Political Randomness

[Kraken]

When Democrats are against the wall, do they work overtime to make sure Republicans aren't able to vote?

One hopes not. High turnout usually favors them, so they don't need to resort to suppression. Which isn't the same as saying that they won't.

[LordMortis]

When Democrats are against the wall, do they work overtime to make sure Republicans aren't able to vote?

Democrats in power used to do a lot gerrymandering themselves and make no mistake their attitude is has also with or against us, but voter suppression as literal as that, not in my experience from my tiny corner of the US.

Your question begged me to go amateur izzy, so...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ho ... -the-vote/

[Pyperkub]

When Democrats are against the wall, do they work overtime to make sure Republicans aren't able to vote?

The Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) definitely did, but with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, they are all the driving force in the GOP and many Red States now.

[Sepiche]

One thing about modern gerrymandering to keep in mind is that it works much differently in the information age than historically. It used to be a handful of people redrawing lines and hoping to give their side a small advantage.

With modern computers and data analytics they can just have a computer redraw the districts to give themselves the mathematically best possible outcome.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... 20/543888/

Gone is the era of elaborate cartographical sketches and oil paintings of salamanders, and of salted old-timer politicians drawing up their “contributions to modern art” armed with markers and heads full of electoral smarts. Today, political mapmaking is a multimillion-dollar enterprise, with dozens of high-profile paid consultants, armies of lawyers, terabytes worth of voting data, advanced software, and even a supercomputer or two. Redistricting is the great game of modern politics, and the arms race for the next decade’s maps promises to be the most extensive—and most expensive—of all time.

[Max Peck]

From the "World's Worst House Guest" file:

Julian Assange: Wikileaks co-founder takes legal action against Ecuador

Julian Assange is to launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his "fundamental rights and freedoms".

The Wikileaks co-founder has lived in its UK embassy since 2012 after seeking asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape claim - later dropped.

He was given a set of house rules by the London embassy this week, including taking better care of his cat.

In a memo, it threatened to confiscate the pet if he did not look after it.

[El Guapo]

Hmmm....suing the government that is solely responsible for keeping you out of prison.

[Paingod]

Maybe, but now we know Drazzil's true name.

(not picking on him specifically, but it sounds like Assange is suing over his cat)

[Sepiche]

What an idiot. By all account Ecuador's patience with him is thin as it is. With any luck they'll give him the boot, and the Brits can take him into custody. I'm sure he could shine all sorts of light on l'affaire russe.

[GreenGoo]

I am in no way defending Assange.

That said, there has definitely got to be more to it than that.

I know Ecuador was talking about just kicking him out this past year, so I'm guessing there are rules in place designed to give them cover for when they do kick him out. Why would they need cover? Beats me. If you're gonna host a dude for 6 years, you might look stupid(er?) just booting him out because you're tired of his shit.

Honestly I don't know what the deal is, but I'm guessing there is more going on than "clean up after your damn cat" followed by "I'm suing you!"

[El Guapo]

Honestly I don't know what the deal is, but I'm guessing there is more going on than "clean up after your damn cat" followed by "I'm suing you!"

There's also "You're not even my real dad anyway!"

[Max Peck]

My vague understanding is that the lawsuit is largely about the claim that Ecuador has only partially restored his internet access and he feels entitled to unfettered communications.

[Blackhawk]

From what I've read, the cat bit was just one thing on a nine page memo. People are just grasping it because it's... odd? Quirky? Reflects on his personal character? Makes him look like a petulant 11-year-old? Anyway, it also says that any guest can be turned away at their whim, every piece of equipment brought in by guests has to be authorized and inspected and can be seized without explanation or recourse, that he's extremely limited on what he can access the internet with, that he's specifically forbidden from making any political comments online, and all sorts of other things. Oh, and he needs to clean up his bathroom.

They're trying to make it as unpleasant for him as they can manage. They want him to want to leave.

[GreenGoo]

My vague understanding is that the lawsuit is largely about the claim that Ecuador has only partially restored his internet access and he feels entitled to unfettered communications.

I'm not sure how political asylum works. Is it normal to have strings attached? Can they simply withdraw asylum once it is given? Like I said, no idea how this works.

I get that he's a guest, and if he were the guest of a private individual/corporation, that would be one thing. Governments, assuming they are self limiting as the US and Canada's governments are (I'm playing the straight man here), have all sorts of restrictions on what they can do to an individual not under arrest.

In any case, I really don't care what happens to him, although I'd prefer he not end up in the hands of the US. If he thought things were going to be bad under Obama, he ain't seen nothing yet.

[El Guapo]

In any case, I really don't care what happens to him, although I'd prefer he not end up in the hands of the US. If he thought things were going to be bad under Obama, he ain't seen nothing yet.

Ehhhhh....I wouldn't assume that things would be worse for him under Trump than Obama. Assange is a friend of the Russia-U.S. far right nexus. Trump would happily let Assange go to the extent that he could get away with it politically.

[GreenGoo]

In any case, I really don't care what happens to him, although I'd prefer he not end up in the hands of the US. If he thought things were going to be bad under Obama, he ain't seen nothing yet.

Ehhhhh....I wouldn't assume that things would be worse for him under Trump than Obama. Assange is a friend of the Russia-U.S. far right nexus. Trump would happily let Assange go to the extent that he could get away with it politically.

Huh. Never thought about that. At the same time, Assange has served his purpose. I doubt drumpf would get any brownie points with Putin by handling Assange with kid gloves. Let's call it a coin toss and leave it at that.

[Max Peck]

The fact that Assange is now a citizen of Ecuador probably complicates things for the Ecuadorian government, since it likely grants him rights that he didn't have as a simple asylum-seeking fugitive from justice.

[Z-Corn]

I've heard that he doesn't bathe regularly and has chronic BO. Maybe they are just tired of him stinkin' up the joint?

[Max Peck]

Suspected explosive device found at George Soros' New York home

A package containing what appeared to be an explosive device was found in a mail box outside the New York residence of billionaire financier George Soros on Monday, police said.

Soros, one of the world’s biggest donors to liberal groups and causes, has become a hate figure for right-wing campaigners in the United States and eastern Europe, and the target of a hostile media campaign by the nationalist government in his native Hungary.

An employee at the home in Katonah, New York, opened the package, revealing what appeared to be an explosive device. Soros was not home at the time, the New York Times reported.

Authorities were contacted at around 3:45 p.m., the Town of Bedford Police Department said in a statement.

Bomb squad technicians detonated the package in a nearby wooded area, police told the newspaper.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into the incident, police said.

A Hungarian government spokesman said: “The matter falls under the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities. After all, the incident occurred there.” He declined to comment further.

[Holman]

Suspected explosive device found at George Soros' New York home

Waiting for the first to call "False Flag!!1!"

[hepcat]

Waiting for Trump to call the person who put the bomb there "his kind of guy".

...although we'll probably get em2 praising him via an unfunny joke before that.

[LordMortis]

Waiting for Trump to call the person who put the bomb there "his kind of guy".

...although we'll probably get em2 praising him via an unfunny joke before that.

I don't see him saying that in jest or any other way.

I do see him making reference to the righteous of cause and how democrats have brought this sort of discontent out and then dismiss it as being fake news.

[hepcat]

In other news, remember when we were all kids and putting on black face for Halloween was acceptable?

No? That's odd. Megyn Kelly does.

Although Lord Mortis' favorite comedian Patton Oswalt disagrees.

[LawBeefaroni]

Suspected explosive device found at George Soros' New York home

Waiting for the first to call "False Flag!!1!"

Are we sure it was a bomb right now? May he bought a Not a Flame Thrower from Elon Musk and the employee opening the box freaked out.

[LordMortis]

I can totally see Trump being asked a question about this and him

1) alluding to violence being OK as long as it by Americans desperate to MAGA
2) being explicit that his allusion to violence is a reaction forced on us by Democrats
3) closing his response by calling out the media for reporting fake news about... depending on how it shakes out, probably a bombing that never happened.

It's what he does.

Patton Oswalt

He'd probably just be a nobody in my eyes if he hadn't infected so many cartoons to remind me of how much I don't like him. If he has to be all over my cartoons couldn't he just be Kristen Schaal. As much as she will make the turn the channel on every thing. She's a star on Bob's Burgers. Him? not so much and he's made his way in to everything.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

A woman flying from Houston to Albuquerque on Sunday had just settled into her seat and fallen asleep when she was awoken by an unwanted touch — a hand from behind her grabbing the right side of her breast. And the man authorities say is responsible allegedly cited President Trump’s past lewd language about women.

Federal prosecutors allege that the hand belonged to 49-year-old Bruce Michael Alexander from Tampa, another passenger on the Southwest Airlines flight, who reportedly told authorities after being arrested Sunday that “the President of the United States says it’s ok to grab women by their private parts,” according to a criminal complaint.

Alexander was charged Monday with abusive sexual contact, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico. The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail and a $250,000 fine. A lawyer representing Alexander could not be reached for comment late Monday.

[hepcat]

It's what he does.

Which is what I said. I just didn't translate it into LM. In my defense, the universal translator I own is stuck on English.

[Smoove_B]

Gubernatorial candidate in CT comes out against vaccinating children.

Bob Stefanowski, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Connecticut, expressed skepticism about vaccines during a summer campaign event, according to video cited in a Monday night report from NBC News. At a Quiet Corner Tea Party campaign event, an audience member asked Stefanowski about his position on mandatory vaccines for children attending public school. “Do you think the state should dictate [immunizations] or should local [Boards of Education] handle that?” the individual asked, according to video provided by a source working for a Connecticut democratic campaign. “I think it depends on the vaccination,” Stefanowski responded. “We shouldn’t be dumping a lot of drugs into kids for no reason.”

...

A spokesman for Stefanowski told NBC that “Bob’s position here is in line with the law. While he believes that the best practice is to vaccinate your children, he does not believe that the government should be able to legally force you to do so.”

Jacobson v Massachusetts would say otherwise.

Regardless, we're not vaccinating children for "no reason". People have absolutely forgotten the horrors of an unvaccinated population at large. It's going to take a generation of children that die or are permanently disabled before people realize what they've done.

[YellowKing]

Part of #MAGA is taking us back to the days when life expectancy was 35.

[Paingod]

Part of #MAGA is taking us back to the days when life expectancy was 35.

Sure as hell cuts back the need for Medicare and Social Security.

Then the wealthy can have vaccinations and top-notch care to live forever while everyone else dies around 30. See also: In Time - a movie where everyone stops aging at 25 years old, and they stay alive as long as they earn more time. The wealthy have thousands (or more) of years accrued on their clocks, while the poor scrabble and fight over their next day. Want a coffee? That'll be 5 minutes of your life, please.

[malchior]

35?!? Even alcoholic Russians make it to 62 or so. That seems like a nice target for the oligarchs. They just need to set the retirement age 75 to bring SS and Medicare back under control and have a cheap labor force to build Elysium.

[Defiant]

Explosive Device Found in Mail Sent to the Clintons

[Defiant]

'Potential explosive devices' sent to Obama, Clintons, Secret Service says; CNN offices evacuated

The Secret Service said Wednesday that it had intercepted packages containing "potential explosive devices" addressed to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in New York and former president Barack Obama in Washington.

CNN says its offices in New York have been evacuated because of a suspicious package.

[LordMortis]

Violent democrats! This is what will happen if you let them win! GOP means civility!

[hepcat]

They intercepted one on it's way to the White House too. Good job on going to great lengths in widening the divide, you orange asshole. I hope we get someone who can unite us someday. And that this idiot's legacy is that of the great divider, and an enemy of our people.

[LordMortis]

And that this idiot's legacy is that of the great divider, and an enemy of our people.

That title should be reserved for McConnell. When it's all said and done Trump's legacy is yet to be determined. I'd put even money on the great patsy and an enemy of common good.

[Smoove_B]

They intercepted one on it's way to the White House too.

Or maybe not:

A suspicious package apparently containing a pipe bomb that was addressed to the White House was intercepted on Wednesday, according to CNN, which cited a law enforcement official.
Reuters later reported that there was no suspicious package addressed to the White House. CNBC has not been able to confirm the CNN report.

Par for the course with this administration.

[Isgrimnur]

And that this idiot's legacy is that of the great divider, and an enemy of our people.

That title should be reserved for McConnell. When it's all said and done Trump's legacy is yet to be determined. I'd put even money on the great patsy and an enemy of common good.

Patsy implies a naive victim. He's at least a useful idiot.

[hepcat]

They intercepted one on it's way to the White House too.

Or maybe not:

A suspicious package apparently containing a pipe bomb that was addressed to the White House was intercepted on Wednesday, according to CNN, which cited a law enforcement official.
Reuters later reported that there was no suspicious package addressed to the White House. CNBC has not been able to confirm the CNN report.

Par for the course with this administration.

Trump felt left out. His package was going to be even huger!

...er...phrasing?

I honestly think Trump is the kind of worthless human who would privately gloat about this. I wouldn't say that about most people, but he's just that much of a scum bag.

p.s. that link you posted is also non-existent.

[Isgrimnur]

CNBC

[Unagi]

CNBC - 'Potential explosive devices' sent to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: Secret Service