US politics: Everything in moderation, including moderation

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

43 minutes ago, Week said:

1000% agree if either negative test or documentation of vaccination.

First thing I did after I got my second shot was drive to my mom's company because they have a lamination machine there. I expected to have to produce it all the time. Not once have I had to. It's such bullshit.

[A True Kaniggit]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

First thing I did after I got my second shot was drive to my mom's company because they have a lamination machine there. I expected to have to produce it all the time. Not once have I had to. It's such bullshit.

And as has been mentioned many times, it is slightly too big for wallets. My top is folded down. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Just now, A True Kaniggit said:

And as has been mentioned many times, it is slightly too big for wallets. My top is folded down. 

I have a standard size trifold wallet and it fits. Just a little sticks out. 

[A True Kaniggit]

5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I have a standard size trifold wallet and it fits. Just a little sticks out. 

Yeah. Slightly too big. Like with my standard size trifold wallet.

Edit: How does it fit if a little sticks out?

[Larry of the Lawn]

Yeah the size of the vax card is incredibly stupid.

I've had mine stashed with the birth certificate, ss card, vehicle titles, and other difficult-to-replace flammable shit.  Haven't once brought it with me anywhere.  

[Larry of the Lawn]

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2021/08/conviction-affirmed-for-michigan-marijuana-dispensary-owner-serving-15-year-prison-term.html?outputType=amp

ok

Our federal government, ladies and gentlemen!

This seems fucking insane - is there some reason this guy is going to jail while dispensaries operate all over the country in states that have legalized it?  I know there are bigger problems out there but jfc read the room, US.

 

 

[Week]

Lol - Alioth ate well this night! 

[Rippounet]

21 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

A strange question… is your Aunt American?

Nope.

19 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

It's only fun, until you realize it's hereditary, but by then it's too late. Just like my hair line.

My cousins don't seem to have inherited the crazy. Can't be 100% certain, but they're the shy and awkward kind, and don't talk much - not the type to spread conspiracy theories at all, though that doesn't exactly mean they don't believe any.

15 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Be sure to get in touch with her on 1st September and ask what happened. 

I'm not going to bother. One of my other aunts (one of the smartest people I know btw - these two sisters are very different) implied the original date given (for Trump's "inauguration") was February 13th. In other words, this was already supposed to happen months ago, and my crazy aunt still believes in it.

10 hours ago, argonak said:

Mental health is a much bigger issue in the modern world than we give it credit for.

My aunt is many things, but this is not pathological. She dropped out of school and has always been into... extreme stuff. She was (and still is I believe) a very devout member of her congregation, so devout in fact that her pastor once told her that she shouldn't take everything so damn literally.

Anyway, she sent me a link today, and this starts getting interesting, since I had missed what the Republicans are up to these days. Dunno if this was mentioned here, but they are zeroing on Maricopa County (AZ). Here's the story with three chronological links.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/10/1004870574/the-controversial-arizona-election-review-is-drawing-republicans-from-around-the

https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-arizona-ap-fact-check-election-2020-campaign-2016-f0c36df59ee1069d65aa6a70a22d88cc

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/maricopa-county-defies-new-subpoena-arizona-election-audit-n1275756

The worrying bit here being not that there's any chance of anything coming out of this "audit," but the fact that Republicans from other states are paying close attention. The logical conclusion is that -at least- some of them are wondering how to steal an election.

My aunt's link also led me to this truly excellent New Yorker article. Nothing new here of course, but a good summary of what's been happening lately (apologies if this was posted here already, but it is a must-read for anyone interested I think).

Quote

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie

Arizona is hardly the only place where attacks on the electoral process are under way: a well-funded national movement has been exploiting Trump’s claims of fraud in order to promote alterations to the way that ballots are cast and counted in forty-nine states, eighteen of which have passed new voting laws in the past six months. Republican-dominated legislatures have also stripped secretaries of state and other independent election officials of their power. The chair of Arizona’s Republican Party, Kelli Ward, has referred to the state’s audit as a “domino,” and has expressed hope that it will inspire similar challenges elsewhere.

Ralph Neas has been involved in voting-rights battles since the nineteen-eighties, when, as a Republican, he served as the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. He has overseen a study of the Arizona audit for the nonpartisan Century Foundation, and he told me that, though the audit is a “farce,” it may nonetheless have “extraordinary consequences.” He said, “The Maricopa County audit exposes exactly what the Big Lie is all about. If they come up with an analysis that discredits the 2020 election results in Arizona, it will be replicated in other states, furthering more chaos. That will enable new legislation. Millions of Americans could be disenfranchised, helping Donald Trump to be elected again in 2024. That’s the bottom line. Maricopa County is the prism through which to view everything. It’s not so much about 2020—it’s about 2022 and 2024.

Chilling. And this story is definitely making waves in Republican circles if my crazy uneducated 100% French aunt is hearing about it.

But next to the -truly excellent- investigation, this bit of the article stood out for me:

Quote

What explains, then, the hardening conviction among Republicans that the 2020 race was stolen? Michael Podhorzer, a senior adviser to the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which invested deeply in expanding Democratic turnout in 2020, suggests that the two parties now have irreconcilable beliefs about whose votes are legitimate. “What blue-state people don’t understand about why the Big Lie works,” he said, is that it doesn’t actually require proof of fraud. “What animates it is the belief that Biden won because votes were cast by some people in this country who others think are not ‘real’ Americans.” This anti-democratic belief has been bolstered by a constellation of established institutions on the right: “white evangelical churches, legislators, media companies, nonprofits, and even now paramilitary groups.” Podhorzer noted, “Trump won white America by eight points. He won non-urban areas by over twenty points. He is the democratically elected President of white America. It’s almost like he represents a nation within a nation.”

 

[A True Kaniggit]

4 minutes ago, Week said:

Lol - Alioth ate well this night! 

Yet we are still here.

Kinda sad that this is the sacred timeline. 

[ThinkerX]

Darwinism in action?  The degree of denial here is something else.  Have to wonder (in a morbid manner) if this might contribute to tilting a few elections here and there.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-gop-official-mocked-covid-five-days-before-he-died-of-virus/ar-AAMWOsJ?ocid=ob-fb-enus-580&fbclid=IwAR0XpmdNPP1Eiok9CS_mdoF5VcQMqIqiw3ueWm7-WMV5RC7ZoeiLYu2DWQo

[Jaxom 1974]

2 hours ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

INvoking the growth of extra limbs and asking to be serious in one sentence, eh?

Anyway, like I said, if you have parents who are hesitant about their kids getting the shot, they are at least arguing to some degree on a factual basis. Are their concerns a bit out of proportions, probably. But at least we're not talking about Bill Gates wanting decimate humanity and implant microchips in them for reasons, and thus cooperated with China to create the virus. Also for reasons.

Either way, that group of concerned parents are really not the issue (assuming they opted to get themselves vaccinated), as children are really not the driver in this pandemic. 

The unvaccinated adult population, that's the group we should talk about, and they should be bearing at least some of the consequences of their actions. That could be something like no admission to shops/concerts/clubs/restaurants/gyms/flights/trains without a negative test.

I would like to give parents who are hesitant over their children a little benefit of the doubt...however, the ones I seem to encounter are, regardless of Vax status, opposed to other mitigating factors. I don't want kids out of school again, but if that means they wear masks at school, so be it. Don't tell me you're worried about vaccinations for the kids and then tell me they shouldn't mask either. 

My son is still 5 months away from being able to get the vaccine, hates shots passionately, and yet has said he'll go. My daughter is still 2 years away. The children's vaccine can't come quick enough, as I worry about kids in general, particularly as Wisconsin can be pretty dumb.

[Pink Fat Rast]

43 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

Chilling. And this story is definitely making waves in Republican circles if my crazy uneducated 100% French aunt is hearing about it.

But next to the -truly excellent- investigation, this bit of the article stood out for me:

 

This is an amusing case of almost perfect symmetry in this 2 party culture:

 

2016, Trump won (majority of states, but not population), dems started

1) questioning the voting system, saying population majority should count instead;

1a) wanted to overturn election "legally", asking EC to decide Hillary instead;

2) claimed election fraud by Russia hacking, or Russian influence

3) considered the voters illegitimate - due to having been manipulated by Russkis, or being "deplorable" reichwing magafats.

 

So all the points listed here by you in case of 2020, where Trump lost, and then magafats started:

1) questioning the ballot organization, even before the election (1st Debate)

2) claimed fraud; wanted to overturn the election, first by protests but then it escalated into physical revolution

3) think the voters are a bunch of libs / foreigners / chinese influenced / otherwise not respectable.

 

Note also the word games played by the left, in order to draw attention away from those parallels:

"Revolution" is sth the marxist ones talk about all the time, in a positive light - but then the magas try one, so now we need to larp as patriots and condemn this TREASON (wink wink we wouldn't think of such a thing); gotta use a different word, so let's keep saying "insurrection" instead, like it's an inherently bad thing to be disloyal to the white supremacist capitalist US gov winkwink.

(And the lib mainstream obv has this kind of here and there attitude about their reds - sometimes they'll denounce and distance themselves, sometimes not. The more "centrist" ones have comparably sneering attitudes about their riots and revolution aspirations of course.)

 

And then we gotta maintain this notion that "conspiracies" are "impossible" and "conspiracy theorists" are "just crazy" - so that Russia interference, that's a COLLUSION you see, that's what it's called, yeah;

Putin killin journos and not admitting it, not a conspiracy; Bush administration inventing WMDs to grab some oil etc., not conspiracy! Just reichwing govs being reichwing baddies and lie a lot... collectively. Might even *collude* with each other... but we're using a different word okay??

 

So yeah, this is all a bit funny idk

[DMC]

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

26 minutes ago, Week said:

Am I wigging out or is there a different font there?

Eta- now it seems normal.

There's a glitch that happens once in a while where font looks bold, but if you refresh or just wait a bit it self-corrects. Is that what you were seeing?

[Week]

17 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

There's a glitch that happens once in a while where font looks bold, but if you refresh or just wait a bit it self-corrects. Is that what you were seeing?

It was kinda skinny? I've seen the bold thing.

This was different.

[Rippounet]

57 minutes ago, Pink Fat Rast said:

"Revolution" is sth the marxist ones talk about all the time, in a positive light - but then the magas try one, so now we need to larp as patriots and condemn this TREASON (wink wink we wouldn't think of such a thing); gotta use a different word, so let's keep saying "insurrection" instead, like it's an inherently bad thing to be disloyal to the white supremacist capitalist US gov winkwink.

"Revolution" is commonly defined as a reaction to oppression.

[Pink Fat Rast]

9 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

"Revolution" is commonly defined as a reaction to oppression.

come on

[Martell Spy]

‘Central Park Karen’ Who Called Cops On Black Bird-Watcher Continues To Play Victim
“I don’t know that as a woman alone in a park that I had another option,” said Amy Cooper, who definitely had other options.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/central-park-karen-who-called-cops-on-black-bird-watcher-continues-to-play-victim_n_610addaee4b0e882ab663a03

Quote

 

The clip quickly went viral, with internet users referring to her as the “Central Park Karen.” Cooper was later fired from her job at investment firm Franklin Templeton.

In the podcast interview, Cooper continued to play victim.

“He’s holding these dog treats in one hand and a bike helmet in his other hand and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my God, is this guy going to lure my dog over and try to hit him with his bike helmet?’” Cooper said. “And if I end up over there, am I going to get hit by this bike helmet?”

 

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, Rippounet said:

My cousins don't seem to have inherited the crazy. Can't be 100% certain, but they're the shy and awkward kind, and don't talk much - not the type to spread conspiracy theories at all, though that doesn't exactly mean they don't believe any.

Since this thread is borrowing wit from authors (Oscar Wilde by OP), I will borrow and butcher from Mark Twain's wit a bit (it's US politics afterall).

In my thirtiesI thought my aunt was pretty insane. When I hit my fifties, I was amazed by her clairvoyance.

Something to look forward to, isn't it?

 

2 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

I would like to give parents who are hesitant over their children a little benefit of the doubt...however, the ones I seem to encounter are, regardless of Vax status, opposed to other mitigating factors. I don't want kids out of school again, but if that means they wear masks at school, so be it. Don't tell me you're worried about vaccinations for the kids and then tell me they shouldn't mask either. 

My son is still 5 months away from being able to get the vaccine, hates shots passionately, and yet has said he'll go. My daughter is still 2 years away. The children's vaccine can't come quick enough, as I worry about kids in general, particularly as Wisconsin can be pretty dumb.

I think you can make an argument, that hospitalisation rate for kids are pretty low. So vaccinating them is really not a top priority (again, they are not the drivers in this pandemic). Kids that get hospitalized get rountinely tested for covid, and well, yeah, they tend to have it, but are generally speaking asymptomatic.

So you could ask, why I should vaccinate my kid against a disease, that will likely not impact it, while there's very little data on long term side effect of the vaccines for kids before they hit puberty.  Your son wants to get vaccinated, that's his choice, fine. But I really wouldn't pick up the torches and pitchforks for parents making a case, that they will not vaccinate their kids. If you think, that those concerns are blown out of proportions fine. All I am saying is, you can make that argument imo.

The issue are really adults refusing to get vaccinated for no good reason. That's the priority, and those deserve all the torches and pitchforks.

[Pink Fat Rast]

42 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

 while there's very little data on long term side effect of the vaccines for kids before they hit puberty.

The issue are really adults refusing to get vaccinated for no good reason. That's the priority, and those deserve all the torches and pitchforks.

There's just as little data on long term effects for adults.

 

I'd say ditch the "pitchforks" altogether - this isn't the bubonic plague, it's not even the ww1 flu (Flu Ferdinand??); de-escalate and reason whenever possible.

A big reason why ppl are pissed and distrustful is because of the lockdowns - which, acc. to that analysis posted on the previous page, may have been an over-excessive slop job.

Then they're also pissed at some of the ways lockdown and even mask mandates have been enforced - not just fines, but arrests, tasers etc., while the village mob riffraffs in the comments cheered on.

Lots of people using this as an opportunity to chastise and experience smug self-righteous satisfaction, it's highly relatable, on a primal level, why many would feel like defying that kind of pressure - so why egg them on without necessity?

And yeah why act as if the "pro vax camp" has the numbers and power to do "torches", "carrot and sticks", block people from stores etc. - they don't; the others are way too numerous, especially due to this idiotic partisanization that ended up happening. Like how many among the red voters? Way many, it seems...