[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Get ready for a steaming hot take:

Spoiler:

That sounds like a really hard and complex problem to solve and I sure hope someone a lot smarter than me knows what to do about it.

What this really shows is how desperate things have gotten down south. The War on Drugs has mostly destroyed the governments of whole countries.

hbi2k wrote:

Get ready for a steaming hot take:

Spoiler:

That sounds like a really hard and complex problem to solve and I sure hope someone a lot smarter than me knows what to do about it.

Oh yeah, check out this thermonuclear take:

Spoiler:

I agree, this is a multifaceted problem that's likely going to be one of the defining issues of the century and I have no idea what the "right" answer is.

Malor wrote:

What this really shows is how desperate things have gotten down south. The War on Drugs has mostly destroyed the governments of whole countries.

That, climate change, corruption, the legacy of colonialsm and the Cold War and probably another 15 things I'm missing.

Chris Rock had a good bit about prisons needing to be tougher: "Prisons don't need to be tougher. Prison is f*cked up. The problem is, life's f*cked up too! Life's catching up to prison!"

I sort of think maybe immigration is like that. The only real solution is to try to make things better everywhere else, because it would be pretty hard to treat immigrants much worse than we already are.

Now, for ideas about how to actually go about doing that, please consult the aforementioned people smarter than me.

Prederick wrote:
hbi2k wrote:

Get ready for a steaming hot take:

Spoiler:

That sounds like a really hard and complex problem to solve and I sure hope someone a lot smarter than me knows what to do about it.

Oh yeah, check out this thermonuclear take:

Spoiler:

I agree, this is a multifaceted problem that's likely going to be one of the defining issues of the century and I have no idea what the "right" answer is.

Malor wrote:

What this really shows is how desperate things have gotten down south. The War on Drugs has mostly destroyed the governments of whole countries.

That, climate change, corruption, the legacy of colonialsm and the Cold War and probably another 15 things I'm missing.

The War on Drugs is the biggest thing, because it gives the narcos effectively unlimited cash with which to undermine, infiltrate, and destroy local governments.

All those other problems would be fixable with a working government, but they can't have working governments because of our War on Drugs.

They are basically all economic or political refugees. So,

Tax the rich.
Open the border.
Give them housing.
Give them English training.
Give them job training.

You'll make your money back once they are settled and working anyway. You'll create good jobs helping them get settled. This isn't hard, it's just not politically possible because our electorate are 50% idiots and assholes, and neolibs are like 75% as awful as "conservatives."

Mixolyde wrote:

They are basically all economic or political refugees. So,

Tax the rich.
Open the border.
Give them housing.
Give them English training.
Give them job training.

You'll make your money back once they are settled and working anyway. You'll create good jobs helping them get settled. This isn't hard, it's just not politically possible because our electorate are 50% idiots and assholes, and neolibs are like 75% as awful as "conservatives."

It's because the resistance isn;t, and never was, about jobs or their ability to integrate. IN fact their ability to integrate and be successful is what scares the opponents of open borders the most, because in thier mind anyone who does so is supplanting the 'proper place' for a upstanding white person.

thrawn82 wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

They are basically all economic or political refugees. So,

Tax the rich.
Open the border.
Give them housing.
Give them English training.
Give them job training.

You'll make your money back once they are settled and working anyway. You'll create good jobs helping them get settled. This isn't hard, it's just not politically possible because our electorate are 50% idiots and assholes, and neolibs are like 75% as awful as "conservatives."

It's because the resistance isn;t, and never was, about jobs or their ability to integrate. IN fact their ability to integrate and be successful is what scares the opponents of open borders the most, because in thier mind anyone who does so is supplanting the 'proper place' for a upstanding white person.

Yup. it is the whole Schroedinger's Immigrant thing. They are lazy freeloaders that steal your jobs.

I think it’s less Schroedinger and more damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If they do all the things they’re “supposed to” (get educated, get a job), they’re “taking away jobs”; if they don’t, they’re “freeloaders”.

For some reason, I keep thinking immigrants just might not be the problem...

Mixolyde wrote:

They are basically all economic or political refugees. So,

Tax the rich.
Open the border.
Give them housing.
Give them English training.
Give them job training.

FWIW, I think this is a humane and reasonable answer, and I also think it'd get you absolutely obliterated at the polls by reactionaries in just about every nation on earth.

It’s anything but the economy, stupid

A political memo written by conservative Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and publicized by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy offers some insight into Republicans’ thinking. While it argues that the GOP should embrace a working-class agenda to accelerate the realignment taking place between the parties, nearly all of the issues Banks highlights (except for trade policy) are cultural in nature: 1) immigration; 2) anti-wokeness; 3) Big Tech; 4) trade; and 5) coronavirus lockdowns.

Despite the changes taking place within both parties’ coalitions, there’s very little demand for Republicans to punish big businesses with higher taxes or regulations, even as corporate America increasingly tilts leftward. And even as Biden plans to propose an infrastructure bill that includes trillions in tax hikes, he’s betting that the majority-making House Democrats representing affluent swing voters will follow his lead in the end.

Over the last decade, voters have been voting their values, not their economic interests. James Carville’s famous line from the 1992 presidential campaign: “It’s the economy, stupid!” is a relic of another time. That reality gives Republicans an obvious opening to win back power in next year’s midterms, even if the most optimistic economic projections come to fruition.

I don't think this is a losing strategy. It may seem absurd, but "Democrats let in millions of unchecked illegal immigrants to cancel Dr. Seuss and get you banned from Facebook for being a Conservative because China and COVID lockdowns are fascism" is going to get a minimum of 44% of the vote in 2022,

An Epic Debate on Trump and True Evangelicalism

Through the many upheavals of the Trump era, one trend has remained strikingly stable: the mobilization of the white evangelical community as diehard supporters of the forty-fifth president. It’s a convergence of interests that, on paper at least, appears unlikely in the extreme. Trump’s acquaintance with the Bible and its dictates might generously be described as “passing,” and his personal conduct, both in his business dealings and his elective affinities, falls a good deal short of Christian ideals. How do sincere Protestant believers work through the many seeming tensions and contradictions that assail Trumpism as a de facto religious movement? To get to the bottom of things, The New Republic asked conservative journalist Matt Labash, a lifelong evangelical and ardent Never Trumper, to conduct an online dialogue on the vagaries of the Trump-evangelical relationship with bestselling author and radio show host Eric Metaxas, a no-less-ardent Trump supporter. The following exchange has been lightly edited for flow, style, and length.

"Debate" is being generous.

The TL;DR is two supposed followers of Christ insult each other for 4,000 words without either acknowledging that white evangelicals love Trump because of their racism and deep belief in Christian nationalism.

$500,000 Jefferson Davis chair stolen in Selma will be a toilet unless Confederate group hangs banner, email claims

AL.com wrote:

A Confederate monument valued at $500,000 was stolen in March from a Selma cemetery, officials confirmed today.

This morning, a group that claims to have taken the monument, the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair, sent emails to AL.com saying they will give the chair to the United Daughters of the Confederacy if that organization agrees to hang a banner outside its Richmond, Va. headquarters.

In those emails, a group calling itself White Lies Matter say they stole the chair from the Old Live Oak Cemetery and are demanding that the UDC hang a large banner at 1 p.m. on Friday -- the anniversary of the Confederacy’s surrender in the Civil War -- and leave it there for 24 hours.

The banner bears a quote from Assaat Shakur, a Black Liberation Army activist wanted by the FBI for the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper: “The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.”

White Lies Matter said it had already delivered the banner to the UCD.

“Failure to do so will result in the monument, an ornate stone chair, immediately being turned into a toilet,” the email states. “If they do display the banner, not only will we return the chair intact, but we will clean it to boot.”

A woman who answered the phone at the Virginia offices of the UCD said she had heard the reports of the theft and ransom demand were “fake news” and there was no immediate response to an email to the organization seeking further comment.

Selma police and District Attorney Michael Jackson confirmed the theft and said they were aware of the ransom demand.

File that under "technically a crime, but also awesome."

OG_slinger wrote:

The TL;DR is two supposed followers of Christ insult each other for 4,000 words without either acknowledging that white evangelicals love Trump because of their racism and deep belief in Christian nationalism.

I would also call the Evangelical acquaintance with the Bible and its teachings "passing," which is why they align with Trump

Alexandra Petri puts it perfectly in her WP Opinion piece entitled "This should not happen more than once"

To me, this is something you do, ideally, zero times. You never experience the impulse to do it, and you lead a pleasant life. You travel. You eat lunchmeat sandwiches. Maybe you do a marathon, or climb something. You lead a blithe existence for many decades, you die in your bed in your mid-nineties surrounded by your cherished relatives, and in all that time, you never walk up to a colleague on the floor of the House of Representatives and out of nowhere present him with a nude photograph of someone you claim to have had sex with.

But if you can’t do it zero times, then ideally it happens only once. It happens only once, because the moment you do it, the person you show it to responds the way a person should respond. You produce your photograph to your colleague, and your colleague looks at you and says, “Never show that to anyone, ever again. Go home and rethink your life. I do not feel closer to you. If anything, I want to have you removed forcibly from my presence by strong gentlemen whose biceps are tattooed with ‘MOM.’ The fact that you thought this would make us closer makes me question every decision in my life that has led me to this point. Leave now and never come back.”

Mixolyde wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:

The TL;DR is two supposed followers of Christ insult each other for 4,000 words without either acknowledging that white evangelicals love Trump because of their racism and deep belief in Christian nationalism.

I would also call the Evangelical acquaintance with the Bible and its teachings "passing," which is why they align with Trump

Eh, it’s not that evangelicals aren’t familiar with the bible so much as you can use the bible to justify pretty much anything because it’s full of contradictions, opaque metaphors, and references that are thousands of years out of context.

Yeah I think it's something like 6 times eating shrimp is mentioned to be a sin in the old testament, compared to only 2 times homosexuality is?

And then I saw some asshole the other day saying that it was ok to eat shrimp because the new testament wiped out all those old rules. New covenant with Jesus: Love god, love neighbor, that's it. So I'm wondering how they can pick and choose which old rules are wiped out and which aren't?

It's all about St. Paul. He was most likely a self-hating gay, and his viewpoint has infected the entire Christian faith.

Someone on these very forums has brought up the "old testament doesn't count anymore because reasons" thing a few times, but I always forget why because it's just irrational BS justifying other irrational BS. But, hey, at least Evangelicals aren't stoning women for wearing two different plant fibers together! Progress!

This reminds me of having a debate with some family members awhile ago who were saying that the Bible expressly prohibits homosexuality, and that's why it's wrong. I then brought up that they most likely read a different book than I did since sexual orientation was not really understood in biblical times, so it therefore wasn't "expressly" written about in the books of the Bible.

There are/were only passing references to men sleeping with men in the Bible, but Christians use that to extrapolate out to their entire worldviews, so... yeah. The Christian white does a great job using flimsy "evidence" as their life's pillar.

"Do not lie with a man as you lie with a woman."

Vrikk wrote:

"Do not lie with a man as you lie with a woman."

So as long as I don't f*ck a man in the vagina, I'm good?

hbi2k wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

"Do not lie with a man as you lie with a woman."

So as long as I don't f*ck a man in the vagina, I'm good?

No that's still fine, you just have to do it standing up.

No no no!
It means that you should tell the truth about your penis size and sexual prowess to your bromances.

Or its the primitive definition of an aspect of misogyny. That men won't fall for the same lies that women will fall for.

Or it is a warning not to lie about going to a strip club (or brothel in those days) to your wife/girlfriend.

Or it is warning you to only do doggy style with men and missionary position with women. Or perhaps cowboy with one and reverse cowboy with the other.

538 article on 5 reasons the GOP isn't shifting after 2016
I found this bit interesting:

In short, the Republican Party has an activist base whose interests aren’t that compatible with pursuing a strategy that maximizes winning national elections.
croaker wrote:

538 article on 5 reasons the GOP isn't shifting after 2016
I found this bit interesting:

In short, the Republican Party has an activist base whose interests aren’t that compatible with pursuing a strategy that maximizes winning national elections.

I don't view it as "compatibility" I view it as: The GOP is riding the racist, xenophobic, hate train and doesn't care to get off because it's working for them.

Depressingly, they're probably going to win a national election in the next few years, so why shift strategies now? They just need to:
- tweak voting laws a bit in key states
- keep the the base fired up with fear-mongering, which will get even easier when Harris is the candidate (thanks racism and misogyny!)
- wait for left-leaning voters to inevitably become more disillusioned with the Democratic Party than they're scared of Republicans
- nominate someone just a little bit less divisive than Trump, which is basically anyone

Then voila- Republican President.

croaker wrote:

538 article on 5 reasons the GOP isn't shifting after 2016
I found this bit interesting:

In short, the Republican Party has an activist base whose interests aren’t that compatible with pursuing a strategy that maximizes winning national elections.

Unless, of course, that interest is "making sure only white people can vote".

Nice to see McConnell warning corporations to stay away from politics and then clarifying that he still wants them to donate money to him.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/polit...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned big businesses they would face "serious consequences" after accusing them of employing "economic blackmail" in attempts to influence voting laws as the backlash over Georgia's elections law that imposes voting restrictions intensifies.

"From election law to environmentalism to radical social agendas to the Second Amendment, parts of the private sector keep dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement Monday. "Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order."

I really hate this man, and republicans in general (although I feel bad using such a broad brush anyone who votes republican anymore knows they are voting for very evil policies and just don't care)

They have zero problem with business influencing all kinds of legislation but when it is about what they want suddenly business better butt out

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/NCxBUWi.jpg)