American Politics Discussion Thread

[greenline]

It's not a blanket ban on sale or distribution of those books, just against use of them in K-12 education. The loss of some classics in that list is sad, but these state boards do have a reason to be concerned, given the alarming uptick in things like mastectomies being performed on young people.

[Mjmd]

Yep To Kill a Mockingbird was banned definitely for mastectomies reasons and not for any racist reasons at all. Ideologies that can't stand intellectual scrutiny have certainly never banned books in the history of the world before!

Seriously, we know better by now. Only someone blind to history couldn't see through this.

[greenline]

The overlap between supporting crazy gender stuff and crazy anti white stuff isn't 1 to 1, but it's pretty strong. To Kill A Mockingbird is a casualty, not the cause.

[Mjmd]

I will accept any casualties to further my cause! I'm sure none of the banned books have any lessons on that either. You don't even have to go into past history. You can look around the world at current autocracies for book bans / other bans (Schindlers List the movie also banned fyi).

Should we ban any book with mentions of guns in them? Do you really want to have the debate on which causes more harm? Because one of them causes death and the other causes some people to be uncomfortable.

Should we only allow books that show EXACTLY what certain sub section of people believe is the correct behavior? Who gets to decide? Politicians dictating is usually not a good sign for a country.

I don't understand trans people or gay people. I don't. They make me uncomfortable. Doesn't mean you have to be a hateful idiot about it. As a parent who goes to the library with 3 young kids on a weekly basis and has a shelf of library books, I do come across a small selection of books that have the basic message of "heh accept people for who they are". A lesson some adults could learn as well.

[greenline]

You're giving the impression you jumped into this thread without reading any of the prior comments. The books were 'banned' from K-12 libraries, by school boards. You can read or order the books anywhere else. It's not a crime to possess any of these books, the comparison to current autocracies is infantile. Books provided as free reading to children invite more scrutiny than books available for general purchase and this set of books was not the first to be added or removed from a local school curriculum.

[Mjmd]

Heh maybe lets not ban books anywhere? Lets keep reading uncomfortable books like TKM. I don't remember a lot of books they made me read in school, but that one I do. Maybe a book like 1984 where people just believe whatever lies are told to them is especially relevant right now?

[darrelljs]

Stephanie Grisham spoke at the DNC as "not just a Trump supporter but also a true believer who became part of Trump's family and spent major holidays with him."

I saw him when the cameras were off, behind closed doors. Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers.

And regarding a hospital visit he made during the Covid pandemic and she said people were dying in the intensive care unit.

He was mad that the cameras were not watching him. He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.  He used to tell me, 'It doesn't matter what you say, Stephanie — say it enough and people will believe you.' But it does matter — what you say matters, and what you don't say matters.

And finally on Jan 6:

I asked first lady Melania Trump whether we could tweet out that "while peaceful protest is the right of every American, there's no place for lawlessness or violence."  She replied with one word: 'No,'" she said.  I became the first senior staffer to resign that day. I couldn't be part of the insanity any longer.

Ouch.

Darrell

[MJW (ya that one)]

Swing State ratings
WI: Tilt D
MI: Lean D
PA: Tilt D
NC: Tilt R
AZ: Tilt R
NV: Tossup
GA: Lean R
NE-02: Lean D

NE-02 Lean D is very nice for Trump so if he wins it he wins PA+WI and the election. This makes NV not matter for Trump.

I'm sure if Trump manages to win PA or WI he wins NC and AZ and the election. This makes PA/WI the only states that really matter. Harris has to win both but going 2/2 isn't hard at all. So the overall election is Tilt D.

[darrelljs]

What does the RFK endorsement do to this whole thing?

Darrell

[MJW (ya that one)]

1% boost to Trump. Not enough to change any rating.