USCE 2024: Macklemore Is The New Michael Moore

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE 2024: Macklemore Is The New Michael Moore

haveblue: Aug 15, 2005; Toilet Rascal

Raenir Salazar posted:

Realistically this is never happening; there is in practice no "one weird trick" to destroy the separation of powers forever.

Realistically, if the will exists to do this, the will exists to forcibly change the court�s membership until a) they wouldn�t strike it down and b) they voluntarily stand down and remove the need for it

# ? May 17, 2024 02:17

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 15:54

SpeedFreek: Jan 10, 2008; And Im Lobster Jesus!

Boris Galerkin posted:

According to YouGov, 56% of Americans have tried weed, 24% have done so in the last year, and 17% in the last month.

56% is kind of surprising to me actually? I kind of figured it would be high but not more than half.

Add 20 to 30% to all those numbers to get closer to reality.

# ? May 17, 2024 02:20

Boris Galerkin: Dec 17, 2011; I don't understand why I can't harass people online. Seriously, somebody please explain why I shouldn't be allowed to stalk others on social media!

PhazonLink posted:

so what do countries that have flags with inverted symmetry do?

They probably don't fly their country's flags outside of some special occasion. Americans and their reverence for their flag is loving weird.

# ? May 17, 2024 02:32

Bar Ran Dun: Jan 22, 2006

Alito flying the flag at his house upside down apparently per the times.

# ? May 17, 2024 02:33

GoutPatrol: Oct 17, 2009; *Stupid Babby*

Bar Ran Dun posted:

Alito flying the flag at his house upside down apparently per the times.

because samuel alito needs everyone to know he is the biggest rear end in a top hat on the bench

he was getting jealous of all those clarence thomas stories

# ? May 17, 2024 03:11

Nucleic Acids: Apr 10, 2007

Kchama posted:

And Biden isn't willing to yank on Israel's leash? He's done it in basically the exact same way: He stopped an arm shipment to get them to stop in Rafah. Is it enough? Absolutely not. But again, compared to Trump whose position is that we could be a LOT more pro-Israel and Palestine could be a lot more genocided now so Biden should stop throwing Israel under the bus, it's a hell of a lot more leash-yanking.

He �stopped� one arms shipment while sending them another billion in weapons even after his red line of invading Rafah was crossed. And I�m sorry, but I�m just not swayed by arguments about a potential future genocide as a reason to set aside the conduct of a man partaking in one right now.

# ? May 17, 2024 03:36

aventari: Mar 20, 2001; I SWIFTLY PENETRATED YOUR MOMS MEAT TACO WHILE AGGRESSIVELY FONDLING THE UNDERSIDE OF YOUR DADS HAIRY BALLSACK, THEN RIPPED HIS SAUSAGE OFF AND RAMMED IT INTO YOUR MOMS TAILPIPE. I JIZZED FURIOUSLY, DEEP IN YOUR MOMS MEATY BURGER WHILE THRUSTING A ANSA MUFFLER UP MY GREASY TAILHOLE

Fart Amplifier posted:

Congress could establish a new court and kill SCOTUS's appellate jurisdiction. Not sure why this never comes up

This is never happening even harder than packing the court is never happening.

# ? May 17, 2024 03:55

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

FlamingLiberal posted:

My assumption was them killing Roe v. Wade would be the final straw, but now that they have seen that there was no real consequence for them doing that, it's going to get much worse from here on out

It's like where the villain in cinema masterpiece Last Action Hero is in the real world and realizes he can get away with murder pretty easily

# ? May 17, 2024 04:00

Parakeet vs. Phone: Nov 6, 2009

aventari posted:

This is never happening even harder than packing the court is never happening.

The only thing that might happen after years of pressure is adding a few seats to match the number of judges with the number of circuits through some bipartisan agreement to space them out 2 or 4 years at a time. And I feel like even that had the energy fade away.

# ? May 17, 2024 04:25

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

Lifetime appointments were such a hilariously bad mistake.

# ? May 17, 2024 04:34

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

Nucleic Acids posted:

He �stopped� one arms shipment while sending them another billion in weapons even after his red line of invading Rafah was crossed. And I�m sorry, but I�m just not swayed by arguments about a potential future genocide as a reason to set aside the conduct of a man partaking in one right now.

My obvious point is that what little bit of push-back he has given is actually on the fairly high-end for Americans with regard to Israel. Reagan and Bush got massive pushback for doing the literal same thing that Biden did, which is the absolute most either of those two presidents did.

And it's really weird that you're not worried about the genocide becoming way worse. The Palestinians are just so lucky that the Israeli government is so loving dumb and incompetent in their brazen evil.

# ? May 17, 2024 04:40

small butter: Oct 8, 2011

Nucleic Acids posted:

He “stopped” one arms shipment while sending them another billion in weapons even after his red line of invading Rafah was crossed. And I’m sorry, but I’m just not swayed by arguments about a potential future genocide as a reason to set aside the conduct of a man partaking in one right now.

Of course, Trump is the guy whose policies and actions led to October 7 and Gaza getting destroyed in the first place. There is no "future genocide" in this scenario - what you're seeing now is the clear policy results of the Trump administration, which will just keep getting replicated with future Republican administrations.

Regarding the point that Trump would lead to worse outcomes in Gaza eg the "future genocide": not sure why the Palestinians specifically are such a pet issue to you. There are other things going on. On foreign policy, Biden basically stopped drone attacks (Trump matched Obama's in only his first two years), restarted Palestinian aid and increased it in 2021 after Trump stopped it in 2018, ended the Muslim ban, actually helps Ukraine in fighting against their own genocide, and the list goes on.

# ? May 17, 2024 04:53

Professor Beetus: Apr 12, 2007; They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

GoutPatrol posted:

because samuel alito needs everyone to know he is the biggest rear end in a top hat on the bench

he was getting jealous of all those clarence thomas stories

When are those two fuckers going to die already

# ? May 17, 2024 06:29

Failed Imagineer: Sep 22, 2018

Nail Rat posted:

Lifetime appointments were such a hilariously bad mistake.

They were really close to making it that Senators and Presidents would have lifetime appointments as well lmao. At least that would have destroyed the country a lil quicker

# ? May 17, 2024 10:06

FizFashizzle: Mar 30, 2005

Failed Imagineer posted:

They were really close to making it that Senators and Presidents would have lifetime appointments as well lmao. At least that would have destroyed the country a lil quicker

Escape one king to be ruled by 27 new ones.

Oh and the voters don�t vote on them directly. lol silly that�s just nonsensical.

The only good founding father was Payne.

# ? May 17, 2024 11:03

Failed Imagineer: Sep 22, 2018

FizFashizzle posted:

The only good founding father was Payne.

Maybe because he was a late arriver to the colonies, he didn't have a chance to become fully subsumed by the national brain disease

# ? May 17, 2024 11:08

BonoMan: Feb 20, 2002; Jade Ear Joe

Bar Ran Dun posted:

Alito flying the flag at his house upside down apparently per the times.

No you see his wife did it because of a mean yard sign next door (what a loving joke of an excuse)

# ? May 17, 2024 11:34

The Artificial Kid: Feb 22, 2002; Plibble

Gripweed posted:

Proving that he didn�t sound like a confused old man? That�s the upside of releasing it, the downside of not releasing it is that everyone will assume that Biden really did sound like a confused old man.

Just because the opposition manage to get some traction with "you're a confused old man" doesn't mean you must or should suddenly release hours of audio for your enemies to comb through for carefully edited "proof" of their claims about you. Pretty much any person alive will cough up some stupidity or incompetence if you record enough hours of their verbal interactions, let alone when they're under the pressure of examination by an opposing lawyer during a deposition. Yeah the bad guys will probably try to make some hay out of the fact that you refused to exonerate yourself, but not as much as they're going to make out of every single time you stumbled on a word or said "2004" when you meant "2014".

# ? May 17, 2024 13:01

haveblue: Aug 15, 2005; Toilet Rascal

I kinda want to hear the president make car go vroom noises though

# ? May 17, 2024 13:10

FLIPADELPHIA: Apr 27, 2007; Heavy Shit; Grimey Drawer

Professor Beetus posted:

When are those two fuckers going to die already

Not for a while because the universe hates us, and when they do there will somehow be just the right circumstances to make sure their replacements are just as bad as they are. Also because the universe hates us.

But honestly the unjust nature of the supreme Court is just going to get worse and worse over time as populous states become more populous and flyover states don't, increasing the lack of equal representation in the senate. This is one of the many fatal flaws in the American system and it can't be fixed because it's right there in the Constitution that a state with 50 people in it and a state with 50 million people in it get the same say in who sits on the Supreme Court

# ? May 17, 2024 13:18

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

WaPo story about the Maryland Senate race now that Democrats have chosen a candidate: Larry Hogan has won statewide twice. But now everything is different.

quote:

***
As he seeks to become Maryland�s next senator against the Democratic nominee, Prince George�s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks, Hogan also faces a far different electorate and political climate than when he won his first gubernatorial race a decade ago.

After eight years in Annapolis, he will be forced to defend his record against Democrats no longer willing to celebrate him as a symbol of bipartisan leadership. One target, they say, is his 2022 veto of legislation to expand abortion access in Maryland.

�We can do it because he has got a bad record,� said Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D), who lost the 2014 gubernatorial race to Hogan. �We were afraid that if we criticized the governor, we would be viewed as overly partisan.�

They�re not afraid of that anymore, he said.

Democrats who have voted for Hogan in the past may be more reluctant now that his victory could help Republicans capture control of the Senate � a possibility of pointed concern for voters worried about issues such as abortion rights.

Hogan, at his victory party Tuesday night, sought to allay those fears, promising not to be �just another Republican on Capitol Hill� but to �stand up to the current president, the former president, to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.�

He also made a point of addressing concerns about his position on abortion, saying, �Let me set the record straight: To the women of Maryland, you have my word that I will continue to protect your right to make your own reproductive choices.�

Democrats began pressing their anti-Hogan case soon after the primary ended. Alsobrooks, at her own celebration Tuesday, seized the opportunity to cast Hogan as an ally of the current GOP leadership, labeling him as the �BFF� (best friend forever) of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and saying, �Donald Trump�s Republican Party wants to flip this seat.�

�Let�s be extremely clear about who Larry Hogan is,� said Alsobrooks, before reminding her audience of his abortion access veto and that he canceled a $2.9 billion transit line that would have traversed Baltimore.

Hogan�s cross-party appeal buoyed his 2018 reelection campaign, with one voter survey showing he captured 31 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

He still has Democratic allies.

Bobby Zirkin, a former Maryland state lawmaker who co-chairs Democrats for Hogan, said Wednesday that he is supporting the Republican despite pressure from friends who are �yelling at me� for not backing Alsobrooks.

�I�ll give you one word: Israel,� said Zirkin by way of explanation, referring to Hogan�s promise to be Maryland�s �pro-Israel champion� in the Senate. �It has made this decision for me very easy.�

Zirkin, a moderate who represented Baltimore County, also praised the former governor for helping to ban fracking and expand the list of crimes that can be expunged from records. �The most progressive things I ever did, Larry Hogan was involved in,� Zirkin said.

For all his posturing as an independent voice, Hogan still needs to assemble a coalition that includes both Republicans who are turned off by his criticism of Trump and those in the GOP who are repelled by the former president�s hold over their party.

�The Republican brand is terrible, and the presidential nominee does not help,� said Michael Steele, Maryland�s former lieutenant governor and former chair of the Republican National Committee who himself has been critical of Trump. �That�s unfortunately baggage Hogan will have to carry largely because Democrats will try to put that baggage on his election cart.�

Still, said Steele, Hogan�s personal appeal in Maryland � his favorability rating was 77 percent in a poll as his second term in Annapolis ended last year � has long been his most potent political weapon. �Larry is going to be well-prepared to say, �I�m not here for the party, I�m here for the people of Maryland,�� Steele said. �He can handle it because it�s clear he�s not someone who is supportive of Trump.�

The campaign to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat who has been a fixture in Maryland state politics since his election to the House of Delegates in 1966, is sure to be among the nation�s most high-profile in a year when command of the Senate, as well as the White House, is at stake.

As her party�s nominee, and potentially the first Black person to win a Senate seat in Maryland, Alsobrooks is likely to attract Democratic donors from across the country and excite Black voters, especially in Prince George�s County, where she has served as county executive since 2018.

Yet Alsobrooks is not nearly as well known as Hogan and has never run statewide. She also has presided over a county with rising crime and budget challenges � problems that the former governor can target as he makes his case to voters.

Ben Jealous, the Democrat whom Hogan trounced in the 2018 gubernatorial race, said the national Democratic Party has �repeatedly signaled that they�re not really interested in investing in fistfights� with the former governor. �Democrats are going to have to develop a new muscle for fighting Larry Hogan,� Jealous said. �He is a formidable opponent � and well-packaged candidate.�

Unlike during the 2018 race, Maryland Democrats now plan to unleash their full roster of star players to campaign against Hogan, a cast that includes Gov. Wes Moore, former House majority leader Steny H. Hoyer and Rep. Jamie Raskin. �If Larry Hogan were running as a Democrat or an independent, that would be great,� Raskin said. �The question is whether or not you were going to empower Republicans to control the public agenda.�

Democrats have controlled Maryland�s two Senate seats since 1987, the year when Barbara A. Mikulski, then a Baltimore-based neighborhood activist, succeeded Sen. Charles Mathias Jr., a centrist Republican who retired rather than seek reelection.

Maryland�s GOP has found periods of success in statewide races, nominating for governor moderates such as Hogan and Robert Ehrlich Jr., who himself stunned Democrats in 2002 when he defeated then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

But running for Senate is different than running for governor � especially in 2024 with Trump looming over the Republican Party.

Hogan�s challenge is to separate himself from Trump�s policies and style of politics, even as he runs on the same ticket as the former president, said Mileah Kromer, a Goucher College political science professor.

�He has to tell voters, �Remember me? I�m the governor you liked for eight years, and if you send me to the Senate I will continue to be an independent voice,�� said Kromer, who has written about the former governor�s political rise. �That�s a heavy lift because a lot of Democrats are very afraid of a Republican majority in the Senate in a post-Roe era.�

Democrats, Kromer said, tried to �damage Hogan�s personal brand or lessen his standing� while he was governor �and were not able to do it,� as Hogan�s favorable ratings remained high �for the better part of a decade.�

�It�s not just that he was popular; he was persistently popular,� Kromer said. �That was the benefit of running as an individual. But now you don�t need to make him personally unpopular. You just have to tie him to the Republican majority.�

It�s an open question whether Democrats can convince voters that Hogan is in lockstep with a GOP establishment he has railed against since Trump�s emergence as a force in the party.

Hogan added to his image as an independent voice in 2020 when he bucked Republican orthodoxy on how to handle the pandemic and later became co-chair of No Labels, a bipartisan third-party movement. He left his post in December, a couple of months before announcing his Senate campaign.

Tethering Hogan to the GOP�s Trump wing will be �a tough noose to hang around his neck,� said Doug Gansler, a Democrat and Maryland�s former attorney general. �He comes across as a regular guy, which makes him very difficult to beat.�

But Gansler also said that Alsobrooks can be a formidable opponent for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that she is running in a state where registered Democrats far outnumber Republicans.

As important, perhaps, is her race and gender, Gansler said, and her potential to inspire Black and female voters. Maryland�s congressional delegation currently features 10 men and no women.

Hogan, who grew up in Prince George�s County and whose father once served in the office Alsobrooks now holds, has shown that he can draw Black support. Between the campaigns of 2014 and 2018, the former governor doubled his support among Black voters.

�The challenge,� Steele said, �is how much of the African American vote Alsobrooks can hold and how much Hogan can take.�

# ? May 17, 2024 15:08

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

Aid started being delivered from the floating pier to Gaza about ten minutes ago according live update from the Washington Post.

# ? May 17, 2024 16:02

Rust Martialis: May 8, 2007; Can't post for 6 hours!

Oracle posted:

Aid started being delivered from the floating pier to Gaza about ten minutes ago according live update from the Washington Post.

Having the same gut feeling I had when Obama came out to speak after being declared winner... I'm no doomsayer but you're just waiting for 'something to happen'.... hope nothing does

# ? May 17, 2024 16:33

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

A little over 10 percent of voters in Maryland's Democratic primary--52,000--voted uncommitted. Williamson & Phillips garnered a tad over 3 percent combined.

# ? May 17, 2024 16:53

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

Professor Beetus posted:

When are those two fuckers going to die already

Unfortunately the Mir isn't in orbit anymore, so neither of them can get the zero-g toilet seat to the dome they deserve.

# ? May 17, 2024 16:56

haveblue: Aug 15, 2005; Toilet Rascal

the ISS has toilets

# ? May 17, 2024 16:57

Rust Martialis: May 8, 2007; Can't post for 6 hours!

haveblue posted:

the ISS has toilets

So there's hope, you're saying

# ? May 17, 2024 17:35

Inferior Third Season: Jan 15, 2005

Professor Beetus posted:

When are those two fuckers going to die already

This is a monkey's paw wish, if the consequences of Scalia kicking it are any indication.

# ? May 17, 2024 17:40

Shammypants: May 25, 2004; Let me tell you about true luxury.

Willa Rogers posted:

WaPo story about the Maryland Senate race now that Democrats have chosen a candidate: Larry Hogan has won statewide twice. But now everything is different.

We're gonna find out right quick that no one buys the pivots to moderation. We can thank Susan Collins for loving that up for Republicans.

# ? May 17, 2024 17:45

Raenir Salazar: Nov 5, 2010; College Slice

People have been saying for a while now that Hogan is hosed and now the evidence is catching up and reflecting the states fundamentals; which is that a state that's voted Biden 65% to 35% in 2020 and also for Senate 65 to 35 went Democrat in 2022 isn't going to vote in a Republican no matter who they were.

# ? May 17, 2024 18:44

PhazonLink: Jul 17, 2010

I would perfer to be in the timeline where Don's three picks are all anti vaxer/covid truthers and then exit due to irony and Dark Biden gets 3 picks.

# ? May 17, 2024 19:12

Barrel Cactaur: Oct 6, 2021

Hogan was acceptable to beltway libs when he could reliability serve the interests of car commuters, small business tyrants, and landlords. The old party line in the Senate is seen as no improvement over the new party line so no more self serving ticket splitters.

He really thought he could coast on dumping money into adding beltway lanes.

Also he very publicly doesn't like trump so dead anyway.

# ? May 17, 2024 19:39

mdemone: Mar 14, 2001

Inferior Third Season posted:

This is a monkey's paw wish, if the consequences of Scalia kicking it are any indication.

Alito is preferable to Scalia but in the same way that prostate cancer is preferable to pancreatic cancer.

Scalia was at least brilliant enough to figure out new ways to be evil and/or coerce other justices to his side, Alito is just a dog-brained shithead.

# ? May 17, 2024 19:42

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Raenir Salazar posted:

People have been saying for a while now that Hogan is hosed and now the evidence is catching up and reflecting the states fundamentals; which is that a state that's voted Biden 65% to 35% in 2020 and also for Senate 65 to 35 went Democrat in 2022 isn't going to vote in a Republican no matter who they were.

A lot will depend on where Aslobrooks stands on Israel, and whether AIPAC sees a dog in this fight, as well as the extent to which Democrats can brand Hogan as MAGA-adjacent. (eta: both per the wapo story)

But leaving office with 80+ percent approval ratings among Democrats (higher than his approvals among Republicans) Hogan does have a leg-up on the latter.

I believe that Alsobrooks will win the general election (her winning the primary will help garner Black votes) but I'm not sure it's a slam dunk quite yet. Democrats are doing well in head-to-heads in recent polling (and better than they were doing a couple months ago) but here's another instance in which trends from polling over time will tell.

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 19:57 on May 17, 2024

# ? May 17, 2024 19:50

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

Failed Imagineer posted:

They were really close to making it that Senators and Presidents would have lifetime appointments as well lmao. At least that would have destroyed the country a lil quicker

That might have been a better system. Who says how long a lifetime must last?

# ? May 17, 2024 20:52

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

People talk about dueling like it might save us, forgetting that Andrew Jackson was one hell of a dueling motherfucker. Dude was said to rattle when he walked, and once purposefully let a dude shoot him so he could take his time to aim.

We'd still have psychopaths in charge, but they'd be the personally doing type instead of the chicken poo poo type we have now.

Gyges fucked around with this message at 21:54 on May 17, 2024

# ? May 17, 2024 21:52

PC LOAD LETTER: May 23, 2005; WTF?!

Yeah motherfuckers can be dreadfully good at duels.

Being good at dueling has nothing to do with being good at statescraft nor having good ethics for that matter.

Just means you're great at killing.

# ? May 17, 2024 21:56

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

PC LOAD LETTER posted:

Yeah motherfuckers can be dreadfully good at duels.

Being good at dueling has nothing to do with being good at statescraft nor having good ethics for that matter.

Just means you're great at killing.

But at least there will be fresh blood.

# ? May 17, 2024 22:00

haveblue: Aug 15, 2005; Toilet Rascal

Gyges posted:

We'd still have psychopaths in charge, but they'd be the personally doing type instead of the chicken poo poo type we have now.

My congratulations to President Noem

# ? May 17, 2024 22:04

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 15:54

DeathChicken: Jul 9, 2012; Nonsense. I have not yet begun to defile myself.

There was that story about someone challenging Lincoln to a duel, he chose swords as the weapon, then the other guy realized Lincoln's tall rear end armed with a sword would get him hilariously killed and backed out

# ? May 17, 2024 22:06

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