momadance wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:

Slowhand wrote:

SixerLed3 wrote:Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87.

Well that’s not good.

What a fucking disaster.

Civil war imminent.

Wolfgang622 wrote:I mean I *think* I know this is me just being an overly paranoid drama queen, but honestly at this moment I feel that this has us actually at the brink of civil war. If there were a call for enlistments right now, I am kind of thinking I would have to die for what this country ought to be.

I don't know you, but I'm glad your're constituents are smart.

Enough with the pot shots. How does our Phishy phriend get away with this shit but Pac got banned for so much less? Totally baffling moderation.

FWIW - I don't think MD should be banned for this, but it would be less ridiculous than Pac's banning.

Collins is a NO. She's not waiting for McConnell' marching orders.

Don't forget that what's-his-name only retired from the court because Trump had something on his son surrounding the Deutsch Bank scandal. I would be willing to bet that's why he retired.

Trump got his first justice by cheating tradition, the second by Kompromat, and the third he'll get by going against the rule he used to get the first.

I mean, burn it all down. I don't give a shit anymore.We are too broken to fix.

Monkeyboy wrote:Don't forget that what's-his-name only retired from the court because Trump had something on his son surrounding the Deutsch Bank scandal. I would be willing to bet that's why he retired.

Trump got his first justice by cheating tradition, the second by Kompromat, and the third he'll get by going against the rule he used to get the first.

I mean, burn it all down. I don't give a shit anymore.We are too broken to fix.

I do think we are headed for enormous changes in the next 50 years. I don't think it is going to be a revolution though.

CalvinBall wrote:

06hawkalum wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:It is going to be 6-3. Mitch's email to his caucus makes that clear, if it wasn't already.

Incredible that only one of those 6 republican appointments will have come from a President who won the majority of votes in an election. 30 years and it is clear that the majority of Americans did not vote for this. Yet, in arguably the most powerful branch of our government will be entrenched with the minority. It is broken.

Pretty sure Thomas, Roberts and Alito are three justices, not one

Dubya did not win the popular vote in 2000.

Right. Bush isn't president for a second term in this hypothetical of no electoral college.

I mean, he pretty plainly "won the majority of votes in an election" and did so prior to making any appointments to the Supreme Court.

jerseyhoya wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:

06hawkalum wrote:

jerseyhoya wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:It is going to be 6-3. Mitch's email to his caucus makes that clear, if it wasn't already.

Incredible that only one of those 6 republican appointments will have come from a President who won the majority of votes in an election. 30 years and it is clear that the majority of Americans did not vote for this. Yet, in arguably the most powerful branch of our government will be entrenched with the minority. It is broken.

Pretty sure Thomas, Roberts and Alito are three justices, not one

Dubya did not win the popular vote in 2000.

Right. Bush isn't president for a second term in this hypothetical of no electoral college.

I mean, he pretty plainly "won the majority of votes in an election" and did so prior to making any appointments to the Supreme Court.

You get what in saying but I guess it's more fun to pretend otherwise.

06hawkalum wrote:I have been watching a couple of excellent 20+ hour docs on the 20th Century in the past month:

The Cold War (CNN)

The People's Century (BBC/PBS)

Both aired in the late 90s and are available on YouTube.

I know some of you are sick of me trying to find a reason to be grateful for being alive in 2020, but here goes:

I would take enduring a lifetime of 2020s over a single day of trench warfare during WWI. Watching the vets describe their experiences really drives home what constitutes true hell on earth and gives a man a sense of perspective.

I think the concern is we are going down the type of road that leads to those things and maybe this time we're the Germans. Fascism pokes its head up once in a while and the problem I see with it happening in our modern world is the technology that will allow it to spread and keep down the masses that might resist. It's always good to look back at history to learn lessons but you have to think of those lessons in terms of the modern world. In parts of China, every nook and cranny is on camera and those cameras have face recognition. Jay walk and you get a fine sent to your WeChat account within minutes. What could that technology do in a fascist state with citizens that try to resist?

We are entering a different world and who we are will be determined in the next decade or two as the technology goes off the charts. We need to be in the right place as a democracy to handle it without going down a dark path. Instead, we have a russian troll in charge, locking in anti-democratic principles that will be extremely hard to undo. Only a fool would wave their hands and say it's insignificant or just another bump in history.

Who will push back against the tyrants this time when the US, China, and Russia are all on one side? South america is dominated by Brazil which has another fascist in charge. China has its tentacles all through Asia and Africa. Good luck getting people in Asia to join the resistance. Europe is the only hope and even they have fascists in their midst, and Europe can't take on the world.

Monkeyboy wrote:

06hawkalum wrote:I have been watching a couple of excellent 20+ hour docs on the 20th Century in the past month:

The Cold War (CNN)

The People's Century (BBC/PBS)

Both aired in the late 90s and are available on YouTube.

I know some of you are sick of me trying to find a reason to be grateful for being alive in 2020, but here goes:

I would take enduring a lifetime of 2020s over a single day of trench warfare during WWI. Watching the vets describe their experiences really drives home what constitutes true hell on earth and gives a man a sense of perspective.

I think the concern is we are going down the type of road that leads to those things and maybe this time we're the Germans. Fascism pokes its head up once in a while and the problem I see with it happening in our modern world is the technology that will allow it to spread and keep down the masses that might resist. It's always good to look back at history to learn lessons but you have to think of those lessons in terms of the modern world. In parts of China, every nook and cranny is on camera and those cameras have face recognition. Jay walk and you get a fine sent to your WeChat account within minutes. What could that technology do in a fascist state with citizens that try to resist?

We are entering a different world and who we are will be determined in the next decade or two as the technology goes off the charts. We need to be in the right place as a democracy to handle it without going down a dark path. Instead, we have a russian troll in charge, locking in anti-democratic principles that will be extremely hard to undo. Only a fool would wave their hands and say it's insignificant or just another bump in history.

Who will push back against the tyrants this time when the US, China, and Russia are all on one side? South america is dominated by Brazil which has another fascist in charge. China has its tentacles all through Asia and Africa. Good luck getting people in Asia to join the resistance. Europe is the only hope and even they have fascists in their midst, and Europe can't take on the world.

I appreciate your perspective. Keep in mind that over the course of human history, democracy is rarely the prevailing form of goverance, so perhaps we are in the end days of this second wave that started in the 18th Century. I sure as hell hope not.

CalvinBall wrote:Collins is a NO. She's not waiting for McConnell' marching orders.

McConnell needs 51 votes for a quorum to even bring this to a floor vote so we just need Romney and we should be good until the lame duck session.

How does pence play with getting to 51?

Graham commits to supporting Trump 'in any effort to move forward' in filling Ginsburg's seat

Could anyone possibly be surprised? Lindsey Graham's word is only good as far as it comes out of his mouth. there's plenty of evidence with that with his comments on Trump, and then his new position as Trump's suckubus.

To the people thinking we are fine either way because we may get a new majority in 2030 or whatever... remember that the lower courts are being STACKED with young Uber conservative judges that will impact the type of courses making it to SCOTUS. This is an imminent problem and winning the Senate is just as important as the White House.

thephan wrote:Graham commits to supporting Trump 'in any effort to move forward' in filling Ginsburg's seat

Could anyone possibly be surprised? Lindsey Graham's word is only good as far as it comes out of his mouth. there's plenty of evidence with that with his comments on Trump, and then his new position as Trump's suckubus.

Hopefully this is the final nail in Lady G's coffin. Time to oust that sad excuse for a human being.

06hawkalum wrote:

Monkeyboy wrote:

06hawkalum wrote:I have been watching a couple of excellent 20+ hour docs on the 20th Century in the past month:

The Cold War (CNN)

The People's Century (BBC/PBS)

Both aired in the late 90s and are available on YouTube.

I know some of you are sick of me trying to find a reason to be grateful for being alive in 2020, but here goes:

I would take enduring a lifetime of 2020s over a single day of trench warfare during WWI. Watching the vets describe their experiences really drives home what constitutes true hell on earth and gives a man a sense of perspective.

I think the concern is we are going down the type of road that leads to those things and maybe this time we're the Germans. Fascism pokes its head up once in a while and the problem I see with it happening in our modern world is the technology that will allow it to spread and keep down the masses that might resist. It's always good to look back at history to learn lessons but you have to think of those lessons in terms of the modern world. In parts of China, every nook and cranny is on camera and those cameras have face recognition. Jay walk and you get a fine sent to your WeChat account within minutes. What could that technology do in a fascist state with citizens that try to resist?

We are entering a different world and who we are will be determined in the next decade or two as the technology goes off the charts. We need to be in the right place as a democracy to handle it without going down a dark path. Instead, we have a russian troll in charge, locking in anti-democratic principles that will be extremely hard to undo. Only a fool would wave their hands and say it's insignificant or just another bump in history.

Who will push back against the tyrants this time when the US, China, and Russia are all on one side? South america is dominated by Brazil which has another fascist in charge. China has its tentacles all through Asia and Africa. Good luck getting people in Asia to join the resistance. Europe is the only hope and even they have fascists in their midst, and Europe can't take on the world.

I appreciate your perspective. Keep in mind that over the course of human history, democracy is rarely the prevailing form of goverance, so perhaps we are in the end days of this second wave that started in the 18th Century. I sure as hell hope not.

Liberalism can't stand up to fascism without robust social and economic programs accompanying it. The ruling classes around the world being shocked at Trump, Brexit, and all the other right wing populists after they pushed austerity for more than half a decade would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Yes Augustus, it appears the lessons of the post-WWI and post-WWII eras were forgotten right around the time the Reagan era began.

tbh i have no idea what that means

Augustus wrote:tbh i have no idea what that means

Reparations brought about fascism, the Marshall Plan staved off Western Europe from going commie or backsliding into fascism again. Republicans, starting with Reagan, have been hellbent on austerity when it comes to federal spending that actually helps everyday Americans.

IOW, I was agreeing with you.

Monkeyboy wrote:

06hawkalum wrote:I have been watching a couple of excellent 20+ hour docs on the 20th Century in the past month:

The Cold War (CNN)

The People's Century (BBC/PBS)

Both aired in the late 90s and are available on YouTube.

I know some of you are sick of me trying to find a reason to be grateful for being alive in 2020, but here goes:

I would take enduring a lifetime of 2020s over a single day of trench warfare during WWI. Watching the vets describe their experiences really drives home what constitutes true hell on earth and gives a man a sense of perspective.

I think the concern is we are going down the type of road that leads to those things and maybe this time we're the Germans. Fascism pokes its head up once in a while and the problem I see with it happening in our modern world is the technology that will allow it to spread and keep down the masses that might resist. It's always good to look back at history to learn lessons but you have to think of those lessons in terms of the modern world. In parts of China, every nook and cranny is on camera and those cameras have face recognition. Jay walk and you get a fine sent to your WeChat account within minutes. What could that technology do in a fascist state with citizens that try to resist?

We are entering a different world and who we are will be determined in the next decade or two as the technology goes off the charts. We need to be in the right place as a democracy to handle it without going down a dark path. Instead, we have a russian troll in charge, locking in anti-democratic principles that will be extremely hard to undo. Only a fool would wave their hands and say it's insignificant or just another bump in history.

Who will push back against the tyrants this time when the US, China, and Russia are all on one side? South america is dominated by Brazil which has another fascist in charge. China has its tentacles all through Asia and Africa. Good luck getting people in Asia to join the resistance. Europe is the only hope and even they have fascists in their midst, and Europe can't take on the world.

great post. the entire world is trending to the far right and it's only been getting worse since trump was elected

I get all the doom and gloom but all the dems need to do is win the presidency and the senate. Then they blow up all this shit

The White House and the pharmaceutical industry were nearing a major deal to lower drug prices. Then the administration demanded that $100 cash cards be sent to millions of seniors before the election — and the industry balked. - NYT