a) it's unalloyed good news that the redistricting in Virginia is nearly certain to pass
b) the fact that the margin looks like it'll run ~10 points behind Spanberger 2025 points to the limitations of political maximalism -- Virginia is blue enough we can do this, thank god, but it's not popular
lmao
A clip from The New York Times reads: "But only the entities that officially paid the tariffs are eligible to recover that money. That means that the fuller universe of people affected by Mr. Trump’s policies — including millions of Americans who paid higher prices for the products they bought — are not able to apply for direct relief. The extent to which consumers realize any gain hinges on whether businesses share the proceeds, something that few have publicly committed to do. Some have started to band together in class-action lawsuits in the hopes of receiving a payout."
The average American family paid $1,700 in tariffs last year, according to the bipartisan Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Few will ever see any of that money back. The refunds will go to companies, if doled out at all. What a joke.
Leaving aside the basic fact of its absurdity - no, the average IQ in Somalia isn’t 70 - all I see here is a couple of idiots desperate for an unearned reason to think they’re better than others. Pathetic.
Donald Trump is very unpopular and being seen as opposing Donald Trump in clear moral terms is an almost instant path to political and cultural relevance.
Aside from who started it, states like CA and VA putting a counter-gerrymander up to a referendum, where people are told and can make a decision on the context for why it's being done, has vastly more democratic legitimacy than state legislators rushing it through because they got bullied by POTUS.
Remember, Democrats have repeatedly advanced measures to ban partisan gerrymandering and Republicans have voted against them time after time.
This is the game Republicans wanted to play. OK, then.
My most liberal idpol radlib take is that I think it's pretty bad that
right wing forces are actively intervening on behalf of the Klan with the full weight of the state legal apparatus
every conservative political complaint comes back to "those people shouldn't count because they disagree with me"
it is very funny how these people are so accustomed to essentially bullying democratic politicians that they meltdown when met with appropriate pushback.
in any case, the process to amend the virginia constitution has multiple stages where, at any point, an amendment can be defeated.
last thought, and i am still thinking through this, is that not only is there nothing wrong with this, it is something to *embrace*. a project of transformation is one way to build a political party into something closer to a political movement.
one of the single most important bursts of legislative activity in the nation's history happened because the governing party did not hesitate to remove their opponents from congress itself when they had the opportunity. 🤷🏿♂️
if there is a path to either national nonpartisan redistricting or proportional representation, it is going to go through one party or another. but the first step toward it actually happening is for that party to win power, and you go to war with the system you have, not the one you want.
the shift to a winner-take-all distribution of electoral votes? a partisan project. the development of the mass political party? a partisan project. antislavery and reconstruction? a partisan project. even direct election of senators comes out of populist agitation in the late 19th century.
but the fact of the matter is that with the notable exception *of* the mid to late 20th century, every major change in our political system and government has been a partisan or ideological political project.
Matt Damon playing a 14th century French knight that looks like a third baseman for the Phillies. Mullet. Beard. Smells like horse shit, pine tar, and cigarette smoke.
Matt Damon while playing Odysseus who also looks like a third baseman for the Phillies. Long, skinny beard. Smells like horseshit, pine tar, and perhaps Mediterranean herbs.
Matt Damon playing a 19th century cowboy that looks like a third baseman for the Phillies. Mustache. Shaggy hair. Smells like horse shit, pine tar, and definitely chewing tobacco.
Every time Matt Damon takes on a period role he ends up looking like a third baseman for the Phillies.
This is the game republicans wanted to play. So let’s fucking play.
Do you remember when the allegations about Roy Moore came out and Hugh Hewitt said it wasn't fair because a non-pedophile Republican would win easily so the state government should just cancel the election and appoint one?
Conservatives have been trained for decades to think of Constitutions not as agreed-upon rules for fair governance, but as a series of cheat codes and loopholes that let them hold power even when the voters want to throw them out. They won't accept anything less than permanent domination of us.
Dort posting about how he's awake against the nightmare (the nightmare is the jews) .
Jennica is obviously fucking insane, like "has cooked her brain to the point she's indistinguishable from someone with schizophrenia" but dort, boy, I dunno
Kinda seems suboptimal a FGO is applaudingly RTing stuff saying his service secretary is part of a jew plot to depose the president
Changing lives
The logical endpoint of this is just Tucker 2028
Trump is within sight of an under 30% overall approval rating.
One of the most important causes right now is to establish a media narrative and popular support behind severe punishments and consequences to our present criminals running things.
Amazing how much of Trump's presidency is just blowing up something good that Biden did and then slowly, incompetently, ineffectively trying to recreate it.
Dang, we really should have passed some legislation intended to create a domestic supply chain for these parts & materials! [finger to ear] Dang, we really shouldn't have repealed the legislation we passed intended to create a domestic supply chain for these parts & materials!
america is better than europe and anything that works in europe can work better here
sarah isgur and brett kavanaugh mugging for the camera together
Brett Kavanaugh officiated Sarah Isgur's wedding and is helping her promote her book, which is all about how good and noble the Supreme Court is. There is no reason to take seriously anything this person says about her very powerful, life-tenured friends. Seriously, have some respect for yourself.
The basic challenge with discussing Sarah Isgur is that she's just not interesting. She is a Supreme Court fangirl who makes money by praising conservative justices in public. There are lots of conservative lawyers like her, and the next time one of them says anything insightful will be the first.
Meanwhile his voice sounds like a Furby losing its battery power trapped inside of a washer on spin cycle.