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berlinerbaer

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Posts posted by berlinerbaer

  1. 4 hours ago, Bookman said:

    In seventh grade in Uvalde, Texas, I was specifically taught that the Civil War was not about slavery. This was 1989.

     

    3 hours ago, gmr548 said:


    I was taught it was about state’s rights in the 2000’s in suburban DFW. I’m sure that’s still the talking point.

     

    3 hours ago, hookem2010 said:

    Same here. 5th grade in Spring, TX circa 1999 I was enlightened that slavery had very little to do with the Civil War. Shout out to Mrs. Underwood, apparently you were just a racist old hag!

    I had a rather opinionated teacher of AP US history in 11th grade argue strongly it was about the States' right to secede. This was in San Diego, California in the mid 90's. 

  2. On 6/28/2021 at 5:23 PM, aggie08 said:

    I pointed out something similar on one of the gun/active shooter threads a while back. A sizeable number of people that own a shit ton of guns think that a presidential election was stolen from Their President, the current sitting President is a pawn for China and his radical left puppet masters, anybody who speaks out against the liberal agenda is cancelled by mainstream and social media, and their brave brothers in arms on Jan 6 are being incarcerated for daring to try to stop the the insertion of a tyrannical government. If you truly believe those things to be true, what could be a bigger call to action?? Yet, all we have is more faux outrage and internet diatribes.

    So, they're either A) Gigantic gaping pussies, or B) Have a nagging sensation in their brains that this is all just performance art, and their anger is being manipulated, so best to just observe and yell from the sidelines.

    Truthfully, I think Jan 6 had a quelling effect on all future protests and demonstrations. Finally some finding out after 5 years of fucking around. As long as their internet works and Applebees is open, they're not going to put themselves in position to be identified as extremists by their employers/Johnny Law.

    The fact is that when it comes to protests, marches, and other acts of (peaceful) civil disobedience, the Right has nothing on the Left.

    Maybe a few thousand were in DC on 1/6 and several hundred stormed the Capitol. That isn't many, as you point out, considering many actually believed their country was being taken from them.

    Contrast that with the MILLIONS who marched worldwide within one day of Cheeto taking office, with half a million in DC alone. Then consider the millions who took to the streets for weeks following George Floyd's killing.

    If the Republicans try to steal an election, I hope they find out.

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  3. 11 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

    I guarantee most of those people don't have children in that system. Hell, I'd bet a lot of them don't live in the area at all. 

    Loudoun Country went for Biden by 24 points. I'm sure they have their bigots, and they might be loud, but they are not the majority.

  4. 5 minutes ago, Satchel said:

    Relax. I agree with you. I’m just not as pessimistic about the Dems fortunes as you are.

    I hope you're right. Fact is that the most politically sensible time to push for reform was today and both Sinema and Manchin have let the moment pass them by. That's a bad sign.

    I took issue with the fact that you seemed to think this will resolve itself somehow in the backrooms or on the floor of the Senate. I feel that is now a lost cause. I still hold out some hope for Biden intervening, but I think it's now up to people like us to deal with this, somehow...

  5. 1 minute ago, Satchel said:

    Those votes won’t be useless, chiefly because they undercut Manchin’s and Sinema’s rationale for torpedoing Biden’s agenda.

    Come on. First it was the 1/06 commission, then it was S1. What other bills that need 60 votes do the Republicans need to block in order for these two finally come around? What is left?

    It's cute that you still think their plea for bipartisanship isn't anything other than straight up corruption. They are against filibuster reform because their donors are against it. This is all about money. This isn't theater, as the climax has already passed.

    They need to be made to realize that their donors are not enough to get them re-elected. The people need to make that case. 

  6. 23 minutes ago, Satchel said:

    So, now it’s on like neck bones. Schumer just needs to keep calling for votes and getting Russicans on the record.

    Fuck that. Republicans don't seem afraid of obstructing.

    We need to find a way to make Democrats afraid of letting them.

  7. Follow. The. Money. Seriously, everyone hates money in politics but people mistakenly think they have no means to stop it. 

    Call out Manchin's ties to the Koch network. Call out Sinema's meeting with big donors where she gloated about killing $15 minimum wage.

    You might find it hypocritical for Biden to call out money in politics, but I think the fact that he just raised a record BILLION DOLLARS gives him the biggest megaphone in which to do it. "Look. I raised more money than everyone else. I've been raising money for 40 years and let me tell you, folks. It can be a good thing or a bad thing. I want to get bridges built. These other guys are paid to make sure that won't happen."

    As far as the rest of us go, boycotts and protest are both great ideas. There should be billboards in downtown Phoenix ripping Sinema. Investigate the Manchin family's multiple conflicts of interest. You find corporate donors and organize boycotts against those donors. Even if it is a small fraction who participate, it's the negative publicity that does the most damage.

    Some of us forget the spine that Democrats suddenly grew in early 2017 once they found out what the base thought of their initial efforts to work with Trump. It's easy to forget because it didn't last long.

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  8. What exactly does this guy have for Texas Republicans to want to vote for him over Paxton? A Trump endorsement? Maybe, but it's not like Paxton is a never Trumper. Is it not being under indictment? GOP voters clearly don't give a shit about that.

    This seems like when that young Kennedy challenged Markey for his Massachusetts senate seat last year.

  9. 3 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

    I hope she wins, but won’t hold my breath. What do you think the over / under on donations surly posters send to her campaign in a futile cause will be?

    This race will be within 5 points just like they always are in FL. Donations won't be futile.

  10. 1 hour ago, Satchel said:

    So, who the hell is Manchin listening to?

    His donors. 

     

    On 6/6/2021 at 7:54 PM, BillyBadAss said:

    Why not strip the bill down? Remove virtually everything except the rules on gerrymandering. The rest will take care of itself once we get through a cycle where the extremists can't win primaries anymore.

    Make them defend gerrymandering. Full stop.

    I agree, but keep the other voting rights provisions (early voting, paper backups, and mail-in ballots).

    It isn't hard to find the most controversial parts of H.R./S 1. They are the ones involving money: campaign finance and donor disclosure. The number of Democratic Senators secretly opposed to these provisions is probably greater than one. Luckily, Democrats have proven that they can fight on roughly equal footing as Republicans in terms of fundraising lately. 

    Whatever. It will never even come up for a vote without filibuster reform. Manchin is just teasing us with talk about the John Lewis VRA. 

    • Like 1
  11. 1 hour ago, dcar00 said:

    yeah he actually said the opposite in the email.  this guy was THE infectious disease expert.  an airborne virus and mask capabilities were not new to him when he said that. he was right when he said protects against droplets(from coughing/sneezing) when you are in close contact.

     

    52 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

    Here is Fauci's quote, in the article you linked.

    Quote

    Fauci wrote: "Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection.

    He was right then. His position hasn't changed. You just misunderstood.

  12. 14 hours ago, gmr548 said:

    The NM-1 win is good in that outperforming Biden and the district’s partisan lean is a data point in favor of no impending doom in the midterms.

    I wouldn’t read too much into it though. Four special elections this year, all non competitive, both parties running it up in their districts. I think it just tells is the bases are motivated.

    This. The base is itching to vote and everyone else is like whatever. As districts lean further toward one side, the percentage of that side composed of hungry partisans is probably larger than it is for the other side, leading to more lopsided victories.

    So far, two red districts swung 13 points more red and two blue districts swung 11 points more blue, on average.

    All in all, it looks to be a fairly neutral political environment. I think the last generic ballot poll I saw was D+5. Unfortunately, redistricting alone should be enough for the GOP to net a small majority in the House in 2022 if things stay mostly as they are right now.

    I will say that 131k isn't bad for special election turnout. That's the best of the cycle and almost double the dogshit TX-6 numbers last month.

  13. The ability to carry out independent biochemical processes should be the metric by which we classify biological entities as living or not,. Viruses are unable to perform any metabolic process, let alone replicate, in the absence of the host cell's biochemical machinery. Therefore, IMO they are not alive.

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  14. 1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

    They are scared shitless, and know they don't have the numbers.  They are really fucking around and going to find out.

    Yeah, this audit is too much of a shit show for it not to hurt the Arizona GOP. This is a state that is trending blue with the speed of Colorado or Virginia. These assholes can't stop what's coming.

    Georgia, Florida, and Texas are different stories, unfortunately. I'm afraid tactics such as these will be far more effective at allowing the GOP to maintain their grip on power in these places. 

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  15. 12 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

    I think it’s basically impossible at this point to predict what the Supreme Court will ultimately do other than whatever they decide will make abortions more difficult to get. How far they go is a total unknown. 
     

    The Republican Party doesn’t really want to overturn Roe because then a significant chunk of it no longer has a reason to come out and vote unless the Republican Party starts passing more Jim Crow type laws. 

     

    9 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

    Even if they totally gut Roe V Wade, they won’t overturn it due to optics - except for the 3 or so on the far right.  So it may be over in reality but how it’s rolled out won’t rile up the base on the left - that’s their hope.  I think the blowback is gonna crush what’s left of the R party but let’s see.  Packing the courts becomes a much more real thing if they go here...

    There will be substantial blowback from the left and the center, although I don't think the right will just declare mission accomplished either. There will be much at stake on both sides, legislatively speaking, at both the state and federal level. 

    I don't think the Republicans could ever ban it nationwide, but they will be able to turn out the base by claiming the Dems will legalize it without restrictions. Some kind of grand bargain will become the next legislative unicorn, kind of like immigration reform, for many future Democratic presidents to run on.

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