megaplayboy Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 My general preference is for a resumption of the expansion of the House, as was discontinued 100 years ago. Under the original constitutional formula, we'd have around 6000 congressmen right now. Imagine the difficulties in lobbying that many! I'd like there to be around 900 to 1000 members of the House. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Not necessarily against that on paper, but I'd have to think it through before giving an opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Badger said: To be bluntly honest, I see the Dems likely making their own gerrymandering if they take over. Kind of interested, and wary now that the Dems are in control of here in VA how they carve things up, for next cycle. One could easily argue the Virginia Dems are fools if they don't gerrymander and otherwise try to lock in every electoral advantage they can get. Just like Republicans do with voter suppression laws and suchlike. Politics, after all, is merely an exercise in finding who has power over whom. There is no hypocrisy in politics, because there are no principles to betray. (Though the accusation of hypocrisy can be a useful ploy.) And so on. Bleah. I just started reading Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars, which argues that morality applies usefully even in this brutal sphere of human activity. I hope he can persuade me, because I'm getting pretty damn disgusted with humanity. Dean Shomshak TrickstaPriest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 "Look to the helpers," then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 58 minutes ago, DShomshak said: One could easily argue the Virginia Dems are fools if they don't gerrymander and otherwise try to lock in every electoral advantage they can get. Just like Republicans do with voter suppression laws and suchlike. Politics, after all, is merely an exercise in finding who has power over whom. There is no hypocrisy in politics, because there are no principles to betray. (Though the accusation of hypocrisy can be a useful ploy.) And so on. Bleah. I just started reading Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars, which argues that morality applies usefully even in this brutal sphere of human activity. I hope he can persuade me, because I'm getting pretty damn disgusted with humanity. Dean Shomshak I will admit, I found the whole VA going to the Dems was an overrated victory. Federal workers have been spilling into Northern VA for 20 years. It was a bluish purple state that finally went completely blue. Right or wrong*, it is kind of frustrating that 8-10 counties in the northern part of the state, gets to decide your fate, when their needs and wants have very little to do with yours. It is what it is though, and I doubt unique to one state. I just know the only part of my life politically I have left with the feeling of any actual say over is who represents me in the House of Reps. So, that does make me nervous. If that does get dramatically altered, I fear there is no real use for me to ever vote again. *I sometimes agree with them, and I have nothing against them voting for their interest. But, at the same time, it is hard to swallow that you don't matter at all (except for Tax Day of course. ) Edit: I can already tell you all the minute details of how the November election will go in VA, if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 55 minutes ago, Badger said: I will admit, I found the whole VA going to the Dems was an overrated victory. Federal workers have been spilling into Northern VA for 20 years. It was a bluish purple state that finally went completely blue. Right or wrong*, it is kind of frustrating that 8-10 counties in the northern part of the state, gets to decide your fate, when their needs and wants have very little to do with yours. It is what it is though, and I doubt unique to one state. I just know the only part of my life politically I have left with the feeling of any actual say over is who represents me in the House of Reps. So, that does make me nervous. If that does get dramatically altered, I fear there is no real use for me to ever vote again. *I sometimes agree with them, and I have nothing against them voting for their interest. But, at the same time, it is hard to swallow that you don't matter at all (except for Tax Day of course. ) Edit: I can already tell you all the minute details of how the November election will go in VA, if you want. Imagine how citizens of color felt about the government's attitude toward their interests for the period from 1619 to about the mid-60s(and beyond, in many cases). Matt the Bruins 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Looks like Iowa turnout was around 170,000 which was about the same as 2016. In 2008, it was around 240,000. Again, as long as the economy is decent for most people, then the average Jane/Joe cares a lot less about the Presidency. It's not right, but IMO it is the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 State of the Union fact check: What's true and what's false in Trump's address Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickstaPriest Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 7 hours ago, Badger said: I will admit, I found the whole VA going to the Dems was an overrated victory. Federal workers have been spilling into Northern VA for 20 years. It was a bluish purple state that finally went completely blue. Right or wrong*, it is kind of frustrating that 8-10 counties in the northern part of the state, gets to decide your fate, when their needs and wants have very little to do with yours. It is what it is though, and I doubt unique to one state. I just know the only part of my life politically I have left with the feeling of any actual say over is who represents me in the House of Reps. So, that does make me nervous. If that does get dramatically altered, I fear there is no real use for me to ever vote again. I live in AZ. Have for almost 12-15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 7 hours ago, Badger said: Right or wrong*, it is kind of frustrating that 8-10 counties in the northern part of the state, gets to decide your fate, when their needs and wants have very little to do with yours. That's also the feeling in much of Colorado with respect to the Denver metro area and the People's Republic of Boulder. And Vail, which is where all the celebrities go to ski. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickstaPriest Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Hot take - Election Day as a federal holiday. Would it increase voting, or decrease voting? Also... more of our federal government gaining secret intelligence powers, apparently? Although twitter is hardly a reliable source of intel. The article is... something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 First they fail to release the pre-voting poll, and then they fail to release the vote totals. "I believe in coincidence. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences." Garak, Star Trek Deep Space Nine TrickstaPriest and Hermit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Well, I still don't LIKE Romney but.. props and gratitude Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Romney's vote puts a different cast on the whole proceeding. Romney, Jones and Manchin all showed courage in voting to convict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 5 hours ago, TrickstaPriest said: Hot take - Election Day as a federal holiday. Would it increase voting, or decrease voting? Also... more of our federal government gaining secret intelligence powers, apparently? Although twitter is hardly a reliable source of intel. The article is... something. Probably the change would be minimal. People who actually want to vote find ways to vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 27 minutes ago, megaplayboy said: Romney's vote puts a different cast on the whole proceeding. Romney, Jones and Manchin all showed courage in voting to convict. Manchin does seem to be motivated by what is right. Don't know enough about Jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 Anyway, for my post last night. I just have to rant about it now and again, somewhere. No bad intentions. TrickstaPriest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Hermit said: Well, I still don't LIKE Romney but.. props and gratitude Senator Romney is going to catch seven different kinds of Hell for this, and he knows it. He did it anyway. That's not nothing. Ternaugh, Matt the Bruins, TrickstaPriest and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 On 2/3/2020 at 10:11 PM, Old Man said: I'd like to take this moment to repeat that, in my opinion as an IT and cybersecurity professional, elections should be paper and ink only. No hackable voting machines, no badly written caucus apps, no easily deleted centralized databases. Ever. The mere existence of these opaque technologies can only reduce the perceived legitimacy of any election. My sister would like to add her thanks for this post. When I told her about it, she said, "And here I thought I was just a Luddite." Dean Shomshak TrickstaPriest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickstaPriest Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, DShomshak said: My sister would like to add her thanks for this post. When I told her about it, she said, "And here I thought I was just a Luddite." Dean Shomshak DShomshak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Bruins Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 I understand that machines are far more efficient at tabulating election results, and I'm fine with that, but I want the ballots themselves to be paper so there's a physical copy for recounts and double checking. Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 5, 2020 Report Share Posted February 5, 2020 33 minutes ago, DShomshak said: My sister would like to add her thanks for this post. When I told her about it, she said, "And here I thought I was just a Luddite." Dean Shomshak I've never met a computer whose mission in existence wasn't to make life miserable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 The almost-final results out of Iowa are enough to radically recast the predictions at FiveThirtyEight, which now projects Sanders as the frontrunner in every primary except South Carolina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 The cynic in me thinks this probably doesn't matter, because the Democratic Party is no more willing to let Sanders be the nominee this time than they were four years ago. But I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 I saw an interview with an Iowa delegate who claimed, "When we play it safe, like Hillary Clinton, we lose. When we take a chance, like Barack Obama, we win." I have to wonder how widespread that sentiment is among Democrats now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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