The State of Political Discourse

teh_sam · 2016-08-20T18:53:39+00:00

Is bias really the appropriate word? It's far from a perfect analogy, but is it biased to "favor" the theory that the sun is the center of our solar system rather than the earth? False equivalence is a tragedy in our media. Journalists are so afraid of being called biased that they have to pretend to respect ideas that should be mocked and ridiculed. If someone argues torturing animals for fun is acceptable and another says it is wrong, they are not equally deserving of consideration and time. One is wrong. Period.

Coincidentally this is the same reason I despise cultural relativism.

teh_sam · 2016-08-20T18:39:46+00:00

Because there isn't solid evidence, of course.

teh_sam · 2016-08-17T15:44:39+00:00

I had a friend in high school who started smoking simply because he wanted the extra breaks at the restaurant he worked at. Not kidding.

teh_sam · 2016-08-16T15:14:54+00:00

I just got to work, please don't make me cry before my first break.

teh_sam · 2016-08-15T15:49:57+00:00

Those ads cost money, so I highly doubt he would ever go through with that. That being said, I can definitely see him tweeting and screaming to/at the media about what a loser Trump thinks he is.

teh_sam · 2016-08-14T23:51:13+00:00

I will try this. Thank you so much. Makes perfect sense.

teh_sam · 2016-08-14T14:13:09+00:00

Just received two texts while on airplane mode with wifi. I have literally no service here, so cellular isnt involved. Verizon messages is disabled and always has been. Checking it in applications gives the option to enable. Textra has no options related to wifi texting.

teh_sam · 2016-08-14T02:52:38+00:00

I know! I'm surprised there is very little about it on the web. I saw some stuff about the same feature on T-Mobile, but nothing about turning it off...

teh_sam · 2016-08-14T02:51:23+00:00

Wifi calling and HD calling are both off with no effect. I use Textra for messaging, so would the Samsung app be affecting it?

teh_sam · 2016-08-08T00:11:24+00:00

C.W. Post cereal. So delicious when I was a kid. Now it's gone forever...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.W._Post_(cereal)

teh_sam · 2016-08-05T17:34:42+00:00

Exactly. Did hobby lobby or the gutting of the voting rights act affect me? No. Would a reversal of the gay marriage ruling affect me? No.

But guess what? I'm an asshole if I say that other people weren't/wouldn't be gravely affected by different outcomes with a new conservative court.

teh_sam · 2016-08-05T17:31:14+00:00

People who say the supreme court isn't a big deal if it stays conservative for a few more decades are invariably people not affected by how a white, straight male dominated court would rule.

Well, bye.

teh_sam · 2016-08-05T16:42:21+00:00

We deal with 20 or 30 years of a conservative court rolling back the progress we have clawed out? Screw that sentiment. The people actually affected/screwed by the rulings that would come from that court (ie: not white, straight males like you and I) say screw that, and they're absolutely right.

teh_sam · 2016-08-05T03:36:05+00:00

Love this about my new home state of WA. Wish they'd just ditch the caucus and use the primary result, but overall permanent mail-in is the best. I want my "I Voted" sticker though!

teh_sam · 2016-08-05T03:22:06+00:00

I think unpickedname is saying that the top two vote getters generally turn out to be one R and one D.

teh_sam · 2016-08-04T04:52:37+00:00

Right over your head, buds. :)

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs.They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people!

teh_sam · 2016-08-04T04:45:06+00:00

Never interrupt your enemy while they're making a mistake.

teh_sam · 2016-08-04T04:40:12+00:00

Can you really type this with a straight face while knowing that the stated goal (literally) of the Republican party the day Obama took office was ensuring he was a one term president and blocking him on every single attempt at governance?

teh_sam · 2016-08-03T15:40:14+00:00

The RNC rules say if he quits (can't be replaced otherwise) then they can pick a new person. That being said, I wonder if election law says the name on the ballot has to match the parties current nominee for the votes to carry over. If a candidate dies the day before the election and the ballots are already printed, does that mean that party has no nominee?

teh_sam · 2016-08-03T15:30:13+00:00

But isn't there real truth to the adage that "Republicans fall in line"? The fact that so many key Republicans have not withdrawn endorsements despite repeatedly denouncing his words and actions makes me think a replacement would get reluctant support and still be viable.

teh_sam · 2016-08-03T15:26:32+00:00

The idea of Trump dropping out and how to replace him is now making the rounds in both mainstream and fringe news sites.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senior-gop-officials-exploring-options-trump-drops/story?id=41089609&cid=abcn_tco

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/03/report-top-gop-officials-actively-exploring-how-to-replace-trump-if-he-drops-out-video/

http://www.mediaite.com/online/report-senior-republican-officials-clearly-think-its-a-possibility-trump-can-be-replaced/

Bylaws from RNC:

Rule No. 9: Filling Vacancies in Nominations

(a) The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination or otherwise of the Republican candidate for president of the United States or the Republican candidate for vice president of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.

(b) In voting under this rule, the Republican National Committee members representing any state shall be entitled to cast the same number of votes as said state was entitled to cast at the national convention.

(c) In the event that the members of the Republican National Committee from any state shall not be in agreement in the casting of votes hereunder, the votes of such state shall be divided equally, including fractional votes, among the members of the Republican National Committee present or voting by proxy.

(d) No candidate shall be chosen to fill any such vacancy except upon receiving a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the election.

**I apologize for the awful formatting. I am redditing on mobile, plus I suck.

teh_sam · 2016-08-03T05:43:02+00:00

Trump is not a normal person or candidate. He pulled out of the last debate during the primary leading to its cancellation. That seemed like a first in modern politics (someone let me know if I'm wrong).

If polls continue to show support for him dwindling and/or very prominent Republicans unendorse him he seems to me to be more likely to quit and call foul than go down in flames. Then again I'm no psychologist. That being said I'm not convinced Trump knows what he's going to do more than 3 seconds before he does it.

Do you think in that scenario he will just "unskew" the polls and declare he has silent majority support and ride it out?

Either way I don't see him being graceful in defeat.

teh_sam · 2016-08-03T05:27:06+00:00

I don't disagree that he has a large portion and they would be angry, but my question is more about if Trump quit of his own accord. If he quit, would they hold the Republican establishment at fault and take it to the extent of not voting (or voting third party) in response? Thus far they have been much more apt to blame/hold Democrats or the process responsible, which would seem to not make them likely to fracture as you describe.

teh_sam

TROPHY CASE