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50 votes
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The Mexican American border: A tale of two colonies (Part 1/2)
3 votes -
The Proud Boys are dangerous - Know your fash
9 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 8
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic,...
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
30 votes -
FBI uncovers Al-Qaeda plot to just sit back and enjoy collapse of United States
39 votes -
Book of Love - Boy (1986)
5 votes -
Donald Trump response to yesterday violent roitious insurrection at the Capitol
@Donald J. Trump: pic.twitter.com/csX07ZVWGe
21 votes -
US Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob
12 votes -
Twitter should immediately and permanently ban Trump
16 votes -
Boeing charged and agrees to pay $2.5 billion for 737 MAX fraud conspiracy
16 votes -
In 1814, British forces burned the US Capitol
9 votes -
A brief history of peanut butter: The bizarre sanitarium staple that became a spreadable obsession
6 votes -
Voices from the front lines of the United States' food supply chain
4 votes -
Number of people killed in deadly attacks in the post-9/11 era, by ideology
9 votes -
Facebook bans Trump "indefinitely" with Mark Zuckerberg explaining that "the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service... are simply too great"
36 votes -
Joe Biden is certified as the 46th President of the United States
43 votes -
What's your opinion on the concept of US Supreme Court packing and/or term limits?
For those not aware, packing the court in this context refers to expanding the size of the U.S. Supreme Court so that whoever's in power can nominate judges they prefer to the newly-created seats,...
For those not aware, packing the court in this context refers to expanding the size of the U.S. Supreme Court so that whoever's in power can nominate judges they prefer to the newly-created seats, thereby creating a favorable majority for them where there might not have been one previously. It was attempted once in 1937, but failed, and has not been attempted since.
As for term limits, Supreme Court justices have none; the position is for life. The reasoning for this is primarily so that they can't be influenced as easily for political gain, as they've already achieved the final step in their careers.
Personally, the concept of court-packing has worried me no matter who does it, because from what I can tell (though granted I've not researched this), the Supreme Court has thus far done a decent job of avoiding partisanship; I'm concerned packing the courts would damage this precedent. I do believe that term limits could work, though I suspect they'd require a clause prohibiting justices from holding any jobs after their term expires, lest they become politically influenced by down-the-line job offers.
That said, what's your take?
(By the way, CGP Grey has a great video on some parts of the Supreme Court if you're interested in learning more about it)
21 votes -
Making policy for a low-trust world
6 votes -
JetBrains' continuous integration server TeamCity may have been compromised as part of the wide-reaching Russian hack of the US federal government
13 votes -
AskHistorians write-up on January 2021 sedition at the US Capitol
23 votes -
Twitter requests deletion of three inciteful tweets from Donald Trump. If tweets remain undeleted, account will remain locked.
@Twitter Safety: As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. https://t.co/k6OkjNG3bM
35 votes -
US trade group asks VP Mike Pence to ‘seriously consider' invoking 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump
37 votes -
It Could Happen Here: A podcast series from 2019 about how a second American Civil War might take place
16 votes -
The US is building a bike trail that runs coast-to-coast across twelve states
21 votes -
Joint session of Congress for counting of Electoral College ballots (objections to certify election)
10 votes -
In Georgia Runoff Elections, (D) Warnock wins vs (R) Loeffler, (D) Ossof very likely wins vs (R) Purdue
Text post because the big news companies are cowards playing it safe and not calling Ossof yet, though it's basically over Warnock makes history with Senate win as Dems near majority (AP News) My...
Text post because the big news companies are
cowardsplaying it safe and not calling Ossof yet, though it's basically overWarnock makes history with Senate win as Dems near majority (AP News)
My takes below:
What does this mean?
This gives Democrats a thin majority in the senate. Does it mean they have free reign? No, the party is not that unified. In particular, as you probably have heard his name many many times now, Manchin, the "conservative Democrat" from WV is likely to be the kingmaker in votes. So it's not like just anything can get passed, and Manchin will not eliminate the filibuster easily.
So is it pointless?
ABSOLUTELY NOT
It's a huge victory nonetheless for Democrats. Remember, with control of the Senate, Chuck Schumer will be Senate Majority Leader, who controls what legislation the senate votes on. Even bipartisan bills were consistently torpedoed by McConnell who would refuse to even have a vote on it. Now, there is politics that can be done - deals, compromise, whatever. If you can't vote on something, nothing can be done. Things that are overall popular like increased stimulus are also going to pass.
Additionally, perhaps an even bigger deal, Biden can get his nominations through for cabinet and judges. There's an insane amount of unfilled heads of state departments right now, and the rest are filled with people absolutely unfit for the job. Having a real human being be the head of the EPA, or Department of Education, or the Department of Energy, and so forth is a big deal.
It also means that Justice Breyer can safely retire and have another "liberal" Justice take his place.
It's not sweeping control over the government, but it's a immensely superior political situation to McConnell stone walling anything he doesn't want, and Biden having to haggle with McConnell over how incompetent his cabinet needs to be.
48 votes -
Pennsylvania Republicans block seating of Democratic state senator, take control from lieutenant governor
20 votes -
FBI found Ghislaine Maxwell using mobile phone data
15 votes -
Until 1968, a married Texas woman couldn’t own property or start a business without her husband’s permission. Attorney Louise Raggio fought to change that.
10 votes -
Is Cyberpunk 2077 securities fraud?
8 votes -
Open-source developer and manager David Recordon named White House Director of Technology
14 votes -
2020 NFL playoffs are set
5 votes -
GitHub is fully available in Iran
11 votes -
The history of Yellowstone: Debunking the myth that the great national park was a wilderness untouched by humans
5 votes -
Stop worrying about upper-class suburbanites
14 votes -
The man who invented more than eight hundred iconic toys and games
6 votes -
Inside the US Army’s warehouse full of Nazi art
10 votes -
Julian Assange extradition judgement
9 votes -
Joseph Rainey was the United States' first Black congressman
6 votes -
Google employees form union
42 votes -
Who named the United States and what alternatives gained the most traction?
5 votes -
US passes ‘historic’ anti-corruption law that effectively bans anonymous shell companies
26 votes -
January 1, 2021 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1925 are open to all!
28 votes -
A monster wind turbine is upending an industry
30 votes -
Why didn't the Virginias reunite?
4 votes -
US consumes more green energy than coal for first time since 1885
15 votes -
Trump took a wrecking ball to media credibility—can Biden repair it?
7 votes -
Fauci sees US gaining control over pandemic by next autumn
5 votes -
Baseball lost a team of legends this year
5 votes -
The political depravity of unjust pardons
6 votes