America - The Official Thread

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Lost. The. Plot.

That's just mind numbing.

 

[Jezza819]

That's just mind numbing.

Well what do you expect from people with numb minds?

 

[Liquid]

A good spin on it; they're not anti-mask. They're pro-virus.

 

[Blitz24]

A good spin on it; they're not anti-mask. They're pro-virus.

I would say there is a way to discourage this behavior, but the Republicans do not care if their constituents live or die. They only care that they are "pro-freedom".

 

[Keef]

I would say there is a way to discourage this behavior, but the Republicans do not care if their constituents live or die. They only care that they are "pro-freedom".

The freedom to die at no fault of your own.

 

[McLaren]

Lost. The. Plot.

Name a more iconic duo than Republicans & infringing on businesses' rights.

 

[ryzno]

Name a more iconic duo than Republicans & infringing on businesses' rights.

Democrats and segregation.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Democrats and segregation.

It's terrible. Just last year, the Democrats tried to pass legislation to ban the construction of affordable housing in suburbs across the country. They fear-mongered to white suburban women about how more affordable housing will "destroy their suburbs".

Oh, wait. That was Trump.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Democrats and segregation.

This is a bad faith statement.

 

[UKMikey]

Democrats and segregation.

Wait, is this about separating vaccinated and unvaccinated people at ball games? Because the anti-vaxxers have a little more choice whether or not they get jabbed than black people in the deep south did about what colour to be born, back when racists were still voting Dixiecrat fifty years ago.

 

[ryzno]

Wait, is this about separating vaccinated and unvaccinated people at ball games? Because the anti-vaxxers have a little more choice whether or not they get jabbed than black people in the deep south did about what colour to be born, back when racists were still voting Dixiecrat fifty years ago.

Had no idea the post was in reference to the Rona. So many political bashing threads in this section I must have forgotten where I was...

 

[McLaren]

Democrats and segregation.

Ah yes. Because Republicans are definitely the opposite with their "unity".

Supporting Confederacy heritage as a symbol of pride, wanting to establish an "Anglo-Saxon America First Caucus", & now supporting the banning of teaching the history of racism & slavery in the US in schools as if it helps project we've all been in this plight together.

Every morning, schoolchildren in Texas recite an oath to their state that includes the words, “I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God.”

Now, a flurry of proposed measures that could soon become law would promote even greater loyalty to Texas in the state’s classrooms and public spaces, as Republican lawmakers try to reframe Texas history lessons and play down references to slavery and anti-Mexican discrimination that are part of the state’s founding.

The proposals in Texas, a state that influences school curriculums around the country through its huge textbook market, amount to some of the most aggressive efforts to control the teaching of American history. And they come as nearly a dozen other Republican-led states seek to ban or limit how the role of slavery and pervasive effects of racism can be taught.

 

[TexRex]

Name a more iconic duo than Republicans & infringing on businesses' rights.

What's insane is that property rights is fairly key in conservative folkways, and if you look at Republicans thirty years ago, I think you'll find that it's fairly well represented. I don't know when the abandonment of the principle began or who/what the driving force was (spoiler: it very likely wasn't Trump, even if he most assuredly poured gas on it), but it's gotten pretty glaring in the last few years.

While abandonment of the principle (and others) can occur independently, it absolutely has to occur as a part of Republicans' hard authoritarian push. When big corporations expressed concern over and acted in response to (both of which are protected by the First Amendment) restrictive election legislation in states where they (Republicans*) have a significant presence, the unconstitutional retaliatory effort was inevitable because they can't reasonably show that proposed and enacted measures have a positive impact on a legitimate concern.

*Edit to add.

This is a bad faith statement.

I'm really not sure what else you'd expect of an individual who was once so desperate to allege a double standard by perceived opponents that doing so came off as advocacy for a plot to kidnap and very likely murder the governor of Michigan.

 

[McLaren]

What's insane is that property rights is fairly key in conservative folkways, and if you look at Republicans thirty years ago, I think you'll find that it's fairly well represented. I don't know when the abandonment of the principle began or who/what the driving force was (spoiler: it very likely wasn't Trump, even if he most assuredly poured gas on it), but it's gotten pretty glaring in the last few years.

Didn't it start around the whole, "gay wedding cake baker" debate? I know that still gets heavily referenced to this day when it comes to the newest story of Republicans and wanting Big Tech to be government regulated or dismantled.

 

[TexRex]

Didn't it start around the whole, "gay wedding cake baker" debate? I know that still gets heavily referenced to this day when it comes to the newest story of Republicans and wanting Big Tech to be government regulated or dismantled.

Eh, no. Masterpiece Cakeshop was pretty recent and I know it was going well before. I know I made the observation during the GWB administration.

Edit: I also question whether they demonstrated adherence to the principle even then and didn't see it as an opportunity to...erm...stick it to the gays.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Conservatives: Bakery won’t make a cake for LGBT folks? Well tough crap. Find another baker and quit pushing your narrative onto others.

Conservatives: Bakery requires you to wear a mask in order to buy a cake? REEEEEEE MUH RIGHTS MUH FREEDOMS ARE BEING TAKEN AWAY

 

[DK]

It's terrible. Just last year, the Democrats tried to pass legislation to ban the construction of affordable housing in suburbs across the country. They fear-mongered to white suburban women about how more affordable housing will "destroy their suburbs".

Oh, wait. That was Trump.

Sounds like Trump and the Qlan would be right at home in Dublin's city council.

 

[UKMikey]

Had no idea the post was in reference to the Rona. So many political bashing threads in this section I must have forgotten where I was...

Because of this guy...

 

[Danoff]

Had no idea the post was in reference to the Rona. So many political bashing threads in this section I must have forgotten where I was...

Your post was so difficult to make sense of, people thought it was most likely to be about something other than you intended. I'm still not sure what you intended tbh.

 

[TexRex]

Insightful take on the current political climate in the United States from actual conservative outlet, The Bulwark.

Boob Bait for the Bubbas

During our podcast discussion today, Bill Kristol reminded me of the phrase “Boob Bait for the Bubbas,” which was colorful shorthand for “tough-sounding rhetoric designed to placate conservative voters.”

As near as I can tell, the expression became part of our political Lexicon courtesy of he late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who deployed it in his critique of his fellow Democrat, Bill Clinton.

Speaking at an editorial board meeting at The New York Post, the Senator said the White House was using welfare reform, a popular campaign issue, as "boob bait for the Bubbas."

He said President Clinton raised the subject of welfare reform to appease the public "whenever he gets in trouble."

Interestingly enough, the National Review’s Rich Lowry used it to flay President George Bush, who he said, was “offering his own ‘boob bait’ in the form of speechifying at the border about a crackdown on illegal immigration.” But that was back in 2005, before Trump and the Wall, and the return of that other tired trope: “America First.”

But all things old seem new again.

Kristol brought it up to describe the aggressive agenda of GOP state legislatures, who seem to be caught up in aggressive competition of performative demagoguery. At the state level, the GOP is at ramming speed on issues ranging from vaccinations and elections, to yoga, critical race theory, and guns.

Much of that legislation seems designed to signal cultural allegiances rather than deal with actual problems, and so raises this question: Is it the GOP who is overreaching right now?

That seems contrarian, because the conventional wisdom is that the Biden Administration and Democrats in Washington are overplaying their hand. That charge is not without merit, but let’s look at what’s happening at the state level.

In Ohio, Republican legislators are pushing a genuinely insane assault on vaccinations.

Republicans in the state General Assembly, meanwhile, are pushing sweeping legislation to weaken Ohio’s vaccination laws — for all vaccines, not just COVID-19….

The legislation would ban vaccine requirements on customers, employees or students from businesses, hospitals, nursing homes, K-12 schools, colleges, daycares, or others. It would also prevent governments, insurers, or businesses from offering incentives for people to get vaccinated, or even requesting that people get vaccinated.

In Texas, Republicans are about to legalize carrying handguns without a license, permit, training, or background check of any kind. As the Texas Tribune notes “Under current state law, Texans must generally be licensed to carry handguns openly or concealed. Applicants must submit fingerprints, complete four to six hours of training, and pass a written exam and a shooting proficiency test.” That’s all gone now and that’s nuts.

In Florida, the GOP just enacted a new social media law that is both unconstitutional and a cynical attack on free speech. As David French noted: “One of the incredibly bizarre developments of this dysfunctional modern time is the extent to which a faction of the Republican Party is now rejecting the crown achievements of the conservative legal movement.”

“Increasingly, the GOP is looking at remarkable legal advances in the fight against speech codes, against government regulation of corporate speech, and against government-mandated viewpoint discrimination—and declaring that it prefers power over liberty. It wants more government control over speech. It wants speech codes.”

In Alabama (as I mentioned in an earlier newsletter), Republicans continue to regulate yoga in the schools, while banning the use of any Sanskrit words such as “Namaste.”

In West Virginia (and a slew of other states), GOP legislators have rushed to pass bans on transgender athletes. When pressed, the WV governor, Jim Justice, was unable to cite a single example to justify the measure.

Across the country, GOP legislators are passing bills that ban “critical race theory,” even though it’s likely that only a handful have any idea what the academic term actually means. Not that precision matters. A reminder here:

In Arizona, GOP legislators have not only launched a farcical “audit” of voting in Maricopa County, but then stripped the State’s Secretary of state of her authority over elections after she criticized the “Cyber Ninja” fiasco.

Arizona, of course, is only one of the many states where GOP legislatures are pushing legislation to make it harder to vote and increasingly partisan control over the election process.

The contagion of crazy is spreading quickly.

In Wisconsin, the state’s top GOP legislator “is hiring retired police officers to investigate aspects of the November election, joining with Republicans from around the country who have questioned President Joe Biden’s victory.”

And we haven’t even gotten into the festival of crazy going on in GOP primaries around the country. (Check out Missouri, where the senate race may pit the disgraced former governor against a guy famous for pointing a loaded gun at BLM protestors.)

Meanwhile…

Back in DC, Republicans are still in heads-up-their ass mode about how to not deal with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Our colleague Amanda Carpenter writes:

Make no mistake: At this moment, the power in the GOP is with Trump and anyone who can keep his voters pulling the lever for Republicans in 2022. That’s why MTG is untouchable.

MTG isn’t chastened by verbal slaps on the wrists. She’s emboldened…

Greene knows where she stands. As long as she has Trump’s support and keeps his voters in the GOP tent, she’s calling the shots. Not McCarthy.

Exit take: The conventional wisdom is that the GOP won’t pay a price for this in the mid-terms.

The conventional wisdom may be wrong.

 

[Keef]

I just watched a video documenting the locations of Emmitt Till's final days and the trial for which his killers were acquitted and it angered me so much that I thought if I were in charge I'd go full Stalin and find those guys' relatives and convict them for *their* murders and make them pay for it since nobody ever paid their debt. My initial instinct was that debts must be paid.

 

[TexRex]

I just watched a video documenting the locations of Emmitt Till's final days and the trial for which his killers were acquitted and it angered me so much that I thought if I were in charge I'd go full Stalin and find those guys' relatives and convict them for *their* murders and make them pay for it since nobody ever paid their debt. My initial instinct was that debts must be paid.

Given your acknowledgement that that was your initial instinct, are you to be perceived as having walked back that position?

People shouldn't be condemned for the actions of those who came before them, even if they're linked by blood.

 

[GranTurNismo]

The most unfortunate part of that whole case, is that Caroline Bryant, the store clerk who is responsible for getting Till killed in the first place by fabricating the allegations, has not faced any sort of criminal repercussions for her actions (despite admitting to fabricating them) and has seemingly lived on as if nothing ever happened.

 

[Danoff]

I just watched a video documenting the locations of Emmitt Till's final days and the trial for which his killers were acquitted and it angered me so much that I thought if I were in charge I'd go full Stalin and find those guys' relatives and convict them for *their* murders and make them pay for it since nobody ever paid their debt. My initial instinct was that debts must be paid.

You should probably not be a defense or prosecuting attorney (or judge). Because our legal system lets offenders go on occasion in order to prevent catching innocent people.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Insightful take on the current political climate in the United States from actual conservative outlet, The Bulwark.

Boob Bait for the Bubbas

performative demagoguery

What an excellent term for what the GOP is doing. It's a circus act.

 

[UKMikey]

Insightful take on the current political climate in the United States from actual conservative outlet, The Bulwark.

Boob Bait for the Bubbas

I wasn't even sure these kind of conservatives still existed in the GOP. If so then you don't seem to hear much about them these days. I guess the average Trumpist would see them as leftie RINOs (or RINO's, as I believe it's spelt in American) simply for calling out the "let's decodify critical race theory" guy.

 

[Keef]

Given your acknowledgement that that was your initial instinct, are you to be perceived as having walked back that position?

People shouldn't be condemned for the actions of those who came before them, even if they're linked by blood.

My only hope is that justice would find a way to be served - whether it be a decades-long struggle resulting in people of old mindsets being left behind and forgotten by society, or something else. There are countless people for countless reasons who must be avenged by the future.

You should probably not be a defense or prosecuting attorney (or judge). Because our legal system lets offenders go on occasion in order to prevent catching innocent people.

I don't plan on it. I really cannot stand unaddressed problems.

 

[TexRex]

I wasn't even sure these kind of conservatives still existed in the GOP. If so then you don't seem to hear much about them these days. I guess the average Trumpist would see them as leftie RINOs (or RINO's, as I believe it's spelt in American) simply for calling out the "let's decodify critical race theory" guy.

I think a few play a representative role in government, though they can easily be confused with those like Liz Cheney who just happened to find a backbone in a fleeting moment, but they tend to face rebuke for their principles like Kinzinger and Gonzalez did.

They're probably a bit more common among the citizenry, and I do feel pity for them because I imagine they feel like their party has been hijacked.

My only hope is that justice would find a way to be served - whether it be a decades-long struggle resulting in people of old mindsets being left behind and forgotten by society, or something else. There are countless people for countless reasons who must be avenged by the future.

I hope for justice as well, but punishing people who didn't do a thing as a proxy for those who actually did the thing isn't justice...it's just wrong. I wouldn't have thought I'd have to make clear that vengeance isn't justice either, but here we are.

 

[ryzno]

My only hope is that justice would find a way to be served - whether it be a decades-long struggle resulting in people of old mindsets being left behind and forgotten by society, or something else. There are countless people for countless reasons who must be avenged by the future.


I don't plan on it. I really cannot stand unaddressed problems.

Just curious, do you believe I as a white male owe reparations to FAMILIES OF SLAVERY?
Are you white? Do you believe YOU owe the same? Was your family even here then?
PS: my family wasn't here then and after WW2 were in NY.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Just curious, do you believe I as a white male owe reparations to FAMILIES OF SLAVERY?
Are you white? Do you believe YOU owe the same? Was your family even here then?
PS: my family wasn't here then and after WW2 were in NY.

Holy strawman. No one is saying that white Americans today are responsible for/should feel guilty for slavery. Conservatives love to talk about “white guilt” but from what I’ve seen, it’s not a sentiment that’s commonly expressed, even in leftist circles. Also, I hope you know that slavery reparations is not white Americans writing transfer payments to Black people on some arbitrary basis.