Babale
October 22, 2020, 9:48pm
21
Lancia:
I tend not to pay attention to the poster who starts a given thread, so that may be why such behavior from Velocity never pinged my radar. If this is the case I rescind some of my skepticism. Still, I’m curious what a mod has to say.
Here are some of his recent threads:
In the past, when there were such threads, some Dopers dodged the hypothetical by replying, “I don’t want there to be a god, period.”
So - suppose we bypass that for a moment - if there had to be a god - no dodging this - what would you want it to be like? You get to choose the attributes of such a god.
Would you prefer it be a god who creates the Universe but then leaves it to its own devices and does not do anything more? (the analogy of the “creator who winds up a watch and lets it tick”)
W…
Gallup poll here .
A few things worth noting:
Republicans currently lead Democrats in party affiliation by 1 percent.
As recently as June, four months ago, Democrats were leading Republicans in affiliation by seven percent.
Two years ago, shortly before the 2018 midterms, Democrats led Republicans by six percent in affiliation.
Four years ago, shortly before the 2016 election, Democrats led Republicans by four percent in affiliation.
The number of voters identifying as “independent” significan…
(this one is notable because the article he links shows a number of times when republicans overtook democrats since 2004, so his thread title is full of shit)
Suppose that the Supreme Court - either 6-3 after Barrett is confirmed, or even 7-2 if Breyer pass on - does what progressives have feared and overturns Roe, Obergefell, the ACA and a wide host of other prior liberal rulings.
The response of many progressives has been “In that case, we need to pack the Court.” Okay, let’s say that happens - the Court gets packed.
But how would stare decisis play out then? Presumably, the purpose of this packed Court would be to reverse the rulings of the un-pa…
IMHO, a lot of ideas could be more acceptable to the other side if “sold” in different packaging.
Single-payer healthcare: Saying “we need to do it out of compassion” is totally the wrong way, that doesn’t sell it. Rather, sell it to conservatives as a matter of national pride. This is one thing Trump could have pulled a “Only Nixon could go to China” on, but didn’t. Argue that “Americans deserve the best healthcare in the world, and what we have right now is a total ripoff.” Demand that the US…
Not a single person alive today had a hand in writing the Bible. That book was written by people thousands of years ago.
Generally, society is tolerant of people’s religious beliefs (for instance, Muslims or Orthodox Jews shunning pork) as long as those beliefs don’t affect other people. We are also typically understanding of them in that “They didn’t choose those rules, those rules are imposed on them by their religion.”
However - there gets to be a certain overlap whereby genuine, sincere re…
Suppose a Democratic senator votes for Barrett’s confirmation (or a Republican senator votes against.) Does that make that senator a DINO or RINO, respectively, in your eyes?
How far can a D stray right, or an R stray left, in your opinion, before he/she has officially become a DINO/RINO?
For the Democrats: Pro-life? Anti-gun-control?
For the Republicans: Pro-choice? Anti-Trump?
The view of many these days is heavily negative of rural America: Opioids, taking in more taxpayer income from the blue states than vice versa, Trump country, “clinging to guns and Bibles,” coal-mining jobs lost, and this article that went viral after Election Day 2016: The Dark Rigidity of Fundamentalist Rural America.
So what I wanted to ask (as someone who’s lived almost entirely in urban or suburban places): What - if anything - is good about rural America?
I did live briefly in rural west…
A lot of a president’s activities seem to be unnecessary - for instance, there is no real need for a president to deliver a commencement speech at a university graduation ceremony.
If a president wanted to really cut his schedule down for efficiency’s sake, what should be his bare minimum?
Delivering the State of the Union address is mandated by law, and that’s just once a year. Signing (or vetoing) bills that come to him - for sure. Representing the United States at summits like the G7 or G20…
PS: Hey, I earned a badge for this post! “First Link”
