Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo — Page 475

I think the Microsoft antitrust case fundamentally broke car metaphors. They just haven’t been usable since.

I found this interesting.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/the-real-common-sense-tactics-the-debate-is-missing/542229/

The deadliest mass shooting in American history has restarted the long debate whether something can be done to impede these recurring slaughters. That debate is conducted pursuant to rigid rules.

Rule 1. The measures to be debated must bear some relationship to the massacre that triggered the debate. If the killer acquired his weapons illegally, it’s out of bounds to point out how lethally easy it is to buy weapons legally. If the killer lacked a criminal record, it’s out of bounds to talk about the inadequacy of federal background checks. The topic for debate is not, “Why do so many Americans die from gunfire?” but “What one legal change would have prevented this most recent atrocity?”

Rule 2. The debate must focus on unusual weapons and accessories: bump stocks, for example, the villain of the moment. Even the NRA has proclaimed itself open to some regulation of these devices. After the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, attention turned to large capacity magazines. What is out of bounds is discussion of weapons as in themselves a danger to human life and public safety.

Rule 3. The debate must always honor the “responsible gun owners” who buy weapons for reasonable self-defense. Under Rule 1, these responsible persons are presumed to constitute the great majority of gun owners. It’s out of bounds to ask for some proof of this claimed responsibility, some form of training for example. It’s far out of bounds to propose measures that might impinge on owners: the alcohol or drug tests for example that are so often recommended for food stamp recipients or teen drivers.

Rule 4. Gun ownership is always to be discussed as a rational choice motivated by reasonable concerns for personal safety. No matter how blatantly gun advocates appeal to fears and fantasies—Sean Hannity musing aloud on national TV about how he with a gun in his hands could have saved the day in Las Vegas if only he had been there—nobody other than a lefty blogger may notice that this debate is about race and sex, not personal security. It’s out of bounds to observe that “Chicago” is shorthand for “we only have gun crime because of black people” or how often “I want to protect my family” is code for “I need to prove to my girlfriend who’s really boss.”

That picture of Trump in the Oval Office is not real.

Much less kneeling involved under Trump… anthem, or not.

TM2YC said:

Much less kneeling involved under Trump… anthem, or not.

I read an interview with Terence Stamp (he who played Zod) and from time to time some people stare at him trying to place him - when he thinks they’ve realised who he is - he occasionally does the ‘Kneel Before Zod’ thing (with a pointed finger towards the floor) 😄

For that alone I welcome my new evil Kryptonian / quality acting Overlord 😃

That alone makes Stamp awesome in my book. Nice that he’s cool with his fame. Not having him play a bad guy in TPM was a big mistake.

Trump is back on his phone and is tweeting again.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/916638685914951680

I called Chuck Schumer yesterday to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill. ObamaCare is badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!

And that’s not even the least of it.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/916750042014404608

Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid…

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/916751271960436737

…hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!

“Sorry!”

There has to be easier ways of getting off than trying to start a war.

TM2YC said:

moviefreakedmind said:

Cars are heavily regulated, but pretty much anyone can drive them, no matter how incompetent.

You don’t have driving tests to determine competency? You don’t have driving licenses that the courts can revoke due to mental incompetence, physical disability, or dangerous behaviour?

Our tests are formalities.

Jeez.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917091286607433728

I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen.

Big whoop. Let’s see them leave the Super Bowl.

Is Pence even a big football fan? It’s only meaningful if you walk out of your own volition, not because Trumpy told you to. It’s just a staged photo op otherwise.

Warbler said:

“And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”

It seems that some have problems with the third stanza of the National Anthem. I would have no problem altering the wording to remove the offensive parts.

Rather than deleting “offensive” portions of a really old song, why don’t we just accept that it, like all art, is a product of its time? Please, let’s stop worshiping this song!

EDIT: And aren’t you the guy that is supposed to be all about “respecting” our anthem? Isn’t revising it for a modern audience disrespectful? That third stanza should be left as is, and let’s be honest no one even knows that stanza exists, as an example of why we shouldn’t worship a song. It’s not perfect.

Warbler said:

“And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”

It seems that some have problems with the third stanza of the National Anthem. I would have no problem altering the wording to remove the offensive parts.

I have never heard of the third stanza of the National Anthem before this.

https://kottke.org/17/10/the-united-states-of-guns-1

https://twitter.com/dpjhodges/status/611943312401002496

In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.

— 2015