American Politics 3.0 - Back to Brunch

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Sinema has a challenger for her seat in the Senate. Writing was on the wall for a while based on polling which is why she went independent. Didn't have any options left as Gallego would've destroyed her in a Primary. Saw some polls just before she left the party where almost 80% preferred Gallego over Sinema.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1617507452198469636

Doesn’t the US election cycle ever end???

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Doesn’t the US election cycle ever end???

No.

Congress = Every 2 years
President = Every 4 years
Senate = Every 6 years, but representative elections are staggered so it's Every 2 years with a break Every 3rd rotation.

No with President there are elections for the party nominee which are also every 4 years but the year before the presidental election, in non-voting years.

In order to afford that, elected officials need to be fundraising constantly. It's so imperative that more time is spent fundraising than governing.

There's no time to really do anything.

[MoneyGuy]

Trump promises, "when" he's president, to have parents elect principals and to have the ability to vote to fire principals. I'm married to a retired teacher and am a former school trustee and think this is one of the worst ideas he's ever had. It's dangerous to leave those educational decisions to non-educators who will come at this emotionally.

[calculoso]

Welcome to America, where even the Sheriff is elected

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Trump promises, "when" he's president, to have parents elect principals and to have the ability to vote to fire principals. I'm married to a retired teacher and am a former school trustee and think this is one of the worst ideas he's ever had. It's dangerous to leave those educational decisions to non-educators who will come at this emotionally.

That’s ####ing insane.

[devo22]

so they've really kicked Ilhan Omar off the House Foreign Affairs Committee

about what you'd expect from Republicans in 2023. Can have Mrs. Jewish Space Laser as a key figure in the House, can have absolute lunatics on committees and can have a Jew-ish compulsive liar in Congress, but I guess you just can't have a Muslim on a committee.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Well, their actual stated reason was "you can't have someone openly hostile to Israel on the committee", which... isn't a totally unfair description of Ilhan Omar. Whether you think that's the real reason or not, or whether you think it's a good reason, are up for debate.

[devo22]

of course. And it would be a totally fair explanation if they didn't have openly racist and xenophobic people in key positions at the same time.

[GirlySports]

I don't think AOC arguing that they kicked her out because she's a women of color helps.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2274673.html

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Trump promises, "when" he's president, to have parents elect principals and to have the ability to vote to fire principals. I'm married to a retired teacher and am a former school trustee and think this is one of the worst ideas he's ever had. It's dangerous to leave those educational decisions to non-educators who will come at this emotionally.

Its not just bad or dangerous its unabashedly batcrap BS insane.

Educators have a bad enough time with parents, they dont need every unemployed or stay-at-home lunatic who thinks they know better getting even an inkling of power or sway.

The American education system is broken enough as it is, they dont need the entitled masses stomping all over whatever shards are left on the floor.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I don't think AOC arguing that they kicked her out because she's a women of color helps.

It helps AOC. Doesn't help the Democratic party. Just another easy "fire up the base" e-mail to send out to 50+ people in the midwest.

[Ped]

This seems apt for any number of threads:

Stupidity, though, is a different problem altogether. We cannot so easily fight stupidity for two reasons. First, we are collectively much more tolerant of it. Unlike evil, stupidity is not a vice most of us take seriously. We do not lambast others for ignorance. We do not scream down people for not knowing things. Second, the stupid person is a slippery opponent. They will not be beaten by debate or open to reason. What’s more, when the stupid person has their back against the wall — when they’re confronted with facts that cannot be refuted — they snap and lash out. Bonhoeffer puts it like this:
“Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.”

Stupidity, like evil, is no threat as long as it hasn’t got power. We laugh at things when they are harmless — such as my brother’s ignorance of reindeer. This won’t cause me any pain. Therefore it’s funny.
The problem with stupidity, though, is that it often goes hand-in-hand with power. Bonhoeffer writes, “Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity.”

This works in two ways. The first is that stupidity does not disbar you from holding office or authority. History and politics are swimming with examples of when the stupid have risen to the top (and where the smart are excluded or killed). Second, the nature of power requires that people surrender certain faculties necessary for intelligent thought — faculties like independence, critical thinking, and reflection.
Bonhoeffer’s argument is that the more someone becomes part of the establishment, the less an individual they become. A charismatic, exciting outsider, bursting with intelligence and sensible policies, becomes imbecilic the moment he takes office. It’s as if, “slogans, catchwords and the like… have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being.”
Power turns people into automatons. Intelligent, critical thinkers now have a script to read. They’ll engage their smiles rather than their brains. When people join a political party, it seems like most choose to follow suit rather than think things through. Power drains the intelligence from a person, leaving them akin to an animated mannequin.

Bonhoeffer’s argument, then, is that stupidity should be viewed as worse than evil. Stupidity has far greater potential to damage our lives. More harm is done by one powerful idiot than a gang of Machiavellian schemers. We know when there’s evil, and we can deny it power. With the corrupt, oppressive, and sadistic, we know where we stand. You know how to take a stand.
But stupidity is much harder to weed out. That’s why it’s a dangerous weapon: Because evil people find it hard to take power, they need stupid people to do their work. Like sheep in a field, a stupid person can be guided, steered, and manipulated to do any number of things. Evil is a puppet master, and it loves nothing so much as the mindless puppets who enable it — be they in the general public or inside the corridors of power.
The lesson from Bonhoeffer is to laugh at those daft, silly moments when in close company. But, we should get angry and scared when stupidity takes reign.

https://bigthink.com/thinking/bonhoe...=pocket-newtab

[PsYcNeT]

Trump's plan to get back in is apparently to appeal to the absolute worst people in America...I guess nothing has really changed.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1621543715733995521

https://twitter.com/user/status/1621564327386923009

[GirlySports]

that law includes circumcision and vasectomies no?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Yeah I cannot listen to that for longer than 5 seconds so I have no idea what he's proposing.

But what does the person mean by a "just in case" plan? In case of what, and what do they do in that case?

[afc wimbledon]

I love that he wants to investigate 'big pharma' to see if they are getting rich off trans kids, are there more than a few thousand trans kids in the US?

Whipping up that anti medicine vote though, at this rate I am guessing cholera and typhus will Darwinistically kill off the Maga crowd as they decide soap and indoor toilets are all a commie plot

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Of course not. He's really just Harold Hill trying to scare bumpkins about pool halls and horse races. Con men are going to con, it never gets old.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Yeah I cannot listen to that for longer than 5 seconds so I have no idea what he's proposing.

But what does the person mean by a "just in case" plan? In case of what, and what do they do in that case?

I think it varies by person, but I know there is a non-zero contingent of Trans persons who have been stockpiling weapons in case their existence is outlawed entirely in Red states (as it has been moving towards quickly in Alabama and Texas).

More likely, they're talking about moving, or having access to necessary drugs if they are pre/mid-transition.

The thrust of Trump's "speech" is "Joe Biden is making your boys girls and everything will become fully illegal (with massive penalties/forced closures/arrests) the day after I'm elected."

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

That is what he's trying to sell to the yokels he's speaking to, but really all he'll do is rescind the Biden executive order.

Stockpiling drugs in the event that access to them becomes difficult makes sense, hadn't considered that angle. Stockpiling weapons in case you have to... what, get into a shootout with Police in Oklahoma? Is incredibly stupid.

[PsYcNeT]

They are still Americans afterall