OT: American Politics

Habsy said:

I saw interviews on Fox in Alabama. A lot of people saying the WaPo has zero credibility and it's a hit job. Probably would have had more effect if WaPo gave it to another organization to report. You know, like Mad Magazine.

They actually are saying he'll get more votes now because he's playing the victim.

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leafman101 said:

Sometimes I think our mode of government is outdated, and meant for a time where you had to ride the Oregon trail and avoid dysentery to get to Washington/Ottawa to vote and with the internet representatives aren't not necessary. But then you see stuff Alabama and Poland and we are so dumb and uneducated. Not sure how much power we actually want to give to the people.

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Aberdeen said:

The problem isn't the people, it's the way they're informed.

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.....Republicans now dominate state legislatures to a greater degree than at any time since the Civil War, making it nearly impossible for Democrats to enact any meaningful policies in large swaths of the country. But in the midst of last year’s electoral wipeout, there was one bright spot: Citizens took the law into their own hands, introducing 71 ballot initiatives in 16 states—the most in a decade.

n Maine, citizens used ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage and tax the rich to fund public schools. In South Dakota, they pushed through campaign finance reforms and restrictions on lobbying, as well as a system to create public funding for political campaigns. In Oklahoma, they reined in the War on Drugs, reclassifying nearly all felony drug possession charges as misdemeanors. And in Nevada, they mandated background checks for gun sales. In each case, citizens used ballot initiatives as a tool for direct democracy, using majority rule to push through policies that lawmakers are unable or unwilling to enact themselves.

But such victories have proved short-lived. Republican legislatures responded to the surge in civic participation by using their power to effectively overrule the will of the people—and to make it harder to enact citizen-backed reforms in the future. In South Dakota, state lawmakers simply repealed the voter-approved limits on campaign contributions and lobbying. In Maine, the state legislature threw out the voter-approved tax on the rich, and amended the minimum wage increase to exclude workers who receive tips. The state’s GOP governor, Paul LePage, boasted that there is nothing to prevent lawmakers from tossing out any ballot initiative they dislike. “If you read the constitution,” he crowed, “the legislature can just ignore it.”.....

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zeke said:

@Acosta
Trump allowed Duterte to shut down US reporters' questions about human rights. Duterte told reporters they weren't at a news conference. Question wasn't answered.

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Habsy said:

Roy Moore suing WaPo over story.

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MindzEye said:

Yeah, I'm almost sad that my old man can't stand Fox News. I've been trying to talk him into trashing his Keurig and going to my set up (fresh grind daily, percolator/french press/aeropress depending on my mood) for about a couple of years now.

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Deckie007 said:

Aero is best press

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