US Midterm Election 2018 Megathread- It's Kavanaugh

[Fahran]

All of the things he does to attempt to be an alpha dog is hilarious. Once a beta...

More like baeta. Do you think the GOP will gain any interesting new faces after this election cycle?

[Luminesa]

Should have elected Rubio so we could get a president who walks-up with Tupac in the background.

All of the things he does to attempt to be an alpha dog is hilarious. Once a beta...

He actually said All Eyez On Me was his favorite album. Was kind of wild.

[Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol]

But the biggest thing they could do is to drop gun control. According to something Telconi said, that would really help the Democrats to gain some or even a large amount of working class votes.

Dropping gun control and emphasizing their solutions to poverty and unemployment would benefit them a lot in rural areas, though they might still have a tough time wresting votes away from conservatives. It's definitely not impossible. Carter wasn't a conservative by any means and managed to do well in rural areas when he was elected. Being a farmer and understanding rural issues certainly didn't hurt.

I think it was due to the fact he was from the Deep South, and being a devout Baptist also help him also. The Democrats are not going to drop the issue of gun control, since it’s a major issue that many leftists care about. The GOP has the rural vote locked in pretty much...

[The Lone Alliance]

Dropping gun control and emphasizing their solutions to poverty and unemployment would benefit them a lot in rural areas, though they might still have a tough time wresting votes away from conservatives. It's definitely not impossible. Carter wasn't a conservative by any means and managed to do well in rural areas when he was elected. Being a farmer and understanding rural issues certainly didn't hurt.

I think it was due to the fact he was from the Deep South, and being a devout Baptist also help him also. The Democrats are not going to drop the issue of gun control, since it’s a major issue that many leftists care about. The GOP has the rural vote locked in pretty much...

Except those leftists have no where else to go, if the Democrats drop gun control what will the leftists do... vote Republican, even though the other 90% of issues they care about are only dealt with by the Democrats? Stay at home and let their vote not matter?

The Gun Control crowd are, unlike the Gun Rights crowd, often not single issue voters.

There's a decent amount of voters that vote solely on the basis of guns so, it could help them although, with how the party is trending, that seems unlikely. They rely heavily on urban areas, which tend to be "liberal". If Republicans made an attempt to attract urban voters, I think then you would see Democrats aim for rural areas.

I'd like to see both parties vying for voters in the other's bastions. It'd make election season a touch more interesting. Not to mention that whoever won would better represent a cross-section of the total American electorate. I've been wanting Republicans to discuss institutions within minority communities for a long time for example. Lots of votes to be had.

Funny enough both parties kind of did that in 2016, Trump went after the blue collar class and union vote that were usually seen as safe Democrat choices while Hillary went after the Old Conservatives and Neo Conservative part of the GOP who were horrified by Trump...

The latter strategy clearly failed because as horrified as they were by Trump they still weren't going to vote for Hillary.

[Mystic Warriors]

There's a decent amount of voters that vote solely on the basis of guns so, it could help them although, with how the party is trending, that seems unlikely. They rely heavily on urban areas, which tend to be "liberal". If Republicans made an attempt to attract urban voters, I think then you would see Democrats aim for rural areas.

I'd like to see both parties vying for voters in the other's bastions. It'd make election season a touch more interesting. Not to mention that whoever won would better represent a cross-section of the total American electorate. I've been wanting Republicans to discuss institutions within minority communities for a long time for example. Lots of votes to be had.

Too late. The GOP may have lost the minority vote already. Blacks already vote in a block for Democrats and with Trump Hispanics and Asians maybe leaning that way too.

[Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol]

I'd like to see both parties vying for voters in the other's bastions. It'd make election season a touch more interesting. Not to mention that whoever won would better represent a cross-section of the total American electorate. I've been wanting Republicans to discuss institutions within minority communities for a long time for example. Lots of votes to be had.

Too late. The GOP may have lost the minority vote already. Blacks already vote in a block for Democrats and with Trump Hispanics and Asians maybe leaning that way too.

With avowed white nationalists getting the GOP nomination in certain parts on the country, I don’t blame PoCs leaving the party. The party wanted to embrace the far-right part of the country, and this is the result.

[The Republic of Fore]

How so? Are you going to tell me that Antifa groups as a rule do not break hard to the left and embrace communism in one or more forms? Because that'd be disingenuous.

Antifa groups are anti-fascist. Individuals have their own political views, but antifa is not trying to establish any kind of government or enact any kind of policy. They're just about being anti-fascist. If fascism vanished tomorrow, so would antifa.

While police brutality does occur and is a worrisome trend of late, since it's been on the increase, I would take some of these complaints with a grain of salt as well. Plenty of people get arrested on suspicion of committing crimes and then accost weary officers who practice a lot of restraint in not beating them senseless with batons as Molotov cocktails and fists collide with them. Reform is needed, but we should take cases of alleged abuse on a case by case basis. Perhaps a group to police the police?

"I know the police do bad things, but I refuse to think less of them because of that"

I never stated that there was no problem with police. I stated that we should give people the benefit of the doubt, since most police officers don't commit abuses.`

The organisations that allow people to commit these abuses, that harass whistleblowes who try to go report them, that ultimately supports the perpetrators when the abuses come to light, are as much the problem as the perpetrators themselves.

I absolutely support reforms and accountability. I just don't support being nasty...

It is not "nasty" to not trust the police.

Here's your peaceful inauguration day protests.

Millions of people do nothing wrong, but someone smashes a window. Oh noes, so violent.

Yawn.

To street brawls.

So why aren't you explaining why a street brawl is worse when people wear masks?
Why aren't you addressing the masks? Explain why a street brawl is worse when the people brawling are wearing masks.

Why are you interested in protecting Antifa?

Because all people should be protected from abuses of police power.

Because wearing a mask to a protest suggests that the people in question came with the explicit intent of committing violence.

There are other perfectly law-abiding reasons for people to wear masks. And battery is already a crime. So what is the point of making it even more illegal to commit battery? Why is battery worse if you're wearing a mask?

And, in the case of Antifa, that's precisely what they do. Let me ask you another question. If we just threw anyone caught initiating street brawls in prison for fifteen years, would that be acceptable?

No, automatic sentencing like that is stupid.

It suggests prior intent

Judges and juries can take things like that into account without special new laws.

and a crime against more than just the property. In the same way that shouting the n-word as you assault a black person suggests prior intent and a crime against more than just the individual.

That doesn't suggest prior intent, it suggests that the crime is motivated by racial hatred, which threatens all people of that race. Smashing a car window while wearing a mask doesn't threaten other people any more than smashing a car window while not wearing a mask.

Nope, though it's possible that constitutional challenges exist.

So like I said, wearing a mask in public is illegal in some jurisdictions and will get you arrested.

If we're targeting Antifa and other street brawlers...

You're not.

This was your response to my question about why police would arrest anarchists and communists while excluding fascists and white supremacists engaged in the same behavior from arrest.

See? Nothing about white supremacists. Though that's probably true.

You absolutely did insinuate that the root of the problem is that police officers are bigots and racists.

And they are.

Some of them may be,

See, you agree.

but,

But nothing. It doesn't need to be every single individual holding those beliefs, and I didn't say that every single individual does. When some officers are racist, it doesn't matter if the other officers who back their colleagues up hold racist beliefs themselves. By supporting a racist they are being racist.

ANTIFA is not anti fascist. They're spoiled white college kids that riot and attack because they didn't get their way. Fascist is just one of those words that's so overused the definition might as well be changed to "someone who doesn't agree with me.

[The Republic of Fore]

How so? Are you going to tell me that Antifa groups as a rule do not break hard to the left and embrace communism in one or more forms? Because that'd be disingenuous.

Antifa groups are anti-fascist. Individuals have their own political views, but antifa is not trying to establish any kind of government or enact any kind of policy. They're just about being anti-fascist. If fascism vanished tomorrow, so would antifa.

While police brutality does occur and is a worrisome trend of late, since it's been on the increase, I would take some of these complaints with a grain of salt as well. Plenty of people get arrested on suspicion of committing crimes and then accost weary officers who practice a lot of restraint in not beating them senseless with batons as Molotov cocktails and fists collide with them. Reform is needed, but we should take cases of alleged abuse on a case by case basis. Perhaps a group to police the police?

"I know the police do bad things, but I refuse to think less of them because of that"

I never stated that there was no problem with police. I stated that we should give people the benefit of the doubt, since most police officers don't commit abuses.`

The organisations that allow people to commit these abuses, that harass whistleblowes who try to go report them, that ultimately supports the perpetrators when the abuses come to light, are as much the problem as the perpetrators themselves.

I absolutely support reforms and accountability. I just don't support being nasty...

It is not "nasty" to not trust the police.

Here's your peaceful inauguration day protests.

Millions of people do nothing wrong, but someone smashes a window. Oh noes, so violent.

Yawn.

To street brawls.

So why aren't you explaining why a street brawl is worse when people wear masks?
Why aren't you addressing the masks? Explain why a street brawl is worse when the people brawling are wearing masks.

Why are you interested in protecting Antifa?

Because all people should be protected from abuses of police power.

Because wearing a mask to a protest suggests that the people in question came with the explicit intent of committing violence.

There are other perfectly law-abiding reasons for people to wear masks. And battery is already a crime. So what is the point of making it even more illegal to commit battery? Why is battery worse if you're wearing a mask?

And, in the case of Antifa, that's precisely what they do. Let me ask you another question. If we just threw anyone caught initiating street brawls in prison for fifteen years, would that be acceptable?

No, automatic sentencing like that is stupid.

It suggests prior intent

Judges and juries can take things like that into account without special new laws.

and a crime against more than just the property. In the same way that shouting the n-word as you assault a black person suggests prior intent and a crime against more than just the individual.

That doesn't suggest prior intent, it suggests that the crime is motivated by racial hatred, which threatens all people of that race. Smashing a car window while wearing a mask doesn't threaten other people any more than smashing a car window while not wearing a mask.

Nope, though it's possible that constitutional challenges exist.

So like I said, wearing a mask in public is illegal in some jurisdictions and will get you arrested.

If we're targeting Antifa and other street brawlers...

You're not.

This was your response to my question about why police would arrest anarchists and communists while excluding fascists and white supremacists engaged in the same behavior from arrest.

See? Nothing about white supremacists. Though that's probably true.

You absolutely did insinuate that the root of the problem is that police officers are bigots and racists.

And they are.

Some of them may be,

See, you agree.

but,

But nothing. It doesn't need to be every single individual holding those beliefs, and I didn't say that every single individual does. When some officers are racist, it doesn't matter if the other officers who back their colleagues up hold racist beliefs themselves. By supporting a racist they are being racist.

ANTIFA is not anti fascist. They're spoiled white college kids that riot and attack because they didn't get their way. Fascist is just one of those words that's so overused the definition might as well be changed to "someone who doesn't agree with me.

[Mystic Warriors]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

[Page]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

They aren't that big and they don't do that much. We're talking about a few hundred people nationwide who occasionally overturn a trash can and once a blue moon punch someone, yet conservatives are talking about antifa like it's the red terror.

[The South Falls]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

They aren't that big and they don't do that much. We're talking about a few hundred people nationwide who occasionally overturn a trash can and once a blue moon punch someone, yet conservatives are talking about antifa like it's the red terror.

"The left are terrorists that want to burn your flags" drive people to the polls better than: "Antifa protested again."

[Mystic Warriors]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

They aren't that big and they don't do that much. We're talking about a few hundred people nationwide who occasionally overturn a trash can and once a blue moon punch someone, yet conservatives are talking about antifa like it's the red terror.

That has been a common tactic for a century. Create a threat and use it to scare people into submission. Remember the red scare

[Mystic Warriors]

They aren't that big and they don't do that much. We're talking about a few hundred people nationwide who occasionally overturn a trash can and once a blue moon punch someone, yet conservatives are talking about antifa like it's the red terror.

"The left are terrorists that want to burn your flags" drive people to the polls better than: "Antifa protested again."

Yep. Gotta scare people off their phones.

[Cannot think of a name]

They aren't that big and they don't do that much. We're talking about a few hundred people nationwide who occasionally overturn a trash can and once a blue moon punch someone, yet conservatives are talking about antifa like it's the red terror.

That has been a common tactic for a century. Create a threat and use it to scare people into submission. Remember the red scare

Sacco and Vanzetti still await justice...

[Fahran]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

Ifreann mentioned a bill designed to target Antifa earlier. I merely stated that punishing them with greater severity might be a good idea. Realistically speaking, while I consider them criminals, they’re not an immediate threat to national security, though the tacit support they’ve been getting is symptomatic of increasing polarization and instability. Right-wing extremists have been bolder of late and have murdered people - and we’ve been arresting them. Suppressing politicized street brawls would be nice since it might allow greater numbers of people to participate in protests of different types.

[Maineiacs]

ANTIFA is not anti fascist. They're spoiled white college kids that riot and attack because they didn't get their way. Fascist is just one of those words that's so overused the definition might as well be changed to "someone who doesn't agree with me.

You mean like "Communist"?

[Page]

ANTIFA is not anti fascist. They're spoiled white college kids that riot and attack because they didn't get their way. Fascist is just one of those words that's so overused the definition might as well be changed to "someone who doesn't agree with me.

You mean like "Communist"?

The word communist is used inaccurately? You mean to tell me that in the big, dense book called the Communist Manifesto, Marx didn't spend hundreds of pages talking about using gender neutral pronouns? Huh. I wonder what other words people like Jordan Peterson twist to fit their own definitions.

[Ifreann]

You mean like "Communist"?

The word communist is used inaccurately? You mean to tell me that in the big, dense book called the Communist Manifesto, Marx didn't spend hundreds of pages talking about using gender neutral pronouns? Huh. I wonder what other words people like Jordan Peterson twist to fit their own definitions.

I believe "post-modern" is another favourite.

[Tobleste]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

Because the American right needs a Reichstag fire to justify and distract from their own lunacy.

[Tobleste]

You mean like "Communist"?

The word communist is used inaccurately? You mean to tell me that in the big, dense book called the Communist Manifesto, Marx didn't spend hundreds of pages talking about using gender neutral pronouns? Huh. I wonder what other words people like Jordan Peterson twist to fit their own definitions.

Apparently there's quite a few. I remember reading a review by a philosopher that said Peterson's rants about "post-modernism" suggest he doesn't really know what it is.

Edit: Ifreann beat me to it.

[Ifreann]

The word communist is used inaccurately? You mean to tell me that in the big, dense book called the Communist Manifesto, Marx didn't spend hundreds of pages talking about using gender neutral pronouns? Huh. I wonder what other words people like Jordan Peterson twist to fit their own definitions.

Apparently there's quite a few. I remember reading a review by a philosopher that said Peterson's rants about "post-modernism" suggest he doesn't really know what it is.

Edit: Ifreann beat me to it.

I am familiar with the works of eminent 21st century philosopher and fairy, Contra Points.

[Tobleste]

Apparently there's quite a few. I remember reading a review by a philosopher that said Peterson's rants about "post-modernism" suggest he doesn't really know what it is.

Edit: Ifreann beat me to it.

I am familiar with the works of eminent 21st century philosopher and fairy, Contra Points.

You've got good taste.

Anyway, there is good news from 538. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/co ... id=rrpromo

Democrats lead is 8.6%. The highest it's been in about 4 months.

[Valrifell]

I am familiar with the works of eminent 21st century philosopher and fairy, Contra Points.

You've got good taste.

Anyway, there is good news from 538. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/co ... id=rrpromo

Democrats lead is 8.6%. The highest it's been in about 4 months.

Still down from the fourteen-point gap from like last year /sigh.

[Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol]

Why is anybody even paying attention to antifa? They are not that big.

Ifreann mentioned a bill designed to target Antifa earlier. I merely stated that punishing them with greater severity might be a good idea. Realistically speaking, while I consider them criminals, they’re not an immediate threat to national security, though the tacit support they’ve been getting is symptomatic of increasing polarization and instability. Right-wing extremists have been bolder of late and have murdered people - and we’ve been arresting them. Suppressing politicized street brawls would be nice since it might allow greater numbers of people to participate in protests of different types.

I’ve been thinking that the next time there is a group of far-left and far-right protesting each other, I feel like getting in the middle of them and chanting “fuck you both”. And I only those protesters that commit actual crimes should be arrested, like assault and vandalism. Wearing masks and screaming bullshit is not a crime. I would support the bill if it included the word “alt-right” in it. With only mentioning Antifa, it’s a dog whistle to groups like the proud boys that it’s okay to use methods of violence when they do it.

[The East Marches II]

That has been a common tactic for a century. Create a threat and use it to scare people into submission. Remember the red scare

Sacco and Vanzetti still await justice...

Ah yes, the fine gentlemen whose compatriots protested his sentence by a wave of bombings. Truly, innocent men who were wrongly convicted. I for one believe the claims of the fine bomber throwers they associated with that they were innocent.