CalvinBall wrote:Lots of problems at polls. Delco doesn't have mail in drop off boxes at all polls like they said. Some places don't even have pens or ppe for workers.

Good thing a majority of people requested mail in (even though a significant amount of those people didn't get ballots!).

Democracy!

This is all just a rehearsal for the real thing.

I voted via mail-in ballot, and got email confirmation today that my ballot was received. I'm sure Bill Weld appreciates the vote.

i dropped mine off at a drop box last thursday, and did not receive a confirmation email. Maybe that's only for those sent via US Mail?

Also it was like 15 minutes long and he maybe stumbled twice?

Bucky wrote:i dropped my off at a drop box last thursday, and did not receive a confirmation email. Maybe that's only for those sent via US Mail?

I'm not sure how they are collecting these. Might be worth calling but doubt you'll get through.

Werthless wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:Lots of problems at polls. Delco doesn't have mail in drop off boxes at all polls like they said. Some places don't even have pens or ppe for workers.

Good thing a majority of people requested mail in (even though a significant amount of those people didn't get ballots!).

Democracy!

This is all just a rehearsal for the real thing.

I voted via mail-in ballot, and got email confirmation today that my ballot was received. I'm sure Bill Weld appreciates the vote.

Yeah. Still a lot of important primary races though which is frustrating.

Bucky wrote:i dropped mine off at a drop box last thursday, and did not receive a confirmation email. Maybe that's only for those sent via US Mail?

I dropped mine off at a Dropbox last night and got a confirmation email this morning.

slugsrbad wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:

CFP wrote:Biden has his flaws but these speeches are right in his wheelhouse.

Had the same thought watching this.

The speech is good but god he sounds like he's had a minor stroke. Slurring words, tripping over them constantly.

I think this is a dumb take that only echoes shitty takes on far left and right wing internet. I just rewatched the speech, I thought the delivery was fine. VP Biden has a known stuttering issue, and I'm not a medical expert nor am I a conspiratorial enough to attribute any slip ups to a separate health issue.

I know this is BSG, so parroting that Biden had a stroke or is senile doesn't really matter... I just expect more out of people here.

Seriously. 77 year old stroke victims aren't getting down on one knee for a photo op.

Bill McNeal wrote:

Bucky wrote:i dropped mine off at a drop box last thursday, and did not receive a confirmation email. Maybe that's only for those sent via US Mail?

I dropped mine off at a Dropbox last night and got a confirmation email this morning.

Woo!

Genuinely have no idea when we should see results. Friday maybe? Early next week? In my mind the bar is low so hopefully they surprise us.

Moses parted the Red Sea, DJT parted the protesters.

#SelfConcusionMoment

thephan wrote:Moses parted the Red Sea, DJT parted the protesters.

#SelfConcusionMoment

Wolfgang622 wrote:Biden mentioned values.

George Will is mostly quite annoying, and more pompous than smart, but he has a certain eloquence. His latest takes the typically excoriating tone he has adopted with respect to DJT since before DJT was elected.

Anyway, Will gave the commencement speech at my alma mater the year before I graduated, and I got to hear it. He made a distinction I have never forgotten, and which I do think is worthwhile: values vs. virtues. Values are by their nature relative and shifting, fitting the needs of the moment. Virtues are timeless and constant.

Donald Trump probably does have values - bent and twisted though they are - inside any given moment, and an overarching value that is the paramount consideration of himself and his own interests.

But there is not a virtue to be had in the man.

Thanks for your post. I tend to use the word principle to describe the concept that you/Will describe as virtue. Principle has fewer religious connotations, IMO, but it similarly implies that there are persistent and foundational ideas that you use to apply to many situations. Principle also doesn't imply a positive instinct, and it could be a guiding principle that could lead one to make systematically negative recommendations. Hitler, to use an extreme example, followed a set of principles that were consistent and immoral.

Trump has acted on his principles in this definition, but I wouldn't describe them as virtues. The prism through which he sees the world is not one that I would consider virtuous.

I do not think I saw this here, but the streets of DC were/are being patrolled by Army stationed at Fort Bragg. Local news said 82nd airborne, but that is because this is what people know about Bragg. There are lots of/plenty of choices. The old Joe is that Bragg is the POTUS version of 911, I just don't think it was ever though of as to deploy against US citizens (JSOC/Delta FWIW).

Remember DC is different from the states. It's legal to use Federal troops in DC.

Werthless wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:Biden mentioned values.

George Will is mostly quite annoying, and more pompous than smart, but he has a certain eloquence. His latest takes the typically excoriating tone he has adopted with respect to DJT since before DJT was elected.

Anyway, Will gave the commencement speech at my alma mater the year before I graduated, and I got to hear it. He made a distinction I have never forgotten, and which I do think is worthwhile: values vs. virtues. Values are by their nature relative and shifting, fitting the needs of the moment. Virtues are timeless and constant.

Donald Trump probably does have values - bent and twisted though they are - inside any given moment, and an overarching value that is the paramount consideration of himself and his own interests.

But there is not a virtue to be had in the man.

Thanks for your post. I tend to use the word principle to describe the concept that you/Will describe as virtue. Principle has fewer religious connotations, IMO, but it similarly implies that there are persistent and foundational ideas that you use to apply to many situations. Principle also doesn't imply a positive instinct, and it could be a guiding principle that could lead one to make systematically negative recommendations. Hitler, to use an extreme example, followed a set of principles that were consistent and immoral.

Trump has acted on his principles in this definition, but I wouldn't describe them as virtues. The prism through which he sees the world is not one that I would consider virtuous.

I'm not sure how deep in the weeds we want to get on this, but Will was surely aware of a movement in ethics called "virtue ethics" which is an attempt to rethink the Enlightenment idea of ethics that relied on reason to devise better and better principles--Kant would be an exemplar here--and go back to a more Aristotelian and Christian idea of ethics depending more on the idea of "wisdom". Rather than asking what the right principle is, under virtue ethics you consider what a virtuous person would do under the circumstances. That of course leads to the fundamental problem--who counts as a virtuous person? The virtues that Aristotle championed are different from the ones championed by say Christ. Benjamin Franklin presented yet another account.

Nevertheless, the primary strength is that it calls for discernment and judgment. We all know that truth telling better than lying. However, we also know that sometimes, lying is necessary. Moral wisdom allows us to recognize when we should make exceptions to the principle of telling the truth.

Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue is a key text here. I only mention it because in the intro, MacIntyre recasts A Canticle for Liebowitz (a book I recall some around here liking very much) as a tale about morality rather than science.

JFLNYC wrote:Remember DC is different from the states. It's legal to use Federal troops in DC.

Sure, but just because you can, does not mean that you do. Its not legality at play.

thephan wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:Remember DC is different from the states. It's legal to use Federal troops in DC.

Sure, but just because you can, does not mean that you do. Its not legality at play.

No argument from me.

TenuredVulture wrote:That of course leads to the fundamental problem--who counts as a virtuous person? The virtues that Aristotle championed are different from the ones championed by say Christ. Benjamin Franklin presented yet another account.

I use "WWBD"

momadance wrote:

slugsrbad wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:

CFP wrote:Biden has his flaws but these speeches are right in his wheelhouse.

Had the same thought watching this.

The speech is good but god he sounds like he's had a minor stroke. Slurring words, tripping over them constantly.

I think this is a dumb take that only echoes shitty takes on far left and right wing internet. I just rewatched the speech, I thought the delivery was fine. VP Biden has a known stuttering issue, and I'm not a medical expert nor am I a conspiratorial enough to attribute any slip ups to a separate health issue.

I know this is BSG, so parroting that Biden had a stroke or is senile doesn't really matter... I just expect more out of people here.

Seriously. 77 year old stroke victims aren't getting down on one knee for a photo op.

Initial gut reaction, too much of a hot taek. Good speech.

momadance wrote:

slugsrbad wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:

CFP wrote:Biden has his flaws but these speeches are right in his wheelhouse.

Had the same thought watching this.

The speech is good but god he sounds like he's had a minor stroke. Slurring words, tripping over them constantly.

I think this is a dumb take that only echoes shitty takes on far left and right wing internet. I just rewatched the speech, I thought the delivery was fine. VP Biden has a known stuttering issue, and I'm not a medical expert nor am I a conspiratorial enough to attribute any slip ups to a separate health issue.

I know this is BSG, so parroting that Biden had a stroke or is senile doesn't really matter... I just expect more out of people here.

Seriously. 77 year old stroke victims aren't getting down on one knee for a photo op.

You guys do all realize that he's had a lifelong stuttering problem and always has to form his words carefully?