World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[marurun]

Micro-aggressions is a term that may quite accurately describe what's going on, but sometimes it's better to generalize, because when people try to hold too much specificity in their heads they lost sight of the forest for all those damn trees. Micro-aggressions are little, encapsulated, thoughtless bits of speech or behavior that help to alienate or insult people. They aren't the equivalent of getting up in someone's face and yelling "FAG!" or "NIGGER!", but maybe in the South someone might casually call a black man "boy" or here in Ohio a businessman might call a female colleague "sweetheart" even though they have no relationship outside the professional. And so academically speaking, micro-aggressions have their place, but I think there are better ways to decry this kind of casual diminution in ways that maybe don't sound so distancing.

tl:dr A lot of what we call things comes from a place of analysis, and those terms can be distancing. We need more relatable terms for casual use that help people identify problematic behavior without leaving an encyclopedic taste in everyone's mouth.

[marurun]

Oh, and just so nobody is surprised, I'm renaming this thread to better reflect what it is supposed to be instead of it being a prediction heralding the total collapse of the forum.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Thank you!!

[MrPopo]

Oh, and just so nobody is surprised, I'm renaming this thread to better reflect what it is supposed to be instead of it being a prediction heralding the total collapse of the forum.

Dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

[CRTGAMER]

The Politics/Society/World Affairs Thread (BE CIVIL)

Electoral College
Could not believe there is not more passion on this. As mentioned I am not focused on Trump not being elected, but the power process of the Electoral College. Okay, these are the supposed 538 experts elected or appointed by I don't know who. Deciding for or AGAINST the wishes of over 3 million people in the nation. Going back to the founding fathers sounds sweet and all that, but seriously?

Watching the video, I'm in utter disbelief as Tucker!



Really, watch the videos. Carlson asks some very poignant questions that we all need to think about. Then please Reply with more then just history. How do you feel feel about the Electoral College?

Electoral College Corruption
Though Fox News is opposite of the big three networks and pro Republican, this is so important. Ignore the Republican vs Democrat and the same scenario had Clinton won. The absurdity corruption power of the Electoral College is shown. Watch the videos, Tucker Carlson grills State Electors on very good points; the Electors come back with their rebuttals.

Dec 19, 2016 only 538 people decide who will be President. So is the Electoral College still valid today?

Texas Republican Elector: Why I won't cast a vote for Trump
Dec 8, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAlYwWCWWqc

Tucker Carlson vs. 2 Electors trying to overthrow Trump's Electoral College win
Nov 16, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f0WQ1qQ-Ts

Are Electors more intelligent then the voters to research the candidates and decide who is best for the nation?

None of what I said should be taken as an argument for or against either Trump or Clinton; it is merely a lesson on civics and American government and should be taken as such.

@ Elkin - Your post is very well thought out for the history, but what about your personal views? You posted you are against the Electoral College, okay lay it out. High Schools and Colleges have been accused of too much free thinking instead of sticking to the curriculum with allegations of pushing students to protest against Trump and not follow the political process. Keep in mind not accusing you or dsheinem on this. How about the same free thinking and really look at not just the initial reason centuries ago for the Electoral College, but current events reason why it is still needed. Certainly could be the hot topic if taken from analytical point of view instead of just "We must abide what the founding fathers felt" in the Political Science courses.

Time to respect our feudal lords, who know what's best for us.

Well...We, the people, did willingly elect Donald Trump President of the United States, and in light of some of his picks for various cabinet and federal government agency positions, I am slowly coming around to this view...

That said...and as much as I dislike the results of the latest presidential election...I think it would be disastrous for our system of government if the electors ignored the election results.

The Electoral College was instilled to prevent Anarchy, but could cause said Anarchy should they do that. Here is the latest count on the Popular Vote Amendment to the Constitution. With recent events, a chance of eventually passing?

http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/

11 States Possessing 165 Electoral Votes Have Enacted National Popular Vote Into Law
The National Popular Vote law has been enacted into law by 11 jurisdictions possessing 165 electoral votes. The bill will take effect when enacted by states possessing an additional 105 electoral votes.

• District of Columbia – 3 electoral votes
• Hawaii – 4 electoral votes
• Illinois – 20 electoral votes
• Maryland – 10 electoral votes
• Massachusetts – 11 electoral votes
• New Jersey – 14 electoral votes
• Washington – 12 electoral votes
• Vermont – 3 electoral votes
• California – 55 electoral votes
• Rhode Island – 4 electoral votes
• New York – 29 electoral votes

New York
On November 7, 2016, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation making New York's approval of the National Popular Vote compact permanent. Governor Cuomo's press release said: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation that secures New York's place on the list of states that have joined National Popular Vote compact. By signing this legislation, Governor Cuomo seeks to guarantee that every vote in every state will matter in every presidential election.

Arizona
On February 4, 2016, the Arizona House of Representatives passed the National Popular Vote bill, with two-thirds of the members voting in favor of the legislation. The vote was 40 Yes, 16 No, and 4 absences or abstentions. The Arizona House is the third Republican-controlled state legislative chamber to pass the bill (the Oklahoma Senate and New York Senate being the other two).

California
On August 8, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed the National Popular Vote bill, making California the 9th jurisdiction to enact the bill. On January 13, 2012, the Department of Justice cleared the National Popular Vote bill under the Voting Rights Act.

Rhode Island
On July 12, 2013, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the National Popular Vote bill, making Rhode Island the 10th jurisdiction to enact the bill.



Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signs National Popular Vote bill in July 2013, as Dr. John R. Koza, Chair of National Popular Vote (left) and Barry Fadem, President of National Popular Vote (right) look on.

And you thought the wall of red was bad, look at all that gray!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_ ... te_Compact

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their respective electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who wins the most popular votes is elected president, and it will come into effect only when it will guarantee that outcome. As of 2016, it has been adopted by ten states and the District of Columbia. Together, they have 165 electoral votes, which is 30.7% of the total Electoral College and 61.1% of the votes needed to give the compact legal force.



* Enacted into law (165 electoral votes; 30.7% of EC)
* Pending in current legislative session (36 EVs; 6.7%)
* Not enacted and no bill pending (337 EVs; 62.6%)[1]

Motivation behind the compact
Because of current state laws, presidential candidates have lost the popular vote nationally but still won the presidency. Public opinion surveys suggest that a majority of Americans support the idea of a popular vote for President. A 2007 poll found that 72% favored replacing the Electoral College with a direct election, including 78% of Democrats, 60% of Republicans, and 73% of independent voters.



1. The Electoral College allows a candidate to win the Presidency while losing the popular vote, as happened in the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. In the 2000 election, the outcome was decided by a margin of 537 votes in Florida, despite a 543,895 difference in popular vote nationally.

2. The Electoral College system effectively forces candidates to focus disproportionately on a small percentage of pivotal swing states, while sidelining the rest. A study by FairVote reported that the 2004 candidates devoted three quarters of their peak season campaign resources to just five states, while the other 45 states received very little attention. The report also stated that 18 states received no candidate visits and no TV advertising. This means that swing state issues receive more attention, while issues important to other states are largely ignored.

3. The Electoral College system tends to decrease voter turnout in states without close races. Voters living outside the swing states have a greater certainty of which candidate is likely to win their state. This knowledge of the probable outcome decreases their incentive to vote. A report by the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate found that 2004 voter turnout in competitive swing states grew by 6.3% from the previous presidential election, compared to an increase of only 3.8% in noncompetitive states. A report by The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that turnout among eligible voters under age 30 was 64.4% in the 10 closest battleground states and only 47.6% in the rest of the country—a 17% gap.

A bit of Irony in the statistics below. The Electoral College allowed Trump to win versus the popular vote. Yet, massive protest against Trump and not protesting the Electoral College! Clinton won the Popular Vote by more then 2 million.

So do most Americans know and trust the Electoral System or the Candidate?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/198917/ameri ... arply.aspx

Americans' Support for Electoral College Rises Sharply
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' support for keeping the Electoral College system for electing presidents has increased sharply. Weeks after the 2016 election, 47% of Americans say they want to keep the Electoral College, while 49% say they want to amend the Constitution to allow for a popular vote for president. In the past, a clear majority favored amending the U.S. Constitution to replace the Electoral College with a popular vote system.

• 47% want to keep Electoral College, up from 35% in 2011
• Republicans shift decisively in favor of Electoral College
• Most Americans correctly answer that Hillary Clinton won popular vote
  

[marurun]

Eliminating the Electoral College would require a Constitutional amendment, and you can bet the swing States wouldn't support that, so ratification would be terrifically difficult. In fact, it would probably require an egregious example of the Electoral College fulfilling its purpose of failing to elect a populist demagogue (for example, choosing Clinton or another person for president or otherwise depriving Trump of enough votes) to convince anyone to actually seriously push for abolition of the EC. And even then, most states would try to lock in electors further, tying up meaningful reform in fruitless court cases.

So, personally, I am more pissed that Trump was elected because he is a lying, greedy, hypocritical, corrupt, horrible human being than I am in the mechanism that elected him. Shit happens.

[MrPopo]

Electoral College
Could not believe there is not more passion on this. As mentioned I am not focused on Trump not being elected, but the power process of the Electoral College. Okay, these are the supposed 538 experts elected or appointed by I don't know who. Deciding for or AGAINST the wishes of over 3 million people in the nation. Going back to the founding fathers sounds sweet and all that, but seriously?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_T ... g_electors

[Sarge]

Fight for Constitutional change, then. That's the only way it will happen. Like it or not, it's working exactly as intended.

[Tanooki]

When it comes down to it, there's laws in how electors work, not so much how they're chosen. Ultimately it falls on the parties themselves. The law only really sets up for the total electors in a state, but leaves it to the states/parties in the end to pick WHO are the electors.

This was spelled out in really easy terms a few months back if that on Adam Ruins Everything on TruTV where they did a voting episode and they explained the EC so boobs watching the tube would get it using facts, all cited, and humor. Since the states/parties can pick people they tend to pick retired politicians, their friends and family, big time donors, party hacks and shills basically. Sure one of them can get a high and mighty moment or some weird conscience like these few wanting to toss Trump to the curb, but it hasn't happened as of yet to screw the numbers. Sadly really no accountability at all when it comes to who are your state electors.

[Blu]

If the Electoral College is opened up for conversation via a Second Constitutional Convention from the states, that also means everything else that's in the document is up for conversation. Watch the poopstorm that would ensue as anything that poses the slightest bit of contention is raised as an issue or amendments. Gun rights? It'll come up. Abortion? Yep. Lying Press? Sure, it could be an issue. Creationism in our schools? You better believe it.

It only takes 2/3rds of the states to get what you want and call in a Constitutional Convention, or 2/3rd's vote in the House and Senate. Funny, there's almost enough states that have thought about the issue. Additionally, I would be concerned with the amount of big money influencing our politics that a Constitutional Convention would be disastrous.

People don't realize that's whats up for grabs if you don't introduce an amendment via Congress, and why that's the proposed way of addressing concerns in our constitution.

----

Does everyone think Republicans will sit on their hands when the CIA announces that Russia swayed our election? Or that Mitch McConnell stalled the investigation, and his wife gets a cabinet post? Any outrage there at all? This briefing happened back in September. He's a Quisling.

Don't believe that the Russians had a motive? Look at the USD to Ruble for starts.