netstack
Texas is freedom land
No bio...
User ID: 647
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
What advantage does that one have over the actual IED manual?
Anyway. The subject has come up on occasion. My understanding was that China backed the Tatmadaw as a stabilizing force, but when they failed to deliver, fell back on the iron fist. It’s more like the U.S. interventions in Central America than in Afghanistan.
I think it’s worth remembering that the fog of war makes a lot of obvious interference less obvious. Take a day to consider your options, and that rebel army is suddenly two towns further down the road. China isn’t puppeting the war so much as funneling it.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
Seeing as the electors do, with few exceptions, respect the preferences of their electorate, I’m not seeing much value.
Why not just ban listing parties on ballots, period? It’s not going to change anything about the top races, but it’ll hit most everything at the state level or below.
For a more drastic (and probably illegal under the VRA) filter, require all ballots to be write-ins. To really get with the zeitgeist, text recognition and counting the vote will be handled by a dedicated AI. We can call it GW.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
So, uh, how’d you feel about Trump’s own handling of classified material?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
No.
I thought fraud was quite unlikely in 2020 on account of all the audits which found nothing. I still think it was really unlikely. We’re not talking about a few hundred fraudulent ballots flipping PA; this is a gap of millions. That doesn’t happen without leaving a trail.
Trump 2020 was running as an incumbent in a bad economy. Biden 2024 was running as an incumbent in a bad economy. Harris 2024 replaced that with a sort-of-incumbent in a bad economy. In hindsight, it doesn’t seem so surprising that she underperformed.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
As the others note, professional-managerial class.
It was originally an attempt to launder Marxism for the service economy. They don’t own the capital, but also aren’t big on the class interests of the proles.
Dean’s usage is somewhere between that and the category of technocrats.
Today, I’d say it’s mostly seen as a sneering shorthand for whichever parts of the middle class don’t agree with one’s politics. Kroger-brand coastal elites.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
Not a chance.
Unless he has some route to get Jr. into the line of succession, he’s not going anywhere.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
No, they aren’t.
Most outlets are only calling him fascist in conjunction with last week’s news. Going forward, they prefer “dangerous,” “unpredictable,” or “authoritarian.”
More importantly, they aren’t insinuating a takeover. He appears to have won fair and square.
I think both are moot points. The mind which decides to strike a blow against fascism is just as detached from reality as the one that thinks he’ll impress Jodie Foster. Stochastic terrorism is overrated.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
Statistically speaking, he’s going to alternate between golfing and coming back strong. Man spent a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago last presidency.
Maybe he should invite Biden; could do him some good.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
SJ?
Social justice?
Steve Jobs, a lá Metal Gear Solid 2?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
Fear of getting shoved in a locker for talking like a nerd.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
They vote in accordance with their March Madness bracket, which also always wins.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
I'm more invested in the "October Surprise" millenarians.
But I must admit this is cold comfort.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
I've noted before that this campaign has been awfully short on signature legislation. Is that strategic ambiguity? Is it a crippling fear of 🤓 emoji? Is it a tacit admission that our most salient problems are unusually vague? No idea. But I'm betting Supreme Court decisions will be the closest we get to a lasting legacy of the next President.
Kavanaugh has exceeded my expectations. Barrett has not. I don't even think I have an opinion on Gorsuch. Not thrilled about the prospect of one or two more Trump picks.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
I'd like to be able to contradict you, but I don't actually know anything about her, and it looks like I'm going to keep it that way.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
16d ago
Concession within a day unless there's a Gore-level "too close to call". And I would like to think such would have been apparent by now.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
Gas was up 45 cents between this morning and the time I got off work. I can’t tell if that’s a pro- or anti-Trump portent.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
It’s a legitimate point. We can barely manage to get most of the country free for Christmas.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
Yeah, if things get that bad, we can just save time and end it.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
Can they really rely on the rational calculus of anybody dumb enough to go out and riot?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
In my experience, people complaining about mail-in ballots are not usually thrilled about giving federal employees another holiday.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
Right, and then a big chunk of election law was passed to make this less likely. Did it actually yield an improvement? The next few elections didn’t have any similar complaints.
People are already sowing rumors about the touch-screen-and-printer devices popular in the last few years. I didn’t have any trouble with mine; obviously, that doesn’t rule it out.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
17d ago
I’m predicting fewer mail-ins than 2020, even if the total is higher.
Is she, though?
Her concurrence on Trump v. Anderson was kind of unhinged. Other than that, I guess she’s done alright.
I guess they all throw something weird out there every once in a while.
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