American Politics Thread V: We're Just Biden Our Time ...

[Kowani]

Ya the GOP only cares about power. They don’t care about anything else

And it will backfire on them. Voter suppression can only go so far.

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

[San Lumen]

Widespread blackout and fire at an electric substation in Monacillos, in Puerto Rico, authorities investigating possible cyberattack

800,000 people went without power

A large fire at an electrical substation for Puerto Rico's new electricity provider, Luma Energy, knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of the island's residents Thursday.

At the height of the blackout, nearly 800,000 customers were without power, according to Luma. By midnight, roughly 60,000 customers were still in the dark.

"The fire caused major blackouts across the entire island. The situation is under assessment and work is being done to restore the system," LUMA Energy tweeted.

The fire and blackout were not the only crises facing Luma on Thursday.

Earlier that day, the company announced its client portal and mobile app fell victim to a cyberattack that disrupted customer access to its online services.

The DDoS attack, or distributed denial of service attack, generated 2 million visits per second to the client portal and mobile app, impacting many customers' ability to access account information, according to Luma.

The company said in a statement that it "regrets that its customers experienced the inconvenience the attack may have caused and looks forward to continuing to provide them with an exceptional customer service experience." It's unclear whether the fire and DDoS attack are connected. Luma is just 10 days into its new role as the island's power authority. The prior energy provider for the island, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, had its own notorious struggles with blackouts, bankruptcy and overall mismanagement in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Officials had cautioned residents to be patient in the early days of the transition as Luma inherited frail electric infrastructure. But even before Thursday's blackout, more than 1 million customers lost power just this month alone, not counting those affected by the substation fire, according to The Associated Press. The fire broke out in a transformer at Luma's Monacillo substation in San Juan, according to the company. Police and fire services went to the scene. No injuries have been reported.

In a message shared on social media, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (PNP) referred to the incident as an "explosion."

Pierluisi said both state and federal law enforcement authorities are investigating. He added, "Whoever is responsible for it will have to answer to the People of Puerto Rico."

FBI San Juan authorities said they are "evaluating" the power outage and encouraged people with information to come forward.

The blackout comes as the island is still working to vaccinate its residents against the coronavirus. Vaccines must be kept at a low temperature to remain viable.

The island's Secretary of Health Carlos Mellado López said in a tweet that hospital services remain uninterrupted and that vaccines are still safe. "Our suppliers have generators and we have over 70 support centers to keep them safe," he wrote.

a second update-so far, it appears the cyberattack and the fire are unconnected events

why the hell is a power plant connected to the internet? Its asking for hacking.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

I think you overestimate how important gay marriage is to people Lumen. If Donald Trump outlawed gay marriage for whatever reason, around half of voters would accept it.

Eh not exactly. Gay marriage is actually less of an issue than abortion. Only a small chunk of the nation actually would care. Probably about 30% not half.

Maybe I worded it wrong. Half at most would care. Most would not. When you see a poll that says "71% of Americans support gay marriage," it means 71% either really support it or don't really care that it exists. Much of that 71% could also say "oh that's a shame. Anyways" if it was outlawed again.

[San Lumen]

And it will backfire on them. Voter suppression can only go so far.

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

who comprise the majority of the population. An outright overturning of an election is not something many are going to stand for.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

And it will backfire on them. Voter suppression can only go so far.

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

[Immortan Khan]

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

who comprise the majority of the population. An outright overturning of an election is not something many are going to stand for.

So? The Bolsheviks lost their election.

[Drew Durrnil]

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

how about we pull a uno reverse card and make it so that only people with a college education can vote?

[San Lumen]

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

If they could Republicans would likely pass a law allowing only land owners or possibly farmers and those in small towns to vote.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

how about we pull a uno reverse card and make it so that only people with a college education can vote?

Idk. I was in college once but I never graduated and I don't wanna lose my voting rights.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

If they could Republicans would likely pass a law allowing only land owners or possibly farmers and those in small towns to vote.

Nah cause then much of their base wouldn't be able to vote. If they could, they'd pass a law saying "anyone associated with extremism can't vote" and then they'd define associating with extremism as being "showing support for radical leftwing groups like Antifa or BLM."

[San Lumen]

If they could Republicans would likely pass a law allowing only land owners or possibly farmers and those in small towns to vote.

Nah cause then much of their base wouldn't be able to vote. If they could, they'd pass a law saying "anyone associated with extremism can't vote" and then they'd define associating with extremism as being "showing support for radical leftwing groups like Antifa or BLM."

Or instead of that only white land owners can vote.

[Kowani]

I think you overestimate how important gay marriage is to people Lumen. If Donald Trump outlawed gay marriage for whatever reason, around half of voters would accept it.

Eh not exactly. Gay marriage is actually less of an issue than abortion. Only a small chunk of the nation actually would care. Probably about 30% not half.

Indeed-precisely 30% are opposed, and not all of those opposed would back a ban

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

who comprise the majority of the population. An outright overturning of an election is not something many are going to stand for.

this doesn't mean anything

i mean yeah we could do a mass unrest and violence in the streets but that's not really an endorsement of the democratic system

they don't really need to lock down every election in the country
they just need to get a majority in the competitive areas
voter suppression-as the case of reconstruction mississippi demonstrates-is a very powerful weapon

with who
urbanites don't matter to the GOP
and thanks to the media propaganda machine, a large portion of the country will jump up and cheer for it
especially since it's not accompanied by the buffoonery of the capitol storming

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

about 47% just outright admit they think it's more important for the GOP to change voting rules than to get new voters

[San Lumen]

Eh not exactly. Gay marriage is actually less of an issue than abortion. Only a small chunk of the nation actually would care. Probably about 30% not half.

Indeed-precisely 30% are opposed, and not all of those opposed would back a ban

who comprise the majority of the population. An outright overturning of an election is not something many are going to stand for.

this doesn't mean anything

i mean yeah we could do a mass unrest and violence in the streets but that's not really an endorsement of the democratic system

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

about 47% just outright admit they think it's more important for the GOP to change voting rules than to get new voters

Many Republicans have therefore all but admitted they don't believe in free and fair elections and would likely completely repeal the VRA if they could.

[Thermodolia]

Many of Trump's fans are more than fine limiting voting to "real americans only" (Trump fans).

how about we pull a uno reverse card and make it so that only people with a college education can vote?

Service equals citizenship. Only veterans and first responders can vote.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Nah cause then much of their base wouldn't be able to vote. If they could, they'd pass a law saying "anyone associated with extremism can't vote" and then they'd define associating with extremism as being "showing support for radical leftwing groups like Antifa or BLM."

Or instead of that only white land owners can vote.

No because a large amount of Trump supporters don't own land, and some aren't white. If trump's primary concern is seizing power, he isn't gonna decide who can and can't vote based on land ownership.

[Punished UMN]

Lumen, the problem Ko and Co. (I will allow Kowani to purchase this trademark from me) are trying to point out is that the way the legal system works, it is entirely possible to break down the electoral system without actually violating the letter of the law, and if they succeed in doing that, it would be an uphill battle to restore those voting rights, because then the right wing of the GOP would have a built-in advantage over the opposition. Yes, obviously it would be unpopular with the people who don't vote for the GOP, but the whole point of these changes to voting law is to remove as many of those people from the electoral decision-making process as possible, so it's a bit of a moot point.

These legal and politically theoretical developments are indeed troubling for a liberal understanding of the world and of democracy, but you must understand them if you want that liberal, democratic order to survive. The authoritarians working on backsliding are playing the game, and if you won't play it against them, they'll crush you.

[San Lumen]

Lumen, the problem Ko and Co. (I will allow Kowani to purchase this trademark from me) are trying to point out is that the way the legal system works, it is entirely possible to break down the electoral system without actually violating the letter of the law, and if they succeed in doing that, it would be an uphill battle to restore those voting rights, because then the right wing of the GOP would have a built-in advantage over the opposition. Yes, obviously it would be unpopular with the people who don't vote for the GOP, but the whole point of these changes to voting law is to remove as many of those people from the electoral decision-making process as possible, so it's a bit of a moot point.

These legal and politically theoretical developments are indeed troubling for a liberal understanding of the world and of democracy, but you must understand them if you want that liberal, democratic order to survive. The authoritarians working on backsliding are playing the game, and if you won't play it against them, they'll crush you.

I understand all of that but you can only go so far as you eventually disenfranchise some of your own voters and you'll turn people off to where it would backfire.

I wish Republicans would just start openly campaigning we don't believe in free and fair elections or democracy and want to make it as hard to vote as possible and ruling by minority is the proper thing to have in a Republic. in addition if we don't win its fraud.

[Shrillland]

MALDEF sues Illinois over state legislative maps citing the fact that Census data wasn't used to make them

It was bound to happen, the Dems wanted their maps now rather than wait for the data to come in because that would lead to a bipartisan commission rather than the legislature itself.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Lumen, the problem Ko and Co. (I will allow Kowani to purchase this trademark from me) are trying to point out is that the way the legal system works, it is entirely possible to break down the electoral system without actually violating the letter of the law, and if they succeed in doing that, it would be an uphill battle to restore those voting rights, because then the right wing of the GOP would have a built-in advantage over the opposition. Yes, obviously it would be unpopular with the people who don't vote for the GOP, but the whole point of these changes to voting law is to remove as many of those people from the electoral decision-making process as possible, so it's a bit of a moot point.

These legal and politically theoretical developments are indeed troubling for a liberal understanding of the world and of democracy, but you must understand them if you want that liberal, democratic order to survive. The authoritarians working on backsliding are playing the game, and if you won't play it against them, they'll crush you.

I understand all of that but you can only go so far as you eventually disenfranchise some of your own voters and you'll turn people off to where it would backfire.

I wish Republicans would just start openly campaigning we don't believe in free and fair elections or democracy and want to make it as hard to vote as possible and ruling by minority is the proper thing to have in a Republic. in addition if we don't win its fraud.

Wouldn't surprise me if they eventually do.

[Gravlen]

And you’d have a Supreme Court completely out of touch with public opinion.

Well you got 7 GOP justices vs 2... guess what abortion is gonna be illegal.

the courts when they strike it down?

IF SL, a very big IF they strike it down. SCOTUS is going to live as a 7-2 GOP majority for the next few decades.

5 vs 4, possibly 6 vs 3 if Breyer isn't replaced by Biden/Harris but by the next Republican president.

[Shrillland]

Lumen, the problem Ko and Co. (I will allow Kowani to purchase this trademark from me) are trying to point out is that the way the legal system works, it is entirely possible to break down the electoral system without actually violating the letter of the law, and if they succeed in doing that, it would be an uphill battle to restore those voting rights, because then the right wing of the GOP would have a built-in advantage over the opposition. Yes, obviously it would be unpopular with the people who don't vote for the GOP, but the whole point of these changes to voting law is to remove as many of those people from the electoral decision-making process as possible, so it's a bit of a moot point.

These legal and politically theoretical developments are indeed troubling for a liberal understanding of the world and of democracy, but you must understand them if you want that liberal, democratic order to survive. The authoritarians working on backsliding are playing the game, and if you won't play it against them, they'll crush you.

I understand all of that but you can only go so far as you eventually disenfranchise some of your own voters and you'll turn people off to where it would backfire.

I wish Republicans would just start openly campaigning we don't believe in free and fair elections or democracy and want to make it as hard to vote as possible and ruling by minority is the proper thing to have in a Republic. in addition if we don't win its fraud.

If the number of your own being lost is small compared to the larger number you want to get rid of, it's a sacrifice that's worth the goal. That's how war works.

[Salus Maior]

I wish Republicans would just start openly campaigning we don't believe in free and fair elections or democracy and want to make it as hard to vote as possible and ruling by minority is the proper thing to have in a Republic. in addition if we don't win its fraud.

Yeah, well, that's obviously not realistic.

[Kowani]

Lumen, the problem Ko and Co. (I will allow Kowani to purchase this trademark from me)

ah, i see you've embraced capitalism

are trying to point out is that the way the legal system works, it is entirely possible to break down the electoral system without actually violating the letter of the law, and if they succeed in doing that, it would be an uphill battle to restore those voting rights, because then the right wing of the GOP would have a built-in advantage over the opposition. Yes, obviously it would be unpopular with the people who don't vote for the GOP, but the whole point of these changes to voting law is to remove as many of those people from the electoral decision-making process as possible, so it's a bit of a moot point.

These legal and politically theoretical developments are indeed troubling for a liberal understanding of the world and of democracy, but you must understand them if you want that liberal, democratic order to survive. The authoritarians working on backsliding are playing the game, and if you won't play it against them, they'll crush you.

this
my one addendum is that while this is partially an elite movement, they're buoyed from any intraparty backlash by the decades of voter fraud rhetoric (which trump, as per usual, intensified), and the grassroots delegitimization of democratic electoral victories as a result of demographic/culture war

[Gravlen]

I understand all of that but you can only go so far as you eventually disenfranchise some of your own voters and you'll turn people off to where it would backfire.

Will it though? Backfire? If they can keep stoking the culture war angle and the electorate is shaking in fear for the imminent marxist-socialist takeover, what will the electorate be willing to sacrifice?

[San Lumen]

I wish Republicans would just start openly campaigning we don't believe in free and fair elections or democracy and want to make it as hard to vote as possible and ruling by minority is the proper thing to have in a Republic. in addition if we don't win its fraud.

Yeah, well, that's obviously not realistic.

Why isn't it realistic? There actions say that's what they believe so why not campaign on it.