All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[aja_christopher]

When a leader in the Democratic party(who was leading the House, no less...) essentially says "Free Market Economy, bro. If you don't want Congress people to be able to profit off of stocks while they make law, you can go kick rocks..."




It is hard not to laugh at the idea that the "US Center..." is actually anywhere in the "Actually Left..." ballpark.

Objectively speaking, if you didn't routinely ignore social issues (LGBT advocacy, black voting rights, abortion, climate change, etc) that you don't care about then you would see that Democrats are clearly left-wing.

Just because you refuse to address certain issues -- unless it is to attack Democrats -- doesn't mean they don't exist.

If anything your selective criticism (stocks, gas prices, inflation, etc) verifies that you don't support actual Democratic "left-wing" policies but are much more concerned about money.

[Tami]

At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display

After the 2020 presidential election, as some Trump supporters falsely claimed that President Biden had stolen the office, many of them displayed a startling symbol outside their homes, on their cars and in online posts: an upside-down American flag.

One of the homes flying an inverted flag during that time was the residence of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in Alexandria, Va., according to photographs and interviews with neighbors.

The upside-down flag was aloft on Jan. 17, 2021, the images showed. President Donald J. Trump’s supporters, including some brandishing the same symbol, had rioted at the Capitol a little over a week before. Mr. Biden’s inauguration was three days away. Alarmed neighbors snapped photographs, some of which were recently obtained by The New York Times. Word of the flag filtered back to the court, people who worked there said in interviews.

While the flag was up, the court was still contending with whether to hear a 2020 election case, with Justice Alito on the losing end of that decision. In coming weeks, the justices will rule on two climactic cases involving the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, including whether Mr. Trump has immunity for his actions. Their decisions will shape how accountable he can be held for trying to overturn the last presidential election and his chances for re-election in the upcoming one.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Justice Alito said in an emailed statement to The Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

Judicial experts said in interviews that the flag was a clear violation of ethics rules, which seek to avoid even the appearance of bias, and could sow doubt about Justice Alito’s impartiality in cases related to the election and the Capitol riot.

The mere impression of political opinion can be a problem, the ethics experts said. “It might be his spouse or someone else living in his home, but he shouldn’t have it in his yard as his message to the world,” said Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

[Mister Mets]

One or two articles from the same writer/blogger about "The Great Awokening" proves nothing -- but to his credit at least he actually tried to cite more than his opinion this time around.

-----

"The analysis of members’ ideological scores finds that the current standoff between Democrats and Republicans is the result of several overlapping trends that have been playing themselves out – and sometimes reinforcing each other – for decades.

Both parties have grown more ideologically cohesive. There are now only about two dozen moderate Democrats and Republicans left on Capitol Hill, versus more than 160 in 1971-72.

Both parties have moved further away from the ideological center since the early 1970s. Democrats on average have become somewhat more liberal, while Republicans on average have become much more conservative.

Between the 92nd Congress of 1971-72 and the current 117th Congress, both parties in both the House and the Senate have shifted further away from the center, but Republicans more so. House Democrats, for example, moved from about -0.31 to -0.38, meaning that over time they’ve become modestly more liberal on average. House Republicans, by contrast, moved from 0.25 to nearly 0.51, a much bigger increase in the conservative direction.

As Democrats have grown more liberal over time and Republicans much more conservative, the “middle” – where moderate-to-liberal Republicans could sometimes find common ground with moderate-to-conservative Democrats on contentious issues – has vanished.

Five decades ago, 144 House Republicans were less conservative than the most conservative Democrat, and 52 House Democrats were less liberal than the most liberal Republican, according to the analysis. But that zone of ideological overlap began to shrink, as conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans – increasingly out of step with their caucuses and their constituents – either retired, lost reelection bids or, in a few cases, switched parties."

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-re...-back-decades/

I have addressed DW-Nominate scores before. Once was in response to you.

I haven't said that Mike Johnson is a moderate.

I haven't even said that he's not far-right.

My understanding of the DW-Nominate score is that it compares politicians to the average at the time. In that case, it's more about deviations from the norm. So if some metrics have gotten progressive, a politician whose voting habits/ beliefs have not changed at all will be labelled as more conservative. And the context is the claim that Republicans have gotten more conservative, so that they would reject Ronald Reagan as he was 40-50 years ago.

Nate Silver summed it up. "This is based on DW-Nominate, an algorithm that measures clusters of voting patterns in the U.S. Congress without knowing anything about the content of the legislation. It is an OK measure of *party-line voting in the US Congress* but NOT a very good one of left-right ideology."

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/st...72901473501184

If you have different information, I'd be open to it.

You replied to the post, but you edited out that section.

The DW-Nominate score measures party line votes, which doesn't take into account whether a party has shifted. If anyone doesn't think Democrats are to the left of where they were during earlier administrations, is there any indication they're pushing for less spending (We can take into account inflation and population growth) than before? Are there any existing laws on behalf of protected classes that Democrats want to remove?

The DW-Nominate score also doesn't take into account reasons for a politician's actions, so some extreme candidates are often moderate on this scale because they vote against things most members of their party support, and the stuff they want will never be allowed to come to a vote.

[aja_christopher]

The DW-Nominate score measures party line votes, which doesn't take into account whether a party has shifted. If anyone doesn't think Democrats are to the left of where they were during earlier administrations, is there any indication they're pushing for less spending (We can take into account inflation and population growth) than before? Are there any existing laws on behalf of protected classes that Democrats want to remove?

The DW-Nominate score also doesn't take into account reasons for a politician's actions, so some extreme candidates are often moderate on this scale because they vote against things most members of their party support, and the stuff they want will never be allowed to come to a vote.

None of this personal analysis contradicts the data provided nor supports your argument that the left has moved more than the right.

(A loaded question is a form of complex question that contains a controversial assumption.)



Trump alone proves that Republicans prefer to promote extreme right-wing policies and nominate extremist candidates to the forefront of the party.

[numberthirty]

Objectively speaking, if you didn't routinely ignore social issues (LGBT advocacy, black voting rights, abortion, climate change, etc) that you don't care about then you would see that Democrats are clearly left-wing.

Just because you refuse to address certain issues -- unless it is to attack Democrats -- doesn't mean they don't exist.

If anything your selective criticism (stocks, gas prices, inflation, etc) verifies that you don't support actual Democratic "left-wing" policies but are much more concerned about money.

Think about this quote, and ask yourself who is actually ignoring things...

"We know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters," King told a crowd at Mason Temple in March 1968. "What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?"

https://www.npr.org/2008/04/04/89372...n-for-equality

Martin Luther King's Last Campaign for Equality

[numberthirty]

Now...

Let's talk climate change.

Let' say, by Saturday, we are living on a planet where the perfect electric vehicle exists.

How will people buy them to make a difference in climate change if they cannot afford one?

Politely, someone is kidding themselves if they think that they can afford not to consider the "Money..." aspect of all of this.

[lilyrose]

At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display

This made me feel rage like I haven't felt since the first couple of years of Trump being president. It just infuriates me that we have a confirmed insurrectionist traitor on the Sup Court (two of them!) who are going to give him immunity. It's SO fucking awful and we can no nothing about this. And he's allowed to have a judge that he appointed for another criminal trial where she can just throw the case out because she feels like it.

[aja_christopher]

Think about this quote, and ask yourself who is actually ignoring things...

https://www.npr.org/2008/04/04/89372...n-for-equality

You since the only time you show concern for black civil rights is when attacking Democrats -- otherwise you "ignore" the attacks on African-American rights and citizenship by the Republican party.



Citing King while ignoring Trump just further proves you don't actually understand King's vision as he wouldn't be on a message board ignoring Republican racism while complaining about Democratic stockholders.

That said -- you aren't expected to be MLK Jr but at least know what the man stood for before using him as a point of reference.

[aja_christopher]

Trying to remove race from King's economic ideology shows a remarkable ignorance of history.

[Deathstroke]

How he won their approval? They needed to make a video for this? It's because he's doing what the not actually republicans want to do which is rape, pillage and murder anyone they want, whenever they want without the least little bit of fear they'll be held responsible for their actions.

[Malvolio]

Think about this quote, and ask yourself who is actually ignoring things...



https://www.npr.org/2008/04/04/89372...n-for-equality

When you say that something "isn't enough," it doesn't mean you give up if you can't get everything thing you want all at once. It means you work to get one part of it, celebrate a little when you get it, then move on to get the next part. That's what King did. That's what realistic people do.

[aja_christopher]

When you say that something "isn't enough," it doesn't mean you give up if you can't get everything thing you want all at once. It means you work to get one part of it, celebrate a little when you get it, then move on to get the next part. That's what King did. That's what realistic people do.

Apparently he thinks most black people can't afford a burger and a cup of coffee these days.

While economic empowerment is important King never ignored race to focus solely on money.

This also fails to take into account issues like voting rights, redlining and segregation, police brutality, and many other issues that money alone doesn't solve.

It's the standard argument that was made by many Sanders supporters -- that racial issues don't matter (to them).

Clearly they mattered enough to cost him the nomination and to help Biden -- and Obama before him -- win the presidency.

[aja_christopher]

Republican economic policy -- Cobra Commander might be a step up in leadership.

------

"Since World War II, the United States economy has performed significantly better on average under the administration of Democratic presidents than Republican presidents. The reasons for this are debated, and the observation applies to economic variables including job creation, GDP growth, stock market returns, personal income growth and corporate profits. The unemployment rate has risen on average under Republican presidents, while it has fallen on average under Democratic presidents. Budget deficits relative to the size of the economy were lower on average for Democratic presidents.

Ten of the eleven U.S. recessions between 1953 and 2020 began under Republican presidents.[3]

Of these, the most statistically significant differences are in real GDP growth, unemployment rate change, stock market annual return, and job creation rate (see #Statistics)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._e...idential_party

[numberthirty]

When you say that something "isn't enough," it doesn't mean you give up if you can't get everything thing you want all at once. It means you work to get one part of it, celebrate a little when you get it, then move on to get the next part. That's what King did. That's what realistic people do.

What if you find yourself at the next part, and the thing that stops it is a Democrat saying "Free Market Capitalism, Bro. You Can Go Kick Rocks With Your Accountability Or Whatever..."

For a thread that throws that whole "When Someone Shows You Who They Are/Believe Them..." bit around regularly?

It is almost laughable how quickly folks seem like they want to change the subject instead of saying "She Did Just Show Us... I Guess We Have To Believe Her Now?..."

[aja_christopher]

What if you find yourself at the next part, and the thing that stops it is a Democrat saying "Free Market Capitalism, Bro. You Can Go Kick Rocks With Your Accountability Or Whatever..."

If Pelosi actually said that then that would be the highlight of your argument.

Outside of that it just shows little concern for actual "left-wing" issues other than money.

Instead of trying to quote MLK Jr actually learn from him.



Let's see you practice what you are preaching and start promoting reparations for African-Americans instead of constantly avoiding the issue of white supremacy.

Given how you recently argued that stock markets are irrelevant to most people -- unless Democrats are profiting from them apparently -- it should be an easy transition.

Certainly someone with your authentic "left-wing" credentials supports reparations for African-Americans just like your role model MLK Jr so let's see you put those posts to good use.