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ComradeCosmobot
Dec 4, 2004

USPOL July
The USPOL thread! Freshly refurbished for your argumentative needs!



And boy howdy is there plenty to argue about, what with everything that’s happening from the craziness that the Republican 2016 race is shaping up to look like (only the top ten make it to Fox News!), troubles with PATRIOT Act renewals, and the specter that is haunting America, the specter of welfare and human services… Thanks to Stoltus Maximus for the thread title.






114th Congress Bingo Card

Every month it's worth taking a look at what the 114th Congress is up to because there is always more and it is always worse.







Other News, featuring the Clinton Corner

This month, the Clinton Corner has been focusing very strongly on the Clinton Foundation story all month (including the fact that George Stephanopoulos donated to her, so how can he be impartial!), but rest assured that that’s not the only thing weighing on Clinton! Perhaps we should instead look at how Bill Clinton had a shell corporation to handle payments for consulting work so that his speeches were not subject to personal disclosure requirements. While this was perfectly legal, it certainly skirts the intent of the law, so this obviously means you should definitely not vote for Hillary!

As for other news…


Talk to other goons (why would you want to do that?)
Remember that we have an IRC channel at synirc in #poligoon for livesteaming stuff.



Goon Recommendations
Documentaries

Talks

Long pieces

Books

Twitter feeds

  • @costareports (Robert Costa, Washington Post, formerly National Review): Conservative-leaning journalist to whom Republican sources often leak backroom stories (Republican retreats, Presidential campaigns, etc.)
  • @daveweigel (Dave Weigel, Bloomberg Politics, formerly Slate): "Idiosyncratic libertarian" journalist who is second only to Robert Costa in connections/interviews with Republican officials. Contrary to popular belief, not D&D superstar Joementum.
  • @BruceBartlett (Bruce Bartlett, ex-Reagan/Bush official): "Lifelong conservative who now thinks the GOP panders to fools, whom he calls wankers. My tweets should not always be taken seriously."
  • The following are semi-random selections from a list offered by Rygar201 and may be good or bad.
    • @owillis (Olivier Willis, research fellow, Media Matters)
    • @mattyglesias (Matt Yglesias, executive editor, Vox)
    • @JuddLegum (Judd Legum, Editor-in-Chief, Think Progress)
    • @dick_nixon "37th President of the United States. Messages from the President are unsigned, others from Ronald Ziegler. "
    • @EricBoehlert (Eric Boehlert, Media Matters)
    • @JamilSmith (Jamil Smith, senior editor, The New Republic)
    • @jonathanchait (Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine)
    • @nielslesniewski (Neils Lesniewski, Senate coverage, Roll Call)
    • @abwhite7 (Abraham White, former comms for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY))
    • @DSenFloor (Senate D Floor Watch): "Live floor updates from the Senate Democrats"
    • @billmon1 (Billmon)
    • @ebruenig (Elizabeth Bruenig, The New Republic)

Related threads
"US Politics" is an incredibly broad topic, as A) the country is freaking huge and B) given our role in international events pretty much everything impacts us. So there are other subthreads
2016 Presidential Primary
2016 US Senate Elections
SCOTUS thread
Right Wing Media

There are also regional subthreads that are usually pretty slow, but sometimes cross-pollinate with this thread when something important is happening.
Pacific Northwest
Illinois
Texas
California
There was a South thread, too, but it's been dead since last July.

Lifted the rest of the above from FriedChicken. As before post suggestions for adding to the above and I'll edit them in if I see them.

And remember folks, drink chat goes in D&D chat thread. Drink responsibly. Your liver will thank you.

ComradeCosmobot fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Jun 22, 2015

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Filthy Hans
Jun 27, 2008

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 10 years!)

great OP, might want to add the FIFA prosecution in there

Aurubin
Mar 17, 2011

And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Sanders, and Socialism followed him.

ComradeCosmobot
Dec 4, 2004

USPOL July

Filthy Hans posted:

great OP, might want to add the FIFA prosecution in there

Already ahead of you on that one:

quote:

Filthy Hans
Jun 27, 2008

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 10 years!)

ComradeCosmobot posted:

Already ahead of you on that one:

Time for me to quote Rick Perry again: "oops"

Bob James
Nov 15, 2005

by Lowtax
Ultra Carp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ym0EY849Y4

Grouchio
Aug 31, 2014

Is Net Neutrality still holding up with it's recent legislation?

ComradeCosmobot
Dec 4, 2004

USPOL July

Grouchio posted:

Is Net Neutrality still holding up with it's recent legislation?

Most of the action happened the month before last. At least seven lawsuits have been filed (it came out last month that AT&T in particular plans on using First Amendment grounds to defend its right to control traffic (i.e. speech) on its network), and as noted in the OP, the House is currently investigating defunding all enforcement efforts to enact de-facto repeal of the policy.

Joementum
May 23, 2004

jesus christ

staticman
Sep 12, 2008

Be gay
Death to America
Suck my dick Israel
Mess with Texas
and remember to lmao
Shameless repost, but some more of John McCain's shenanigans. In this episode, McCain sells Apache land to a Rio Tinto affiliate like it's the goddamn loving 19th century. This was done by sneaking in a provision to the NDAA last minute.

quote:

Tucson

ABOUT an hour east of Phoenix, near a mining town called Superior, men, women and children of the San Carlos Apache tribe have been camped out at a place called Oak Flat for more than three months, protesting the latest assault on their culture.

Three hundred people, mostly Apache, marched 44 miles from tribal headquarters to begin this occupation on Feb. 9. The campground lies at the core of an ancient Apache holy place, where coming-of-age ceremonies, especially for girls, have been performed for many generations, along with traditional acorn gathering. It belongs to the public, under the multiple-use mandate of the Forest Service, and has had special protections since 1955, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower decreed the area closed to mining — which, like cattle grazing, is otherwise common in national forests — because of its cultural and natural value. President Richard M. Nixon’s Interior Department in 1971 renewed this ban.

Despite these protections, in December 2014, Congress promised to hand the title for Oak Flat over to a private, Australian-British mining concern. A fine-print rider trading away the Indian holy land was added at the last minute to the must-pass military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. By doing this, Congress has handed over a sacred Native American site to a foreign-owned company for what may be the first time in our nation’s history.

The Apache are occupying Oak Flat to protest this action — to them, a sacrilegious and craven sell-off of a place “where Apaches go to pray,” in the words of the San Carlos Apache tribal chairman, Terry Rambler. The site will doubtless be destroyed for any purpose other than mining; Resolution Copper Mining will hollow out a vast chamber that, when it caves in, will leave a two-mile-wide, 1,000-foot-deep pit. The company itself has likened the result of its planned mining at Oak Flat to that of a nearby meteor crater.

The land grab was sneakily anti-democratic even by congressional standards. For more than a decade, the parcel containing Oak Flat has been coveted by Rio Tinto, Resolution’s parent company — which already mines on its own private land in the surrounding area — for the high-value ores beneath it.

The swap — which will trade 5,300 acres of private parcels owned by the company to the Forest Service and give 2,400 acres including Oak Flat to Resolution so that it can mine the land without oversight — had been attempted multiple times by Arizona members of Congress on behalf of the company. (Among those involved was Rick Renzi, a former Republican representative who was sent to federal prison in February for three years for corruption related to earlier versions of the land-transfer deal.) It always failed in Congress because of lack of support. But this time was different. This time, the giveaway language was slipped onto the defense bill by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona at the 11th hour. The tactic was successful only because, like most last-minute riders, it bypassed public scrutiny.

It’s worth noting that Rio Tinto affiliates have been McCain campaign contributors, and that Mr. Flake, before he made it to Congress, was a paid lobbyist for Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium (a huge uranium mine in Namibia). Mr. McCain and others assert that the mining project will be a boost to the local economy, though it’s unclear how many of the 1,400 promised jobs would be local; a Superior-area miners’ group, in fact, opposes the swap on the basis that it won’t help the local people or economy. Rio Tinto, incidentally, has been called out in the past for environmental devastation.

“Why is this place sacred?” said Wendsler Nosie Sr., a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache, in a recent interview with Cronkite News. “No difference to Mount Sinai. How the holy spirit came to be.” If you don’t want to take his word for it, the archaeological record at Oak Flat contains abundant evidence that the Apache have been here “since well before recorded history,” according to congressional testimony by the Society for American Archaeology.

If Oak Flat were a Christian holy site, or for that matter Jewish or Muslim, no senator who wished to remain in office would dare to sneak a backdoor deal for its destruction into a spending bill — no matter what mining-company profits or jobs might result. But this is Indian religion. Clearly the Arizona congressional delegation isn’t afraid of a couple of million conquered natives.

The truth is that for Mr. McCain, Mr. Flake and others who would allow this precious public land to be destroyed, it’s not only the Indians who are invisible. The rest of us are also ghosts, remnants of a quaint idea of democracy.

Oak Flat may still be saved, albeit with difficulty, since the bill’s language stipulates quite simply that 60 days after the federal “environmental impact statement” is complete, the land will belong to Resolution — in other words, that the swap will occur no matter what the environmental study says. But, like all laws and pieces of laws, it can be reversed by new legislative language.

The deal is an impressive new low in congressional corruption, unworthy of our country’s ideals no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. It’s exactly the kind of cynical maneuvering that has taught the electorate to disrespect politicians — a disdain for government that hurts everyone. If ever there was a time for Congress to prove its moral mettle to the public, this is that time. The rider should be repealed.

:wow:

Boywhiz88
Sep 11, 2005

floating 26" off da ground. BURR!

staticman posted:

Shameless repost, but some more of John McCain's shenanigans. In this episode, McCain sells Apache land to a Rio Tinto affiliate like it's the goddamn loving 19th century. This was done by sneaking in a provision to the NDAA last minute.


:wow:

What kills me is that this would be the time for those assholes who went to the Cliven Bundy ranch to step up and protect something from government overreach/bullshit.

radical meme
Apr 17, 2009

by Fluffdaddy

Holy loving poo poo; queer eye for the straight guy needs to do a makeover on Rand.

SnakePlissken
Dec 31, 2009

by zen death robot

ComradeCosmobot posted:

[*]The IMF came out with a pair of interesting reports recently, including one which suggests that Wall Street costs the US 2% of GDP growth each year

I like this one. Nice OP. Impeach Comrade Cosmonaut!

Sir Tonk
Apr 18, 2006
Young Orc
Yeah but think of all the jobs they create!

Grey Fox
Jan 5, 2004

radical meme posted:

Holy loving poo poo; queer eye for the straight guy needs to do a makeover on Rand.
I think I wore that exact kind of ill-fitting outfit when getting my school picture taken in the 4th grade.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



Boywhiz88 posted:

What kills me is that this would be the time for those assholes who went to the Cliven Bundy ranch to step up and protect something from government overreach/bullshit.
Speaking of Bundy, it's pretty disappointing that the FBI hasn't arrested him by now

Luigi Thirty
Apr 30, 2006

Emergency confection port.

FlamingLiberal posted:

Speaking of Bundy, it's pretty disappointing that the FBI hasn't arrested him by now

Much like hitler, he did nothing wrong

Gin and Juche
Apr 3, 2008

The Highest Judge of Paradise
Shiki Eiki
YAMAXANADU

FlamingLiberal posted:

Speaking of Bundy, it's pretty disappointing that the FBI hasn't arrested him by now

Is he still holed out in his compound or has everybody just lost interest?

Sir Tonk
Apr 18, 2006
Young Orc

Gravel Gravy posted:

Is he still holed out in his compound or has everybody just lost interest?

Both.

Joementum
May 23, 2004

jesus christ
Quote of the morning, "Well, the successes clearly are protecting the homeland." ~ Jeb Bush, on his brother's accomplishments as President.

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

Joementum posted:

Quote of the morning, "Well, the successes clearly are protecting the homeland." ~ Jeb Bush, on his brother's accomplishments as President.

Look every president gets one mulligan

Gin and Juche
Apr 3, 2008

The Highest Judge of Paradise
Shiki Eiki
YAMAXANADU

Joementum posted:

Quote of the morning, "Well, the successes clearly are protecting the homeland." ~ Jeb Bush, on his brother's accomplishments as President.

You missed the best part.

quote:

"Because of the war and because of the focus on protecting the homeland, I think he let the Republican Congress get a little out of control in terms of the spending," Bush said.

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Joementum posted:

Quote of the morning, "Well, the successes clearly are protecting the homeland." ~ Jeb Bush, on his brother's accomplishments as President.

I really want Jeb to win so the 2016 election can just be the re-litigation of the Bush presidenc(ies)y

Zeroisanumber
Oct 23, 2010

Nap Ghost

BI NOW GAY LATER posted:

I really want Jeb to win so the 2016 election can just be the re-litigation of the Bush presidenc(ies)y

He almost certainly will be their guy this year, mostly because he has almost all of the money. I like to hope that it'll be the shitshow of 2012 all over again, with the base having one week long honeymoons with every candidate on the docket before finally, resignedly, accepting the inevitable.

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Zeroisanumber posted:

He almost certainly will be their guy this year, mostly because he has almost all of the money. I like to hope that it'll be the shitshow of 2012 all over again, with the base having one week long honeymoons with every candidate on the docket before finally, resignedly, accepting the inevitable.

The only thing better would be for one of the actual crazies to win.

Junior G-man
Sep 15, 2004

Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma


BI NOW GAY LATER posted:

The only thing better would be for one of the actual crazies to win.

Re-Elect Carlson 2020 :allears:

ComradeCosmobot
Dec 4, 2004

USPOL July

Gravel Gravy posted:

Is he still holed out in his compound or has everybody just lost interest?

Think Progress has a small write up on that account. Apparently they pushed for an unconstitutional land grab of public lands by the state of Nevada earlier this year, which was voted down in the Nevada legislature, 8-34. More on that bill here.

There was almost a similar event in Josephine County, Oregon this April, but the guy who called in the Oath Keepers changed his mind as locals protested their presence. They did not stand down until the Feds did, last month.

A Shitty Reporter
Oct 29, 2012
Dinosaur Gum
Got a broken tag in the Immigration section, Chicken.

Fried Chicken
Jan 9, 2011

Don't fry me, I'm no chicken!
Man, between the Patriot Act being lapsed and Elonis v USA, today is a great day to be an rear end in a top hat online

Viva la cloaca!

sugar free jazz
Mar 5, 2008

In Mellouli v. Lynch the Court holds that possession of unnamed pills in individual’s socks doesn’t trigger deportation



good headline

ComradeCosmobot
Dec 4, 2004

USPOL July

An Angry Bug posted:

Got a broken tag in the Immigration section, Chicken.

Got it. Didn't have as much time to review the post because my computer crashed at 11:55 and was saved only by auto-save.

Islam is the Lite Rock FM
Jul 27, 2007

by exmarx

radical meme posted:

Holy loving poo poo; queer eye for the straight guy needs to do a makeover on Rand.

I wore business attire that looked like that for a while. It was back when I lost 80lbs and didn't realize how dorky I looked with baggy pants.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



BI NOW GAY LATER posted:

The only thing better would be for one of the actual crazies to win.
Would be nice to see a repeat of the '64 election.

BI NOW GAY LATER
Jan 17, 2008

So people stop asking, the "Bi" in my username is a reference to my love for the two greatest collegiate sports programs in the world, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Marshall Thundering Herd.

FlamingLiberal posted:

Would be nice to see a repeat of the '64 election.

Hillary *was* a Goldwater Girl.

Mister Facetious
Apr 21, 2007

I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

:canada:

radical meme posted:

Holy loving poo poo; queer eye for the straight guy needs to do a makeover on Rand.

He's every head coach in the NHL.

Warcabbit
Apr 26, 2008

Wedge Regret

Zeroisanumber posted:

He almost certainly will be their guy this year, mostly because he has almost all of the money.

No, I think it's really shaping up to be Walker.

baw
Nov 5, 2008

RESIDENT: LAISSEZ FAIR-SNEZHNEVSKY INSTITUTE FOR FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY

Why is rand paul so terrible at dressing himself. holy poo poo

At this rate I wouldn't be surprised to find out he owns white socks

Ghost of Reagan Past
Oct 7, 2003

rock and roll fun

Warcabbit posted:

No, I think it's really shaping up to be Walker.
I think this is likely.

Walker, while boring as all hell, is basically the platonic ideal of the Republican establishment candidate. He's a blank slate, does what he's told, and is boring. He comes with the union-bustin' and university-hatin' credentials they love, too. Also, will not remind people of George Bush.

Islam is the Lite Rock FM
Jul 27, 2007

by exmarx

baw posted:

Why is rand paul so terrible at everything but riling up fedora owners. holy poo poo

At this rate I wouldn't be surprised to find out he owns white socks

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Tempest_56
Mar 14, 2009

Warcabbit posted:

No, I think it's really shaping up to be Walker.

We're way too early still - he hasn't had to stand up to any counter-attacks yet. He's definetly taking the early lead role from Jeb, though. I still wouldn't be surprised to see Rubio up there - Walker seems like the sort where he's going to collapse as soon as he has to face real opposition.

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