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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

I talked to a lady today I know from my previous job. Not a colleague but someone I met through work. She calls me from time to time to still ask about various land use things because she values my opinion. I'm fine with that. But today she starts going on this whole rant about how another "state of emergency" is going to be declared starting toward the end of summer so there will be more mail in ballots during the election which will lead to massive fraud. I enjoyed chatting with her until now. After that I was like like "uh huh", "I see", "well, I've got to get back to work". :r: :r: :r:
 
We caught something like 9 people in the hardcore voter fraud review the state AG did. Everything from oops I moved and I shouldn't have voted that second time to I plan on voting for Trump twice (none of them voted for Biden twice). The AG is going after them all and reporting how widespread fraud is in our state and that we need to do something about the mail in ballots and whatever. Nothing in the actual reports said anything about mail ballot fraud.
 
My state has just made concealed carry a no permit right.

"...thanks to gubna Kemp, now when I go to the grocery store packin' heat, feelin' that warm blue steel still smokin' from takin' that pesky squirrel that attacked the bird feeder, if I see an ornery hombre whose looks make me nervous, whose britches have a funny bulge, whose quick cut of the stink-eye makes me fear for my very life, I can just take him on out to keep the peace."
 
fringe said:
My state has just made concealed carry a no permit right.

"...thanks to gubna Kemp, now when I go to the grocery store packin' heat, feelin' that warm blue steel still smokin' from takin' that pesky squirrel that attacked the bird feeder, if I see an ornery hombre whose looks make me nervous, whose britches have a funny bulge, whose quick cut of the stink-eye makes me fear for my very life, I can just take him on out to keep the peace."
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Wow, where's that quote originally from?
One month ago Ohio did the same thing. Our teensy protest involves spending no money when we drive straight through Ohio on our way to the Iowa Bix fest this August.
 
78rpm said:
Wow, where's that quote originally from?
One month ago Ohio did the same thing. Our teensy protest involves spending no money when we drive straight through Ohio on our way to the Iowa Bix fest this August.
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...my imaginary neighbor said it. BTW in the infamous MTG's district an unknown assailant gunned down mom and pop owners of a shooting range and their grandson, stole at least 40 guns, just last week. Name of the business is Lock, Stock, and Barrel.

I saw a guy in a grocery with a Kalashnikov laid across the top of his buggy.
 
fringe said:
...my imaginary neighbor said it. BTW in the infamous MTG's district an unknown assailant gunned down mom and pop owners of a shooting range and their grandson, stole at least 40 guns, just last week. Name of the business is Lock, Stock, and Barrel.

I saw a guy in a grocery with a Kalashnikov laid across the top of his buggy.
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The cafe across the street from Champaign City Hall was called Lox, Stock and Bagel.
 
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78rpm said:
Wow, where's that quote originally from?
One month ago Ohio did the same thing. Our teensy protest involves spending no money when we drive straight through Ohio on our way to the Iowa Bix fest this August.
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The Bix Fest is in my fair City. Are you coming for the race or music?
 
Little Donny Jr posted a picture of 3 bunnies holding ARs for Easter.

Yes, this is what Easter is all about.

:'(

(& there were 3 mass shootings on Easter Sunday)
 
Well, this will get interesting...

www.cnn.com

CDC mask mandate for travelers struck down by federal judge

A federal judge in Florida struck down on Monday the Biden administration's mask mandate for airplanes and other public transport methods.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com


My dad (who is completely opposed to masks) was frustrated that he had to wear a mask when he flew on Friday. I don't know if he knows this info or what will happen between now, and Saturday when he heads back up north.
 
fringe said:
Floriduh bans early ed math books for CRT content.

Florida rejects 54 math books, claiming critical race theory appeared in some.

www.npr.org

Florida rejects 54 math books, claiming critical race theory appeared in some

The rejected books make up a record 41% of the 132 books submitted for review, the Florida Department of Education said in a statement.
www.npr.org www.npr.org
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70% of math books for k-4 were rejected! I can only imagine racial math in that age group.

Little Bobby has 8 nickels and 2 dimes. Little Antwan has 5 nickels and 3 dimes. Who has more money?
 
fringe said:
Floriduh bans early ed math books for CRT content.

Florida rejects 54 math books, claiming critical race theory appeared in some.

www.npr.org

Florida rejects 54 math books, claiming critical race theory appeared in some

The rejected books make up a record 41% of the 132 books submitted for review, the Florida Department of Education said in a statement.
www.npr.org www.npr.org
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My guess is it's not about CRT. The board rejected the book for one of the other reasons listed in their boiler plate language:

  • 28 (21 percent) are not included on the adopted list because they incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including CRT.
It's someone other than the board of education claiming it's due to CRT and of course why would the board or someone else just stand up and say no, that's not right. That's the problem with the world of politics. No one stands up and slaps the person for being stupid.
 
TOFB said:
The Bix Fest is in my fair City. Are you coming for the race or music?
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The Bix music. Few gothamists these days would journey to Iowa for much else. We check our political opinions at the bridge. It's all about the music.
 
78rpm said:
The Bix music. Few gothamists these days would journey to Iowa for much else. We check our political opinions at the bridge. It's all about the music.
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For now I don't think I am playing, but that could change. Let me know your schedule once it gets closer and we can try to get together!

Sorry about our State. It used to suck not nearly this bad.
 
78rpm said:
The Bix music. Few gothamists these days would journey to Iowa for much else.
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tony-stark-eye-roll.jpg
 
Faust_Motel said:
Paywalled if you have used up your free Atlantic articles for the month, but good to go otherwise.
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I subscribed to Atlantic a couple years ago. I canceled the subscription after the first year. It seems like for every interesting, well researched article they publish, they put out 3 or 4 schlocky click-bait articles.
 
DeSantis is embarrassing himself deeply to try and look more R than Trump.

I am interested to see the 2024 field. Do we have two 80 year olds fight it out again? Or do the D's and R's agree that we need someone under 50 to run the country?

DeSantis is seemly the only non-Trump threat at this point. I don't see anyone else on the R side even have the guts to run against the Trump machine.

On the D side it seems that Biden is saying he will run again, which is a tremendous failure of the D's to handpick and setup his successor. Harris clearly is not the winner, and the other players have not been able to get much traction with COVID taking the lead. I couldn't create a list off the top of my head of D's that may run against Biden and actually have a chance.

Maybe we just hope Elon Musk backs a candidate and really F's up the financials of the race?
 
Was there ever a time where the parties used to groom the next person for running. Not just saying it's your turn, Hill Dog, but actually grooming a couple people and not just running this like March Madness with 36+ candidates.
 
DVD said:
Was there ever a time where the parties used to groom the next person for running. Not just saying it's your turn, Hill Dog, but actually grooming a couple people and not just running this like March Madness with 36+ candidates.
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I mean I think that's generally what the Vice President position is these days, although clearly Chaney was never going to run.

Ford, Mondale, Bush, Quayle, Gore, Biden, Pence (although he is now OUT), Harris.

I believe they picked Harris out of a desire to break a glass ceiling, and shore up Biden's demographic needs, not necessarily because she was the best chance to be the next President. I think she showed in the D primary that she is unlikely to make it to the top post, but who knows.

With Biden's age, I just though that the D's would be putting lots of opportunities in front of specific D's to get them the additional experience they can use to claim more value to the Country. I am just not sure who those people are on the D side right now.
 
Also, this article does a good job showing why DeSantis is just a moron with a need for fighting pointless fights.

thehill.com

Explained: DeSantis’s effort to end Disney’s self-government power

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is trying to strip Walt Disney World, “The Most Magical Place on Earth,” of its self-government power amid an ongoing battle with the state’s biggest…
thehill.com thehill.com

The take away:

What would happen if Reedy Creek was dissolved?

Democrats fear that if DeSantis is successful in removing Disney’s special status, taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties would be left on the hook for an enormous amount of debt. According to the RCID’s annual financial report for 2021, it carries a debt of nearly $1 billion. As required by Florida law, all that debt would be assumed by Orange and Osceola counties.

“So this is not supposition, this is not conjecture, this is Florida law that says those 1.7 million people are going to have to pick up this bill,” Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer (D) said.

According to Farmer’s assessments, each family in Orange and Osceola counties would likely pay upwards of $2,200 if the counties assumed the debt. Taxpayers would also become responsible for items Disney currently pays for, like road improvements and other mandatory public services. Battles between taxpayers and county governments would become more likely, like the outrage seen when Orange County approved a controversial $125 million road deal with Orlando’s Universal Studios.
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Hink said:
I mean I think that's generally what the Vice President position is these days, although clearly Chaney was never going to run.

Ford, Mondale, Bush, Quayle, Gore, Biden, Pence (although he is now OUT), Harris.

I believe they picked Harris out of a desire to break a glass ceiling, and shore up Biden's demographic needs, not necessarily because she was the best chance to be the next President. I think she showed in the D primary that she is unlikely to make it to the top post, but who knows.

With Biden's age, I just though that the D's would be putting lots of opportunities in front of specific D's to get them the additional experience they can use to claim more value to the Country. I am just not sure who those people are on the D side right now.
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If there were was ever a time to establish a 3rd party that was more centralist, this is the time. There are so many Democrats that don't like Harris and others that don't like Biden. There is a large number of Republicans who don't like Trump. If there is a way to find the middle ground to really establish unity, I think that person would have a terrific shot. But they would need to start now and navigate through the campaign limitations that were established to limit 3rd party candidates from being successful.
 
michaelskis said:
If there were was ever a time to establish a 3rd party that was more centralist, this is the time. There are so many Democrats that don't like Harris and others that don't like Biden. There is a large number of Republicans who don't like Trump. If there is a way to find the middle ground to really establish unity, I think that person would have a terrific shot. But they would need to start now and navigate through the campaign limitations that were established to limit 3rd party candidates from being successful.
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And be independently wealthy. We will need rich people to take on the political machine. Otherwise we will continue to see R and D forever because money talks. Peter Theil just put $15m into JD Vance in Ohio after Trump endorsed him. If Theil put that money into a 3rd party candidate, that candidate would have likely had just as likely of a chance to win.

Money, sadly, talks.
 
Hink said:
I am interested to see the 2024 field. Do we have two 80 year olds fight it out again?
Click to expand...

I hope not. Biden is better off not running, and really making the legacy as someone who was there to right the ship. I think pride and desperation of the leadership for both parties is what is going to push them to run - Trump has such a devoted and vocal minority following that the GOP can't push him aside without some fallout, and the DNC is going to follow the narrative that "Biden beat him once before" if Trump runs.
 
Hink said:
And be independently wealthy. We will need rich people to take on the political machine. Otherwise we will continue to see R and D forever because money talks. Peter Theil just put $15m into JD Vance in Ohio after Trump endorsed him. If Theil put that money into a 3rd party candidate, that candidate would have likely had just as likely of a chance to win.

Money, sadly, talks.
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You are correct. It is unfortunate that those who are wealthy have figured out how to play both sides. Hell, Trump had contributed to Hillary's campaign when she was running against Obama for the nomination.
 
We really should just set some age limits on these offices. I mean a lot of these people just need to retire and enjoy life. If it were a normal job we would have given you your cake and gold watch and kicked you out the door 20+ years ago. I'm looking at you Mitch.
 
DVD said:
We really should just set some age limits on these offices. I mean a lot of these people just need to retire and enjoy life. If it were a normal job we would have given you your cake and gold watch and kicked you out the door 20+ years ago. I'm looking at you Mitch.
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Chuck Grassley is 88 and started in the Senate two weeks before Reagan took office. Before that he was in the US House for six years and spent 16 years in the Iowa House.

I've been working professionally for 20 years (17 in planning) and I won't even be able to consider retirement for 17 more. I don't want to work more than I absolutely have to. I cannot imagine at age 88 (45 years from now) wanting to deal with the public.
 
bureaucrat#3 said:
Chuck Grassley is 88 and started in the Senate two weeks before Reagan took office. Before that he was in the US House for six years and spent 16 years in the Iowa House.

I've been working professionally for 20 years (17 in planning) and I won't even be able to consider retirement for 17 more. I don't want to work more than I absolutely have to. I cannot imagine at age 88 (45 years from now) wanting to deal with the public.
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Yea, but think about all the power... ;)
 
bureaucrat#3 said:
Chuck Grassley is 88 and started in the Senate two weeks before Reagan took office. Before that he was in the US House for six years and spent 16 years in the Iowa House.

I've been working professionally for 20 years (17 in planning) and I won't even be able to consider retirement for 17 more. I don't want to work more than I absolutely have to. I cannot imagine at age 88 (45 years from now) wanting to deal with the public.
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This is yet another example of why we should have term limits for Senators.

I mean come on, look at the duration of Patrick Leahy who has 8 years more than Grassley. Same goes with Mitch McConnell who is not quite as long, but it is time to go.

In the house,
Dan Yong (48 years)
Hal Rogers (40 Years)
Chris Smith (40 Years)
Steny Hoyer (40 years)
Marcy Kaptur (38 years)
Nancy Pelosi (34 years) and
Peter Defazio (34 Years).

They all need to take a page out of Fred Upton's (34 years) book and realize it is time to move on.
 
MD Planner said:
We have term limits. They're called elections. We get the government we deserve. Incumbents are reelected at a ridiculous rate. That's on us as the American people.
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Yes and no. I agree with you in the context that if they are bad, we can vote them out of office, but so often we are are picking from the lesser of the two evils, and as they say the enemy that we know is the better than the enemy that we don't know. More so, too many of these Senators and Representatives spend their entire career focused on doing the popular thing instead of the right thing.

More so, we as a society have been conditioned to believe that it is a binary system and there are conditions that have been put in place by the Democratic National Party and the Republican National Party to prevent the rise of anyone other than their candidates. It might be the only thing in America that those two parties vote on. So even if you don't like the person in office now, and you don't know anything about the other person, who are you more likely to vote for?

That is why I refused to vote for Hillary, Biden, or Trump in the past two elections.
 
That whole Disney DeSantis Don't Say Gay thing in Florida got me to look up DeSantis on the wikipedia. Wow, I didn't realize what an impressive resume he had. I now understand why the pundits say he will be running for president in 2024.
 
This article is one of the best but most horrifying I've seen yet on the white evangelicals' near messianic worship of Trump and their embracement of Q'Anon theories and January 6th insurrection.

But there is hope: Younger Evangelical's are becoming disillusioned and leaving the church. The number of white evangelicals has dropped from 23% to 14% in the past 15 years. It needs to keep on dropping.
 
michaelskis said:
This is yet another example of why we should have term limits for Senators.

I mean come on, look at the duration of Patrick Leahy who has 8 years more than Grassley. Same goes with Mitch McConnell who is not quite as long, but it is time to go.

In the house,
Dan Yong (48 years)
Hal Rogers (40 Years)
Chris Smith (40 Years)
Steny Hoyer (40 years)
Marcy Kaptur (38 years)
Nancy Pelosi (34 years) and
Peter Defazio (34 Years).

They all need to take a page out of Fred Upton's (34 years) book and realize it is time to move on.
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FTFY as Dan Young died in office a few weeks ago. Talk about a term limit!


In all seriousness, I am not in favor of term limits for our elected officials but would be in favor of age limits. In the end though, it would take a constitutional amendment to institute term limits or age limits in the House (not sure if the same holds true for the Senate?) and I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

FWIW, we have term limits here in Michigan and from what I've observed and from everybody I've talked to who has worked in Lansing (especially on budget and fiscal issues), the term limits have been an absolute disaster.
 
Super Amputee Cat said:
This article is one of the best but most horrifying I've seen yet on the white evangelicals' near messianic worship of Trump and their embracement of Q'Anon theories and January 6th insurrection.

But there is hope: Younger Evangelical's are becoming disillusioned and leaving the church. The number of white evangelicals has dropped from 23% to 14% in the past 15 years. It needs to keep on dropping.
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They have a golden idol of Trump that the worship. Granted I knew the evangelicals were not Christian long ago, but this one just seals the deal. I believe it's one of those pesky commandments Noah brought down that say something about golden idols.


I would be interested to see term limits in the house at least and maybe something that reminds the senators they work for the state, not the party or in my case the big donor.
 
In my grammar school we were led every day in the lord's prayer recitation, struck down in '62 by SCOTUS.

I see no diff between classroom and playing field. Current SCOTUS will lead us toward another inquisition, complete with witch hunts and dunks.

Got my Torquemada mixed up with my Cotton Mather. Inquisitors roast suspects but witch hunters dunk 'em.
 
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So the Roe v. Wade opinion may make the D's have a shot in the Fall.

The seeming argument from Alito is that "the Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision". Well that may be true, but the Constitution also doesn't make reference to a lot of things that we have done over the years, and yet 60+ years of doing something generally creates a precedent. Because the Constitution has to be a living document to actually have any value because we are crazy scared to actually modify it, like it was intended to be done.

I am not sure how this will play out, but I do think that it will certainly enrage the left, especially the FAR LEFT, who were not in love in Biden or the Democrats. They will actually see that moderate views are better than views that are pre-historic.

It is odd how little that decision will directly affect me, as my life isn't in a place where this impacts me. My Libertarian bent really gets flared up though when the republican party picks and chooses when it should actually be the party of individual freedoms and when they think they can dictate how people live their lives.

Hospitals in the south particularly (where there already is less access to safe care) are going to see women who have done terrible things to themselves.
 
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