Confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court

[TotallyGenericName]

But national doesn't have anything to do with letting cornfields decide elections instead of people. The founders very specifically wanted elections to be decided by majority will - that was the whole point of the 12th amendment. They wanted minority party losers to have veto power, but they didn't want them to end up in any chamber of power. When every election after Washington required a shady backroom deal to keep the minority from getting too much power, the Jeffersonians said "fuck it" and threw in the 12th. And then 30 years later, Andrew Jackson said "lol" and got the states to switch from ranked choice, proportional allotments, and majority wins to plurality winner-take-all wins, and fucked it all up.

Even the Senate would probably have resulted in a 13th amendment if it was in the state then that it is today. The founders hated the Senate. Madison said, "Dude, this compromise is so stupid that I don't even want to talk about it" in Federalist 22. But had the minority party been able to hold the Senate without a massive struggle, the Jeffersonians would have fixed that, too.

All of this talk about balance is mostly a modern addition by Republicans trying to explain why they should get to have power when everyone but the loonies hates them.

I mean I'm honestly pretty fair. If the Democrats lost the popular vote and won the electoral college, I seriously would not give a shit.

I think we seem to forget that people who live together tend to think alike. While I'm all for voices being heard, weighting is the better of a pretty difficult to balance grab bag of solutions.

[Elegiac]

And again, the easier and more obvious answer is that Democrats were racist and still are.

Which requires a whole lot more evidence than "the Southern Strategy existed", so in the absence of that I'll trust in Occam and say you're wrong. Lol.

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While I'm all for voices being heard, weighting is the better of a pretty difficult to balance grab bag of solutions.

The only "difficulty" in balancing is that democracy makes it harder for y'all to enact certain policies by fiat.

You can just say you don't like democracy.

[TotallyGenericName]

The real TDS victims are those who drool over every word and action of Trump no matter how mediocre, cotradictory, or negatively impactful they are.

I think Trump is foul mouthed, unpresidential president.

I don't drool over anything he says. I like that he is actually trying to do things though.

I wish he wouldn't be such an abrasive fuck head at times. I would probably have voted for Tulsi Gabbard if given the choice and I'm fairly libertarian.

That being said, I cannot in good faith vote for Biden literally ever. He has Alzheimer's and it's so obvious and sad. I know Democrats hate Trump, and I can understand many of the reasons why, but voting in a man in Biden's mental state is not a good plan.

So, let's not try to assume too much.

[Elegiac]

Oh, also... I feel this needs iterating because a lot of people seem to get this confused.

Being an abolitionist does not make you not a racist. It was not true in 1863, it remains untrue now.

[TotallyGenericName]

Which requires a whole lot more evidence than "the Southern Strategy existed", so in the absence of that I'll trust in Occam and say you're wrong. Lol.

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The only "difficulty" in balancing is that democracy makes it harder for y'all to enact certain policies by fiat.

You can just say you don't like democracy.

I love democracy but, as with everything in life, too much of anything is bad.

Balance is ideal. I'm sorry if that loses elections for the left but it is what it is.

It's not like both parties don't play by the same rules.

Just spend some time in the rural states. It'll be fine.

If Democrats have a message that resonates with Americans, it will resonate soundly in all states.

[Elegiac]

He has Alzheimer's and it's so obvious and sad.

Citation needed.

[TotallyGenericName]

Oh, also... I feel this needs iterating because a lot of people seem to get this confused.

Being an abolitionist does not make you not a racist. It was not true in 1863, it remains untrue now.

True, because everyone is racist.

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Citation needed.

How about a 20 minute video of him making no sense and leaving everyone bewildered?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzBdBj5QWyY

But I suppose come Tuesday, you'll be feeling less inclined to require a citation.

[Elegiac]

If Democrats have a message that resonates with Americans, it will resonate soundly in all states.

"Too much democracy is bad" contradicts "resonating with Americans".

Again, this is just a tell for the fact you don't view Democrats as Americans but as an unfortunate second class of people that are resident in the US.

[postman1782]

I think Trump is foul mouthed, unpresidential president.

I don't drool over anything he says. I like that he is actually trying to do things though.

I wish he wouldn't be such an abrasive fuck head at times. I would probably have voted for Tulsi Gabbard if given the choice and I'm fairly libertarian.

That being said, I cannot in good faith vote for Biden literally ever. He has Alzheimer's and it's so obvious and sad. I know Democrats hate Trump, and I can understand many of the reasons why, but voting in a man in Biden's mental state is not a good plan.

So, let's not try to assume too much.

Says the guy defending Trump? I mean he literally thinks there were airports during the Revolutionary fucking War of all things. That is over 100 years before the first airplane LOL.

[Kellhound]

If you're going the appeal to authority route then explain away the NAACP's endorsement of Robert Byrd.

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Valuable enough that if you start charging too much, desalination starts looking like a cheaper option, and then your bargaining chip vanishes entirely.

Surely there must be hundreds of golden eggs inside the goose, all you need do is cut the belly open.

Desalination requires power, a lot of it. Oh hey, most power is either generated in rural areas, is transported through rural areas, or uses resources from rural areas.

See, the thing is, each side has the ability to inflict serious damage to the other. The more hostile the sides get, the more likely that happens. Your solution is to force everyone to adhere to your view, mine is to divide into smaller groups that agree with each other as peacefully as possible.

I do like how you think the urban city-states should exploit the rural people because they are more powerful, but the rural folk shouldn't fear that they would do so under urban control.

[Elegiac]

True, because everyone is racist.

Categorically false, but we've already established that y'all think racism = "not liking people".

How about a 20 minute video of him making no sense and leaving everyone bewildered?

Why does this argument not apply to any of Trump's equally as egregious incidents?

My grandmother died while suffering advanced dementia and I work with a mostly geriatric pool of patients in my healthcare network. Biden doesn't have Alzheimer's, lol.

[TotallyGenericName]

"Too much democracy is bad" contradicts "resonating with Americans".

Again, this is just a tell for the fact you don't view Democrats as Americans but as an unfortunate second class of people that are resident in the US.

When you are a country comprised of individual states, too much consolidated Democracy is bad, yes.

How is that so hard to understand?

I love lefties. They are the essential "Justice" yin to the "Liberty" yang in America. We can't have a country without left leaning folks. Not sure where you came up with that.

[Elegiac]

Desalination requires power, a lot of it. Oh hey, most power is either generated in rural areas, is transported through rural areas, or uses resources from rural areas.

Because the rural areas happen to be convenient.

It would be difficult, yes, but the point is that this is not the 1860s and there's not even a remote parity between the two. So saying "let's split up the country" as if it's two roughly equivalent groups parting ways and not a situation of a deadbeat husband being asked to act responsibly around the house and threatening to file for divorce because they'd rather cut off their nose to spite their face.

[TotallyGenericName]

Categorically false, but we've already established that y'all think racism = "not liking people".



Why does this argument not apply to any of Trump's equally as egregious incidents?

My grandmother died while suffering advanced dementia and I work with a mostly geriatric pool of patients in my healthcare network. Biden doesn't have Alzheimer's, lol.

That's awful about your grandmother. I can't even imagine.

I suppose I, out of ignorance, picked a poor choice of words as (and I'm sure this is obvious to you) I am not a doctor.

Even still, to an untrained eye, Biden appears to be having some very clear signs of mental deterioration going on.

Truthfully, the Democrats should have just let Bernie take the nomination.

While apparently nobody seems to agree with me, I am convinced he'd have beaten Trump. I think Biden's weakness is enthusiasm which Bernie had in spades.

Anywho, I suppose that's history at this point.

[Elegiac]

When you are a country comprised of individual states, too much consolidated Democracy is bad, yes.

How is that so hard to understand?

I dunno I just seem to actually remember the Confederacy lost, so there's not really a reason to keep up with the pretense of "states rights" as a legal fig leaf for slavery these days?

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That's awful about your grandmother. I can't even imagine.

I suppose I, out of ignorance, picked a poor choice of words as (and I'm sure this is obvious to you) I am not a doctor.

Even still, to an untrained eye, Biden appears to be having some very clear signs of mental deterioration going on.

Maybe said eyes should stop throwing out opinions as if they are facts issued by trained eyes, then?

[TotallyGenericName]

Says the guy defending Trump? I mean he literally thinks there were airports during the Revolutionary fucking War of all things. That is over 100 years before the first airplane LOL.

I'm not here to defend the plethora of stupid shit he says. I can't. I won't.

My point is that there is a big difference between being "not the most intelligent" and suffering an obvious cognitive decline.

Look, partisanship aside, I think many people have taken notice of this.

For what it's worth, I hope this is all a fluke and Biden holds a steady display at the debate. I don't want to imagine a version of America where he has an absolute "crash and burn" moment on stage mentally and still wins the presidency.

[Elegiac]

I'm not here to defend the plethora of stupid shit he says. I can't. I won't.

My point is that there is a big difference between being "not the most intelligent" and suffering an obvious cognitive decline.

Said difference being that because the latter is an explicit disqualification for office rather than a vague one, it gets assumed as the explanation because you happen to dislike the person in question since it is a convenient way for you to try and rationalise not voting for a Democrat at any cost.

This is just an admission of bias, lol.

[TotallyGenericName]

I dunno I just seem to actually remember the Confederacy lost, so there's not really a reason to keep up with the pretense of "states rights" as a legal fig leaf for slavery these days?

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Maybe said eyes should stop throwing out opinions as if they are facts issued by trained eyes, then?

Like I said, at some point, trained or untrained, a continuous string of coincidences stop being coincidences and start being a pattern.

Look, I'm a software engineer. I don't pretend to be a doctor or play one on television.

But, if it's not cognitive decline (whether from just age or something more acute), then what would you expect it to be?

There is a clear difference in Trump just stating nonsense and Biden having slurred speech and incoherent thoughts at times.

No? Like, that is an honest question, do you not have an opinion on that at all?

You seem intelligent. I'd imagine you have a take on it.

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Said difference being that because the latter is an explicit disqualification for office rather than a vague one, it gets assumed as the explanation because you happen to dislike the person in question since it is a convenient way for you to try and rationalise not voting for a Democrat at any cost.

This is just an admission of bias, lol.

Well, hang on a second. I never said I'd never vote for a Democrat.

I would have voted for Andrew Yang (even being against UBI) and I'd have happily marched my ass down to the public voting station and cast my vote for Tulsi Gabbard.

Let's not assume we know everything about each other

[bladeXcrasher]

Stop letting it derail the thread, ignore it.

[Machismo]

So I guess it just took 30 years for the entirety of the South to get the super secret racist fan club message that they were now going to be Republican.

This is silly. Just stop.

Nope, the Southern Strategy is a thing, whether you are willing to admit it, or not. The GOP is the party of white supremacy, with dudes like Stephen Miller in the White House.

Or, shall we show you the Proud Boys, and their love of Trump, as well?

How about the Patriot Prayer fuckwads?

How about the Boogaloo Bois dipshit squad?

Why do you support white supremacists?

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/...-emails#Miller