Very, very carefully, which is one reason why I typically delete my replies to you when you lie, bullshit, or just say something extremely dumb because you're itching to start a fight that nobody wants to have with you irl. If my post caused offense or hurt, I can apologize and edit it if you wish. If you are merely concerned that it reflects poorly on my character, please, don't worry—that bridge was crossed long ago.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Of course, if your real issue is with the claim that Trump was elected on such a platform, I'm afraid I can only reiterate that he was, indeed, elected on a platform that involved openly calling for the US to "take out" the families of terrorists, either because they shared responsibility—indirectly—for the acts of terror committed by their violent extremist family members, or because it is supposedly the only way to deter extremists who are willing to kill themselves in suicide attacks. That is the truth, and anyone who supports such policies is, arguably, a dingdong.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
The House had sufficient evidence from their witnesses to indict and impeach. It then passed to the Senate, and they should have called witnesses as part of the *trial*. But it's hard to compel witnesses to testify when the executive branch directs them to defy/ignore subpoenas.
Checks and balances are out the window, the impeachment process has failed, and Trump's abuse of power and contempt of congress continues. Republicans like to say the next election is the best way to hold Trump accountable...but then they jump on the Trump Re-Election Train. WTF
Totally normal, the behavior of an innocent man:
. https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio....co/JNH9ZTCRSa
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
News flash: the Impeachment process failed. The only "lesson" Trump learned (thanks to senate Republicans who failed to do their constitutional duty) was that a president can do anything he wants. He's beyond reproach and above the law. He's not just Commander in Chief but the Chief of Law Enforcement.
He IS the nation, and anything he deems "good" for the country should be good enough. Dissenters are disloyal, unpatriotic traitors, sleezy slime balls....hiding in institutions like the FBI, Dept. of Justice, CIA, the State Dept....they're all part of the Deep State conspiracy. Also, Fake News!
Yee haw, making America Great Again!
https://thehill.com/policy/national-...ral-says-he-no
On a friday night, at 10pm, during a pandemic. The actions of an innocent man everyone.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 04-04-2020 at 01:40 PM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
"Congress has already put me above the law, please put me above the Constitution as well." Fuck everything about this.Attorneys for President Donald Trump this week will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to grant him sweeping immunity from investigation by Congress and local prosecutors into his conduct as a private citizen, as long as he's still in office.
Faith is Hope (see Loki's sig for details)
If hindsight is 20-20, why is it so often ignored?
This is going to end in 1 of 2 ways, he is going to stay in power till he dies, or he is going to flee the country when someone does manage to remove him. Either way his kids are screwed.
And y'all thought my suggestion of packing the SCOTUS under a dem majority was extreme. If this ruling goes any way but 9-0 that is exactly what we will need to start self correcting. Combine this with his DOJs opinion that those in power make the rules, and it's extremely clear that the GOP and conservatives are not acting in the interests of America.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 05-11-2020 at 04:30 PM.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Power in the US under our 2-party system is a see-saw. Remember that anything you do to the other side the other side can later do to you. Let's not have each change of party start with packing the Supreme Court with more and more of their side. We should be trying to end the adversarial nature of our political system, not escalate it.
Do you really believe the GOP won't do it if the Dems won't? The only reason they don't right now is because they don't need to. If I'm the Dems (and I control the Senate), I add a 10th judge and threaten to add more if the GOP doesn't agree to a constitutional limit to the size of the Court.
Hope is the denial of reality
I believe they're going to have a much harder time getting away with it, unless the Dems do it first. Once the Democrats do it, Republican voters will be demanding the Republicans do it too. And come on, the standard should not be "as long as you're not worse than Trump might be, anything goes".
They'll investigate Kavanaugh's suspicious payments before they even talk about packing the court.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
Real party compromise died with the southern strategy. Anyone foolish enough to think the party that embraced Trump, or worse the party that supports McConnell, is going to roll over and start compromising is a fool that's only enabling them to continue their long tradition of moving the goal posts every chance they get.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
False equivalence.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
A) it's not escalation. It's the same thing. B) no it's not going to make things better. It's also not going to make things worse because Republicans are already doing it and they're not going to stop doing it.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
It's not the same thing. Packing the court is a permanent change that's going to be nearly impossible to undo, stalling a nomination only lasts for that nomination. And again, "no worse than Trump" is a low bar, and should not be the goal, especially with how easy it seems to be rationalize "it's not as bad when we do it, because we're the good guys and they're the bad guys." The other side is thinking the same thing, and that needs to stop being an acceptable excuse for gradually creeping up the intensity of the political warfare.
Hang on, I'm pretty sure stalling a nomination can impact politics for several generations. I'm also not sold on the notion that one side should play by the rules when it's to their detriment, while the other can freely choose to flout the rules whenever it's in their interest, with no penalty and no corrective mechanism. Everyone should play by the rules, and there must be effective means of countering abusive behavior, in order to safeguard the continued existence of a functioning, rule-based political order. This is a principle with broad applicability, even outside the circus that is American politics. Rule-breaking should be punished, and its consequences reversed if possible. There is no equivalence between the Democrats and the Republicans, at present, in these matters; one party is helping to destroy a political and social order governed by laws, rules, norms, principles—and the other is responsible for counteracting (and hopefully reversing) the harmful impact of those dangerous acts.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I'm not trying to downplay how much bullshit it was, but there's a possibility of fixing it, and it doesn't have to be a permanent scar. It's fixable.
The only thing I'll disagree with here is the very last bit - I'd correct it as "the other has the opportunity to be responsible for counteracting (and hopefully reversing) the harmful impact of those dangerous acts." I'm increasingly worried that the opportunity is going to be passed by in favor of revenge.I'm also not sold on the notion that one side should play by the rules when it's to their detriment, while the other can freely choose to flout the rules whenever it's in their interest, with no penalty and no corrective mechanism. Everyone should play by the rules, and there must be effective means of countering abusive behavior, in order to safeguard the continued existence of a functioning, rule-based political order. This is a principle with broad applicability, even outside the circus that is American politics. Rule-breaking should be punished, and its consequences reversed if possible. There is no equivalence between the Democrats and the Republicans, at present, in these matters; one party is helping to destroy a political and social order governed by laws, rules, norms, principles—and the other is responsible for counteracting (and hopefully reversing) the harmful impact of those dangerous acts.
Building better safeguards against abusive behavior would be a fine goal, and I can get behind that. As long as it's not just seeking vengeance, but actually making sure that the abuses of power we've witnessed from Trump and the Republicans these past few years can never be repeated by anyone.
It's got nothing to do with Trump. The two most egregious examples (outside of gerrymandering which is indeed thoroughly bipartisan) predate Trump's inauguration. What the Senate did after Scalia died and what the North Carolinan legislature did when the GOP lost the governor's seat to Roy Cooper. The only end to this is one of the party's collapsing and a new party rising from an opposition forming out of a new alignment of interests from that former party and the newly dominant party splintering at some of its edges. And if the collapsing opposition party is the Democrats rather than the Republicans who have been pushing these edges so much, I think there's a good chance that they don't let a new party form and our history as an open democracy will end. That could also happen if it's the GOP which collapses but I think it's more likely that we'll see the same restructuring we have in the past and some precedents on how far a weaker party can push with shenanigans to make up for its weaknesses.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
Hope is the denial of reality
Stalling a nomination is bad, but packing the court is worse.
Stalling a nomination is only able to affect one justice essentially and only if there's a vacancy before the election and only until after the election and only works if you win the next election.
Packing a court allows you to override every other justice already there, does not require vacancies, is not time limited and can be done immediately after winning the previous election.
Not stalling. Cancelling. The results are the same. And if the "need" arose, you can be sure the GOP would go the court-packing route. Democratic norms are dead. It's senseless for one party to put itself at a permanent disadvantage by pretending otherwise.
Incidentally, "court packing" is explicitly allowed by the Constitution. Not having a vote is much more constitutionally dubious.
Hope is the denial of reality