Advocates from Fair Districts PA, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP and other good-government groups rallied in the state Capitol Tuesday, Sept. 12, to call on Folmer to reschedule a hearing on Senate Bill 22, which aims to establish an independent redistricting commission through an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution.

As chairman of the Senate’s State Government committee, Folmer has “hit the pause button” on holding any hearings on redistricting reform because of the League of Women Voters’ lawsuit filed in June, Fred Sembach, the senator's chief of staff, said Wednesday, Sept. 13.

There is only a small window of opportunity for lawmakers to establish an independent citizens redistricting commission through a constitutional amendment.

To amend the state constitution in time for the next district-map redraw, Senate Bill 22 or a similar bill must be passed by both legislative chambers in the 2017-18 session and the 2019-2020 session.

The potential amendment must then pass in a public referendum in 2020 to take effect in time for the next district redraw.

With Folmer delaying redistricting-reform hearings until a resolution of the lawsuit, that small window of opportunity might not reopen before the end of this session, making it impossible to amend the constitution before 2021, when the maps will be redrawn, Warner said.

traderdave wrote:

Youseff wrote:

smitty wrote:

Youseff wrote:this worship of our military is a cultural phenomenon that is rooted in good intentions, but it's a bit ridiculous since much of our active military missions are amoral & murderous. props for having the courage to particpate in firefights, but it's hard for me to be proud of you for participating in our illegal war in Iraq.

Soldiers can't pick and choose where they are deployed. That's up to the President et al.

I went through the post Vietnam war disdain for SSAM. Thanking soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines is is a good thing to do In my view. Civilians make the decisions regarding what the military will do. The military always does its best to accomplish the mission.

ultimately my main problem is that we idolize the military in this country, and a lot of what our military does deserves criticism and scorn. all of this adulation and worship of people who as a collective have a very dark and destructive and often unnecessary history. we always use the phrase "fighting to protect our freedoms which we enjoy at home," which is such a hollow and dishonest statement. people should have respect for soldiers, not a deference, and there certainly should not be the constant pomp & circumstance & worship that we get now. I have other issues with the army & the people who join it but that's the main one.

We can certainly agree to disagree but I believe your basic premise to be flat wrong. I don't think our military is idolized in the least; probably quite the opposite. We actually live in a country where some 20-year old nobody getting knocked up by some two-bit, gangster wannabe is national news; our military, in my view, is generally forgotten until they do something with which somebody disagrees. This country's "idols" are the Kardashians, sports figures and the next Bachelor. "Constant pomp & circumstance & worship"? Where is it that you live because I have never seen anything remotely resembling what you describe.

pacino wrote:fwiw, i think we've unmoored ourselves from the horrors of war and the waging of war too much as a country and a people. we have a professionalized military that is very good at what they are sent to do (war) but very bad at policing/keeping the peace because they're not designed for that. we've made it that it's too easy to send them around the globe and not feel the negatives or have any stake at home. Less than 2% of the populace is directly affected. .

thephan wrote:21 months in the clink for Wiener. Minimum sentence guideline for transmitting lewd materials to a minor. If the Clinton's had the horse power so often reported it would have been minimum of life, no parole.

One reason for the resistance to standing armies was that they made the state too strong. Another reason was that they tended to be used to fight wars which – in addition to the other problems with wars – distorted or endangered the civilian character of democratic government. What we’re seeing today from President Trump is a very specific danger with the militarization of civic culture: an anti-democratic leader can use military sacrifice as a totem to squelch dissent.

This tweet is a particularly graphic example. But the mindset and aim is identical to what President Trump does all the time. Dissent of all sorts, which is supposed to be a central American freedom, is rebranded as an attack on people who have sustained injuries on the country’s behalf or lose their lives.

pacino wrote:you can't?

CalvinBall wrote:north korea says we declared war.

is that old news and i missed it?

Bucky wrote:NK says that SCROTUS's words amount to a war declaration.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... ion&wpmk=1