US Politics: Shutdown Showdown

[Zorral]

Evidently part of the anti-abortion strategy to change the language and the content messaging, was to connect forced birth to the parental rights 'issue', as Youngkin tried.  It evidently didn't work.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Altherion said:

At least now we've learned that the lower limit of what it takes to get a mildly bipartisan reprimand in today's House is calling for the complete destruction of an allied country.

It's a slogan of solidarity, dawg. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Kalbear said:

They're not going to vote for Trump either. They'll vote for RFK Jr. or whatever the next Jill Stein is, and they'll say that at least THEY didn't vote for someone who doesn't share their morals and they can feel okay knowing they didn't support that. They'll say that voting for the lesser evil is still evil, and it's better for them to not do that. 

Note that most of those people aren't going to be very impacted by this policy or by Israel killing a lot of people so it's real easy for them to take the high ground here. 

But again, you know all of this, as this was the same set of arguments you used at the time, too. 

Yup… 7 years ago… I made those arguments.  I see how I was wrong.  

As you have pointed out FPTP creates very strange incentives and makes supporting smaller party candidates a risky choice.  And that’s why I support moving to a proportional representation system and have supported that for some time.

[Bironic]

33 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

As you have pointed out FPTP creates very strange incentives and makes supporting smaller party candidates a risky choice.  And that’s why I support moving to a proportional representation system and have supported that for some time.

At least for the house it would make total sense,not only it gives better representation but it would get rid off gerrymandering in the same stroke as well...

[Zorral]

 

"Furious Ohio Republicans Report Widespread Incidents of Women Voting" “Many of our poll workers spotted women going into voting booths and literally casting votes,” a G.O.P. operative in Lake County said. By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

@BorowitzReport

Rick Santorum -- remember, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww him? -- is pitching a fit.

Quote

You put very sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote. It was a secret sauce for disaster in Ohio,” Santorum whined Tuesday night on Newsmax.

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Zorral

[Kalbear]

Yay I get to promote MMPR again!

It's absolutely wonderful for any legislative system, and it reasonably makes the case that presidential systems for executive power (instead of, say, prime ministers and parliamentary democracy systems) are kind of trash. 

[Kalbear]

Alexandra Petri is so very good when she's snarking on women's rights.

Quote

Given the options of “people have constitutionally protected rights over their own bodies and the course of their own lives” or “people can potentially see those rights whisked away at any time without warning,” Ohio voters overwhelmingly preferred the first thing. Given the option of creating a Republican majority in their state legislature that could permit their governor to sign a 15-week abortion ban into law, Virginia voters refused, apparently indifferent to the fact that the governor would be wearing a fleece vest and speaking in soft tones when he did so!

Quote

 

It has been suggested that this is why voting is such a flawed method for determining what ought to happen, and some people are working so hard to do away with it. “Let Dave decide everything on everyone else’s behalf,” while popular with Dave, tends not to be popular with everyone else. And the thing is, as Justice Samuel Alito noted in his Dobbs decision, “Women are not without electoral or political power.”

Tuesday’s election suggests that people being treated like people, rather than not, is still inexplicably popular. Who can say how long this fad will last? If through 2024, there might be more problems!

 

 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

19 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Rick Santorum -- remember, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww him? -- is pitching a fit.

Quote

What a fucking puddle of santorum he is.

I hate to admit that when I was younger, my family and I volunteered for a Santorum event. In my defense, I wasn't fully developed.

[Mindwalker]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Yup… 7 years ago… I made those arguments.  I see how I was wrong.  

 

Wouldn't it be more fruitful to ask *them* your questions? Probably 99.9% of ppl in this thread* will vote for Biden, no matter how they feel?

*(Not counting those who're not American citizens, obv.)

[maarsen]

27 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Yay I get to promote MMPR again!

It's absolutely wonderful for any legislative system, and it reasonably makes the case that presidential systems for executive power (instead of, say, prime ministers and parliamentary democracy systems) are kind of trash. 

You do know that Israel has this type of system leading to their inability to deal with issues of national importance without including the loony bin contigent in the decision making? 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

50 minutes ago, Zorral said:

 

"Furious Ohio Republicans Report Widespread Incidents of Women Voting" “Many of our poll workers spotted women going into voting booths and literally casting votes,” a G.O.P. operative in Lake County said. By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

@BorowitzReport

Rick Santorum -- remember, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww him? -- is pitching a fit.

 

And, correct me if I’m wrong, once you vote… you are more likely to vote again when you have an opportunity?

[kissdbyfire]

14 minutes ago, maarsen said:

You do know that Israel has this type of system leading to their inability to deal with issues of national importance without including the loony bin contigent in the decision making? 

Is it the system in Israel? I mean, I think it’s messy as hell but I didn’t think it was Israel’s system. 

[Fez]

44 minutes ago, maarsen said:

You do know that Israel has this type of system leading to their inability to deal with issues of national importance without including the loony bin contigent in the decision making? 

 

29 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

Is it the system in Israel? I mean, I think it’s messy as hell but I didn’t think it was Israel’s system. 

It's not. Israel uses a nationwide party closed list proportional representative system with a 3.25% electoral threshold. It's like what Spain uses for it's lower chamber, only the entire country is one giant district.

[Larry of the Lawn]

4 hours ago, Altherion said:

At least now we've learned that the lower limit of what it takes to get a mildly bipartisan reprimand in today's House is calling for the complete destruction of an allied country.

Do you actually think Tlaib was calling for the destruction of Israel?

[Kalbear]

57 minutes ago, maarsen said:

You do know that Israel has this type of system leading to their inability to deal with issues of national importance without including the loony bin contigent in the decision making? 

It doesn't stop the system from electing asshats some times. It just means that that is more closely related to the will of the people. 

And Israel's shitty leaders and their system of governance is still significantly better than the US alternative, which has a government incapable of doing anything most of the time with occasional spasms of fascism. 

And, as pointed out, it isn't Israel's system. It is used in New Zealand.

[Altherion]

6 minutes ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

Do you actually think Tlaib was calling for the destruction of Israel?

I do not know, but I am absolutely sure that she knew what the most common meaning of that phrase is and how it would be interpreted. I suspect she intended for it to mean different things to different people and to hide behind the less offensive meanings when somebody called her on it.

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

And, correct me if I’m wrong, once you vote… you are more likely to vote again when you have an opportunity?

The Vote is a gateway to addiction demanding ever stronger and more intense satisfactions, such as equal pay, equal opportunity, equality in the legal system and even promotion into the professions and politics.

[Fragile Bird]

6 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Upwards of 1% of the population of Gaza killed in 1 month. 'Actual number might be higher, and this thing is still going. 

Wait, where are you seeing that there are 23000 or 24000 dead????

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

50 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Wait, where are you seeing that there are 23000 or 24000 dead????

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231105-israel-security-source-claim-20000-killed-in-gaza/

Owen Jones commented on it. I wouldn't take this number to the bank but based on the sheer amount of destruction, it wouldn't surprise me. It's not like we're talking about the difference between 10k and 50k.

also,

As a rule, civilian casualties made by "us" or, "our allies" always get lowballed. Civillian casualties "they" can take credit for always get inflated. 

[Zorral]

OMIGAWD there's a debate tonight!  Since North Dakota's Doug Burgum didn't qualify to participate, that brilliant, fascinating, snappy fellow funding his own campaign, I just plumb forgot.  O no!

But then, it seems, so did everybody else.  I mean, you know, there's the CMA Awards, the actors strike is over, and all that Dem cheating yesterday, which kinda wiped this 'debate' off the mind.  Them's the breaks.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Zorral