[Gorefest]

It's Plato's 'Republic' in full force, where he describes the five stages of government. And we are seeing the death throes of the fourth regime (democracy) right in front of our eyes, inevitably leading to tyranny. As Duiker contemplated in DG: "The lesson of history is that no one learns."

[amphibian]

It used to be that "machines" ran politics. When I say machine, I'm referring to a group of longtime party members who get together in committees and pick who will run for - and win - which spots. This was a hugely corrupt way of doing things because a backroom deal prior to the election could mean that the actual voices of the people would be ignored and especially so if there was money to be had. Machines ran most of the areas of the US and courting them was a big deal for a long time.

However, after the 1960s, they mostly broke up or stopped being able to run things. This doesn't mean that some don't still exist, but their near total capture of government was broken.

I'm of the view that the Republican party bounced back from this faster and better than the Democrat party. They built their own machines to gerrymander districts and dilute or prevent the votes of large (black and brown) chunks of the population from the 1980s to present day.

The politicians like Biden and Pelosi came up in an era when machines still operated and they got to decide the correct pecking order and who won. There's still Democrat party officials who want certain people to win, but it's not backed up by substantive knowledge of how to win in a variety of ways and areas.

So the huge clamor for Democrat primary for president is a self serving thing, but it's also a sign of where the party as a whole is at: stuck, leaderless, unfocused, and not particularly capable of winning in the game that's been rigged against them successfully by the Republicans.

Hell, Biden keeps talking about working with racists and worse people as if they weren't laughing to their buddies about how they fleeced Biden over and over again.

[HoosierDaddy]

BK calm yourself. Ain't nothing outrageous yet.

[HoosierDaddy]

Yup. If I'm wrong apologies.

[Abyss]

Has anyone tried to summon Nyarlathotep to devour the others yet?

[Tsundoku]

Oh they tried, but he's still sleeping off all those Wall St bankers.

[HoosierDaddy]

Warren had a good night, but I was surprised by Castro. Tonight should be far more interesting.

[worry]

HoosierDaddy, on 27 June 2019 - 12:24 PM, said:

Warren had a good night, but I was surprised by Castro.

Yup, my takeaway too.

Also the repeated refrain of moderators telling Delaney they'll get to him eventually was the funniest part of the night.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Two major 5-4 Supreme Court rulings today:

- Partisan gerrymandering is fine. No limits. Thanks for appointing us!

- The citizenship question on the census has been temporarily blocked, because documents reveal that their stated reason was clearly a pretext. Since the department claimed that June 30th was the latest they could finalize and start printing the census forms, it's been supposed that they probably wouldn't have time to come up with a legitimate-seeming reason. However, it seems likely that they were bullshitting about the June 30th deadline to get a faster court decision allowing it. And the other ruling now apparently makes partisan advantage a legitimate reason: 'Administrative law professor Jennifer Nou even ponders that they could argue they were doing it for partisan reasons, following the decision in Thursday's partisan gerrymandering case giving such conduct the green light.' (Documents reveal their actual motivation: 'The question will not only depress Hispanic response rates; it can be used by states to redraw districts to depress Hispanic voting power and boost that of white Republicans.' And they had the gall to claim the Voting Rights Act---to protect minority voting rights---as their pretext. Presumably if they tried to 'legitimize' the question as a partisan power-grab they'd have to convince 5 justices that suppressing Hispanic representation so Republicans will win doesn't violate the equal protection clause.)

https://slate.com/ne...rt-october.html


Gorsuch's pattern seems to be matching the prediction that he would place to his principles over partisanship in minor cases (for example, limiting the power of regulatory agencies), but abandon them in major partisan cases.

Similarly, Roberts is predictably trying to maintain the court's semblance of legitimacy while still being a partisan hack.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 27 June 2019 - 07:16 PM

[worry]

^^^^John Roberts's whole thing is racism is pretty much only a one-on-one problem these days, and does not (cannot) exist as a systemic issue unless it's overt, no matter how presiding it is in unspoken motivation and outcome. That bleeds into all of his rulings on discrimination whether they involve issues of race directly or not.

On another topic, if I can vent a little, Nancy Pelosi is a ghoul and moderate Dems are worthless. Disingenuous posturing on top of gross incompetence on top of absolute amoral inhumanity.

[Illuyankas]

If I was running the US Aaron Sorkin wouldn't be on the first transport full of gulag residents, but after what The West Wing thinking has done to America he's easily on the second or third

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

https://www.donaldjt...KLo9jqZKdixjuYY

Trump campaign online poll:

'Official 2020 Trump vs Democrat Poll
1. Who would you rather see fix our Nation’s shattered immigration policies?
President Trump
A MS-13 Loving Democrat
2. Who do you trust more to protect America from foreign and domestic threats?
President Trump
A Corrupt Democrat
3. Who would you rather handle our Nation’s economy?
President Trump
A Radical Socialist Democrat
4. Who do you believe is more transparent with the American People?
President Trump
A Lying Democrat
5. Who do you trust to NOT raise your taxes?
President Trump
A High Tax Democrat
6. Who do you believe will ALWAYS put America FIRST?
President Trump
A Sleazy Democrat
7. Who do you believe will keep their promises?
President Trump
A Lyin’ Democrat
8. Who do you believe will fight for you every day?
President Trump
A Low Energy Democrat
9. Who do you believe is better for America?
President Trump
A Low IQ Democrat
10. Who will you vote for in 2020?
President Trump
A Radical Socialist Democrat'

[Gust Hubb]

Pete is rocking it. That is my favorite of the candidates so far.

[Gust Hubb]

And Biden is incoherent. Same with Bernie. Love how Bernie has been fighting the good fight, but he lacks structured plans. Abolish private insurance all at once?! Is he crazy?

[Gust Hubb]

And Pete with the religion slam!!!! In yo face hypocrites!

[Gust Hubb]

Can't stop seeing Slalwell as middle aged Dexter.

[Gust Hubb]

Yeah, Kamala and others are pressing the emotional story angle without giving much practical details or thoughtful solutions. It is almost like they are borrowing Bernie's playbook.


And Yang is almost non existant.

[Gust Hubb]

Things just got real between Kamala and Biden.

[Gust Hubb]

Ask Bernie for a plan, get a stump speech.

[Gust Hubb]

Moderator: what would be your climate change plan
Kamala: sad stories about fires, trump is evil, exclamation exclamation exclamation (no plan)