Political Discussion

AnthonyI said:
As much as I would like the Dems "To grow a pair", I have to agree with all of this.............and continually hope for the best.
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Glad you still have hope. I'm struggling with it because it just seems apparent that the Republicans are much, much better at exploiting this system and winning and I haven't seen anything to make me feel like that is going to shift any time soon.
 
Just read an article in the local news paper about residents losing their shit over idling trains.

The Gloucester Drawbridge has been out of service since spring. They were scheduled to replace it anyways and prep work had already started for replacing it when the bridge was condemned. So, instead of 3 one week long scheduled shutdowns of the bridge through 2022 to replace it in parts. Train service past the bridge is now out of service until the bridge is fully replaced. The bridge itself dates back to the 1800's and is more than 120 years old. I think they said it was around 140 years old, but I can't remember the exact age.

Because the bridge is out of service, trains are now terminating 2 stops earlier than the usual Rockport terminix. And this has local residents on the warpath over idling trains which they say is intolerable and makes many of them unable to work from home or allow their children to study at home during remote learning.

The trains cannot be shut off as the engine is required to stay on to keep the air pressure up and breaks engaged. If they were to turn off the engine, they would have to apply the hand breaks on all cars. Then once they turn the engine back on it would take a minimum of 30 minutes to build up enough air pressure, release all the hand breaks and test the breaks before they can move the train. With the longest period of time a train is left idling, 45 minutes it doesn't to shut off the engine. It would take them more time to shut everything down and then turn it immediately back on then just leave it idling for 45 minutes. They wouldn't be able to keep to schedule. Not to mention, you would still end up with a train idling for 30+ minutes.

However, one local resident said they are "sick of the lip service from the MBTA". He doesn't want to hear about why they can't shut the trains off or why they have to idle here but rather what they are going to do about it to address the issue at hand.

Another resident says trains are "always idling at full throttle". I got a laugh out of this one because it most definitely isn't true.

Another resident explained that the trains ring their bell before moving. And that there is one conductor who rings the bell 80 times at 5am. “This is not New York’s Grand Central Station,” he exclaimed. This is a FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) requirement. A train needs to ring it's bell or sound it's horn before moving to warn people it is about to move. It's not something they can not do without being totally screwed if they happen to hit a trespasser on the rails.

And lastly the icing on the cake:

“We appreciate the train and recognize its importance to the community,” Berkshire wrote in an email to the Times. “But as the taxpayers who support it, we also want some element of respect and accountability in return.”
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In other words, where is our money for our inconvenience.
 
Meant to post this this morning, but it was on the Today Show this morning that 1 in 5 mothers of young kids are having to stay at home to watch their kids because they can not find childcare or schooling is fully remotely.

This is causing a negative effect on women in the workforce going backwards in career progression.
 
Damn, I did not see that coming from Mitt Romney.

He has now come out and said he is for filling the vacant seat now in the SCOTUS. He says the democrats have become accustomed to a liberal leaning court saying it "Isn't written in the stars".

I can't remember a time where the court was solidly liberal as it is conservative now. I always remember it being fairly balanced. 4 justices that were solidly liberal, 4 that were solidly conservative and 1 justice in which you never knew what to expect for which way he would vote. I guess that constitutes as a liberal leaning court as the conservatives don't always get their way. The democrats also seem to nominate more moderate / central / neutral candidates than the republicans who blatantly nominate far right judges with an agenda to change things like abortion.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Damn, I did not see that coming from Mitt Romney.

He has now come out and said he is for filling the vacant seat now in the SCOTUS. He says the democrats have become accustomed to a liberal leaning court saying it "Isn't written in the stars".

I can't remember a time where the court was solidly liberal as it is conservative now.
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It wasn't, he's full of shit.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
Damn, I did not see that coming from Mitt Romney.

He has now come out and said he is for filling the vacant seat now in the SCOTUS. He says the democrats have become accustomed to a liberal leaning court saying it "Isn't written in the stars".

I can't remember a time where the court was solidly liberal as it is conservative now. I always remember it being fairly balanced. 4 justices that were solidly liberal, 4 that were solidly conservative and 1 justice in which you never knew what to expect for which way he would vote. I guess that constitutes as a liberal leaning court as the conservatives don't always get their way. The democrats also seem to nominate more moderate / central / neutral candidates than the republicans who blatantly nominate far right judges with an agenda to change things like abortion.
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The sooner that we realize that there are no good republican politicians (even ones that pretend to be, like Mitt), the sooner we can start cleaning this shit up.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
Where's the GoFundMe to build a statue of the neighbor who broke Rand Paul's ribs? That's a hero the south should be commemorating.
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I support building statues for truly monumental contributions to society. Like, the person responsible for bringing us guacamole. That person is lost to history, probably sacrificed to a volcano god or something, and I would really, really like a statue for them.
 
I don’t always like to put a lot of stock into polls because they aren’t always accurate but this is a good thread about polling and I decided voters.



Compared to 2016 there are far fewer undecideds in 2020 who ended up breaking Trump’s way in 2016. Biden’s lead, currently in some swing states is not as surmountable if undecided voters end up voting in a majority for Trump. This is based on recent polling and could change, but I’m feeling a little bit better now than I had been before.
 
wokeupnew said:
I don’t always like to put a lot of stock into polls because they aren’t always accurate but this is a good thread about polling and I decided voters.



Compared to 2016 there are far fewer undecideds in 2020 who ended up breaking Trump’s way in 2016. Biden’s lead, currently in some swing states is not as surmountable if undecided voters end up voting in a majority for Trump. This is based on recent polling and could change, but I’m feeling a little bit better now than I had been before.
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If this fucker loses, he’s taking it to the Supreme Court plain and simple. He just doesn’t have it in him to go quietly in the night.

www.cnn.com

Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition of power after Election Day

President Donald Trump on Wednesday would not commit to providing a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, lending further fuel to concerns he may not relinquish his office should he lose in November.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
 
Twentytwo said:
If this fucker loses, he’s taking it to the Supreme Court plain and simple. He just doesn’t have it in him to go quietly in the night.

www.cnn.com

Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition of power after Election Day

President Donald Trump on Wednesday would not commit to providing a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, lending further fuel to concerns he may not relinquish his office should he lose in November.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
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I don't know how much the Supreme Court could actually do but if he manages to pack it before November 11 the country actually turns inside out. Maybe that happens without the Supreme Court in the way.
 
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wokeupnew said:
I don’t always like to put a lot of stock into polls because they aren’t always accurate but this is a good thread about polling and I decided voters.



Compared to 2016 there are far fewer undecideds in 2020 who ended up breaking Trump’s way in 2016. Biden’s lead, currently in some swing states is not as surmountable if undecided voters end up voting in a majority for Trump. This is based on recent polling and could change, but I’m feeling a little bit better now than I had been before.
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🔥 🔥 🔥 THIS☝️💯
 
Twentytwo said:
This is a frightening proposition and it might not be too far off.


www.theatlantic.com

The Election That Could Break America

If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him?
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
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This is scary, but the main advices are important

"If you are a voter, think about voting in person after all. More than half a million postal votes were rejected in this year’s primaries, even without Trump trying to suppress them. If you are at relatively low risk for COVID-19, volunteer to work at the polls. If you know people who are open to reason, spread word that it is normal for the results to keep changing after Election Night. If you manage news coverage, anticipate extraconstitutional measures, and position reporters and crews to respond to them. If you are an election administrator, plan for contingencies you never had to imagine before. If you are a mayor, consider how to deploy your police to ward off interlopers with bad intent. If you are a law-enforcement officer, protect the freedom to vote. If you are a legislator, choose not to participate in chicanery. If you are a judge on the bench in a battleground state, refresh your acquaintance with election case law. If you have a place in the military chain of command, remember your duty to turn aside unlawful orders. If you are a civil servant, know that your country needs you more than ever to do the right thing when you’re asked to do otherwise."
 
Jan said:
This is scary, but the main advices are important

"If you are a voter, think about voting in person after all. More than half a million postal votes were rejected in this year’s primaries, even without Trump trying to suppress them. If you are at relatively low risk for COVID-19, volunteer to work at the polls. If you know people who are open to reason, spread word that it is normal for the results to keep changing after Election Night. If you manage news coverage, anticipate extraconstitutional measures, and position reporters and crews to respond to them. If you are an election administrator, plan for contingencies you never had to imagine before. If you are a mayor, consider how to deploy your police to ward off interlopers with bad intent. If you are a law-enforcement officer, protect the freedom to vote. If you are a legislator, choose not to participate in chicanery. If you are a judge on the bench in a battleground state, refresh your acquaintance with election case law. If you have a place in the military chain of command, remember your duty to turn aside unlawful orders. If you are a civil servant, know that your country needs you more than ever to do the right thing when you’re asked to do otherwise."
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There’s a *critical* piece missing there: If you are a Republican, accept that doing these things might mean that your team loses. But it means they will have lost fairly.

Edit: I haven’t carved out the time and mental fortitude to read the whole thing yet. Maybe he addresses that elsewhere, I don’t know.
 
Twentytwo said:
If this fucker loses, he’s taking it to the Supreme Court plain and simple. He just doesn’t have it in him to go quietly in the night.

www.cnn.com

Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition of power after Election Day

President Donald Trump on Wednesday would not commit to providing a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, lending further fuel to concerns he may not relinquish his office should he lose in November.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
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Phaneronic said:
I don't know how much the Supreme Court could actually do but if he manages to pack it before November 11 the country actually turns inside out. Maybe that happens without the Supreme Court in the way.
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Well, he's going to have a real problem if he appoints a conservative and strict constitutionalist to SCOTUS...
 
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