America - The Official Thread

[UKMikey]

Is the US situation absolutely terrifying?

Ask me again after the result of the election is declared.

 

[Danoff]

Ask me again after the result of the election is declared.

Heh, I'm asking now because of the possibilities.

 

[UKMikey]

Heh, I'm asking now because of the possibilities.

Please... I have enough worries with my own government to fret about hypotheticals.

 

[novcze]

Is the US situation absolutely terrifying?

No. But I hope that both parties will respect election results and don't take it as an excuse for more violence.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

What worries me more about a Trump 2nd term (or even a lame duck few months) vs his first term is a Donald Trump with nothing to lose.

 

[Keef]

When/if Puerto Rico passes a referendum requesting statehood (I believe they already have at least once) then the US should accommodate it.

Not only have they passed several referendums over the past several years, but the US Congress has also presented at least one which was shelved of course.

As for the District of Columbia, on the other hand, there were valid reasons why the district is not a part of any state and is under direct control of the federal government.

To grant it statehood would require a Constitutional amendment; Article I Section 8 which delimits the powers of the Congress states in part:


If any changes of status were to be made, it should be to return the land to Virginia and Maryland, who ceded it to the federal government originally. This too would require a constitutional amendment.

No amendment required. You quoted the only requirement the constitution has for DC, which is its maximum size. It doesn't say where it has to be, what shape it has to be, or that it can't simply be made smaller. Both making DC smaller and admitting a new state would merely be a matter of passing a law stating both the new shape of DC and providing statehood to the area beyond the new DC. I imagine this would be done in two different laws passed concurrently.

That's just what the Republicans say, though. Dems say you can shrink the District and move the rest into a new state. Ceding it back to the old states would decrease representation, not increase it.

https://norton.house.gov/sites/norton.house.gov/files/Dinh.pdf

This has happened before:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_retrocession

This guy over here providing actual research instead of intuition. Who invited you

It seems the clear answer is fresh statehood because it avoids all constitutional questions and would literally take minutes to pass since the law is already written.

What worries me more about a Trump 2nd term (or even a lame duck few months) vs his first term is a Donald Trump with nothing to lose.

Slash and burn.

 

[Biggles]

Alright so I have to ask our outside-the-US members a quick question.

Is the US situation absolutely terrifying? I mean, an amazing amount of destructive military power is under the thumb of Donald Trump, who is not exactly a mountain of stability (see the crazed/weird showdown between him and North Korea early in his term, and his drug-induced motorcade more recently). But the wheels are coming off fast right now. The republicans shrugged any level of accountability for him during impeachment, effectively allowing him to shake down foreign governments to become mouthpieces for his campaigning, there is evidence of Russian involvement in the current election cycle, and all of the checks and balances that would normally prevent the US from having an autocrat seem to be falling away at breakneck speed (esp: first amendment and due process).

It's terrifying to be inside the US right now, for sure. But also I'm not particularly worried (partly based on my personal demographic) that the full force of the US government is going to come after me if we see a second Trump term. However, it seems to me that from outside the US it could look even scarier. US military might has been, I think, somewhat palatable to the rest of the world given the structure of leadership at the top. I know we don't have a history of exactly minding our own business, be we also haven't gone on a worldwide conquest spree. If the structure of the US government falls away, the behavior of the country might get significantly less... restrained.

Anyway, how does this look from outside the country? Is the downside here just another China or Russia? Or do you guys feel like a handful of voters in Pennsylvania are standing between relative peace and a new flavor of authoritarianism starting to spread.

Try living in Canada. “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant." As Trudeau (Pierre) put it.
I can walk 100 yards from my front door & look to my right - the United States is only a couple of miles away.

 

[Dennisch]

Is the US situation absolutely terrifying?

If the meme sites are anything to go by, no. America is now Dumb****istan, and destroying itself from the inside out. All the rage that was once caused by international intervention by the US has turned into laughter about the internal issues you're going through. In fact, people are already getting tired of the Americans flooding the funny sites with their issues.

 

[Danoff]

If the meme sites are anything to go by, no. America is now Dumb****istan, and destroying itself from the inside out. All the rage that was once caused by international intervention by the US has turned into laughter about the internal issues you're going through. In fact, people are already getting tired of the Americans flooding the funny sites with their issues.

That's interesting. I think that's somewhat shortsighted. An unstable US could be a major problem for the world.

 

[Dennisch]

That's interesting. I think that's somewhat shortsighted. An unstable US could be a major problem for the world.

No doubt about that. Just look what a financial mishap on Wall Street did back in 2008.

 

[ryzno]

I know no one here likes Rush Limbaugh but I listened to yesterday's episode today.
His stage 4 lung cancer has become terminal...

 

[Chrunch Houston]

I know no one here likes Rush Limbaugh but I listened to yesterday's episode today.
His stage 4 lung cancer has become terminal...

I rarely get to listen to his first hour, so I missed that. I saw a bit of it on Twitter.

He will be sorely missed. There is no one out there that is as good as him. Not even close.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I know no one here likes Rush Limbaugh but I listened to yesterday's episode today.
His stage 4 lung cancer has become terminal...

 

[ryzno]

View attachment 966363

I give you a like cause I just sent my beer laughing saying that to myself in his voice...

 

[NotThePrez]

I know no one here likes Rush Limbaugh but I listened to yesterday's episode today.
His stage 4 lung cancer has become terminal...

*Does quick lookup on Limbaugh and his views/history*

It seems nothing of value will be lost. I'm sure he has loved ones, though, so I do feel for them.

 

[McLaren]

Limbaugh dying of lung cancer is classic Leopards Ate My Face after all the years of ******** he's spewed about dying from smoking.

 

[Tornado]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/10/20/us/troy-aikman-joe-buck-flyover-trnd/index.html

I can't believe Troy Aikman, who played for God's Team, hates the troops.

 

[TexRex]

There is no one out there that is as good as him. Not even close.

This is fun:

"You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing. You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent. If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it's perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there's no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left."
-- Rush "The Standard By Which All Goodness Is Measured" Limbaugh

Of course, he's expressed contempt for the concept of consent on other occasions as well.

"How many of you guys, in your own experience with women, have learned that "no" means "yes" if you know how to spot it? I'm probably--...the--...at--...let me tell you someth--...in this modern wor--...that is simply--...that's not tolerated. That would not be--...[incoherent]--...people aren't even gonna try to understand that one. I mean it used to be--...[incoherent]--...it was a cliche. It used to be part of the advice young boys were given. See that's what we gotta change. We...we...we have got to reprogram the way we raise men."

 

[Joey D]

Limbaugh is a hack, a hypocritical, drug trafficking, anti-science, lying hack.

I don't wish death upon him though.

 

[ryzno]

Limbaugh is a hack, a hypocritical, drug trafficking, anti-science, lying hack.

I don't wish death upon him though.

Wait, what?! I knew he had addiction problems in his past but I didn't know he was a dealer.

 

[McLaren]

Wait, what?! I knew he had addiction problems in his past but I didn't know he was a dealer.

I believe the trafficking charge is when he was caught coming from the Dominican Republican with prescription drugs, but his name wasn't on the prescription. I believe they dropped those charges, but it did come after he was accused of trying to get overlapping prescriptions from doctors.

 

[Sander 001]

Cameron did not give the jury an opportunity to pursue homicide charges against the two officers who shot Breonna Taylor, Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. “The grand jury was not presented any charges other than the three Wanton Endangerment charges against Detective Hankison,” the juror wrote.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Cameron did not give the jury an opportunity to pursue homicide charges against the two officers who shot Breonna Taylor, Jon Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. “The grand jury was not presented any charges other than the three Wanton Endangerment charges against Detective Hankison,” the juror wrote.

But, as far as I know, it's not up to the grand jury to actually choose what charges to make. That's up to the prosecutor. From that article:

The jurors listen to evidence from a prosecutor, who is supposed to explain what charges are available for them to consider. Typically, grand juries return an indictment based on a prosecutor’s recommendation.

I mean it's not a gratifying result, but I get the feeling that the prosecutor didn't feel the case for homicide was very strong.

 

[Joey D]

Wait, what?! I knew he had addiction problems in his past but I didn't know he was a dealer.

I mean he wasn't smuggling black tar heroin or anything, but he was detained by board agents in Palm Beach because he was bringing Viagra back from the Dominican Republic and it wasn't a prescription in his name. I'm not overly bothered by it, the man just wanted to get it up and have a good time with whomever he was having a good time with in the DR, but considering how pro-war on drugs he is, it seems a bit strange that he tried to smuggle drugs (even a small amount) back into the US.

 

[Keef]

but I get the feeling that the prosecutor didn't feel the case for homicide was very strong.

You joshin me?

 

[TenEightyOne]

he was bringing Viagra back from the Dominican Republic

Sounds like a hardened criminal to me.

I'll get my coat.

 

[Jezza819]

Sounds like a hardened criminal to me.

I'll get my coat.

He should have received a stiff sentence.

Now see what you've started.

 

[TexRex]

The coming erection is too important to not discuss.

 

[Liquid]

Beyond parody. The omnishamble fatigue is just too much.

 

[Blitz24]

Beyond parody. The omnishamble fatigue is just too much.

So maga2020!.... He entered a special character but couldn't be bothered to do a capital letter?