Random Politics Thread

[Virtual ghost]

What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State

Plus this is redistricting thus far.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Plus there is on thing that I don't really get. Why in US minorities prefer to live in the cities? In shown redistricting maps urban voters are much more diverse and it is well known that cities are more blue. What is by decent margin because there are minorities that vote blue. However why minorities prefer cities that much ?

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

To quote a friend on twitter:

sex scandals, whether it's a male GOP dude w his hand on an assistant's crotch, or a naked female Dem having her hair brushed by an aide, is juicy but is a distraction from the fact that the establishment is burning down 100 years of institutional capital,

destroying the dollar, increasing the debt at a dizzying rate, simultaneously saddling the youth with nonsense degrees and insane debt all to fund their academic allies and burnish their own worldview AND agitating for the non-indebted to pay for it, pushing us into a war,

casually putting firewood around a smoldering new race war, selling uranium to Russia, secrets to China, and influence to Ukraine, establishing a new Ministry of Truth, replacing the actual constitution w Civil Rights Shadow Constitution devaluing actual academic achievement,

using taxpayer dollars to build and grow an academic/ NGO network of Marxist madrassas, hogtie the one man pushing to make us a biplanetary species, and more. sex scandals are the media bread in "bread and circuses"...and the class interest of the cathedral members is

ABSOLUTELY to throw one of their own to the wolves (especially an outlier who is not playing the game) in order to buy them another year or so to keep the con going (and in a year, there will be a new distraction).

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I think it would be cool to be a biplanetary species. I also think electric cars are cool. (If conservatives like those now, that would be awesome, but that's for too sensible and I'm sure the pro Elon position is entirely due to the fact that they think they might get more Trump bloviations. They are too predictable to anyone paying actual attention.) Elon isn't as loathsome to me as someone like Ken Griffin.

I have a friend who thinks that Elon's interest in Twitter has nothing to do with getting Trump back on the platform ( it would be hilarious if that didn't happen after all this Republican pom-pom waving about this) and everything with changing the structure of Twitter communications to a more localized, less global situation.

I'm not quite as knowledgable as my friend so I'm not describing it right. She may be entirely wrong on this, but it was interesting to hear an alternative take that wasn't Trump centric in one way or another.

 

[Red Herring]

The new freedom of the press index from Reporters Without Borders is out:
https://rsf.org/en/index

Germany (now #16) has been been downgraded from green to yellow and lost three ranksbecause of increased physical attacks and death threats by anti-vaxxers, Q Anon supporters and others of their ilk against journalists and reporters. The United States (#42) have gone up by two ranks.

Russia is on #155, Ukraine on #106.

 

[Virtual ghost]

The new freedom of the press index from Reporters Without Borders is out:
https://rsf.org/en/index

Germany (now #16) has been been downgraded from green to yellow and lost three ranksbecause of increased physical attacks and death threats by anti-vaxxers, Q Anon supporters and others of their ilk against journalists and reporters. The United States (#42) have gone up by two ranks.

Russia is on #155, Ukraine on #106.

The entire map is kinda disturbing when you think about it. Especially since now less than 1% of the world population lives in green areas. Which are limited to Northern Europe and that is it. Some countries are rising in ranks but their score is dropping since the overall picture is going downwards. Especially in Asia that is China-Russia part of the world. Myanmar had it's score cut in half due to China friendly coup. Russia basically banned any form of free press. Afghanistan ... obvious problems. Parts of Latin America also lost a good chunk of the score.

Overall this is disaster, the numbers are going down pretty much everywhere.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I went a little bit deeper through media scores and explanations for them. Basically most of the world on the scale from 0-100 just over the last year lost 5 to 15 points. While somewhere the drop is even bigger. Therefore many places moved from bad to critical zone. Gains are fairly rare and they are all basically in the margin of stagnation (1-4 points up).

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

It's a good thing the Supreme Court got the Project to A New American century signatories in there or otherwise we wouldn't be the prosperous hyperpower we are today. I'm glad Republicans didn't forget the scared duty to which they owed us and didn't worry about things like "vote counts" or else they might have been hobbled in exercising their superior judgement. I am eternally grateful towards them for honoring that duty. The fact that this all enriched themselves is nothing less than something they deserve. It's only fair that they reap a little bit of reward for their noble acts of service and sacrifice in making the really tough decisions.

 

[Red Herring]

Why There Are No Women in the Constitution There is little mention of abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito. - by Jill Lepore

Within a matter of months, women in about half of the United States may be breaking the law if they decide to end a pregnancy. This will be, in large part, because Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is surprised that there is so little written about abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. As it happens, there is also nothing at all in that document, which sets out fundamental law, about pregnancy, uteruses, vaginas, fetuses, placentas, menstrual blood, breasts, or breast milk. There is nothing in that document about women at all. Most consequentially, there is nothing in that document—or in the circumstances under which it was written—that suggests its authors imagined women as part of the political community embraced by the phrase “We the People.” There were no women among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. There were no women among the hundreds of people who participated in ratifying conventions in the states. There were no women judges. There were no women legislators. At the time, women could neither hold office nor run for office, and, except in New Jersey, and then only fleetingly, women could not vote. Legally, most women did not exist as persons.

Because these facts appear to surprise Alito, abortion is likely to become a crime in at least twenty states this spring. “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision,” Alito wrote, in a leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

If a right isn’t mentioned explicitly in the Constitution, Alito argues, following a mode of reasoning known as the history test, then it can only become a right if it can be shown to be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” As I have argued, the history test disadvantages people who were not enfranchised at the time the Constitution was written, or who have been poorly enfranchised since then.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

If a right isn’t mentioned explicitly in the Constitution, Alito argues, following a mode of reasoning known as the history test, then it can only become a right if it can be shown to be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” As I have argued, the history test disadvantages people who were not enfranchised at the time the Constitution was written, or who have been poorly enfranchised since then.

The enshrinement of rights not mentioned explicitly in the Constitution (which is permitted by the 10th amendment, by the way.. which says "to the states or to the people") by Supreme Court decisions since the 1950s is probably what is meant by the "civil rights shadow constitution" that some here have expressed a desire to do away with.

Also a truly "originalist" approach to the constitution also mandates a separation between church and state, given the writings and views of the author of a Virginia law the first amendment was based on.

The phrase "separation of church and state" is first used in jurisprudence regarding the first amendment as far back as 1878. Which is, in fact, the first supreme court ruling on religious liberties. In this case this meant it was legal to outlaw polygamy and that Mormons weren't exempt from this just because of religious beliefs.

Reynolds v. United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It used to be common for conservatives to insist that the establishment clause of the first amendment has nothing to do with separation of church and state. I haven't heard this argument in quite some time but I expect many still believe this, or would claim this if so pressed.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

To quote a friend on twitter:

sex scandals, whether it's a male GOP dude w his hand on an assistant's crotch, or a naked female Dem having her hair brushed by an aide, is juicy but is a distraction from the fact that the establishment is burning down 100 years of institutional capital,

destroying the dollar, increasing the debt at a dizzying rate, simultaneously saddling the youth with nonsense degrees and insane debt all to fund their academic allies and burnish their own worldview AND agitating for the non-indebted to pay for it, pushing us into a war,

casually putting firewood around a smoldering new race war, selling uranium to Russia, secrets to China, and influence to Ukraine, establishing a new Ministry of Truth, replacing the actual constitution w Civil Rights Shadow Constitution devaluing actual academic achievement,

using taxpayer dollars to build and grow an academic/ NGO network of Marxist madrassas, hogtie the one man pushing to make us a biplanetary species, and more. sex scandals are the media bread in "bread and circuses"...and the class interest of the cathedral members is

ABSOLUTELY to throw one of their own to the wolves (especially an outlier who is not playing the game) in order to buy them another year or so to keep the con going (and in a year, there will be a new distraction).

The actual post in question.

Some of this rant is incoherent but I think I at least understand the meaning of that one portion.

So yes, let these people rant about this stuff out on Twitter for everyone to see, convinced that a silent majority is behind them the whole time and that millennials will now finally flock to the cool "new" conservativism I keep hearing about despite the fact that it won't own up to any of its past mistakes or failures and is eager to generate plenty of new ones.

Some of the above is also fueled by the indiscretion of people like Matt Gaetz and Madison Cawthorne, I'd say it's pretty relevant if you claim to be for "family values" (or feminism, for that matter). When you make culture war your whole platform but you behave as they do it is absolutely relevant.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Theory:

60s activists may not have been successful in every area of policy, but they succeed in the cultural sphere. This is why conservatives are obsessed with fighting the cultural war when lots of people just want to move on and stop focusing on issues that may have been the hot topics 20 years before they were born. (Like, no guys, I actually don't care about Jane Fonda and have no interest in having an argument about here.)

I think a majority of Americans would probably not go "OMIGOD George Wallace was right" even if they get annoyed by "Wokism" at times. This pisses conservatives off to no end so this is why they like relying on things like gerrymandering, vote suppression, and the electoral college.

It should be noted that even in the days of alleged "sane conservatism" that sought to "unite" and not "divide", the Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (the Mitch McConnell of his day) gave a speech praising Strom Thurmond (who was a Democrat who switched to being a Republican in the 60s... anyone noticing a pattern here?), and said that if he had his way, we wouldn't have all these problems we have now. Strom Thurmond was a "fellow traveler" of George Wallace. I believe he did get his Senate Majority position revoked which I will concede might not happen today, but let's please stop pretending that these views were never part of Republican politics until Donald Trump.

 

[Coriolis]

Theory:

60s radicals may not have been successful in every area of policy, but they succeed in the cultural sphere. This is why conservatives are obsessed with fighting the cultural war when lots of people just want to move on and stop focusing on issues that may have been the hot topics 20 years before they were born.

I think a majority of Americans would probably not go "OMIGOD George Wallace was right" even if they get annoyed by "Wokism" at times. This pisses conservatives off to no end so this is why they like relying on things like gerrymandering, vote suppression, and the electoral college.

It should be noted that even in the days of alleged "sane conservatism" that sought to "unite" and not "divide", the Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (the Mitch McConnell of his day) gave a speech praising Strom Thurmond (who was a Democrat who switched to being a Republican in the 60s... anyone noticing a pattern here?), and said that if he had his way, we wouldn't have all these problems we have now. Strom Thurmond was a "fellow traveler" of George Wallace. I believe he did get his Senate Majority position revoked which I will concede might not happen today, but let's please stop pretending that these views were never part of Republican politics until Donald Trump.

These views have been part of Republican politics at least since Ronald Reagan. At some point, republicans started pandering to Christian fundamentalists to the point that they sacrificed their traditional stands on strong defense and fiscal responsibility to try to legislate fundamentalist morality. It should be clear to anyone watching that they are on the wrong side of history. They can fight tooth and nail against the tide, but all they will do is waste resources and add to the suffering and misery of others.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

These views have been part of Republican politics at least since Ronald Reagan. At some point, republicans started pandering to Christian fundamentalists to the point that they sacrificed their traditional stands on strong defense and fiscal responsibility to try to legislate fundamentalist morality. It should be clear to anyone watching that they are on the wrong side of history. They can fight tooth and nail against the tide, but all they will do is waste resources and add to the suffering and misery of others.

I think it's possible that they will succeed in their objectives, but they will destroy the country in the process. Which shows you how shallow their concept of "patriotism" really is.

An advantage of democracy as a form of government is that it allows for stability, since countries where the government is against the wishes of the majority are usually unstable, especially if the government is not providing prosperity on some level for its citizens, which I believe a Republican regime is unlikely to do since it is not something they seem terribly interested in (at least not as much as re-litigating the struggles of the 60s).

 

[ceecee]

There really is no hope for the GOP. Only human garbage would allow this piece of shit to even be on a ballot.

Indiana man charged with murder in the death of his wife wins Republican primary from jail

Andrew Wilhoite, 40, advanced in the GOP primary election for a seat on the Clinton Township Board on Tuesday. If convicted of murder, he'll be disqualified.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Virtual ghost]

Something that youtube has thrown at me.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Immigration officials created network that can spy on majority of Americans, report says

A new report shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are spying on the majority of Americans, in many cases circumventing privacy laws including those in California.

www.latimes.com

 

[Virtual ghost]

Trump’s Candidate Lost In Nebraska — But Trump Is Still Winning Most Of His Primaries

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Trump’s Candidate Lost In Nebraska — But Trump Is Still Winning Most Of His Primaries

Well I do think it is a bright spot that the guy who probably committed sexual assault lost.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Truly random thought

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