it clear that democracy in America is genuinely under threat,” Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America and a leading organizer of the letter, told me.

“The playbook that the Republican Party is executing at the state and national levels is very much consistent with actions taken by illiberal, anti-democratic, anti-pluralist parties in other democracies that have slipped away from free and fair elections,” Drutman continued.

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Seems like they're a bit late to the party on that issue...

[DMC]

19 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Seems like they're a bit late to the party on that issue...

No.  People like Drutman, Levitsky, and Norris are definitely not "late to the party."

[Fez]

Illinois Democrats are apparently going as aggressive as they can in the gerrymandering. Looks like they're going for a locked in 14-2 map in favor of Democrats with a single swingy district that leans Biden; so in most years it'll be 15-2. The current map is 13-5 for Democrats.

In principle I don't like gerrymandering, but considering what Republicans are up to I'm glad at least one trifecta Democratic state is willing to go hard. Hopefully New York Democrats overrule the state commission (unlike in some other states, there is a provision allowing them to) and act similarly.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

31 minutes ago, DMC said:

No.  People like Drutman, Levitsky, and Norris are definitely not "late to the party."

You know it was a joke, but the point is that could have been said five years ago and it would still have been late to address a rather obvious problem. Republicans have not cared about the health of our democracy for a long time now and are getting increasingly brazen about it. That's why it wasn't shocking to hear Flynn say over the weekend that people should overthrow the government. 

[DMC]

17 minutes ago, Fez said:

considering what Republicans are up to I'm glad at least one trifecta Democratic state is willing to go hard.

States like Maryland and Massachusetts have been pretty impressive at wiping out almost any GOP seats.  I agree that it'd be nice to see New York go harder on it though.

4 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

but the point is that could have been said five years ago and it would still have been late to address a rather obvious problem.

The letter is obviously timed to pressure Dems to pass HR1 over filibuster attempts.

[Zorral]

Democracy is like everything else in this country -- voting, equal rights, veterans benefits, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, unions, student loans, low-interest mortgages -- until African Americans (also women) are included.  Then, get over it, it is over and a detriment to society as a whole.

[Fez]

19 minutes ago, DMC said:

States like Maryland and Massachusetts have been pretty impressive at wiping out almost any GOP seats.  I agree that it'd be nice to see New York go harder on it though.

True. Though those gains are locked in; Massachusetts hasn't had a Republican representation since the '90s and Maryland has been 7-1 since 2012. Maybe Maryland will knock out Andy Harris, though I think they like having a single vote sink even though the state's so blue it doesn't need one anymore. But we could get at least a little lucky and they'll move the vote sink to the western side of the state so they can eliminate Harris specifically since he's a special pain-in-the-ass.

I should've been more precise, but I was referring only to the Democratic states that have heretofore not been as aggressive. New York's the biggest one, but Virginia Democrats unilaterally disarming with this new commission pisses me off to no end (and unlike New York, I don't think they can ignore it as easily). And unfortunately that's about it; I don't think California, New Jersey, or Colorado Democrats can overrule their state systems without referendums that there's no time for and that'll cost at least 4 or 5 potential seats. And every other Dem-controlled state is pretty well maxed out. 

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Fez said:

And unfortunately that's about it; I don't think California, New Jersey, or Colorado Democrats

I took a look at Jersey right after I posted and it actually looks pretty good right now.  If they can pick up a little more advantage in the 3rd, 5th, and 11th they have the opportunity to solidify a strong advantage.  Colorado, yeah, nothing's happening there.  California is obviously frustrating, but from an outcome basis its current 42/11 split looks a hell of a lot better than Texas' 23/13.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, DMC said:

The letter is obviously timed to pressure Dems to pass HR1 over filibuster attempts.

If it has any impact I'll owe you a coke. 

[DMC]

46 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

If it has any impact I'll owe you a coke. 

...I never said it would.

[Fez]

Strong win for Democrats in the NM-1 special election tonight. Stansbury is up +25 right now in a district that was Biden +23 (and +17 in the House race), though the final margin may shift a bit.

As always, its important not to read too much in a special election. And even moreso in this case, where it was the opposite of that Texas congressional race; national Democrats did put money in because they wanted a strong win and national Republicans ignored it. However, the local Republicans were going all-in on the "Democrats are weak on crime" message and the murder rate has jumped a lot in the district. This was a good test case whether that message would work for the midterms, and it seems like it will not.

[DireWolfSpirit]

Regarding the letter.

Americans may just not be intelligent enough to keep their democracy.

Wasn't that a famous quip from the founders whether ("If they can keep it") we would be up to the task?

This dumbed down culture is being measured and found wanting, we proved that by electing the Reality TV blowhard.

[argonak]

7 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Regarding the letter.

Americans may just not be intelligent enough to keep their democracy.

Wasn't that a famous quip from the founders whether ("If they can keep it") we would be up to the task. 

This dumbed down culture is being measured and found wanting, we proved that by electing the Reality TV blowhard.

I am eternally grateful that the Republicans chose someone like Trump to be their glorious leader, rather than someone actually. . .competent.

Palpatine would have had us turned into the New American Empire and begun a path of world conquest within the first two years of his term.  Even a moderately intelligent wannabe dictator could probably have turned the pandemic and economic disaster into a push for authoritarianism and strong government.

Trump waited until he lost the election, wrecked the economy, and got half a million people killed before attempting a coup.  And then he tried to have a bunch of a rural morons invade the capital building, thinking that would somehow overturn the election.  Even if they'd massacred the whole senate and congress it wasn't going to put Trump back in power.

Unlike the Joker, I think Trump really is like a dog chasing a car, and that he doesn't have any long term plans.

[Mindwalker]

Is it really a democracy, though, when both the presidency and the Senate are not determinded by the popular vote, so that factually it's usually a minority rule? Just asking for a friend.

[HoodedCrow]

I believe that Trump is a useful idiot for money, and I think the goal of some of his minders was to weaken the U.S. It worked like a charm. By himself, he’s all about marketing and sociopathic manipulative lying. He has had a lot of lawsuit training, as in how to exploit the legal system. So I’m told somewhere!

I think there are many politicians these days under the influence of money. Whose money? So far it’s opaque, so I would say give that a think with what we already know. Build up preeisting fault lines. Do a little media BS. Rake in the dough. It turns out, the wilder, the better, but it is unleashed on people that have been groomed in many ways, and then amped up on fear. What do we do about fox entertainment or the substitution of competent voting officials with corrupt ones? Should I start with Belarus or hacking?

[Martell Spy]

Cancelled.

Trump’s blog goes dark just a month after launching
The former president remains banned from major social media sites.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/02/trump-blog-goes-dark-491598

Quote

 

After less than a month, former President Donald Trump’s blog is apparently no more.

When visiting the link Wednesday morning that used to harbor his blog, "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump," the page redirects to a signup form for “EXCLUSIVE updates” from Trump. Trump's website still has a "news" tab with statements, but no more blog.

“It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told POLITICO. Miller said in a tweet Wednesday to “stay tuned,” suggesting the move may be a precursor to Trump joining another social media platform.

The Washington Post had reported less than two weeks ago that Trump’s blog and website, complete with a fundraising portal and an online store, was getting fewer visitors than recipe site Delish over one week. His blog posts had been shared in one week less than 2,000 times per day on average, well below his previous reach, the Post reported.

 

 

[Fragile Bird]

Amazon has come out in support of the legalization of marijuana and will stop testing for use in employees not governed by certain federal rules which, I think, relate to heavy machinery and transportation. Eta they will treat marijuana use like any other impairment, just like alcohol.

And in other news, in Texas, where they’ve passed an anyone can buy a gun, no training needed, law, a mother was out bicycling with her 5-year old son. A puppy ran out onto the street so she pulled out her gun to shoot the puppy and hit her 5-year old.

ps: the dog was a 6-month old boxer, the mother was 24, the child is recovering.

[argonak]

2 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Amazon has come out in support of the legalization of marijuana and will stop testing for use in employees not governed by certain federal rules which, I think, relate to heavy machinery and transportation. Eta they will treat marijuana use like any other impairment, just like alcohol.

And in other news, in Texas, where they’ve passed an anyone can buy a gun, no training needed, law, a mother was out bicycling with her 5-year old son. A puppy ran out onto the street so she pulled out her gun to shoot the puppy and hit her 5-year old.

ps: the dog was a 6-month old boxer, the mother was 24, the child is recovering.

https://abc13.com/mom-accidentally-shoots-her-son-trying-to-shoot-dog-5-year-old-shot-by-angelia-mia-vargas-deadly-conduct-of-a-firearm/10728726/

So on the one hand, large breed dogs (a six month old boxer could be fairly large) can be very dangerous to small children, and should not be out of fenced yards without being on a leash.  Large dogs can even cause serious injury to adults.  Per the article, the dog got loose and charged across the street.  As someone with small children, I am always very concerned when I see dogs on the street in my neighborhood, even leashed, because I have witnessed multiple times dogs breaking away from their owners and charging other animals or people.  I don't know that I've ever felt the desire to shoot one (nor do I carry a firearm anyway).

But on the other hand, untrained morons who don't know how to use a firearm are also very dangerous to children (and everyone).

This just seems bad all around.