Blackbeard

Blackbeard, 2 days ago

Wait, so now Alito gives a shit about oversight??? Guess it’s “oversight for thee, but not for me.”

Blackbeard, 3 days ago (edited 2 days ago)

I hear you, but this article makes clear in a way that no others have that the decision to put them in time out must be made by Congress, not Biden. Most of the transfers he’s “approving” throughout this war, were mandated years ago.

Blackbeard, 2 days ago

State Department approval also means a possible result is “State Department rejection”.

Did you notice that he said it would be illegal to send bombs to them if they’re being used on civilians? That’s because rejection because they “can’t be trusted” isn’t a thing that can happen. It must be a violation of the statue that was passed to mandate the shipment, or some other law. His DoD needs rock solid legal grounds to refuse a Congressional mandate, and the clearest reason to disobey statue is to show that it requires that you violate some other law.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

They are self-governing organizations of private citizens. What they want is actually all that matters when it comes to when and where they put their candidate on a stage. As corrupting as political parties can be at times, they’re still just groups of citizens who agree to field a candidate in elections. They are under no obligation to give airtime to literally anyone they don’t want to win, and so they’re under no obligation to do literally anything to help RFK Jr between now and November.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Lowering the percentage puts us back in 1992, and we saw where that led us: to today, where the 2 party system is as strong as it ever was. Giving RFK airtime does nothing to meaningfully alter the US political landscape, or the fundamental structure of our election rules.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

We have more than two options each election. In 2020 there were 4, in 2012 and 2016 there were 7, in 2004 and 2008 there were 6, in 2000 there were 8. Having options isn’t the problem. It’s that all the losers get out of running and losing, is absolutely nothing. The only thing that matters is the winner.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago (edited 3 days ago)

No, they’re never taken seriously because it’s a winner-take-all system. The number of people who make a voting decision based on debates is vanishingly small, if it ever even mattered.

edit: Proof that debates are irrelevant.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago (edited 3 days ago)

He also has the possibility to siphon off enough Biden voters to maybe give Trump a way to win. Neither of them have an incentive to give him airtime, and no offense, but as a society I’m not sure I’d say we “deserve” anything, much less a WWE-style debate where a bunch of old dudes yell at each other.

edit to add: Presidential Debates Have Shockingly Little Effect on Election Outcomes.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago (edited 3 days ago)

There is no way he’s pulling anyone away from Biden lol

Factually incorrect:

However, focusing just on those who will definitely vote for Kennedy, Biden loses just 4% of his current support and Trump loses only 3%. Among voters who are not backing either Biden or Trump at this time, about half say they will definitely (15%) or probably (34%) support Kennedy. Another way to look at these results is that about 3 in 10 potential Kennedy supporters would otherwise be inclined to vote for Trump and a similar 3 in 10 would otherwise lean toward Biden, with the remaining 4 in 10 Kennedy backers being people who do not support either major party candidate..

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Here’s one from a month ago, and an ad hominem retort is flatly unconvincing and uninspiring.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Edit: if debates don’t have effect on outcomes, why would it even matter then? lol

I’m quite literally not saying it does. You’re the one hyperventilating over his exclusion. I think it’s just white noise, and the parties are free to do whatever the fuck they want, because they’re private organizations.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

That study looked into 62 elections in ten countries since 1952. I’m sure people said the debates helped them make up their minds, but the statistical evidence doesn’t bear that out.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Oh…you’re one of those.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Amen to that. I DESPISE how debates have morphed into glorified episodes of American Idol.

Admittedly, this is probably self serving because Biden stumbles enough that his performance would be made into a ‘bIdEn oLd!’ spectacle by the blowhard and his Fox News minions, but debates should NEVER have devolved into the WWE shitshows they’ve been for the last decade. That format is partly to blame for Trump’s rise to power, because they basically rolled out the red carpet for a bloviating showman to gobble up all the oxygen in the room.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

Couldn’t have said it better myself. At least this puts the Commission on notice that they’re shitting the bed and dramatic changes are expected.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

You may be correct, but if we still have free and fair elections in 2028 (I have my doubts), and if we have 2 brand new candidates, the demand for a debate will be higher. I just don’t think anyone wants to hear from these two men, in particular, because we’ve already heard everything they have to say.

Blackbeard, 3 days ago

“I was knee-deep in it,” Gore said about the local connections to the billionaires. “I guess I was just too naive. I should have known better.”

YES, YOU SHOULD HAVE. There’s only so many different ways we can spell this out for you. Now your job should be to campaign relentlessly for Democrats up and down the ballot, because they’re clearly the only ones who give a shit about public education, students, and teachers.

Blackbeard, 9 days ago

If there’s any silver lining to this whole “eLeCtIoN iNtEgRiTy1!!!@” push by the right, it’s that a LOT of Republicans are now going to jail and losing their voting privileges. Doesn’t make up for the (hundreds of) thousands of voters who are being disenfranchised, but I guess pyrrhic victories are still victories.

Blackbeard, 10 days ago

Thanks!

Blackbeard, 10 days ago

I can hope a) the Biden camp sees the catastrophic toll of unconditional support for Israel and b) voters see the potentially catastrophic toll of a second Trump presidency at the same time.

Astonishing, I know.

Blackbeard, 10 days ago

Well then good for you that the latter is less of a threat to your health, job, and survival than the former. Must be nice.

Blackbeard, 10 days ago

You’ll note that I didn’t say he’s wrong. Just that the Trump cabal will come after all of us. You should pay close attention to the words people choose in the future.