US Politics Megathread

[Dolan]

what do you think these guys are voting

[Goodspeed]

Children can't vote fyi

[iNcog]

It is well-known that intense competition between democracy, authoritarianism and fascism is playing out across the globe in a variety of ways – including in the United States. This year’s US supreme court term, which started this week, is a vivid illustration of how the situation is actually worse than most people understand.

A supermajority of six, unelected ultraconservatives justice – five of which were put on the bench by presidents who did not win the popular vote – have aggressively grabbed yet another batch of cases that will allow them to move American law to the extreme right and threaten US democracy in the process. The leading example of this disturbing shift is a little-known case called Moore v Harper, which could lock in rightwing control of the United States for generations.

The heart of the Moore case is a formerly fringe legal notion called the Independent State Legislature (ISL) theory. This theory posits that an obscure provision in the US constitution allowing state legislatures to set “time, place, and manner” rules for federal elections should not be subject to judicial oversight. In other words, state legislatures should have the absolute power to determine how federal elections are run without court interference.

Think about this theory in the context of the last US election. After Joseph Biden defeated Donald Trump resoundingly in both the popular vote and in the electoral college, Trump tried to organize a massive intimidation campaign to steal the election which played out in the storming of the Capitol building on 6 January. But behind the scenes, the legal core of this attempt was to convince the many Republican-controlled state legislatures (30 out of 50 states) to send slates of fake Trump electors from states like Arizona, Georgia and Michigan where Trump actually lost the popular vote.

If Trump had succeeded, he would have “won” the election via the electoral college (itself an anti-democratic relic) and been able to stay in office another term. If the supreme court buys the theory in the Moore case, this could easily happen in 2024 and beyond. In fact, it is possible Republicans will never lose another election again if this theory is adopted as law. Or put another way, whether Republicans win or lose elections via the popular vote will not matter because they will be able to maintain power regardless.

That’s not democracy. And it would put the United States squarely in the same category as authoritarian countries with illiberal leaders like Hungary, Poland, Turkey and Russia. Each of the leaders of those countries ostensibly “won” elections that were structurally rigged to virtually guarantee they could not lose.

It is disturbing that the supreme court used its increasingly diminished credibility with the public to take on a case that has no real purpose other than what I am describing in this column. In the United States, our highest court only rules on approximately 70 cases a year out of the 7,000 petitions for review that are presented. It is a relatively lazy court. In contrast, the supreme court of Brazil rules on approximately 100,000 cases a year. If the US court agreed to accept the Moore case for review, it almost certainly plans to endorse this rogue ISL theory, that could blow up elections and democracy in the United States as we know it.

Context is important. This situation did not just come out of nowhere, but really is the product of a multi-decade strategy by a coalition of corporations and rightwing religious fundamentalists dating back decades to take control of the US government.
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Recent US history shows how spectacularly effective rightwing funders, representing wealthy Americans and corporations, have been in essentially buying control over our political system. These forces correctly perceive that if democracy is allowed to exist in an unfettered and neutral way, then corporate profits will be diminished and the powerful fossil fuel industry will be phased out over time. So they are organizing to prevent that from happening.

This rightwing funding network simply could not exist with the enormous power that it has accumulated without the US supreme court’s Citizens United case, which laid the groundwork for the current takeover of the supreme court. One industrialist just turned over his entire $1.6bn fortune to an organization controlled by Leonard Leo, the brilliant mastermind behind the pro-corporate Federalist Society, which essentially put all six of the ultraconservatives on the court.

Should the court endorse the ISL theory, Republican-controlled legislatures also will be able to gerrymander political districts to lock in permanent control of federal elections without judicial oversight. Gerrymandering is a fancy term to describe another method of voter suppression in the United States: setting district maps to guarantee that progressive or minority candidates simply cannot get elected except in pre-approved districts. It explains, for example, why in the state of North Carolina Republicans control eight of 13 seats in the US House of Representatives despite the Democratic party winning well over 50% of the statewide vote in the last several elections.

The Moore case would in practice strip people of the right to fair elections by placing electoral power in the hands of a small group of officials at the state level who set district maps. In a presidential election, these officials could determine what slate of electors gets put forth to the electoral college, regardless of the outcome of the state’s popular vote.

In the gerrymandered map at the heart of the Moore case, an evenly divided popular vote in North Carolina would have awarded 10 of the state’s 14 seats in the House of Representatives to Republicans.

While many are focused on the January 6 proceedings, the real coup has been going on quietly in the supreme court without a single shot being fired. As the judicial branch is set to deliberate a case that could drastically weaken the other branches of government, never has it been more clear that it is time to rein in the power of our least democratic institution.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... reme-court

Interesting article here. It seems to be that the GOP is banking on voter fraud by abusing the power and authority of individual states.

[Dolan]

Children can't vote fyi

Idk, that looks like they're practicing for future US politics debates

[Ardeshir]

Children can't vote fyi

Just wait til democrats change that, groom kids through public schooling to vote democrat, and still cry about big bad republicans and cheating

Still won't have voter ID by then because that's racist, and has nothing to do with stopping a certain side from abusing multi-voting, voting from the grave, and voting while you're not supposed to (a felon or medically deemed insane).

America is a basket case, but (strictly concerning the political divide, a culture of avarice is another matter) rarely for the reasons Euros claim.

[Goodspeed]

Children can't vote fyi

Just wait til democrats change that, groom kids through public schooling to vote democrat, and still cry about big bad republicans and cheating

Still won't have voter ID by then because that's racist, and has nothing to do with stopping a certain side from abusing multi-voting, voting from the grave, and voting while you're not supposed to (a felon or medically deemed insane).

America is a basket case, but (strictly concerning the political divide, a culture of avarice is another matter) rarely for the reasons Euros claim.

Interesting post. Why is America a basket case, in your opinion?

[fightinfrenchman]

Still won't have voter ID by then because that's racist, and has nothing to do with stopping a certain side from abusing multi-voting, voting from the grave, and voting while you're not supposed to (a felon or medically deemed insane).

I voted for Joe Biden 10,000 times and I'm gonna vote even harder next time

[Ardeshir]

It's a broke, divided, zionist occupied nation that's exporting this culture of empty virtue signalling coupled with taking economic competition to the extreme to the rest of the west (Thank you Larry Stink, I mean Fink!). Would be nice if their conservatives were a little more compromising, but it'd be nice if their leftists could be honest for one minute as well.

The media machine of America projects constant fears of it's conservative.... fifth... eigth... tenth? all through films, tv shows and media broadcasts globally, but other than federal R's giving the states more rights, there's basically no difference between their major parties. Finding candidates with green values (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as out of her depth as she may be), or funnily enough, veteran's values (Tulsi Gabbard) from the democrats, or libertarian values (Ron and Rand Paul) from the republicans are the only way to really ensure they're not just a talking head for corporate and zionist America. And strangely, you'll find those 3 groups of honest politicians tend to vote together, against the duopolistic herd of the zionist rainbow warrior corporate lobby. Speaking of lobbying, I'll let you guess which group is the most influential and cashed up on both sides of America's political aisle. It ain't guns or abortion or education. It's AIPAC.

And fuck man, I'm not getting into their race and gender politics here either. A way to be called hate filled for being correct lol

[Ardeshir]

Still won't have voter ID by then because that's racist, and has nothing to do with stopping a certain side from abusing multi-voting, voting from the grave, and voting while you're not supposed to (a felon or medically deemed insane).

I voted for Joe Biden 10,000 times and I'm gonna vote even harder next time

But you're a Frenchman not an American... Oh nevermind, they're centre left votes you could be shipping them in from Timbuktu, after polling has ended, as a convicted felon, and they'd get counted! We need to fortify the elections against the fascist conservatives even though actual fascists kill them too!

[harcha]

@Ardeshir are you from australia, the america-mini?

[Goodspeed]

It's a broke, divided, zionist occupied nation that's exporting this culture of empty virtue signalling coupled with taking economic competition to the extreme to the rest of the west (Thank you Larry Stink, I mean Fink!). Would be nice if their conservatives were a little more compromising, but it'd be nice if their leftists could be honest for one minute as well.

The media machine of America projects constant fears of it's conservative.... fifth... eigth... tenth? all through films, tv shows and media broadcasts globally, but other than federal R's giving the states more rights, there's basically no difference between their major parties. Finding candidates with green values (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as out of her depth as she may be), or funnily enough, veteran's values (Tulsi Gabbard) from the democrats, or libertarian values (Ron and Rand Paul) from the republicans are the only way to really ensure they're not just a talking head for corporate and zionist America. And strangely, you'll find those 3 groups of honest politicians tend to vote together, against the duopolistic herd of the zionist rainbow warrior corporate lobby. Speaking of lobbying, I'll let you guess which group is the most influential and cashed up on both sides of America's political aisle. It ain't guns or abortion or education. It's AIPAC.

And fuck man, I'm not getting into their race and gender politics here either. A way to be called hate filled for being correct lol

Zionist? Elaborate?

[fightinfrenchman]

veteran's values (Tulsi Gabbard)

Please specify what you think these values are

[Dolan]

On this subject, I'll quote what I mentioned before in this thread. If even some political scientists have written a book making an argument that there is a Jewish lobby that has influenced US foreign policy to the extent that it ran against national US interests, you can see how such a point of view is not just some fringe attitude of some people looking for a traditional scapegoat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israe ... ign_Policy

People tend to reject such an idea because they think it comes from a bad place, that you can't possibly hold a negative view on a certain group of people because that can only come from prejudice. But then, so what, it doesn't matter where it comes from, it matters if it's factually right, if there are valid arguments that support it. And it's a well-known thing that policymakers in the US on both sides support Israel unconditionally. You could say that's nothing unusual, as the US has lots of allies and it shows support for them on any occasion. But there's no other country in the world that got so much stuff for free from the US as Israel did.

[lejend]

But there's no other country in the world that got so much stuff for free from the US as Israel did.

I don't think that's accurate, at least not in recent years



Plus if you count overseas bases and troop deployments, countries like Germany and South Korea cost the US way more to protect than Israel

[lejend]

It's a broke, divided, zionist occupied nation that's exporting this culture of empty virtue signalling coupled with taking economic competition to the extreme to the rest of the west (Thank you Larry Stink, I mean Fink!). Would be nice if their conservatives were a little more compromising, but it'd be nice if their leftists could be honest for one minute as well.

The media machine of America projects constant fears of it's conservative.... fifth... eigth... tenth? all through films, tv shows and media broadcasts globally, but other than federal R's giving the states more rights, there's basically no difference between their major parties. Finding candidates with green values (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as out of her depth as she may be), or funnily enough, veteran's values (Tulsi Gabbard) from the democrats, or libertarian values (Ron and Rand Paul) from the republicans are the only way to really ensure they're not just a talking head for corporate and zionist America. And strangely, you'll find those 3 groups of honest politicians tend to vote together, against the duopolistic herd of the zionist rainbow warrior corporate lobby. Speaking of lobbying, I'll let you guess which group is the most influential and cashed up on both sides of America's political aisle. It ain't guns or abortion or education. It's AIPAC.

And fuck man, I'm not getting into their race and gender politics here either. A way to be called hate filled for being correct lol

239 words to do the work of 14

Gotta try to be more lean, man

[Dolan]

But there's no other country in the world that got so much stuff for free from the US as Israel did.

I don't think that's accurate, at least not in recent years

Spoiler

Plus if you count overseas bases and troop deployments, countries like Germany and South Korea cost the US way more to protect than Israel

Most of those money don't actually go to Ukraine, they go to US corporations that replenish the stocks of weapons for the US army, as they get rid of the old gear by sending it to Ukraine.

This was the breakdown for the May bill:



You don't think that the US would simply send tens of billions to one of the most corrupt states in Europe, right? These people are not naive.
The US has a very strong system of public accountability and audit for the money spent. They will keep track of everything and check any irregularity even years after the expense was made.
It's more reasonable to think of these aid bills as funding for US corporations and US agencies that are getting rid of old weaponry stock or that are involved on the ground in Ukraine with intelligence and aid.
A substantial chunk of these funds also go to the troops that are being rotated through various NATO military bases in Europe (and elsewhere), as an ongoing effort of maintaining a level of readiness to engage in case of a military attack.
It's also interesting to note that of those funds that are supposed to actually buy things that will be sent to the frontline in Ukraine, each spending is subject to Congress scrutiny. The money goes to the department of defence and they have to report to the congress 15 days before making the actual expense, then congress has the right to block any spending they disagree with. So this kind of funding is mostly spent on the US government's own operations, which does involve some degree of sending material help in Ukraine, but in very controlled ways.

[lejend]

@Dolan

That's true of military aid to Israel, too. Most of it can only be spent to buy US arms, so it's not really 'free stuff' so much as a subsidy to the US arms industry.

[fightinfrenchman]

@Dolan Good luck in your sentencing

[Dolan]

@Dolan Good luck in your sentencing

https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/sta ... 1585415168

Brb, gonna apply quick for Norwegian citizenship. If I get convicted maybe they deport me to Norway so I get to do time in one of those hotels they call prisons

[Horsemen]

It's a broke, divided, zionist occupied nation that's exporting this culture of empty virtue signalling coupled with taking economic competition to the extreme to the rest of the west (Thank you Larry Stink, I mean Fink!). Would be nice if their conservatives were a little more compromising, but it'd be nice if their leftists could be honest for one minute as well.

The media machine of America projects constant fears of it's conservative.... fifth... eigth... tenth? all through films, tv shows and media broadcasts globally, but other than federal R's giving the states more rights, there's basically no difference between their major parties. Finding candidates with green values (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as out of her depth as she may be), or funnily enough, veteran's values (Tulsi Gabbard) from the democrats, or libertarian values (Ron and Rand Paul) from the republicans are the only way to really ensure they're not just a talking head for corporate and zionist America. And strangely, you'll find those 3 groups of honest politicians tend to vote together, against the duopolistic herd of the zionist rainbow warrior corporate lobby. Speaking of lobbying, I'll let you guess which group is the most influential and cashed up on both sides of America's political aisle. It ain't guns or abortion or education. It's AIPAC.

And fuck man, I'm not getting into their race and gender politics here either. A way to be called hate filled for being correct lol

broke - the US is probably the least broke nation in the world right now
divided - not more divided than during the civil rights era, or the civil war; the US has been through worse
zionist - everything in your post after this word is vacuous and devoid of rational content

[lejend]

broke - the US is probably the least broke nation in the world right now

[iNcog]

gdp per capita doesn't really indicate how well off people are, just how much wealth is there compared to the population. i.e. poor people don't give a shit about good gdp per capita if their living conditions are awful

[fightinfrenchman]

Lol

[Horsemen]

gdp per capita doesn't really indicate how well off people are, just how much wealth is there compared to the population. i.e. poor people don't give a shit about good gdp per capita if their living conditions are awful

can't believe no one has thought about this before

[Javon]

gdp per capita doesn't really indicate how well off people are, just how much wealth is there compared to the population. i.e. poor people don't give a shit about good gdp per capita if their living conditions are awful

Well, we can beat around the bush, but there's a correlation between GDP per capita and "how well off people are". Without high GDP per capita your people won't be well off, but of course it's not enough to have just that.