On 5/8/2023 at 11:21 PM, randomsummer said:

The courts are supposed to be the neutral party here

agreed. branches of govt and all that.

 

  On 5/8/2023 at 11:21 PM, randomsummer said:

but the Rs strategy of stall until the last minute forced the Ohio voters to go to the polls with the same unconstitutional districting maps, with no real consequences for the politicians failing to do their job.

and there's the problem. time and time again we see this - politicians failing at their jobs, yet no consequences. bad actors getting voted back in, despite their absolute lack of altruism/empathy/intelligence/leadership ability.

like you mentioned, normal folks would get fired for less than this. that's why this political shit show is all such a charade. 

  On 5/8/2023 at 4:13 PM, randomsummer said:

  On 5/8/2023 at 12:51 AM, trying to be less rude said:

yeah man. why do you think 48 dems/independents voted for the Freedom to Vote Act in the Senate but the republicans uniformly voted against it? That would have established unbiased redistricting commissions. 

OK, but the Rs in Ohio appeared to play nice and play along all the while introducing language that would let them ignore the will of the people by determining themselves what "fair" metrics to use for redistricting.

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i just cited legislation that establishes unbiased redistricting commissions

 

  On 5/8/2023 at 4:13 PM, randomsummer said:

Of course they voted for it, it's good PR, that's what the Ds' base wanted.  All I'm saying is, that I have a hard time seeing either party when, in control, striving to draw truly fair districting maps. 

the legislation, the freedom to vote act, would establish non-biased redistricting commissions. they actually attached a provision to the bill that would allow it to bypass the filibuster! they can do that! manchin and sinema tanked it. 2 more dem senators and we could pass the Freedom to Vote Act and have neutral districts.

 

  On 5/9/2023 at 6:17 AM, trying to be less rude said:

i just cited legislation that establishes unbiased redistricting commissions

 

the legislation, the freedom to vote act, would establish non-biased redistricting commissions. they actually attached a provision to the bill that would allow it to bypass the filibuster! they can do that! manchin and sinema tanked it. 2 more dem senators and we could pass the Freedom to Vote Act and have neutral districts.

 

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OK cool, I haven't read the legislation but my point is that these D-bag politicians (Rs definitely, Ds less likely but nonzero on average) are incentivized to find ways around this legislation.  Take the Ohio case as the first shot.  A fair map stipulation was in the Ohio constitution.  It did not work, the voters went to the polls with unconstitutional maps.

I guess I'm saying that I believe it will be really fucking hard to force these assholes to do something they really really don't want to do (on either side), draw fair maps.

I would have to really read the legislation to know how serious the Ds are about this and how likely it is to work, so take what I am saying with the caveat that I am ignorant on that.

  On 5/9/2023 at 4:24 PM, randomsummer said:

I guess I'm saying that I believe it will be really fucking hard to force these assholes to do something they really really don't want to do (on either side), draw fair maps.

the bothsidesism is not supported by the facts. GOP gerrymandering is much worse, and the dems went all out trying to fix the situation with major federal legislation, and they came close.

 

i think you would be happy if i told you everything is hopeless? unfortunately that is not the case, there is work to be done. you're correct that it won't be easy. the public servants out there need the support of voters. that includes keeping one's self informed.

Edited May 10, 2023 by trying to be less rude

  On 5/9/2023 at 7:59 PM, trying to be less rude said:

once again, this bothsidesism is not supported by the facts. GOP gerrymandering is much worse, and the dems actually went all out trying to fix the situation with major federal legislation, and they came close.

 

i think you would be happy if i told you everything is hopeless? unfortunately that is not the case, there is work to be done. you're correct that it won't be easy. the public servants out there need the support of voters. that includes keeping one's self informed.

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I agree with your second paragraph.  Wrt the first, I am a realist and a cynic by nature, and I wonder if the Ds are trying this legislation primarily because the Rs fucked the situation beyond repair and just drew ridiculous maps (going ape shit crazy IS their M.O., as you well know).

If what they're doing actually fixes the problem, then I'm all for it. I just wonder about their motivations. Would the Ds be pushing for this legislation if they were the ones with the advantage?  I'd like to think so (more than Rs who just fuck everyone over for their own ends), but I'm just not sure.

To be clear, I'm not staying that both sides are just as bad, I do realize that the Rs are basically beyond repair, while the Ds do seem to try to occasionally do some good (when they can manage to get out of their own way and when we're not involved in any major conflicts).

sorry, i was thinking of the For the People Act, which was an earlier version of what became the Freedom to Vote Act. the dem conference was kicking it around for a year and it got modified and repackaged a couple times. the FTVA included the FTPA and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

the FTPA had independent redistricting commissions, but the FTVA didn't. there were good things in both versions of the legislation. a number of gerrymandering-addressing provisions did make it into the bill that nearly passed. It actually got 50 votes for the bill itself, but only 48 votes to overcome the filibuster (48 out of 50, not 60 - this was a special resolution requiring 50 votes that, if passed, would allow the bill to also pass by 50 and not need 60 for cloture). this was really so close, and this disproves the narrative that participating doesn't make a difference. if people were paying attention, voting accordingly, and contacting their representatives, dems could have had the 50 votes needed to historically overstep the stupid rule that is the senate filibuster cloture loophole

the FTVA was so important that it was worth breaking convention on that, and they moved consensus within the dem caucus about the filibuster. that this came 2 votes from passing should motivate everyone to look at their senate seats and whether any are up and competitive next year. sinema's looking likely to lose in a primary in arizona.

the FTPA was also known as HR1. it was the first bill introduced at the beginning of the house session, because it was the most important one. it was actually a reintroduced version of their HR1 from the prior house session. it is possible that the same language could reemerge and be voted on in a future session 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by trying to be less rude

trump's town hall is going to be mayhem. let's go!

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  On 5/11/2023 at 3:53 AM, Nebraska said:

trump's town hall is going to be mayhem. let's go!

 

 

epilogue

  On 5/11/2023 at 3:53 AM, Nebraska said:

 

 

trump's town hall is going to be mayhem. let's go!

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https://www.newsweek.com/trump-confessed-crimes-during-cnn-townhall-professor-1800014
 

This is brilliant.  

  On 5/14/2023 at 11:59 AM, Squee said:

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-confessed-crimes-during-cnn-townhall-professor-1800014
 
This is brilliant.  

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110367700121498908

so is this mother's day truth

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2023/may/23/debt-ceiling-deadline-biden-mccarthy-yellen-politics-live-updates

^^

i guess his wife is the one who made the announcement?

 

  On 5/24/2023 at 7:06 PM, Nebraska said:

^^

i guess his wife is the one who made the announcement?

 

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these people love to blow smoke up their own asses

i love how when trump is not in court and not being president, he's providing news commentary

 

re: the Desantis Twitter Space announcement disaster. someone grab it and put that shit up on Bandcamp. 

  Quote

New data makes it clear: Nonvoters handed Trump the presidency

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/09/new-data-makes-it-clear-nonvoters-handed-trump-the-presidency/

stuart rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy and other crimes

 

 

word is a federal indictment of trump for willful retention of national security information (the espionage act) and obstruction of justice is imminent

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by trying to be less rude

  On 5/27/2023 at 10:26 AM, trying to be less rude said:

stuart rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy and other crimes

 

 

word is a federal indictment of trump for willful retention of national security information (the espionage act) and obstruction of justice is imminent

 

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apparently there's a recording of him discussing hush money payment + a witness (probably michael cohen) in the NY case. it would be really satisfying to see one of these upper crust elite rich twats actually be subjected to justice. 

 

Warning: fake money is not real. 

 

Can this world stop getting weirder and weirder?

https://www.wionews.com/world/bidens-sexual-assault-accuser-calls-on-putin-for-russian-citizenship-598539