Happy 4th everyone!
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Uh oh. You OK?You're kidding, right?
No, but it's not too far from my house. I'm just more actually depressed about the way the country's going altogether right now. On the one side we have the Fascists, who tried to overthrow the government once already, who've gotten into bed with the Christofascists (a theme emerges) who've started dictating policy through the Supreme Court. On the other, a president that tipped his hand way too early on green energy, leaving himself vulnerable to the oil companies who want him voted out and will keep oil prices high as long as they can to blackmail us into abandoning environmental issues. They're pretty much already there anyway from what I understand, after SCOTUS pulled the EPA's "teeth" leaving them unable to enforce penalties, but those guys are kinda vindictive (and more money is, after all, more money) so we'll see just what happens to gas prices.
And SCOTUS, again, starting to rule on gun laws misinterpreting the 2nd Amendment (they always forget about the "well-regulated militia" part, even though it's right up front) and making it okay for idiot punks with a death wish to buy any weapon they want and all the damn ammo they can carry and go kill innocent people.
I guess I'm not feeling too patriotic atm...
And SCOTUS, again, starting to rule on gun laws misinterpreting the 2nd Amendment (they always forget about the "well-regulated militia" part, even though it's right up front) and making it okay for idiot punks with a death wish to buy any weapon they want and all the damn ammo they can carry and go kill innocent people.
I guess I'm not feeling too patriotic atm...
I think it's more the control that SCOTUS has demonstrated, and that we seem to have no real way to fix it besides impeaching/adding more justices. I'd love to see them impeach Clarence Thomas (especially after the bit about going after contraception and same-sex marriage in his opinion on the Roe travesty), and Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and ACB all lied during their job interviews, but that'll likely end like Trump's impeachments did when not enough Reps broke ranks to get a conviction. And I'm not in favor of expanding the court based on the number of Circuit Courts, unless you want to change the way the justices are chosen and have them be representative of their court districts (not a bad idea, but no way they go for that...lol).
I also think the filibuster serves a purpose, and Manchin isn't entirely wrong. As much as the thought depresses me, come 2024 if Biden hasn't been able to fix things things by then we'll be looking at a regime change. If the Dems lose control the only thing standing between us and total tyranny might be the filibuster, and since our government usually ping-pongs between the parties (over the years) it's bound to eventually happen. Lord knows it's been used against the Dems often enough.
Look, I'm kind of a centrist (politically). I think both parties (at their core) have solid values and bring important perspectives to any negotiation. I think our government works best when bipartisan actually happens. This polarization of our parties is just stupid, and it will destroy us if we let it. And it's getting worse, though the J6th Committee using lifelong Republicans testifying under oath to tell their story is meaningful, and may plant seeds that will encourage at least listening to the other party and maybe even being more open-minded to what they propose.
I'm so naive...
I also think the filibuster serves a purpose, and Manchin isn't entirely wrong. As much as the thought depresses me, come 2024 if Biden hasn't been able to fix things things by then we'll be looking at a regime change. If the Dems lose control the only thing standing between us and total tyranny might be the filibuster, and since our government usually ping-pongs between the parties (over the years) it's bound to eventually happen. Lord knows it's been used against the Dems often enough.
Look, I'm kind of a centrist (politically). I think both parties (at their core) have solid values and bring important perspectives to any negotiation. I think our government works best when bipartisan actually happens. This polarization of our parties is just stupid, and it will destroy us if we let it. And it's getting worse, though the J6th Committee using lifelong Republicans testifying under oath to tell their story is meaningful, and may plant seeds that will encourage at least listening to the other party and maybe even being more open-minded to what they propose.
I'm so naive...
SCOTUS "only" got that way thanks to the McConnell and the Republican stranglehold on Senate, which in turn is due to massive gerrymandering, which in turn is due to the Republican control of the majority of state statehouses, thanks to them "waking up" after the 2008 elections and realizing that the Dems gained power and they were about to lose it for the next decade if they didn't do anything. Which sadly the Dems didn't realize themselves...
I totally agree that the filibuster should stay and I don't know the details of Manchin's objection of all of the attempted Dem bills, but he was pretty much the lone holdout that without his vote, none of them could pass, like the ones on green energy and environmental issues that you originally mentioned. I don't know how Biden "tipped his hand early", as you say, because he realistically only had 2 years to try to get anything done while the Dems had a majority in the Representatives and an even split in the Senate, because now there's a good chance the Repubs will gain back the majority and nothing will have a chance to being done.
I totally agree that the filibuster should stay and I don't know the details of Manchin's objection of all of the attempted Dem bills, but he was pretty much the lone holdout that without his vote, none of them could pass, like the ones on green energy and environmental issues that you originally mentioned. I don't know how Biden "tipped his hand early", as you say, because he realistically only had 2 years to try to get anything done while the Dems had a majority in the Representatives and an even split in the Senate, because now there's a good chance the Repubs will gain back the majority and nothing will have a chance to being done.
