NationStates

San Lumen wrote:https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-balloon-releases-20210409-bdclbphe55hkbczye3vpm4i4om-story.html

Maryland bill would end balloon releases, which can endanger animals and foul environment. The bill awaits Governor Hogan’s signature.

We should probably stop wasting helium in balloons as well. It's a vital and limited resource.

Major-Tom wrote:

Kowani wrote:Note: the victory of MTG is largely due to the gerrymandering of an extremely pro-trump district (it’s like the 10th most extreme in the country), and she could probably be gerrymandered out after redistricting.
Now, whether the GOP would do that and what new seat they would create is slightly harder to know, and it’s unlikely they would, but it’s not as if these patterns developed independently of choices from people who should have known better

To be fair, it's not that her district is gerrymandered, it's that the GA GOP packed so many Dems in tightly compact districts that most all the remaining districts inevitably just end up extremely Republican. The gerrymandered districts are the ones they drew for Atlanta. That whole region of North Georgia hardly has any Dem precincts.

Not to mention, we see crazies of equal insanity (see Lauren Boebert) being elected in mere R+3, R+5 districts. When 90% of the GOP is more or less on board with this shit, it's easy for them to win with crazies, even in merely GOP-leaning districts.

And in perhaps a sign of change the city of Grand Junction which is in her district saw every candidate she endorsed for the recent city council election lose.

Trollzyn the Infinite wrote:

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:
Cryptofascist doesn't even do justice. They are a fascist party, not only checking off most if not all of the symptoms of fascism but including many self identified fascists such as neo nazis.

I still wouldn't go so far as to call them Fascists purely because the OG Fascists actually had class to go with their evil. Nice uniforms, strict moral codes, the inspiring aesthetic of a rising international power, leadership composed of educated war veterans, etc.

The GOP doesn't have these things. They have silver-spoon millionaire playboys who rape little kids for their leaders, ugly baseball caps with dumb slogans, tacticool gear, an obsession with the flags of losers, and an army of angry trailer park rednecks with zero critical thinking skills.

Say what you will about the Nazis; they knew something about image. The GOP can't relate.

Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

Salus Maior wrote:

Trollzyn the Infinite wrote:
I still wouldn't go so far as to call them Fascists purely because the OG Fascists actually had class to go with their evil. Nice uniforms, strict moral codes, the inspiring aesthetic of a rising international power, leadership composed of educated war veterans, etc.

The GOP doesn't have these things. They have silver-spoon millionaire playboys who rape little kids for their leaders, ugly baseball caps with dumb slogans, tacticool gear, an obsession with the flags of losers, and an army of angry trailer park rednecks with zero critical thinking skills.

Say what you will about the Nazis; they knew something about image. The GOP can't relate.

Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

Goering is the classic example of that.

Salus Maior wrote:

Trollzyn the Infinite wrote:
I still wouldn't go so far as to call them Fascists purely because the OG Fascists actually had class to go with their evil. Nice uniforms, strict moral codes, the inspiring aesthetic of a rising international power, leadership composed of educated war veterans, etc.

The GOP doesn't have these things. They have silver-spoon millionaire playboys who rape little kids for their leaders, ugly baseball caps with dumb slogans, tacticool gear, an obsession with the flags of losers, and an army of angry trailer park rednecks with zero critical thinking skills.

Say what you will about the Nazis; they knew something about image. The GOP can't relate.

Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

I clearly remember Hitler once giving a speech in which he said (semi paraphrasing), "we may do terrible things but we do it for the good of the fatherland, the greatest good of all." The Nazis didn't care about morals, they cared about doing whatever it took to further the interests of the "Aryan Race" and defeat "Judeo-Bolshevism" and the Slavic masses.

Kowani wrote:

San Lumen wrote:The fact that someone like MTG can win should say all one needs to know.

Note: the victory of MTG is largely due to the gerrymandering of an extremely pro-trump district (it’s like the 10th most extreme in the country), and she could probably be gerrymandered out after redistricting.
Now, whether the GOP would do that and what new seat they would create is slightly harder to know, and it’s unlikely they would, but it’s not as if these patterns developed independently of choices from people who should have known better

I'm curious, what is the most extreme district in the country?

USS Monitor wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

Goering is the classic example of that.

Here's a hot tip from my life's experiences, if someone takes pride in how "morally upright" they are, they're probably far more messed up than the average person.

Salus Maior wrote:

USS Monitor wrote:
Goering is the classic example of that.

Here's a hot tip from my life's experiences, if someone takes pride in how "morally upright" they are, they're probably far more messed up than the average person.

I knew a girl who constantly bitched to me about how "no one is fair to me and they're all turning their backs on me and I'm a good person.

Can confirm, you are right. And she was being dishonest when she said she was a good person.

USS Monitor wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

Goering is the classic example of that.

This is an odd question but who among the nazis was the “crispest”?

Western Fardelshufflestein wrote:

USS Monitor wrote:
One reason I run around with Union Civil War imagery even though I am not very patriotic. Cos there are all these people who glamorize the Confederacy, and they say it's about respecting their courage, and I think, "But the Union guys fought bravely too! Why aren't you doing this for the Union guys?"

I don't get it, either. You can be like, "Yeet, I'm from the South" without being a Confederate sympathizer. It can just be...where you're from. The Southeastern US isn't 100% Proud Boys/KKK psychos.

It wasn't a real country.
It lasted ~four years.
It was a temper tantrum.

I mean, it lasted longer than those dumm CHOP/CHAZ/whatever the hell they were "pOLicE-fReE sAfE zOnE" temper tantrums.

CHAZ isn't really comparable to the CSA, and your trying to compare the two to put the CSA in a slightly better light is a bit... telling. For someone who's trying to fight a strawman you certainly seem to enjoy using them.

Yes, the Confederates were trying to be their own country. It failed, but it was much more than just a "temper tantrum".

Salus Maior wrote:

Trollzyn the Infinite wrote:
I still wouldn't go so far as to call them Fascists purely because the OG Fascists actually had class to go with their evil. Nice uniforms, strict moral codes, the inspiring aesthetic of a rising international power, leadership composed of educated war veterans, etc.

The GOP doesn't have these things. They have silver-spoon millionaire playboys who rape little kids for their leaders, ugly baseball caps with dumb slogans, tacticool gear, an obsession with the flags of losers, and an army of angry trailer park rednecks with zero critical thinking skills.

Say what you will about the Nazis; they knew something about image. The GOP can't relate.

Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

I don't understand why people who aren't Nazis call people degenerate, when that entails accepting the Nazi viewpoint on society.

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

I clearly remember Hitler once giving a speech in which he said (semi paraphrasing), "we may do terrible things but we do it for the good of the fatherland, the greatest good of all." The Nazis didn't care about morals, they cared about doing whatever it took to further the interests of the "Aryan Race" and defeat "Judeo-Bolshevism" and the Slavic masses.

Even there, Hitler did not stick to his alleged "morals." At the end of the war, he ordered a bunch of scorched earth tactics that would have crippled the post-war rebuilding of Germany, and he rambled about punishing the German people for letting him down.

Ifreann wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

I don't understand why people who aren't Nazis call people degenerate, when that entails accepting the Nazi viewpoint on society.

Some people are legit degenerates though. Case in point, Matt Gaetz.

The nazis believed people were racially degenerates or degenerate by heredity. I believe people are degenerates by the choices they make and the way they treat other people.

Ifreann wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Eh, that's what they wanted to appear like. In reality a lot of them were degenerates.

I don't understand why people who aren't Nazis call people degenerate, when that entails accepting the Nazi viewpoint on society.

Degenerate just means morally reprehensible, having a broken sense of morality which slopes into greater and greater immorality. Which describes the Nazis more so than whoever they were calling 'degenerate'.

Alcala-Cordel wrote:

Western Fardelshufflestein wrote:I don't get it, either. You can be like, "Yeet, I'm from the South" without being a Confederate sympathizer. It can just be...where you're from. The Southeastern US isn't 100% Proud Boys/KKK psychos.

It wasn't a real country.
It lasted ~four years.
It was a temper tantrum.

I mean, it lasted longer than those dumm CHOP/CHAZ/whatever the hell they were "pOLicE-fReE sAfE zOnE" temper tantrums.

CHAZ isn't really comparable to the CSA, and your trying to compare the two to put the CSA in a slightly better light is a bit... telling. For someone who's trying to fight a strawman you certainly seem to enjoy using them.

Yes, the Confederates were trying to be their own country. It failed, but it was much more than just a "temper tantrum".

I'm not fighting a straw man. More of an incidental false equivalency (and whataboutism). Ok...wait, I think you're right. CHAZ was bardzo głupi, though.

I mean...seceding from the Union...could the South really not find any other less extreme options? It's just treason. And it lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Yes, it was a culmination of several things, and they probably had tried (or felt they had tried) everything else, which still isn't an excuse for it, but hey...they lost! So now they're bacc.

Salus Maior wrote:

Kowani wrote:Note: the victory of MTG is largely due to the gerrymandering of an extremely pro-trump district (it’s like the 10th most extreme in the country), and she could probably be gerrymandered out after redistricting.
Now, whether the GOP would do that and what new seat they would create is slightly harder to know, and it’s unlikely they would, but it’s not as if these patterns developed independently of choices from people who should have known better

I'm curious, what is the most extreme district in the country?

By county: Roberts County, Texas (96.2% Trump) and Kalawao County, Hawaii (95.8% Biden)
By district: Alabama’s 4th District (81.2% Trump) and California’s 13th District (88.9% Biden)

USS Monitor wrote:

Western Fardelshufflestein wrote:I don't get it, either. You can be like, "Yeet, I'm from the South" without being a Confederate sympathizer. It can just be...where you're from. The Southeastern US isn't 100% Proud Boys/KKK psychos.

It wasn't a real country.
It lasted ~four years.
It was a temper tantrum.

I mean, it lasted longer than those dumm CHOP/CHAZ/whatever the hell they were "pOLicE-fReE sAfE zOnE" temper tantrums.

There are even Southern Unionists you can point to if you want to argue the point that not everyone was evil and obsessed with slavery. George Thomas was a decent general for the Union.

I long for the day that Zombie Uncle Billy rises from the grave with his army to destroy every Confederate monument that hasn't been torn down yet.

The United Confederacy of Texas wrote:

USS Monitor wrote:
There are even Southern Unionists you can point to if you want to argue the point that not everyone was evil and obsessed with slavery. George Thomas was a decent general for the Union.

I long for the day that Zombie Uncle Billy rises from the grave with his army to destroy every Confederate monument that hasn't been torn down yet.

I want George Washington to be resurrected so he can see modern-day America and go "What the F***."
He knew this would happen if we created political parties. Not "this" as in the modern world, but "this" as in division.

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:

Ifreann wrote:I don't understand why people who aren't Nazis call people degenerate, when that entails accepting the Nazi viewpoint on society.

Some people are legit degenerates though. Case in point, Matt Gaetz.

The nazis believed people were racially degenerates or degenerate by heredity. I believe people are degenerates by the choices they make and the way they treat other people.

"Degenerate" isn't a more mature sounding synonym for "icky". To degenerate is to make something unlike its own kind, to make it move away from its own genus. The Nazis believed that the German people, the race of Germans, were being made weak by the influence of the Asiatic Jew, were being made impure and "un-German". Do you think that the sex crimes of Matt Gaetz are causing the American people to lose their racial strengths and become impure and less white? I'm sure you don't, but that is essentially what you are saying. You don't have to have the conscious intention of agreeing with fascists, if you're using their language in the same way they use it you're promoting their ideas. Just like when people call something "gay" when they mean "bad", that promotes the idea that there's something wrong with being gay, even if the person saying it doesn't believe that.

Ifreann wrote:

Borderlands of Rojava wrote:
Some people are legit degenerates though. Case in point, Matt Gaetz.

The nazis believed people were racially degenerates or degenerate by heredity. I believe people are degenerates by the choices they make and the way they treat other people.

"Degenerate" isn't a more mature sounding synonym for "icky". To degenerate is to make something unlike its own kind, to make it move away from its own genus. The Nazis believed that the German people, the race of Germans, were being made weak by the influence of the Asiatic Jew, were being made impure and "un-German". Do you think that the sex crimes of Matt Gaetz are causing the American people to lose their racial strengths and become impure and less white? I'm sure you don't, but that is essentially what you are saying. You don't have to have the conscious intention of agreeing with fascists, if you're using their language in the same way they use it you're promoting their ideas. Just like when people call something "gay" when they mean "bad", that promotes the idea that there's something wrong with being gay, even if the person saying it doesn't believe that.

That's the Nazi concept of the term. But the term exists outside of Nazism.

Salus Maior wrote:

Ifreann wrote:I don't understand why people who aren't Nazis call people degenerate, when that entails accepting the Nazi viewpoint on society.

Degenerate just means morally reprehensible, having a broken sense of morality which slopes into greater and greater immorality. Which describes the Nazis more so than whoever they were calling 'degenerate'.

The "gener" in the middle there is from the Latin for race, genus. Is it morally reprehensible for a person or people to move away from their race? That's Nazi logic, and I'm sure you don't agree with it, but it is implicit in the term.

Ifreann wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Degenerate just means morally reprehensible, having a broken sense of morality which slopes into greater and greater immorality. Which describes the Nazis more so than whoever they were calling 'degenerate'.

The "gener" in the middle there is from the Latin for race, genus. Is it morally reprehensible for a person or people to move away from their race? That's Nazi logic, and I'm sure you don't agree with it, but it is implicit in the term.

Well, the Nazis certainly left their people worse off by their moral downward spiral.

Maybe there are some forms of immorality that a few do that leave the rest of the people worse off. Not in a "racial" sense because that's all garbage, but maybe the immorality of Gaetz and others does leave the rest of us worse off.

Ifreann wrote:

Salus Maior wrote:
Degenerate just means morally reprehensible, having a broken sense of morality which slopes into greater and greater immorality. Which describes the Nazis more so than whoever they were calling 'degenerate'.

The "gener" in the middle there is from the Latin for race, genus. Is it morally reprehensible for a person or people to move away from their race? That's Nazi logic, and I'm sure you don't agree with it, but it is implicit in the term.

This is an absurd level of pedantry and not how anyone uses the word in modern English. Salus is absolutley correct that the vast majority of people, including dictionaries, use it to refer to moral bankruptcy.

Kowani wrote:

San Lumen wrote:The fact that someone like MTG can win should say all one needs to know.

Note: the victory of MTG is largely due to the gerrymandering of an extremely pro-trump district (it’s like the 10th most extreme in the country), and she could probably be gerrymandered out after redistricting.
Now, whether the GOP would do that and what new seat they would create is slightly harder to know, and it’s unlikely they would, but it’s not as if these patterns developed independently of choices from people who should have known better

She’s also there because her opponent’s wife was sent death threats

Washington Resistance Army wrote:

Ifreann wrote:The "gener" in the middle there is from the Latin for race, genus. Is it morally reprehensible for a person or people to move away from their race? That's Nazi logic, and I'm sure you don't agree with it, but it is implicit in the term.

This is an absurd level of pedantry and not how anyone uses the word in modern English. Salus is absolutley correct that the vast majority of people, including dictionaries, use it to refer to moral bankruptcy.

But then you can’t smugly call everyone a Nazi