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

[Thermodolia]

And that’s not going to go over well with many people. It would be political suicide.

What are the people gonna do?

Hopefully revolt

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

What are the people gonna do?

Vote out those people.

So what stake does a guy in deepest Alabama/Florida or most rural of rural Dakotas have in legal gay marriage that he feels so angry about it he will vote for a Democrat Senator?

[Senkaku]

Yeah probably lol. Have you missed the GOP's transformation? I could totally see a Trumpist Republican saying "They've made their ruling, let them enforce it".

And that’s not going to go over well with many people. It would be political suicide.

It might be political suicide in a democracy, but in a competitive authoritarian system it’s not actually clear that would be the case. Again: when people express fears over the consolidation of minority rule, it’s not just a philosophical principle, it’s because they’re worried the people in charge of the state could and would do things that most people don’t want. People are telling you they’re worried that mass democracy in the US is coming to an end, and your response is just “but that would be unpopular, they’d lose mass democratic elections if they did that!” It’s like a short-circuit or something, are you literally incapable of imagining that the fundamentals of the US political system could be changed by people you don’t like?

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

What are the people gonna do?

Vote out those people.

SL have you perhaps realised that GOP's target demographic for these sort of stuff is not the urbanite intellectual voter? I.e. you?

[Thermodolia]

Why aren’t we isolating our power infrastructure from the rest of the Internet?

Because that costs money and you know how Puerto Rico has none of that stuff.

I’m talking in general. As in the US as a whole seems to have an issue with just leaving critical infrastructure networks connected to the regular internet.

You don’t see a lot of these attacks happening on the military because a lot of military infrastructure networks are isolated from the regular Internet

[Senkaku]

What are the people gonna do?

Vote out those people.

It seems like you literally can’t process why people are worried about voter suppression. It’s not just another liberal aesthetic issue that you get clout for posting about on Instagram or whatever, it’s because it undermines the entire concept of democratic power and accountability and creates a political context where “just vote” is no longer useful advice in any way.

[Thermodolia]

Vote out those people.

SL have you perhaps realised that GOP's target demographic for these sort of stuff is not the urbanite intellectual voter? I.e. you?

The GOPs target demographic isn’t the suburbanite either. At least not everywhere. In Georgia and Arizona the GOP is losing or has lost the suburbs.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

Vote out those people.

It seems like you literally can’t process why people are worried about voter suppression. It’s not just another liberal aesthetic issue that you get clout for posting about on Instagram or whatever, it’s because it undermines the entire concept of democratic power and accountability and creates a political context where “just vote” is no longer useful advice in any way.

SL overall appears to be labouring under some conviction that what he and other urbanite intellectuals believe matters to the GOP. It really doesn't...

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

SL have you perhaps realised that GOP's target demographic for these sort of stuff is not the urbanite intellectual voter? I.e. you?

The GOPs target demographic isn’t the suburbanite either. At least not everywhere. In Georgia and Arizona the GOP is losing or has lost the suburbs.

Yes, my point being that if SL thinks his opinions matters to the GOP, he is fatally mistaken.

[Thermodolia]

The GOPs target demographic isn’t the suburbanite either. At least not everywhere. In Georgia and Arizona the GOP is losing or has lost the suburbs.

Yes, my point being that if SL thinks his opinions matters to the GOP, he is fatally mistaken.

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

[Myrensis]

It is the downside of the "America Exceptionalism" bullshit everyone gets spoonfed from birth in this country. It doesn't matter how brazen the GOP's attacks and attempts to subvert and undermine our democratic institutions are, it can't be that serious because everyone knows the breakdown of democracy and rise of illiberal authoritarian regimes is stuff that only happens in 3rd world shit holes, not in the gReaTeSt CouNtRy oN eArtH.

[Shrillland]

Why aren’t we isolating our power infrastructure from the rest of the Internet?

Because that costs money and you know how Puerto Rico has none of that stuff.

Despite that, PREPA was still privatised this month and now charges $600-700 a month...where's the extra cash to take care of these things, I wonder?

[San Lumen]

Yes, my point being that if SL thinks his opinions matters to the GOP, he is fatally mistaken.

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. Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

[Lady Victory]

It is the downside of the "America Exceptionalism" bullshit everyone gets spoonfed from birth in this country. It doesn't matter how brazen the GOP's attacks and attempts to subvert and undermine our democratic institutions are, it can't be that serious because everyone knows the breakdown of democracy and rise of illiberal authoritarian regimes is stuff that only happens in 3rd world shit holes, not in the gReaTeSt CouNtRy oN eArtH.

It's actually scary how much of a grip American Exceptionalism has on the views of the average American, even those who reject it.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Yeah probably lol. Have you missed the GOP's transformation? I could totally see a Trumpist Republican saying "They've made their ruling, let them enforce it".

And that’s not going to go over well with many people. It would be political suicide especially when 70 percent support it.

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.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

It is the downside of the "America Exceptionalism" bullshit everyone gets spoonfed from birth in this country. It doesn't matter how brazen the GOP's attacks and attempts to subvert and undermine our democratic institutions are, it can't be that serious because everyone knows the breakdown of democracy and rise of illiberal authoritarian regimes is stuff that only happens in 3rd world shit holes, not in the gReaTeSt CouNtRy oN eArtH.

No you see, that stuff only happens in brown people countries. That couldn't possibly happen in first world white America, right?

*sound of capitol riot intensifies*

[Kowani]

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

[Immortan Khan]

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. Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

Yeah and? You're acting like democratic regimes have never been done away with by authoritarians before.

[Thermodolia]

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. Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

Dude 15% of the nation are Q nutters. This isn’t a problem you can just ignore

[Borderlands of Rojava]

And it will backfire on them. Voter suppression can only go so far. Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

Yeah and? You're acting like democratic regimes have never been done away with by authoritarians before.

Maybe we could wave the constitution in their face and yell "no you can't do that" and they'll listen. Lmfao.

[San Lumen]

And it will backfire on them. Voter suppression can only go so far. Outright overturning elections will not go over well either.

Yeah and? You're acting like democratic regimes have never been done away with by authoritarians before.

Im under no illusions. Republicans seem intent on creating a one party state where they remain in power via winning a minority of the vote.

[Immortan Khan]

"Sulla taking power for himself would be really unpopular, he wont do it because then he might lose in the next vote for consul" - random Roman citizen

[Thermodolia]

And that’s not going to go over well with many people. It would be political suicide especially when 70 percent support it.

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.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

"Sulla taking power for himself would be really unpopular, he wont do it because then he might lose in the next vote for consul" - random Roman citizen

"Hitler burning down the Reichstag would be illegal and him and his fans would go to jail. There's no way he could get away with it."

-Yohan Guttenbaugh, The Berlin Free Press, 1932.

[Thermodolia]

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

I’m glad the cyber attack and fire are unconnected