All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Kirby101]

While we can admire her stand against Trump's attempted coup, Liz Cheney has never supported anything that would help the country. She is one of the most solid right wing voters. She is just not insane, as other GOP Congresspeople have become.

[Ragged Maw]

As a person of color, I run a daily risk of being targeted by racist cops with an ax to grind, even though I'm a law abiding citizen, that I could be harassed by bigots in blue for no good reason, or worse, end up with a knee on my neck like George Floyd, and all because I'm NOT white. That's a terrible fear which, to some of my people, is mind numbingly pervasive and something no one who isn't black can even come close to being able to comprehend.

Hmm. Thoroughly experiencing a stint in literal PRISON first-hand or being (albeit justifiably) nervous going outside? Which would I choose?

[Jack Dracula]

I want there to be an investigation into the events leading up to and surrounding the Jan 6th insurrection because I believe the truth needs to be known and the people responsible need to be identified.
I'm not sure what people think is really going to happen as a result.

[babyblob]

I want there to be an investigation into the events leading up to and surrounding the Jan 6th insurrection because I believe the truth needs to be known and the people responsible need to be identified.
I'm not sure what people think is really going to happen as a result.

Other then the people already arrested I dont see new charges coming from an investigation. They are not going to arrest any members of congress or Trump like people keep talking about unless there is massive over whelming evidence that can prove they had a hand in planning beforehand and supporting while it was going on. I know every one talks about Trumps role but he will never be arrested charge or convicted of anything doing with the 6th.

And if it comes out that members of the GOP helped the 6th it would most likely make them heroes to the nut jobs who back them and vote for them.

I am all for an investigation. It will just not be the game changer people seem to think it will be.

[Malvolio]

While we can admire her stand against Trump's attempted coup, Liz Cheney has never supported anything that would help the country. She is one of the most solid right wing voters. She is just not insane, as other GOP Congresspeople have become.

Right. She's more evil than crazy. Just like her daddy.

[Malvolio]

I want there to be an investigation into the events leading up to and surrounding the Jan 6th insurrection because I believe the truth needs to be known and the people responsible need to be identified.
I'm not sure what people think is really going to happen as a result.

http://https://www.politico.com/news...ntenced-495714

Anna Morgan-Lloyd gets 3 years probation for entering the Capitol illegally on Jan. 6.

[Gray Lensman]

http://https://www.politico.com/news...ntenced-495714

Anna Morgan-Lloyd gets 3 years probation for entering the Capitol illegally on Jan. 6.

That is the sentence asked for by the prosecution. They don't have any evidence of her doing anything violent, just being inside the building when stuff happened.

The fact that the judge sentenced as the prosecution asked might not be a good sign for the defendants with more serious charges being levied against them.

[Mister Mets]

If someone is going to ask me to 'define racism' in regards to why I think racism is a reason people voted for Trump, I'm probably not going to play that game.

Also, if 'geographic sorting' was such an explanation, Dan Crenshaw's district wouldn't need to exist and the right wouldn't be working so hard to stop anti-gerrymandering laws. 'Sorting' is just an excuse to help explain why we need to do nothing about something. Like much of conservatism, it simply seeks to explain away obvious ridiculousness in a way that states the status-quo is simply nothing we should concern ourselves with. If 'sorting' is the answer to the problem, then we have no reason to be concerned about passing anti-gerrymandering laws and should proceed post-haste with ending the practice. After all, it won't make such a difference so there's really no reason not to remove it.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, a 6 point popular victory creates a 27 seat majority for the GOP, which is just ridiculous.

If you're responding to a post, you could quote it to make it clear what argument you're responding to

Racism means so many different things that saying that someone failed to note the huge role racism played in Trump's election isn't very meaningful. The term can be anything from the confession of a white guy running a Diversity Equity and Inclusion training to the belief that Clarence Thomas is unfit to be on the Supreme Court because black people are inherently inferior. I understand that your meaning is somewhere in the middle, but that leaves a lot of room for misunderstanding. A problem in political discussion is people talking past one another because they mean different things with phrases that exist on a spectrum. This isn't limited to people who disagree with one another, as people on the same side will often have a different understanding of a vague term.

"Geographic sorting" is significant because it does mean that some of the alternatives to gerrymandering will benefit Republicans when it's time for redistricting. This has implications. Should independent commissions be guided to come up with new districts that preserve communities of interest, and prioritize geographic compactness? All the political science suggests that will help out Republicans. If you have any evidence or sources to the contrary, I'd love to see it.

If we take the power of gerrymandering away from Republican legislatures and give it to independent commissions directed to preserve existing communities and keep geographic borders compact, there will be support from the public because it seems reasonable at first glance. If this isn't the plan, we should be open about how legislative boundaries should be determined. Before power is given to independent commissions, there should be an understanding of what standard they'll be held to.

There are some alternatives to this, that people don't seem willing to discuss. One is to try to create independent-seeming commission boards that have a veneer of respectability, but can be manipulated into partisan advantage. Another is to make sure that the independent commission boards are judged by how well they eliminate the efficiency gap or how well the number of districts correlate to the number of legislators, both of which are defensible position but should be clearly articulated.

[Tami]

That is the sentence asked for by the prosecution. They don't have any evidence of her doing anything violent, just being inside the building when stuff happened.

The fact that the judge sentenced as the prosecution asked might not be a good sign for the defendants with more serious charges being levied against them.

I think the opposite might be true. It's, how should I put this, like a legal conservation of energy. Quickly get rid of the small fry so that you can spend more time on the bigger fish. The courts can only handle so much before things get chaotic.

I think we're gonna see some very interesting court cases in the next few months.

[Mister Mets]

And yet, Cheney voted AGAINST the commission to investigate the Capitol Riot. What am I missing here?

The view of Republicans is than an investigation would largely be partisan.

Politicians are going to have all sorts of different incentives beyond uncovering the truth, something that prosecutors and intelligence agencies are already taking a lead on.

One description of the September 11 commission was that many of the Democrats were trying to show what Bush did wrong did in the months before September 11, while a few Republicans on the commission were eager to show what the Clinton administration did wrong in the eight years before that.

I just want to be clear I am in no way defending Chauvin in the least. he needs to rot in prison. But a huge peev of mine is people who have never been to prison talking about prison or talking about prison justice for happening to people going.

Unless you have lived in a hell hole like that every day for years. Unless you have lived with the after effects of things you have seen, done, or been done to you there then to be honest it is best to keep your outrage to yourself.

I have been out of prison for 7 years and I wake up at least 3 times a week because of nightmares over things that happened to me and things I have seen there. Rape, beating and yes murder from prison justice that every one here is so fond of talking about. it really sets me off.

Sorry to go off like that. End of rant. I am just going to be quiet from now on now that I have had my say. Sorry to be so dark.

In American culture, we definitely underestimate how bad prison is.

Anyone wanting prison to be worse for Chauvin than for the average inmate convicted of third-degree murder might not have considered the implications of the viewpoint when it comes to their preferences about the criminal justice system.

Chauvin's sentence is pretty high for unintentional murder. One thing that I certainly agree with is that he should be judged more harshly when it comes to sentencing because of his status as a police officer. Too often, advantages defendants had that should have made it less likely they'll commit crimes (they come from a nice family, they have a decent job, etc) are used to mitigate a sentence.

I think the opposite might be true. It's, how should I put this, like a legal conservation of energy. Quickly get rid of the small fry so that you can spend more time on the bigger fish. The courts can only handle so much before things get chaotic.

I think we're gonna see some very interesting court cases in the next few months.

This would mainly be from the perspective of the prosecutors, rather than the court.

If the court were conserving energy, they might offer sentences less than what prosecutors wanted.

But the prosecutors may very well have bigger things to focus on.

[godisawesome]

The real problem for the GOP is that any Jan. 6th Commission is almost guaranteed to be far far worse for them than it could be for the Dems - even if they successfully expanded it to include unrelated riots so they could try roping in BLM and other stuff that ostensibly the Dems would be vulnerable to.

And it would be worse not because of a partisan slant but because of the actions they took before, during and after.

Too many serving Congressmen and women have tangible ties to the Jan. 6 riots, but even those that don’t could still be caught in a very unenviable spot due to the politically sel-serving delusions they fed into that also inspired the riot - any commission is going to reinforce that the 2020 election was a secure and legal election that Trump lost, so even those who had nothing to do with the riot but voted against certifying the results and who have used the Big Lie as a campaign process would suffer.

And arguably the only thing that looks worse than cooperating with the idiots who could mount a successful insurrection because they were too crazy, privileged, and lazy, is looking like a coward who bowed to those crazy, privileged, and lazy idiots.

The GOP needs the event put behind them as much as possible and to have some other narrative take center stage - because of a conservative movement that ostensibly values patriotism, rugged toughness, and Christianity is exposed as treasonous, weak cowards who will lie to themselves and others, it’s going to burn away what path they have towards using the Trump-crazy base to win primaries but not cost them general elections.

[Tami]

This could be a problem

Marjorie Taylor Greene wants a seat on Pelosi's January 6 committee even as she spreads baseless claims

(CNN)GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would like to serve on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection, the Georgia freshman told CNN in an interview Thursday.

"Sure. She should put me on the committee. That would be great," Greene told CNN.

Greene's interest in a seat on the select committee is likely to create a new irritant for the lawmakers who hope to get to the bottom of the attack on the US Capitol. In recent weeks, Greene has joined some other conservative Republicans in advancing unfounded claims that the far-left antifa movement or the FBI might have somehow been involved in the rioting on January 6.

CNN has reached out to Pelosi's office for comment.

Despite being questioned multiple times by CNN about the new false flag theory, promoted by Fox News and right-wing websites, that the FBI orchestrated the deadly assault on the Capitol, Greene, who has a history of spreading conspiracy theories, did not offer any evidence to back it up.

"There's all kinds of people involved in the rioting. There's people in black clothes. There's people in red hats," Greene responded.

[Tami]

Pacific Northwest swelters in historic heat wave

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Government officials, wildlife managers and utility workers across the Pacific Northwest were trying to keep people and animals safe as a historic heat wave scorched the region Saturday.

The heat was expected to break all-time records in cities and towns from eastern Washington state to Portland to southern Oregon, with temperatures in many areas expected to top out up to 30 degrees above normal. It’s a dangerous forecast for a region accustomed to mild weather, and where many people don’t have air conditioning.

The hot weather had berry farmers scrambling to pick crops before they rot on the vine and fisheries managers working to keep endangered sockeye salmon safe from too-warm river water. Stores sold out of portable air conditioners and fans, some hospitals canceled outdoor vaccination clinics, cities opened cooling centers, baseball teams canceled or moved up weekend games, and utilities braced for possible power outages.

[babyblob]

This could be a problem

Marjorie Taylor Greene wants a seat on Pelosi's January 6 committee even as she spreads baseless claims

I hate to say it this may be the smartest move that Marjorie Taylor Greene has ever made. She knows Nancy does not let her have a seat at that table. Then she and the GOp can make (In their minds) the case that Pelosi is not interested in a joint committee as she has been saying and it will fire up the base even more.

[Gray Lensman]

I hate to say it this may be the smartest move that Marjorie Taylor Greene has ever made. She knows Nancy does not let her have a seat at that table. Then she and the GOp can make (In their minds) the case that Pelosi is not interested in a joint committee as she has been saying and it will fire up the base even more.

Kind of a win/win for her. If she gets in she transforms it into a shitshow, if she doesn't she claims its partisan. It might not fool many people, but all it needs to fool is Honey Cuckoo's audience.